Unit 3 family business

Key points

A family business is a company owned, controlled, and operated by members of one or several families. Many companies that are now publicly held were founded as family businesses. Many family businesses have non-family members as employees, but, particularly in smaller companies, the top positions are often allocated to family members.

Points to discuss

1. What advantages of being involved in a family business do you see? Is it

rewarding?

2. How hard is it to work in a family business? What problems does one face

when he joins a family business?

Reading

Ex. 1. Three women tell us about the highs and lows of working in the family business. Read their points of view and name the advantages and downsides they speak about.

NATALIE ALTBACK, 25, works in her father Raymond’s hairdressing business in St.John’s Wood, North London, as a receptionist and marketing executive. She is single and lives in nearby Finchley.

My dad has had the business now for 40 years and so I grew up with it. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no talent in that area so hairdressing itself isn’t for me. My brother Joshua, on the other hand, has lots of expertise so it was natural for him to become a hairdresser and join the business.

I had always wanted to be an actress but, when that didn’t come off, I went traveling. After a year I decided to come back and work with Dad and Joshua as a stopgap and I’ve been here for three years now.

The best thing about working in a family business is seeing your family every day. I also feel as if I’ve made a difference to the business and that I’ve helped to contribute to its growth, which gives me great satisfaction.

The flexibility is wonderful, too. If you want a day off, it can be negotiated more easily if your dad is the boss. Also hairdressing is a warm, friendly environment to work in, with regular clients with whom you build up a relationship and whose lives you get to know. It is very sociable.

There are downsides, too. Of course everyone bitches about their boss but when it is your dad or your brother that they are talking about it is horrible. The staff never really look on you as one of them because you are the boss’s daughter and that makes it difficult to build a normal working relationship with them.

At one point I lived with Dad and that was really stressful because we didn’t get any space from one another and arguments brewed up. Now that I have moved out, I get on with both my brother and my father much better. I don’t think living and working together is a great idea.

It can definitely be a bit stifling working with family and now, having been there for three years, I realize it is time to move on. There is a huge world out there and I want to broaden my experience. If I was a hairdresser it would be different but I have a strong sense of wanting to forge a niche for myself now.

Dad and my brother have both been great about that and given me time off for interviews in marketing and public relations.

And the best bit about a family business is that, if it doesn’t work out for me elsewhere, I can always go back.

♦

NICOLE ANDLAW, 26, is single, lives in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and works in marketing for her father’s travel agency. She has a brother and a sister but is the only one who works in the family firm.

After university I got a job in insurance broking but very quickly realized it wasn’t for me and decided to take the opportunity to travel. I returned home last August and didn’t really know what to do.

My dad has always been keen on my brother, sister or me going into the firm, which specializes in arranging business travel. He gave each of us summer jobs with him, but he also made it clear that he wouldn’t create jobs for us.

Then, last August he was looking for a marketing executive, which involves promoting the company, and asked me if I was interested.

The most difficult thing about deciding to take the job was that I was worried it would be seen by other people as taking the easy option.

As a result, I feel I have an awful lot to prove. It is not like going into a job where you don’t know anybody. People at the firm have known me since I was three years old and I have got to earn everyone’s respect.

Having been there now for more than a year, I think I have more responsibility than I would at another company. That is the great advantage of working in a family company. I get on very well with my dad, but he decided it was best if I report to another manager on a daily basis, which has worked very well and is healthier for us.

My relationship with Dad hasn’t changed except that we talk more about work. That annoys the rest of the family but I think that is natural. I still live at home and it has never been a problem, although I will probably move out soon.

I don’t think my brother and sister will want to join the company but who knows? It is great the way things have turned out for me because I always wanted a job in London.

I never thought I would work with Dad and it is working out really well. He is pleased I am on board and I feel very strongly that I don’t want to let him down. I want to make my mark and turn his business into something even bigger and better.

♦

MARGARET CARTER, 61, has two sons, Marcus, 40, and Rufus, 34, who both work in her foods business. Her daughter Gina, 38, is a film producer. Margaret was Welsh Business Woman of the Year in 1995 and lives in Llandegla in North Wales.

It was 22 years ago that I moved to North Wales with my children. My marriage had broken down and I needed to earn a living.

I had 11 different jobs, things like childminding, working as a shop assistant and babysitting. It gave me the grand total of about £70 a week, which made it really hard to bring up a young family.

One week I managed to save £9 and decided to make something I could sell. I asked the owner of a local café what he would buy and he said paté. I went home, got out a recipe book, bought some chicken liver and got going.

We still use that recipe today. I gradually sold it to more and more customers but I always hated selling. I just wanted to be a mother but I really had no choice and so the company grew and grew.

Like me, my sons are severely dyslexic. When Rufus left school he was going to job interviews but nothing materialized. It was a real struggle for him. At that time I was short of staff and asked him for a hand. He’s now the managing director.

Marcus worked in farming for a long time but five years ago he wanted a change. He started selling the patés for us on a part-time basis and was brilliant at it. He is now our sales director and travels all over the world.

In fact, they are so fantastic at what they do that they no longer need me and I have recently retired. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world being able to hand over a successful business to my family. I think it is important to empower people and I hope that is what I have done with my sons.

There has never been a problem working with Marcus and Rufus; they have no egos. I think that is what is different about working with them compared with working with other people. They are poles apart in terms of personality and they have each found a niche in the business that suits them, which is key in a successful family business. Marcus, for instance, isn’t suited to office life and so traveling around the world suits his temperament.

I also think it is hugely important for families to talk and when you work together it is even more important – and that is what we do. We all go on holiday together and we also socialize with one another. We get on really well and have never fallen out over the business.

If we had not all had dyslexia, I don’t think any of us would have done as well as we have. I’m really proud of us.

Daily Express. August 2, 2004.

♦

Ex. 2. Read the texts again and answer the following questions.

1. How did it happen that all of them found themselves involved in the family business?

2. Why doesn’t Natalie want to work in the family business though she sees a lot of advantages?

3. What does Natalie mean saying that it is a bit stifling working with family?

4. Is Natalie satisfied with the work she does?

5. Does Nicole want to change anything in her life and work?

6. How does Margaret’s family business start?

7. What is the reason for Margaret’s family business to be so successful?