You are ready—ready to start the transition process for your business. What you’d really love is to pass the business on to the next generation; keep it in the family; pass down that legacy to your kids and hopefully your grandchildren.

 

But your kids are hesitating. They aren’t sure they want the business, and frankly you don’t get it. Why wouldn’t they want to be their own boss, set their own hours, never work for someone else. Isn’t that the dream?

 

A little self-reflection might help you better understand their hesitation.

• How often did you come home and complain about your customers and how they always wanted something for nothing?
• How often did you miss events due to “the business?”
• How often did you share the good days and the joys of running your own business?
• Did you ever offer a surprise – like taking the day off unplanned just to hang out with the family? (Yes, it is possible to do this, and I’ll discuss it in future articles.)

Are you seeing a theme here? We see all the joys of owning a family business, yet we forget to practice that process of “selling it” to our kids during their formative years. After a rough day at work, it’s common to unwind (and sometimes unload) by sharing things with our family. However, if we don’t also share the excitement, the joys, and the financial opportunities of running a business, then we shouldn’t be surprised when no one wants to follow in our footsteps.

 

As you ponder this, ask yourself: “Would I want to follow in my footsteps? Am I selling the complete picture—the good and the bad—to the next generation so they can make an informed decision?”

 

Too often the answer is no. We share the downside and not the up, and then wonder what happened when our kids want to do anything else but take over the family business. Start now to share the positive as well as negative aspects of running your business, and you might find the next generation eagerly waiting for you to hand hand them the reins.

 

 

Leadership isn’t about “being right no matter what.” And it isn’t about being macho, sticking it out when turning back is the right action to take. To lead, you must make the best possible decisions for the team’s success.

 

Which type of person are you? What can you do to lead your team more effectively? To quote the international author, speaker, and leadership guru John Maxwell, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”

 

The word influencer can act as a kind of acronym for characteristics influencers need and actions they should take:

• Influencers should have INTEGRITY. What does integrity mean to you? Leaders need to define integrity for themselves and communicate that to their team.
• Influencers should NURTURE those they work with. Nurturing means lifting them to a higher level of success.
• Influencers should have FAITH: faith in their team, faith in the vision and that the team can make things happen.
• Influencers should LISTEN. Leaders will know the heart, the hope and the hurt of their team. They will ask questions, use responsive listening, engage with the speaker and want to hear what the speaker is saying.
• Influencers should UNDERSTAND. To understand the mind of a person, look at what he has achieved. To understand the heart of a person, look at what he dreams of becoming.
• Influencers should ENLARGE. They cannot give what they do not have. Enlarging is growing oneself in order to support the growth of colleagues, which in turn grows the organization.
• Influencers should help others to NAVIGATE. A leader is one who sees more than others see, farther than others see, and before others see it. They can navigate their way to success.
• Influencers should CONNECT well: Credibility + Communication = Connections. They connect through relationships, sacrifice, experience, character and insight. Go to their world and connect from the heart.
• Influencers should EMPOWER those around them. They see the potential of the individual and encourage, equip, and empower them. They share their knowledge experience and influence and show others their belief in that person.
• Influencers should REPRODUCE themselves. In other words, they should teach those on their team their skill sets. Model good leadership. Provide training, resources and experiences to create the desired growth.

Which of these are already strengths and which ones do you need to work on to be an effective leader in your start-up or family business?

 

 

 

“Control freak” is often an apt description of business owners. We like the ability to control our destiny, make our own decisions and see the impact of what we accomplish. The challenge comes with:

 

-- Understanding how little control we actually have; it’s really just a perception of control.
-- Learning how to relinquish control, i.e., delegate, for the business to grow.
-- Leveraging our controlling nature into something successful.

 

The example below offers some good insights on this.

 

 

Sal kept watching how the business was run, the waste that was taking place, how customers were being treated and the lack of profit that was being generated. These frustrations led to his determination to start his own business.

 

Sal’s premise was that he would treat employees much better than his current employer did, eliminate waste, treat his customers better and generate more profit. In essence, Sal wanted control overthe areas in which his current employer struggled. He accomplished those goals. He also learned a number of lessons in the process.

 

These goals were Sal’s primary drivers for family business ownership (and possibly entrepreneurship in general). The person who wants to start a business:

• Is tired of following someone else’s lead/orders;
• Believes they can serve the customer better;
• Has different ideas on how to implement the product or service;
• Desires flexibility in their day-to-day lives and a better balance between work and home;
• Craves the ability to make more money.

 

New business owners quickly discover that there are as many challenges in this new role as in their former job. They just have a different look.

To start, the new boss (themselves and their family) is not the wonderful boss they thought they would be and they have a great deal to learn.

 

The new boss in the mirror isn’t always a pretty sight. They find that the new boss is demanding, doesn’t give vacations, doesn’t allow employees to sleep in, has become more of a perfectionist, is always striving to improve and the list goes on.

 

Running any business, including a family business, takes as much—or possibly more—commitment and hard work as any other business role. It comes down to understanding the challenges, including lack of control, and then determining if entrepreneurship is right for you.