Working In A Family Business

While we were kids,
my siblings and I
had a lawn mowing business.
At first,
we tried to do everything.
Everyone would make sales calls.
Everyone would design marketing materials.
It was chaos and ineffective,
frustrating us and customers.

We eventually split duties
based upon our skills.
We were happier.
Customers were happier.
The business boomed.

Marc Grondahl,
co-founder of Planet Fitness,
shares

“When we started out,
we were both doing the same things,
which we quickly learned wasn’t going to work.
We brought in consultants
in the late ’90s
and realized that we needed
to focus on our specializations.
For me that was accounting;
for Michael it was marketing
and the creative side of the business.

I recommend
other members of family businesses
do the same.
Make sure your roles are defined.
It makes life much better.”

While working in a family business
or heck, ANY business,
make sure roles are defined
AND not duplicated.