Some rental business owners are quite certain that having a spouse or other family members in the business with them would never work out. I believe many of these business owners might have tried to make this work but had a poor outcome. Some of them have told me they had hoped that it would be a win-win, but had such a bad experience that they would never attempt it again. In their minds, the odds of failure in this regard far outweigh the obvious potential benefits.
As some of you might know, I work for independently owned and operated rental companies. An important part of my consulting service is the guiding of the family relationship portion of the rental business. Most of my customers have at least one additional family member actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the rental company. Perhaps surprisingly, the combination of family and business can have a very happy outcome, and if I had to summarize the potential results in one word, it would be “fabulous!” In fact, some rental companies were started to give family members a way to stay close to each other through teamwork and a common mission.
Although there are a number of techniques I use to build a much more harmonious family work environment, some family members are not destined to work together. Some personalities clash. Certainly, having family members in the same company isn’t for everyone.
All in the family
Here are a few additional thoughts concerning this important and complex topic:
Every person and relationship are radically different. With that in mind, it's important to view adding a family member to your business as worthy of good planning – and don’t expect it to be easy. It's wise to put structure into the work relationship and prepare the person for success. Sometimes a rental business owner believes their loved one knows more about what it takes to succeed in the business than they really do.
Prepare the other staff members for the addition in a way that they aren’t unnecessarily threatened by the arrival of the new family member to a key position in the company.
Don’t make things overly difficult for the family member. Some well-meaning parents are sometimes overly hard on their sons and daughters when they enter the business. Perhaps these parents feel it's better to keep from showing favoritism by doing this. This approach has generally been proven to be misguided.
Separation of duties is often one of the keys to harmony and productivity. It's usually not a good idea for husband and wife teams to work day in and day out together in the same office. There are exceptions to every rule, but generally speaking, a little separation throughout a good portion of the day is usually wise.
Family members can complement each other’s abilities. It can be helpful to enlist the help of an experienced rental business consultant to aid in the process of defining the roles, parameters and responsibilities.
Another helpful strategy is to only have “business discussions” only during certain hours, and other times are business “quiet hours." Some relationships can suffer from an overload of talking too much about the business, so some moderation is wise.
It can really work
Some family members who join the company grow into rock stars. Some family members (including spouses, sons, daughters and the spouses of sons and daughters) become awesome producers. They develop such strong skill sets that they are responsible for a significant amount of the rental company’s growth and prosperity.
Yes, some rental business owners doubt the wisdom of having family members work in any rental company. But, even though there are a number of potential icebergs that can cause damage to the personal relationships as well as to the company, the potential for successfully navigating around the hazards can be well worth the journey. It can be especially rewarding and very enjoyable.
