If Necessary, Do You Have the Courage to Fire a Family Member?

I have been coaching business owners for over 14 years.  Frequently, I am working with multiple generations and relatives in a family business. This is perhaps the most challenging of circumstances as it complicates the rigors of running a business with the legacy emotions of family.  It goes without saying, that it not always a fait accompli that the next generation or sibling will work well within the confines of what has made the enterprise successful.  There are circumstances, and not necessarily infrequent, where a separation from a family member is required to eliminate the unnecessary friction in a business.

Firing a family member is one of the most difficult and emotionally charged actions a family business leader may face. While separation is never the goal, it must be an available option—just as it is for every other employee in your business.  Providing latitude in the performance or attitude of a family member sends a powerful signal to the rest of the team that there are two sets of rules.

Family businesses often bring a new generation in with high hopes, inspiration, and energy. But sometimes, that enthusiasm is accompanied by a sense of entitlement. When younger family members don’t take time to understand the business's legacy, its customer base, its culture, its rhythm, they miss the very foundation on which future success has been, and will continue to be, built. The concern for incumbent leaders is real.  Their retirement and the business’s future are inextricably linked to how well the next generation leads.

So how do you navigate a possible separation?

1. Set Clear Expectations Early
Before a problem arises, every family hire should begin with a written contract. Define roles, responsibilities, KPIs, and timelines for each role they take on.  You do this for any employee you recruit, right?  These contracts should include a performance review process and clear consequences for underperformance.

2. Implement Accountability Structures
Leadership should establish regular one-on-one check-ins with a non-family manager, or better yet, a third-party business coach who is working with the younger family member. It is these individuals and not the older relatives that should be watching performance to expectations.  These conversations help remove emotional bias and encourage objective assessment to maintain a level playing field. Improvement plans should be documented with measurable goals and deadlines, if dictated.

3. Engage a Neutral Third Party
When challenges arise, bring in a qualified, experienced coach who understands both family dynamics and business demands. (Turns out I know one!). Having a neutral party helps reduce tension and can bridge the communication gap between generations.  Sometimes, this is all it takes.

4. Hold Honest and Frequent Meetings
Don’t let problems fester. Open the door to candid conversations where improvement is the focus should things begin to deteriorate.  Provide the younger generation with the observations of their coach/mentor/manager.  Allow them the space for rebuttal.  Make sure that targeted behavior is reducible to transparent data that is irrefutable.  Be honest about what’s working and what’s not—and what will happen if things don’t change.

If all else fails…..

5. Plan for a Soft Landing
If separation becomes necessary, never rush it. A phased transition, combined with financial and emotional support is important.  Provide career counseling so that a good opportunity matched with their talents and interest is secured.  Just because a family member may not be working in the business does not mean they won’t benefit from it.  If this is a possibility, it is worth weaving into discussions. A great new opportunity for the separated relative can preserve the family relationship in ways that are difficult to quantify. The goal is not to win the battle but to protect the family bond.

In the end, business is business, but family is forever. Handle both with respect, empathy, and structure, and you can navigate even the hardest decisions with dignity.  Should any of this resonate with you, I welcome the opportunity for a private complimentary discussion of your situation.

How Small Business Owners Can Stay Proactive and Resilient

Today’s small business owners are operating in one of the most volatile climates in decades. Between shifting political winds, inflation, rising interest rates, and global supply chain disruptions, it can feel like you’re constantly playing defense. But the key to surviving—and thriving—is to avoid isolation and stay engaged.

Here are three powerful ways to stay proactive in uncertain times:

1. Get Connected—Don’t Go It Alone
Isolation breeds inactivity. Networking, coaching, and peer-to-peer groups provide vital insights into how others are handling the same challenges. Whether it’s a mastermind group, local chamber, or online business forum, surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs can help you identify trends, discover resources, and gain perspective. Learning from others shortens your decision-making curve and builds resilience.

2. Stay Nimble and Diversify
Make your business more adaptable by minimizing fixed costs, diversifying suppliers, and rethinking your dependency on any one customer or market. Agility is a competitive advantage—those who can pivot quickly will survive disruption and spot new opportunities faster than their rigid competitors.

3. Develop Your People and Yourself
In uncertain environments, your team and your leadership matter more than ever. Invest in training and development—for both your employees and you. A well-trained team can adapt and take initiative, and a business owner who’s learning and evolving will always be more equipped to handle change.

Today’s business climate demands more than grit—it requires connection, adaptability, and strategic foresight. The businesses that remain engaged, open, and proactive are the ones best positioned to turn challenges into opportunities. Don’t wait to react—build the support network, tools, and mindset to lead confidently through whatever comes next.

Navigating Tariff Turbulence: Strategies for Small Business Resilience

Global tariff battles have unsettled many small business owners I work with, raising costs and disrupting supply chains. The good news is that this isn’t a collapse of the U.S. economy, but it is a moment that calls for their nimbleness, creativity, and strategic adjustment. We must all focus on what you can control, so we can stay empowered and adapt our businesses to thrive amid the uncertainty. The key is to be proactive, flexible, and resourceful in responding to tariff-driven challenges.

Strategic Actions for Uncertain Times

Secure Your Inventory Pricing and Access: Develop a plan to keep critical inventory flowing. Evaluate current stock levels and consider building up reserves of foreign-sourced components before new tariffs hit.  This buffer can buy you time and prevent supply shocks if import costs spike or shipments slow down.

Diversify Your Supplier Base: Don’t rely on a single overseas supplier for key materials or products. Proactively research and establish relationships with multiple global suppliers to spread your risk . A more diversified supplier network makes your supply chain resilient – if tariffs or regulations hit one country, you can pivot to other sources without major disruption.

Leverage Volume for Stable Pricing: Talk to your vendors and explore consolidation of purchases to gain pricing stability. By increasing order volumes or pooling purchases (even via a group purchasing organization), you can negotiate longer-term contracts that lock in steadier prices. Suppliers are often willing to offer discounts or fixed pricing in exchange for guaranteed large orders, shielding you from sudden cost swings.

Streamline Your Product Offerings: It may be wise to simplify your menu of products to those with more controllable costs. Focus on items where you have pricing power or higher margins, so tariff costs can be passed through to customers more gradually.   For example, consider pausing products heavily affected by import taxes and emphasizing alternatives with local ingredients or tariff-free components. Refining your product mix helps protect your profitability.  Should you have to make global, significant, and immediate price changes to your customers, you render yourself to be an unreliable source.  Those companies that are able to soften the impact

Explore Vertical Integration: Think creatively about the possibility of acquiring the production capability or sourcing more of your materials domestically. By producing key components in-house or partnering with local manufacturers, you reduce reliance on foreign imports. This kind of vertical integration can insulate you from tariff volatility in the long run. Even if full in-house production isn’t feasible, investing in domestic supply for critical parts or ingredients can provide a stable backbone for your business.

In summary, now is the time for thoughtful decision-making and bold action. Engage in diligent research, negotiate smart deals, and be ready to adjust course as conditions evolve. Remember, in a landscape defined by uncertainty, adaptability is your strongest asset. With a nimble and creative strategy, your small business can weather this tariff turbulence and emerge even stronger.

Experience Meets Innovation: Thriving in Multi Generational Family Businesses

Father and Son collaborate on their business - blending traditional wisdom with new ideas in their multi-generational enterprise.

Multi-generational family businesses face unique emotional and operational dynamics. On one hand, senior family members bring decades of hard-earned wisdom and deep industry insight. They’ve weathered market cycles and know what has historically worked, providing a stabilizing legacy for the company.    However, this strength can become a hurdle when the older generation is slower to adopt new technologies or modern business practices, sometimes prioritizing stability over change.  On the other hand, the younger generation is often brimming with innovative, tech-savvy ideas. They readily embrace current technologies and fresh strategies to keep the business competitive.  Yet, lacking the same long-term perspective, younger leaders might not fully foresee the consequences of their bold initiatives, potentially undervaluing the proven practices that underpin the business.

Generational Strengths and Gaps

• Seasoned Leadership (Older Generation): Veteran family executives offer invaluable experience, institutional knowledge, and trusted relationships. Their insight into their customers behavior and operational nuances helps avoid pitfalls.   At the same time, they may be cautious about abrupt change, which can lead to hesitation in adopting cutting-edge tools or workflows.

• Innovative Drive (Younger Generation): Rising members bring fresh perspectives and a natural affinity for innovation. They excel at leveraging emerging technologies and modern marketing channels, infusing the business with creativity and agility.  However, without the context of history, they risk moving too fast or disrupting processes that actually work, highlighting a need for guidance from elder mentors.

Fostering an Open, Collaborative Culture

The key to turning these differences into a competitive advantage is open and honest collaboration. Successful family enterprises intentionally cultivate a neutral space where ideas can be shared freely and without ego. Clear, respectful communication is crucial – everyone must feel heard. In fact, studies show that open inter-generational dialogue is critical to bridging tradition and innovation, ensuring the business continues to thrive.  Regular family meetings or strategy sessions provide a forum to vet ideas thoroughly, combining the seasoned foresight of one generation with the inventive spark of the other. By creating a “safe and respectful environment” for debate, where opinions are valued on merit rather than seniority, families produce well-rounded solutions with input from all sides.

Equally important is striving for unanimous buy-in on major decisions. When both generations understand the reasoning and collectively agree on a path forward, execution becomes unified rather than undermined. Without such alignment, decision-making can stall or devolve into conflict. Many thriving family firms achieve consensus by having the elders share context and caution while letting younger voices challenge old assumptions – ultimately arriving at decisions everyone supports. This collaborative approach leverages the full spectrum of experience and creativity in the family.

By blending old and new in an atmosphere of mutual respect, multi-generational businesses stay at the forefront of their industry without discarding the time-tested practices that define their brand. The result is an enterprise that innovates continuously yet remains grounded in its core values – a balance that drives sustained growth, long-term success, and high customer satisfaction through each generation.

Does the Family Run the Business or Does the Business Run the Family

How do you prepare the next generation in the family to lead?

Running a family-owned business can be immensely rewarding: you’re building a livelihood that literally shares your name. Yet with that pride comes a unique set of challenges that distinguish these enterprises from other ventures.

1. Blurred Boundaries
When your office and your living room overlap, it’s hard to “clock out.” Family members often carry work stress home, and personal disputes can spill into boardroom meetings. Establishing clear working hours, communication protocols, and “no-work” family time is essential.  The goal is park your family relationship at the door.

2. Succession Planning
Deciding who takes the helm next is fraught with emotion. You may feel obligated to pass leadership to the eldest child, even if their skills lie elsewhere. Without a transparent process—ideally documented in a family constitution or governance charter—expect clashes, confusion, and potentially a fractured legacy.

3. Conflict Resolution Styles
Different generations communicate differently. Baby boomers may prefer face-to-face discussions, while younger family members gravitate toward group chats or emails. Mismatched styles can impede problem solving. Investing in conflict-resolution training and agreeing on a shared toolkit (for example, weekly structured meetings) helps bridge these gaps.

4. Balancing Meritocracy and Nepotism
It’s tempting to award coveted roles to family by default. But promoting based on ability, rather than bloodline, sustains morale and performance throughout the organization. Instituting objective performance metrics and involving independent advisors in hiring decisions can curb nepotism and reinforce fairness.

5. Emotional Decision-Making
Family bonds can lead to overly protective instincts—shielding underperformers, postponing tough but necessary conversations, or delaying market pivots. A structured decision-making framework (such as a simple cost-benefit template) can inject objectivity into emotionally charged scenarios.

6. Financing and Investment
External stakeholders (employees, clients, vendors, investors) may balk at open-ended family networks and informal governance. Creating professional proceedures, adopting standard corporate structures, and demonstrating clear, meritous succession plans will attract people, vendors and capital without sacrificing family control.

Despite these challenges, many family businesses endure for generations. By codifying governance, separating roles from relationships, and communicating clearly, you can convert familial bonds into sustainable business strengths—ensuring your legacy outlasts the next generation.

Small Business Owners Need to Learn How to Hire for Sales

As a small business owner, your resources are precious, and maximizing leverage is key to your success. One of the most effective ways to achieve this leverage is by hiring a great salesperson. An exceptional salesperson can drive growth, enhance your customer base, and significantly increase revenue. However, the wrong hire can be a costly misstep.

The stakes are high. On average, the cost to recruit, hire, train, equip, pay, and manage a salesperson is about $240,000. This investment should yield positive returns, but a poor performer can drag your business down, consuming resources without delivering results. This makes the hiring process critical—far more important than making a quick decision.

So, how do you ensure you hire the right person? It's essential to remember that seasoned salespeople are often adept at handling typical interview questions, presenting themselves in the best light possible. To find a true fit, you must reverse the script. Instead of focusing on what they say, pay close attention to what they do. Observe their behavior, how they interact with your team, and their approach to real-world scenarios.

Consider practical assessments, role-playing exercises, or an obstacle course that mirrors real-life sales challenges. This method can reveal their problem-solving skills, adaptability, and true capabilities beyond rehearsed answers. The goal is to see their genuine performance and how they handle pressure—traits that are crucial in a high-stakes sales environment.

Taking the time to find the right hire is not just a recommendation; it’s a necessity. The right salesperson will not only meet but exceed your expectations, driving your business forward and providing a return on investment that justifies the effort and cost.

For a more detailed guide on how to implement a practical assessment in your hiring process, contact me at [email protected]. Let’s ensure your next hire is a catalyst for your business's growth and success.