Business Tips for Family Business
Today I thought I would write about some ideas family business owners like yourself can implement to achieve higher customer and staff satisfaction.
I have written some posts on this topic before (see above links), but thought I would come from a different angle just to give you some extra things you can think about.
As a family small business owner you have a lot at stake, you need to make sure your family gets along while they are working together and you also need to make sure they don’t feel like you are attacking them if you feel the need to say… “hey you aren’t doing what I need or you are not acting in the best interests of the business’.
A dreaded conversation for anyone, let alone family, but there are some ideas here that may help you deal with it if/when the time comes.
Here is a list of business tips for your family business that could just push your business into excellence.. want to see that happen?
- Create a set of values, put them where everyone can see them and ensure everyone in your business knows what they are and what they mean to you
- Ensure everyone in your business knows exactly what you expect from them
- Give everyone in your business a duty statement, this means a list of tasks they are expected to do in their role
- For each staff member (even if it is your wife/husband) set goals and performance indicators that need to be reached in order for the business to thrive
- Praise excellence, and offer encouragement for under performance
- Give warnings for incompetence, obviously you have to do this nicely, but it still needs to be done, especially if it happens regularly
- Find out what the hopes and dreams are of your team members. Maybe your son/daughter would love to study social media and marketing and they could contribute from that point of view instead of doing the accounts, which they hate
- Set clear boundaries as to who has what authority to do what task (ie. delegation, signing, talking to customers…)
- When creating a new position (business is growing) always ask your team if they are interested in that role. If they are skilled and experienced enough to do the role, or happy to undertake formal training that would help with their satisfaction level and feeling like they are contributing
- Ensure your team know what you want to achieve with the business and how important they are to you making that happen, asking them for advice and tell them to come with their advice when they think it is necessary.
Can you think of any more strategies for running a smooth operation in your family business, if so, I would love to hear them. Comment on my blog and advertise your business for free under my partner page.
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Can you think of any more stratagies for running a smooth operation in your family business, if so, I would love to hear them. Comment below to let me know and feel free to join this blog and advertise for free under the partner page.