Keep family and friends far from your business

Lesson 3 – Don’t do business with family and friends

Yep it’s another lesson I learnt the hard way through the school of real life of managing a business. It all sounds great – working with those in your life you have an extra special relationship with – a family member or a really good friend. You've got each other’s backs and best interest at heart – right? Initially yes.

But it does not work.

Due to this extra special relationship – things get ‘extra special’ to manage especially when business-specific matters need to be addressed and the family / friend / business line needs to be drawn.

The dynamics change when friendship and business mixes. I have personally found it particularly challenging  to raise performance issues when working with family / friends.  I wanted to be the compassionate understanding friend, and tended to ‘pussy-foot’ around issues; but realised that unfortunately it is not how the world of business operates. Friendship does not pay the bills; but those invoices and salaries still need to be paid at the end of the month. Tough decisions need to be made when friendships and business is on the line.

My advice - keep them very far apart, and may they never meet.

Interestingly I read the following on the plane back from Bloemfontein this morning – from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War –

(On soldiers) -  if you are so nice to them that you cannot employ them, so kind to them that you cannot command them, so casual with them that you cannot establish order, they are like spoiled children, useless. (Master Sun)