Family business

Today, more and more attention is paid to small businesses, including the family one. And this is not surprising, because a small company with someone you trust to open is much easier. And family members traditionally enjoy our trust.

Types of family business

It is possible to single out many types of family business, it all depends on how to classify. The most common is the division of enterprises of the family home business by their size. Thus, we can distinguish three types of organizations.

1. Small firms (usually no more than 10 people), in which the next of kin work. In such firms there is no clear hierarchy, all employees are interchangeable, they often combine several posts.
2. The grown up family companies, where there is a pronounced structure of subordination, business relations replace family ones.
3. These are large firms, the predominance of which is inherited from father to son. Here the owner of the company is not the head of the family, but the whole family clan. These are usually joint-stock companies, therefore the control over the firm is carried out by the controlling shareholder.

Features of family business

Whichever of the ideas for the family business you choose, its organization, and further management will involve a number of different difficulties. But some of them can be avoided if you follow the following rules.

1. Define the scope of business relations. In the family business it is not easy, but still try to keep from discussing working problems over dinner.
2. Agree on ways to solve problems. For example, the morning discussion of the upcoming affairs, or evening communication about the accumulated problems. The main thing is that the procedure should be fine-tuned.
3. Clearly write down the duties. Global issues can and should be addressed together, but it is not worth calling a council on trifles.
4. As they say, nothing personal is just business. Yes, much of what is required for the prosperity of the company will be poorly correlated with family values. But there are only two ways: to choose a family and forget about business or to give up some norms of family life to please the business.
5. The family business has its advantages. Entering the market is always difficult, at first it's not worth talking about profits. Employees need to pay a salary, and in a family enterprise you can save on this moment. Also, it is easier to get a loan from a family member than in a bank.
6. Try to fairly assess the contribution of each family member to the company. Avoid at this moment of personal attachments - there should be no favorites.
7. Family is, of course, trust, but when you create a company without documents you can not do. Therefore, write down all the nuances - the share of ownership, the way of distribution of profits, duties, etc.
8. Do not try to attach to yourself all the relatives. Your firm should work and accept a person without knowledge and skills, only on the basis of blood relationship is silly.
9. Make a consistent plan for the development of the family business, which is a priority, what values ​​are important for the company, the way of transferring property to the next generation and when one of the family members is fired.

Variants of family business from scratch

Just want to say that there are no good and bad (profitable and unprofitable) ideas for the family business, it is not necessary to try to invent something fundamentally new. Everything will depend on how competently you can find and occupy a market niche. And this is affected by the conditions of the place of residence, and the presence of competitors (their strengths and weaknesses), and your organizational skills, and much more.

When choosing a field of activity, one must build on the knowledge and skills of family members. For example, if you have a programmer, designer and journalist, it makes sense to try to create a network game. But to open the same composition of a legal or accounting consulting firm does not make sense.

Here are the most common options for the family business:

• online store or website;
• consulting firm;
• online game;
• services of translators and tutors;
• organization of holidays;
• trade;
• cafe or hotel (for residents in the resort area);
• "husband for an hour".