Working in harmony with your family

A brief guest blog, by Director Louise Osselton

At CBSL Accountants we work closely with our clients – including helping some of our family owned businesses deal with the challenges that arise from working with your nearest and dearest.  According to the Institute for Family Business, two thirds of UK businesses are family owned - that’s 4.8 million in total - employing around 12.2 million people in the UK, and generating over a quarter of UK GDP. So, what are our 5 top tips to working in harmony in your family business:

1.Communication – regular planned meetings to discuss business matters gives family members opportunity to make decisions together & to prevent work discussions infringing on family time together.

2.Set roles – identifying your family members strengths and weaknesses is key to allocating suitable roles and also highlighting where external support and advice is required.

3.Get it in writing – as with any business it is important to set boundaries and terms whilst everyone is in agreement so that should disputes arise further down the line there is a clear way to resolve matters.

4. Strong values – the longest lasting family businesses have a clear set of strong values that the family take pride in upholding and passing on to future generations.

5.Work with the younger generations – whilst the business values bind the generations together, the most successful businesses also embrace changes in their business environment, often propelled by the passions and ideas of the younger generations to move the business forward.

If you want to discuss challenges facing your family business, are considering starting a new business venture or want to look at how best to hand down the business to next generations, please do give us a call or email and we will be happy to offer advice.