Partnership for the Good of Your Business

Putting the right family member in the right job

On Behalf of | Feb 13, 2017 | Closely Held Businesses |

It takes a one for all, and all for one attitude to help make a family business run efficiently. Often, family members can perform any number of tasks for the company. This is one of the advantages of a family business; everyone has a vested interest in its success. This means that you may have to vacuum the carpet of the offices, even if you have an accounting degree. Or your wife may spend time driving the company van even though she’s a highly skilled chef by trade. What matters is getting things done in any way possible.

But at the same time, when you decide that you want to hire a family member as an employee with clearly designated responsibilities, you are best served by taking the same approach as you would if you were looking to hire a non-family member.

It is important to consider the personal strengths and weaknesses of any family member you are interested in bringing on board. For example, if you have a nephew who is rambunctious and outgoing, but lacks focus, you may want to keep him away from a desk job and give him something that involves direct, human interaction. The same young man that would mess up all of your paperwork could be your best sales rep.

While a good portion of the most important tasks can likely be handled by your family members, there are some things you may want to outsource. For example, having an objective business law attorney assess your legal needs can help you not only get an outsider’s objective perspective of your company but could also provide services that will help your business grow and prepare you for expansion and succession.

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