Family Business

What happened to wisdom? It used to be that one of the real assets in being a part of a family was access to passed down wisdom. We remember what it was like as children to hear our fathers tell stories. We would be sitting at the dinner table or riding in the car and before you knew it the stories would flow.

But there was a mission behind the stories. They were really dispensed wisdom in story form. Of course, over the years, we had heard the stories so much we knew the punch lines, the object lessons and even the verbiage of the stories. And yes, we would fuss and roll our eyes, behind their backs only, when we heard the opening line of their stories because we knew them backwards and forwards.

It wasn’t until we got grown that we realized that the whole intent of the stories was to saturate our thinking with the wisdom they brought with them. One of the major object lessons from the stories was the warning not to be so heavenly minded that we were no earthly good. Ok, dad, maybe you’ve gone too far we thought. Would Jesus approve of anything called wisdom that dared to challenge the spirituality of a person? Surely not!

The truth is the “truism” of heavenly minded/earthly good has nevertheless served us well down through the years and of course Jesus didn’t mind. Here is the crux of the matter. Faith, a positive attitude, even resiliency are all wonderful attributes that help us cope with uncertainties in life. However, if they are either misunderstood or worse misapplied, their use can produce devastating consequences.

Yes, God will provide, he’s a bridge over troubled waters, and more. But he also expects us to be balanced and reasoned in our approach to handling our affairs. We like the often overlooked observation in the Joshua’s book. The children of Israel had successfully crossed over into the Promised Land. There is a little sentence that has major value in his book. The quote is “…and the manna ceased or stopped.” What! That’s it, you ask? Yes, that’s it. The manna stopped.

All while the children of Israel were walking blindly through the wilderness, having no sense of direction or purpose, but knowing that their very survival was completely dependent upon God’s direct intervention, God provided the food for them in the form of manna. But when He brought them to the place where they were to live out their destinies, he stopped directly feeding them with the understanding that now they had the capacity to feed themselves. So, the manna stopped.

We are often confronted with families that are teetering on the brink of disaster. They come to us desperate for quick answers. Really though they want quick answers to a problem that has been slowly developing! The real problem though is while they were busy living, they failed to properly handle the family business. But when they talk to us they are quick to reassure us that God is going to work it out.

While that sounds like faith, in many cases it is nothing more than denial. We are very strong advocates for having an active and energized faith. But we are advocates of the process of initiative, smart work and common sense as well – even if it is not as common as it used to be.

Hiding bill envelopes in the desk drawer with the idea of getting to it sooner or later is not good business. Avoiding meeting with creditors because you don’t like “drama” is not good business. And waiting until the day before the court date or the deadline before reaching out for help and a solution is not good business. Let us give you some tips for the proper handling of “Family Business.”

First understand that there really is something called Family Business. Think of your family as a corporation. You have a product – a successful family lifestyle. Your mission statement could be something like, having a vision for the future, we prepare now one day at a time. Your vision statement could be “Making sure our children call us blessed.”

The CEO of the corporation is the head of the house. The chief operating officer and financial comptroller is probably your companion. Your work force should include your children. Yes, there is nothing wrong with giving work assignments to your children. It does wonders for building character in them. Your accounts receivables are your incomes. Of course, your accounts payable are your bills. Your assets are all the valuable things you own. You have a family business.

Here are some tips for making the family business work. First, acknowledge that you have a family business and that it needs to be cared for and developed. Secondly, learn the value of outsourcings. It’s called getting some help. The things that you’re good at you should do. But if you know that you cannot handle money for instance, outsource. Let someone trustworthy help keep your Family Business solvent.

Third, have regular business meetings. The management committee should never be in the dark about the issues associated with the Family Business. Decisions made should be the result of open and honest discussions. Don’t forget to develop an incentive program to reward you when business goals are met. A nice business meeting in Hawaii every now and then really works. Most importantly make sure that the business is solid enough to thrive even after the principles have retired.

Oh, before we end, let us remind you to tell your stories. Someone can benefit from you retelling both what you did well and what you didn’t.