Family Business That Works

So you want to go into business with your family?

There is a whole range of successful family businesses, many started in the 18^th and 19^th century and flourishing today, so the idea can seem very appealing. I’m assuming you have decided on what this business is to be…and where? There is one little technique that will determine if you are all on the same wavelength! Like most marriages there is the danger that one falls out of love! So before anyone contemplates any business venture whether family or not completes a capability test first.

Offer each person a blank A4 sheet of paper, folded in half.

The way you fold is not important; whichever format feels right for you. Landscape or portrait you choose. Using the dominant hand used for writing, write down all the reasons you want to go into business on one side of the folded paper. Be as free and as adventurous as possible. When completed, leave the list for a few days; face down so you can’t see what’s written. I know you feel you cannot wait that long, but two or three days may be the make or break of your future business.

When you go back to the folded sheet

Do not be tempted to look at the old list as this can influence you. Now start listing the things you think you want, exactly as you did a few days ago on the blank side of the paper, but write with the opposite hand. So if you were right handed, you would have written the first set of reasons a few days earlier with this hand. Now you will be using the left hand. The reason I’m asking you to write with the less dominant hand is because this connects to the wise, creative, intuitive and spiritual part of your brain. The dominant hand is connected to the logical, cognitive and practical part of the brain. The truth will come from the creative wise part.

When completed you can then compare the list with others involved.

Like most people you will find that one or two reasons will stand out more than the others on both lists. However what you may also find is that at the top of the list, the one written with the less dominant hand offers the most important reasons why you want to go into business. So what may be near or on the bottom of the first list may have jumped up to the top or near top on the second. An example would be - two prospective business partners. One had written ‘to be a millionaire by forty and retire’ while the other had written, ‘to have a successful business that provides me with a family legacy to pass on.’

The discrepancies were quite oblivious. 

The likelihood would be no one retired at forty and the business would never be passed onto the family. The most likely event would be that they split up after a long and hard struggle of disagreements on how the business should be run. The one, who wanted to retire early, would be far more ruthless generally. The other partner would be more for service and helpfulness. Both would be competing against each other’s beliefs and values, because both had entirely different reasons to be in business. Having everyone do this technique means you will know if everyone is singing from the same hymnbook.