Multi-unit franchising provides the opportunity to build something, be your own boss, and generate opportunities for others. As you design your business strategy, recruit your team, create your culture and string one success after another, it becomes easy to reflect on those who help build your business as family. Families are diverse; they come in various shapes and sizes, including those you share DNA with and those you have spent late nights, early mornings and shed blood, sweat, and tears to build your business like family. As such, you may not realize that whether or not you work with DNA family, you have a family business.
Familial relationships develop over time and repetition. And, with history and repetition, behavior patterns, expectations, and perceptions also come. At its best, a family business is a beautiful combination of communication and collaboration built upon a foundation of mutual respect and accountability. At its worst, family business falls prey to dysfunctional behavior patterns such as silent treatment, bullying one another, and grinding over emotionally driven exchanges. The “norm” or behavioral dynamic between long-term partners and team members can create toxic consequences to relationships, productivity, and teamwork.
When the balance between family and business is off-center, it stresses the business and personal life. Many of you experience ineffective communication and unreasonable expectations daily. What is often tolerated under the heading, “it is what it is,” becomes accepted as standard operating procedure and ultimately becomes a wrecking ball to business performance. Dysfunctional dynamics strangle pathways towards growth, demoralize employees, erode business value, and deplete financial resources.
The good news is that there are resources to help. Getting guidance from others who have been down this road before can prevent you from creating unnecessary trauma to relationships and the business. As the saying goes, “start with where you are, and do the best you can with what you have.” You can start by practicing the following strategies to create overcome frustrating partner relationships and protect your financial future.
- Communicate and Tune into What Others Value
Based upon your culture, this may require coaching on different communication strategies. Understanding and respecting what your family members, key leaders, and employees value most positions you to bridge almost any relational divide
- Practice the Four Agreements, authored by: Don Miguel Ruiz
- Be Impeccable with Your Word
- Don’t Make Assumptions
- Don’t Take Anything Personally
- Always Do Your Best
- Take responsibility for your behavior and communication. You can’t control others, but you can control how you listen, connect and respond.
Successfully integrating new units or new brands to your portfolio or thriving through challenges like COVID requires succession strategies to succeed through a transition. Succession planning is all about building strategies to overcome any challenge threatening the success of your business. Effectively scaling for growth, integrating family, franchisor PR fiascos, or mandates are just a few key successions issues many franchisees overlook.
Another excellent opportunity for growing your business is to make sure you attend the upcoming Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in March. Please stop by our booth #342 to discuss strategies for achieving your vision.
Contact Us and we can help you with insights, other resources, and see if it makes sense to work together. At the very least, in 30 minutes, you may get some ideas you can apply to your business right away.
Multi-Unit Franchising Conference
Strategize and develop options to get you where you want to go—business growth, generational wealth, financial freedom, or creating opportunities for others.
Contact Kendall Rawls at 850-294-3042 or visit us at booth #342.
Whatever motivates you, succession planning generates strategies towards the fulfillment of your vision.
Family Dynamics and Family Governance
Family Dynamics and Family Governance
Family and Business alignment is hard to find when business issues liven up family dynamics.
However; with proper process, governance policies, and mutual respect built over time, a Family Business can thrive through multiple generations. Click the following links for more drill-down resources on Family Dynamics and Family Governance.
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We can help you with insights, other resources, and see if it makes sense to work together. At the very least, in 30 minutes, you may get some ideas you can apply to your business right away.
