One of the intangible assets of any small business is its culture or style.
In developing your own style for your business, there is a big difference between operating it “like a family” or operating like a large “corporation”.
Corporation or family?
Besides the fact that many of the employees might be family and/or friends, the family-style culture creates an environment where everyone supports each other. There is also a stronger “social” component to the workplace as personal and business activities cross over more. For the employees who enjoy this type of culture, it is a valuable perk of being part of the business. They tend to appreciate and enjoy the “not a big corporation” vibe of the business.
The opposite culture is the more business-like “corporation” style. The operating style is more structured and there is a clearly defined separation between work and personal interactions. The existence of any family or friend relationships are ignored and systematically eliminated from having any effect on the way the business operates…. Yeah right!
Is that possible?
Show me an example of a small business where there are either no friends and family as employees or if there are, the business operates completely as if the personal relationships don’t exist.
Assuming this business exists, I would be curious if it was considered a better culture?
In my experience, the existence of friends and family in a small business is only natural. I also believe this culture of family and friends working together should be embraced and celebrated.
Just like in a family, there could be the occasional hiccup. That’s only natural too. And just like in a family, everyone works together to deal with the hiccups.
If you’d like some more information about helping your family business, please reach out to us: paul@thebusinesstherapist.com
