Part II: Family Rules and The Family Business

A couple of months back, we wrote about how Family Rules can make or break a family business, read it here:

Family Rules & the Family Business

Today, we've been given permission to share an actual example of a family business we work with (no names, just the situations); which perfectly illustrate how destructive family rules can get if not managed properly.

If you have not read the first article, please stop now and read that first, as we will be skipping the basics of family rules & what it means in this article.

 

This is a matriarchal family, where the mother has the final say in every decision. Their family rules are:

1. Mother is always right, even when she contradicts herself.
2. Children do not communicate with each other except through their mother, if they did, mother must be updated immediately & kept in the loop.
3. Father communicates with children what the mother wants him to communicate, if he contradicts her in any way, the family is quickly reminded who has final say.

 

Unfortunately, this rule carries over to their business (The mother is a full-time housewife with no business experience). Not knowing how to differentiate home and business settings, the rule created the following issues:

1. Decisions made in the office often change depending on what happens at home, affecting staff morale and productivity.
2. The brothers are constantly in conflict with each other at work, because they are not used to communicating directly without their mother's intervention. They are constantly calling home for mediation.
3. Staffs don't respect the father, who is the CEO & founder of the business, as they know who holds the real power.

 

Here is the amazing part - the moment the family is "liberated" from this rule, the business takes off. It took a lot of effort on their parts to make it happen.

Sometimes in family businesses, it is not about the systems, or the sales, or the marketing strategies... it is about getting past the family rules that hinder growth.

 

Need help to identify your family rules, their impact on your business and what to do about it?  Register NOW for our FREE Business Optimization Clinic, valued at RM750. We guarantee you will get at least 1-2 ideas you can implement immediately, even if you do not engage our services.

Have a profitable week ahead!

ps: Only 10 sessions every month for qualified business owners. Claim yours today!