Category: New Business Development

Should You Start A Business With Family Members? Part Four

A family member wants
to be your business partner.

They aren’t qualified.
Or there is some other reason
you don’t want to partner with them.

But you also don’t want to
damage your relationship with them.

How do you turn their offer down
without doing that?

I usually answer with
“Oh, I could never
put you at risk like that.
I love you too much.”

I stress how risky
starting a new business is,
how much they could lose,
how badly that failure
could mess up their current life.

If they’re still not dissuaded,
I put them to work.

I work them hard.

I call them late at night
and early in the morning.

I work them on weekends.

I give them a taste
of the entrepreneurial life.

If THAT doesn’t do it,
well…that has never happened
but if it did,
I would likely rethink
not partnering with them.

There are ways
to turn family members down
tactfully.
Employ one of those ways.

Should You Start A Business With Family Members? Part Three

There are a gazillion great reasons
why you should partner
with someone
to start a business.

The worst reason
is
because they’ll feel sad or hurt
if you don’t partner
with them.

This is even more true
if you’re considering
a family member
as your business partner.

Because when you choose them
as a business partner,
other members of your family
will be extremely hurt
that you didn’t choose THEM.

If you have a large family,
that means
you’ll upset more people
by choosing that family member
as a business partner
than if you would please
(initially)
by choosing that family member.

Don’t partner with someone
to make them happy.

Should You Start A Business With Family Members? Part Two

Yesterday, I started
this mini series
on whether or not
we should start businesses
with family members
with a post on failure.

There are two big reasons
I started with failure
and that’s because
1) Most businesses fail.
If we don’t plan for that possibility,
we’re not being realistic.
and
2) Businesses started with family members
are MORE likely to fail.

Why?

Because family members are unlikely
to be
the best people to partner with.

To put it bluntly,
they’re not qualified
for a partnership role.

They are unlikely
to have experience
in the industry.

F*ck.
They are unlikely
to have
ANY relevant experience.

They are unlikely
to have connections
in that industry.

They are unlikely
to follow our suggestions.

They are unlikely
to be anyone
we would hire
if they were strangers.

If you wouldn’t partner
with a family member
if they were a complete stranger,
think long and hard
before partnering with them
at all.

Should You Start A Business With Family Members? Part One

You tell a family member
about an exciting new business idea
you have.

The family member
tells you
“Let’s do this.
I’ll partner with you.”

It is tempting
to say yes
but think it through.
Thoroughly.

Because most businesses
fail.
That’s reality.

And a business that fails
destroys relationships.
Forever.

That means
you won’t
have a healthy relationship
with that family member
ever again.

You won’t speak at get-togethers.

They will bad mouth you
to other family members.

It will impact
every person in your family.

And you,
because you had the idea,
will likely be painted
as the bad guy.

Are you willing to risk that?

It also means
those family members
won’t be able to help you
if you need money
to put food
on the table.

They’ll be
in the same situation,
competing for that help.

And remember
they will point at you
as being the cause of their hardships.

Think about
the consequences
of starting a business
with family.

Reward Yourself With A Break

Building a business
is a marathon.
It’s not a sprint.

It takes years.
And it takes energy
from us, the business builders.

If you’ve been pushing yourself
to achieve a certain task
and you accomplish
that feat,
you are AWESOME.

Reward yourself
with a short break.

Take a day or two
to
sleep.
Socialize.
Laugh.
Relax.

Power yourself up
to achieve
that next key step.

Reward yourself
with short breaks.

Have A Cheerleader

We all need a cheerleader.

The world is tough.
We often experience failures.
No projects run
smoothly.
There are speed bumps
everywhere.

And there are also
failure-predicting people
everywhere.

We have plenty of
critics.
The world needs
more cheerleaders.

Find someone
who will tell you
again and again
that you’ve got this.
You can do this.
You’re capable and hardworking
and you WILL create
your own good luck.

Turn to that person
when you need a pep talk.
Tell them exactly that
– you need positive vibes.
You need a cheerleader.
You need to hear
you can do this.

Remember to return
the favor.
Be their cheerleader also.

Find yourself a cheerleader.

Let People Be Happy

A loved one sent out
a happy message
telling everyone
she bought a new car.

Some people commented
(to all)
that it wasn’t the car
they would have bought
and explained why
in great detail.

Some people commented
that it must be nice
to be able to afford a new car.

Some people told her
she could have gotten
the same car used
for much less money.

I told her
that I was happy for her
and that I looked forward
to roadtrips with her
in the future.

The world is an absolute
tire fire.

Just let people be happy.
At least for a few days.

Being The Exception

The eggplants were outgrowing
the cages placed around them.

A loved one suggested
I simply take off the cages.
The eggplants should be
large enough
to fend for themselves.

I was tempted to do that.
Replacing the cages
with larger ones
was work
and required more chicken wire.

Maybe the squirrels and rabbits
wouldn’t target the eggplants
this time.
Maybe this time
would be the exception.

You and I both know
that exceptions are…
well…exceptional.
They rarely occur.

I replaced the cages.

Don’t bet
your entire business
on being the exception.

Long shot bets rarely pay off.

The Troll Index

One of my buddies
tracks
what he calls
the Troll Index.

He’ll post a photo
on social media
of himself
wearing a mask.

Then he’ll count how many trolls
comment on that post.

A high number of trolls,
he’s found,
correlates to a COVID surge.

Trolls are usually paid
by entities to stop
actions from being taken.

More trolls
means more concern
those actions will be taken.

Which means
if you want
that action to be taken,
push HARDER
when the trolls are raging.

Childless Cat Ladies Unite

Straight white
Conservative/Republican men
are calling Kamala Harris
a childless cat lady.

They say that
as though it is a bad thing,
which is idiotic
as
being childless
and having cats
is AWESOME.

But they are saying this
to try to discourage people
from voting for
Kamala Harris
for President.

Even though
no President of the US
has EVER given birth.

Not one in the long history
of the USA.

This is misogyny, of course.

And it is a go-to insult
for that crowd
when they’re threatened
by a successful woman.

When you hear it,
know that’s what is happening
– they’re threatened by you
and they recognize you
as being successful.

Keep on doing
what you’ve been doing!