HIRING MY RELATIVES

watergal

Should I hire my relatives or tell them to start their own business?
My upstart business is about 2 years in the making (first in my head
and now I can finally see it start to come together.  I hope to be
up and running  in less than 2 months.  I think other people
are starting to realize that I may have  hit on something innovate
and filling a need in a market that has no competition yet
in my area. Which will probably be successful in a matter of time (I hope anyway  Since yesterday I have had 3 family members come to me
to tell me of their interest in my baby upstart business.  I am confused to say the
least. They are qualified, that`s not the problem.  I just don`t know if it is good business sense to hire your family?.    Any suggestions for me ?
Don`t want to affend any family but down the road - don`t want to make them
enemies either if something goes wrong !!!
Appreciate your comments guys. THANKS !!!
jo

watergal

Thanks very much, I feel the same!

iouone2

I have been on the loosing end of this equation. To make the
story short, the business was started by my grandparents and
has provided everyone in the family a wonderful success story.
Soon the time came, I thought it would be a good time to ask
my father to enter the business. I knew there was a recent
opening. I thought the position was perfectly placed, being it
was on the bottom. Literally, I was a janitor.

Looking back, I think the journey gave hope that my father and I
would be closer. He and I have always been on good terms,
but we don`t have the same loves. Also, I did see long-term
independence to be gained. What an opportunity. I figured if I
was willing to start at the bottom, eventually family member
would realize my commitment.

Several years later, do to exterior family issues, I was forced to
resign. No matter who supported whom in the family, what was
done was done. My father and I didn`t talk for about 2 years or
so. I am glad we are talking again. If I had it to do over, I know
the result would be the same. We both did our best in the
situation as presented.

I vote NO on hiring family. If it works out, it`s great. But if it
doesn`t, there is too much to loose.

watergal

Thanks Vincent for your thoughts. I`ve been mulling it over all day driving myself
nuts, but I feel peaceful now with my decision. I think its a lousy
idea myself and I think the best thing for them would be to do what I
did. It was and still is a lot of work and determination but I always
felt it would be worth it someday or I wouldn`t have gone down this
road. Maybe they should think about
starting their own business like I did. If it didn`t work out (and
there is a big chance in that) then we may never talk again and what`s
worse than that?

watergal

Thanks Engraver for your take on this.  You really hit it on the head, so true.
I was thinking the same thing, I have been working on this business for
close to 2 years from the time I  first thought about the
possibility to now  with almost all of the infrastructure
completed. No one was negative about it but no one offered any help
either.

watergal

Engraver,
I dont blame you for feeling this way, it is of course normal and appropriate to
feel this way.  I guess some people either dont remember what happened in the
past or they prefer "not to remember".

patch

To me, hiring a family member is like marrying someone who works in the same office!!! DISASTER in the making.
Usually, when I have experienced exceptionally bad service from a company I later find out that the person I dealt with was the boss`s son-in-law. They seem to come into the business thinking life is going to give them an easy ride. Does the boss then fire him and cause a family rift or let him stay on and wreck the business?
A son or daughter coming into an established business is one thing, other relatives present a different dynamic. Certainly if someone is launching a new business, they are heading for disaster if they start hiring family.
 

watergal

Patch - you are so right and funny too
tks

watergal

Thanks Janet,
I totally agree with you!