Q & A: Feeling Trapped in Your Family Business?

I Feel Trapped in My Family Business, What Now?

Moments after the previous post went up; we received 2 similar questions from parents of family businesses.

The original post, read it here if you haven’t:

Feeling Trapped in Your Family Business?

Q: What do I do now if my business is already in this situation?

A: Here are some suggestions to start the process of re-aligning your family members:

Call for a family meeting; be honest & candid about the reason for the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to re-align goals and expectations, including offering the chance to exit the business if the re-alignment process fails (Of course the thought of a family member exiting is probably not what a parent want to hear, but, it is an option you must put on the table no matter how uncomfortable for you if you want the process to work.).

Assuming your situation is somewhat similar to the previous article, some of the points you can raise include:

  • You realized you could have unfairly abdicated your parenting responsibility to your eldest child, and that burden caused him to react by showing his resentment towards others.
  • You realized you might not have considered what each of them wanted before making that decision.
  • You are willing to work with all of them to work out a common plan that all can agree on, the plan you will include:
    • Setting business goals
    • Aligning business goals with each of their personal goals
    • Aligning siblings with each other
    • If there’s anyone who wish to exit, you will work with them to agree on a time-frame, replacement plan and handover period
  • You will personally hold periodic update meetings with them, as a group and individual basis, as long as the process is ongoing.

This is not an exhaustive list, each case is unique, however, this is a good place to start building a more positive environment for your family business to grow.

If you believe you will have difficulties remaining objective throughout the process, or you find yourself becoming too emotionally involved, consider using the services of an external Family Business Coach to help you facilitate the process.

We believe every family business should be profitable AND harmonious… yours should be too.

If you require a neutral party to intervene for you and you are fully prepared to participate fully in the process,  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!

The Familybiz Works Team

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

 

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