Some Family Business Owners and Execs
Reflect on Their Relationships
Here are a few observations from business families on “What are the biggest challenges in working with family members?”
SHERI SMITH
Owner
Gourmet Catering, Fullerton
Works with husband, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, half sister, stepfather-in-law, stepmother
The biggest challenge working with your family members (especially husband and wife, as in our case) might be the old adage “I’m not a prophet in my own home,you’ve seen me naked.” The biggest challenge with brothers working together (as in our case) is all the old “issues” from childhood, and competitiveness. The biggest challenge when brothers have a sister working with them is that the brothers are harder on her than the other employees. They probably expect more, rightly or wrongly so.
The biggest challenge when a parent works with their children and the children are the ones in charge (as in our case) is that the parent may have a tendency to think that they are right and possibly usurp authority. Other than that, the best challenge is having an organization that you grow as a team and are able to help your family members by providing a good income and future.
DONALD AYRES JR.
Chairman
Ayres Hotel Group, Costa Mesa
The main thing is to keep everyone going on different types of projects from operating construction design to completion and decorating.
DONALD AYRES III
VP of Operations
Ayres Hotel Group
The biggest challenge is keeping egos out of it and keeping focused on the overall picture.
DICK SEAHOLM
Owner
Richmar Shirts and Signs, Costa Mesa
Works with wife
I think I can best answer it in two parts:
1) Early on, when writing your business plan, define the various functions each partner should be responsible for. This will eliminate a lot of unnecessary arguments later.
2) Apply a generous blend of patience, understanding and humor (a hug now and then doesn’t hurt, either).
JIM DE MARCO
Owner
Greater Alarm Co., Irvine
Works with brother
We are often interacting at work, and we cannot let problems during the day interfere with our family lives. It takes a lot of patience and effort, but the benefits far outweigh any problems.
Regular partners seem to break up much more easily in business than blood relatives. I cannot ever stop George from being my brother.
Through all the good and bad, this deep bond has kept us working together after almost 20 years. I know I could not have grown the company to over 150 employees in five offices in California without him.
DIANA HIRST
Operations manager and co-owner
Hi-Times Wine Cellars, Costa Mesa
Works with two brothers, a sister-in-law, a cousin and “my son works part time.”
We have more family here than what we know what to do with!
Probably the nicest thing is you have a lot of flexibility because you have a lot of trust. You can take time off, because we all have kids. You have other people you can trust. If someone is on vacation, you have someone here.
It’s a little hard to agree on things. Try to keep family separate from business,you want to keep everything separate.
Have a lot of patience. You just have to be very forgiving and you know you have to let a lot of things go. You can’t get real critical, you have to let little things not bother you and look at the big picture. Everyone has their strong and weak points.
