9 WAYS TO BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY BUSINESS

This is not the post where I will tell you about a super amazing business plan. If you do dwell on a business plan for too long and perfecting it then it may mean delaying the start of the business.

An idea may come to either of you, yourself or your spouse but the most important thing I have learnt is that you need to be one with your spouse and that not only strengthens your relationship but you get to work and support each other on a common cause and no one will blame another when a challenge comes.

What I love about a family business is that you are each other’s partners, you share the same values, beliefs, dreams and growth stays within the family and you can teach your children practically the world of business while they are young and it becomes foundational within them forever.

So let us see together what I have learnt in doing business with my husband that could help you become a helpful part in the business or that could assist your family to start the family business you already have in mind.

Father I pray that what I speak here today may build families and may it be your spirit that speaks as you accomplish that which you intend for us in each season for your glory. For your name’s sake may this be about you oh God and your people as they live in abundance and experience the fullness of Life that you are.

Amen.

PARTNER TOGETHER

One of our biggest lessons was becoming business partners with each other. Of course there are ways you can protect the family assets from the business but what matters on running the business smoothly is that you are sure your financial, sustainability, profitability goals are similar because of the love you share together.

This is something you can discuss with your spouse as the main leaders or directors and come to a place of agreement. Extended Family can be involved in such a manner that they can be employed I they are really good technically because remember we are not playing games here but building a sustainable business that will feed many families. This also reduces the disagreements in a bigger partnership involving more than the immediate family members.

Remember to be vigilant and wise, even when you do assign overseers you are still the best overseers yourselves because you have the best interest at heart for the business. So no matter how big the business grows still get involved in knowing your clients, your accounts and taking time to check on the daily running of the business.

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HAVE A FINANCIAL PLAN

OK guys, this will take some discipline from you. It may mean not lending money anytime you feel you can even when you know you have it in the business account because some people assume that when you run a business you can just give it away anytime and anyhow. This is meant for the business and you can pay yourself salaries as the Directors of the company but pay your employees first, leave some for re-investing and avoid borrowing when you have a big job to do.

One of our lessons is that there more the payments coming into the business account, use that to reinvest in the business by making orders and supplies for more jobs instead of holding on to the account balance which leaves you worse off. If you do that you end up spending on things you have not planned for leaving you needing to borrow all the time from other entities.

Doing business together helps you to have your goals aligned because when you know that the money you have currently is for paying salaries and running the business in general, you cannot spontaneously decide to go on holiday or buy a new pair of shoes or buy new car tires when it is not in the business plan to do personal things.

You will have the shared desire even financially because you want the business to be sustained so discipline will have to become part of your skills as you practice it daily.

There will be times when you will need financial support from one another too. Some families balance this off by having one spouse remain working full time or having a financial plan in place that will leave you better off even when challenging seasons hit. To make this more intimate, I am able to as i work full time to get affordable loans and bonuses which i can deposit into the business to grow it further.

This has taught us though to be very wise with loans, and to not take it unless and only if it is really necessary and we have exhausted our savings or ideas on raising capital for a certain job.

Eventually we will grow and we may both have to focus on the family business full time.

So remember that there are seasons and times that may be challenging but they shall pass and when they do the business needs to thrive.

Being wise in this area may mean not purchasing your dream car even when you can afford the installments but remain with the ones that are fully paid until you have a proper plan that will not weigh heavy on your finances.

YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM

Pay your employees or should I say your support staff well and treat them well. This is one of the most important lessons my husband has taught me consistently as I am in charge over our accounts and salaries in general. He taught me to pay people well and consistently before you can decide to improve the business instead of paying them.

This takes a lot of discipline in knowing that you need to let money go and pay your bills as well, paying your suppliers too so that money easily flows back to you.

Proverbs 3:27-28

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, And tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

More often this will need you to have faith that your business will be okay and not only that but keep growing. This means you do not have to cheat people to be in business.

Being a leader means also being able to understand that the person you are leading has a family and the impact you have on that person has to build them up and not tear the down. God loves His people, be vigilant in leading people because you are to serve them than the other way around.

Matthew 23:11-12
11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM GOALS

Being a family does not exempt you from planning for your company. You still need to plan ahead listing down the challenges you have, asking God for wisdom to assist you in getting a way forward and working on improving the business over the small details that will actually improve the business over time invested in it.

What do you want the business to look like in the short term?

Let us talk about in a week, in a month?

How can we improve the business daily?

It is easy to lose track of your goals and plans if you are not specific on your plans. When, where, how are questions that will lead you to showing up up for your own office and especially whenever distractions come in the form of challenges maybe at home or in the business itself.

So you need to pay attention to things like quotations, invoices, petty cash, orders, preparing tax returns, equipment, servicing the company car, supplies, checking your emails and responding; if you sleep on these small details, it may work against you.

You just need a plan on how to actually do all that. My advice would be have a specific time and an office space at home to work on the orders, quotations and invoices as you improve other areas too.

As the company grows you may consider adding more staff and delegating but remember to know your business fully and be hands on.

What are your long term goals?

Surely you have not arrived at your business destination, if you think you have then create another goal so your business grows. Look at the list of your clients and decide that it may be time to look for more clients to add to your list.

Hopefully soon in another blog post I will be writing a post on this new app for businesses that helps put all those business processes in a customized way in just one system.

FOCUS ON THE INPUT MORE

Business can be so challenging sometimes especially at infancy stage that you may be tempted to quit. I remember confessing on my mini blog post on Facebook which I will link below how running a business is not fancy at all, there are rewards but you get to do the work and at times there is so much pressure that will need you to be stronger and more resilient than you have ever known yourself to be.

So I will quote one of the speakers I love to listen to these days and I am learning a lot from his you tube videos and his name is Vusi Thembekwayo. Find time and listen to some of his videos.

“If you start a business, enjoy each part of the process, if you are in month one enjoy paying attention to detail in month one and year 5 will come”

He also goes on to relate how his mother when he was a young boy wanted him to pay attention to detail even in his dressing up he would make sure he irons his clothes well and kept on improving his performance at work.

So I urge you that business can be tough, and times of disagreement comes like in any business or any marriage but allow God’s wisdom to breathe through you even in those moments, seek clarity and nurture your business with love as you would with your new born baby, one day the baby will be feeding himself, walking by himself and eventually she will be running.

BUILD ON YOUR PATIENCE

This may as well be a skill, learn that there is something called compound interest and success may not come overnight as we perceive it does on social media but you build on moments as you do a relationship, career, home or character. Learn to be patient, business is not about showing off a lifestyle, I do not know what it is to you and why you desire a business.

Most people desire financial freedom and that is what our major desire was at first with my husband and as we grew our desire became providing employment , serving others, and really living well by eating healthy, sharing our proceeds and building this legacy for our family for our children’s children and the generations that follow after that.

Business may require your maturity because you have to stop thinking like the crowds but you think beyond this moment.

The business will have seasons of challenges and at times its financial muscle will be affected but be patient, this is the time to keep going and next time challenges come you take strength on your past resilience and you can only grow from that.

A lot of people will learn a lot from you including your children. Remember life is more than just about you but it’s bigger than where you are and the time you are living in.

CREATE YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Creating your environment is so broad now that I think of it. You can be whomever you desire to be but your environment has to allow growth or be conducive for growth. a scenario may be like this; having friends who do not believe in anything you do yet you have a successful business and see how it affects your mind and then affects your actions making you sabotage yourself and then affects your business negatively.

Genesis 12:1
And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

Your mind is so amazing that you can actually achieve something in your mind and actually achieve it . So pay attention to such things as your FEED on social media. I am pretty sure there is a reason they call it a feed. You feed your mind with what people post there and you focus on that which you notice each moment and it may stay within you forming a belief you may not even be aware of.

It is time to customize your feed. What are your values? What are your goals? What are your dreams? let align it even to our feed, downloaded you tube videos and more.

What if your social media feed started to look like your values, beliefs, goals and dreams? And remove anything contrary to that.

I heard many times that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with so it’s time to create your environment and make it to be conducive for your business to breath and grow. Mind who actually surrounds you and if it does not work for your growth then shift from that space.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

It is a family business, allow the children to take part and learn so much about business while they are young. This takes us back to our introduction today, this is the time when the lives of our children is being shaped including their beliefs.

I have to be honest that running a business for me challenged me so much causing me so much anxiety because all I heard while growing up is that I have to go to school and then get a job. The idea of being in business was never really established in me and I had to grow beyond that knowing, confront it and challenge it.

One of our mentors Nomsa Moyo who also has a podcast that i will be sharing with you is one where we have learnt so much about business and has built a big business herself yet she does not show it off but remains humble and such an inspiration. I started to believe such in our business just by surrounding ourselves with such a power house.

As our children grow let us be open minded and allow our children to think with us, give us their ideas, and draw what they imagine for the family business.

Last week Saturday my husband and I had a business meeting with a family friend and he reminded us how important it is to allow children to be, for them to challenge you sometimes and just learn to express themselves and not suppress who they are. Unless of course expressing themselves may be harmful or disrespectful then teach them and model being disciplined and respectful.

PRAY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

I always say that the spirit who knows all things will reveal to you things that your natural mind would not have perceived on its own making your path clear.

A business is a living thing and holding onto every part of it and sometimes trying to fix things yourself may be so exhausting and that is what may result in a burnout and you end up not enjoying even having the business in the first place.

Bring it before God and pray for its protection, provision, guidance, life, and every area of the company that you may be overlooking even right now. Then trust God that you will be at the right time, right place, the right mind for opportunities and God will open those opportunities for your company.

Remember to walk in obedience, when God speaks learn to listen and as He guides you follow and that also builds your faith as you listen to God in the small things He trusts you with the bigger and growth is guaranteed and that is your investment that is stored in the heavenly places.

You cannot pray to someone you do not know, build your faith by reading the word, sometimes just read where God leads a family and see how God takes one from one place to another which makes your understanding of God deeper as challenges comes , how one can trust in Him and not be shaken. He will guide you through stories and you will learn that God is not a magician but a Father who teaches you to sow and reap, and also teaching you to have Faith in Him.

I trust and know that this has been so full of knowledge as it has been for me too as I write I am revived within me to keep growing our family business and trusting God to sustain it as we align ourselves too.