The Up’s and Down’s of a Family Owned Business

By Kristin Nagel

So you think you want to start your own business and have your family help you run it? Just think of the money you will save. You won’t have to pay so many employees, all of the profits will go to yourself and your family and you can set your own schedule. Sounds great doesn’t it? We’ll see.

This may sound like a great idea, but the picture isn’t always as pretty as it may seem. Take it from me, it isn’t always so easy. I work with my husband’s family (yes that includes my mother-in-law) in our family owned landscape business. My husband’s grandfather started the business over fifty years ago. From there my father-in-law took over and eventually his wife quit her job to help him run the business. They had three children and they made enough money with the business to get along just fine. Eventually those kids grew up, married, and stayed with the business. Now the business has to generate enough money to support four families plus pay the employees.

This is just one of the things that you don’t think about as you are starting your own business. You figure that all you need to do is make enough money to support yourself. To me this is sometimes very stressful. We have had to lay off employees, use disaster unemployment, and some of the family has had to get outside jobs at times just to make it. There are many sacrifices that come along with owning your own business. You may think that you will have the life of leisure and get to take off any time that you want ~ not true. You actually have to put in more or longer hours than if you were just an employee. I’ve personally had to stay and finish a landscape job with my husband until eleven at night because we had to meet a deadline and all of the employees wanted to go home.

Another thing that you have to think about is how much interaction is too much. I spend six days a week for nine months of the year with my in-laws. In the winter this is lessened to four days a week but there is still daily conversation. Now if your in-laws are people that irritate you or if you can not take the fact that they are going to pretty much know your every move and everything about you, this is not for you. My family and friends can’t believe that I can spend so much time with my in-laws. Let me just clarify that I work with my husband, my mother-in-law, father-in-law, my husband’s brother, and his sister and her husband. To top it all off we all live with-in a stone’s throw from each other. Talk about all in the family, but luckily we get along just great!

The biggest stress that comes with owning your own family business is that the success or failure rests on your shoulders. You are the boss. There is no one to blame if things go bad. If the interest rates at the bank go up, or if fuel prices exceed your estimated plans you have to figure out how to generate more money to cover the extra costs. You can’t just go home and not worry about how you’re going to make payroll, what prices to bid on a job and in our case, if it’s going to rain or be a drought. All of these things are on your mind constantly and can make or break your business.

On the up side, you ARE the boss. If your kids are sick, you can stay home and not worry about losing sick days or you can bring them with you to work. If you need to leave early for any reason, you can. You are the highest paid person on the payroll (if you make enough to pay payroll). You are in control. You get to decided what the best option is for the situation. You don’t have to go through a long line of people to approve or disapprove of what you want to do. If you think its right, you do it.

In my case, we are a seasonal business. Once the snow starts to fly, we start to slow down. This means that I get to spend more time with my kids and my husband. I get to catch up on all of those projects that I had put off all summer. It’s just a little time to refresh our minds and bodies until the next season begins. I know that if I worked for an outside company I would never have the flexibility that I have now.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you are thinking about starting your own business with your family, be sure to consider the things I mentioned. Every day is not going to be easy and things will go wrong. There will be some stressful days and you will wonder “What in the world was I thinking?!”, but in the end you are working for yourself and the rewards and satisfaction you get from succeeding will out weigh the down’s any day!


Kristin lives in Medford, MN where she runs a landscaping business with her husband's family. She is currently working toward her BS in Business. In her spare time she enjoys camping with her husband and three kids, fishing and gardening.

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Making the Boss Happy

By Alicia Burkel

What would make me the best? How can I proceed to the top? How do I make my boss happy? These are the questions that pass through most of the currently employed members of today’s society. The answer is only a few steps away. I will show you how to improve your boss’ outlook on you as an employee by taking a few steps in the right direction. The steps begin with learning to utilize punctuality, time management, prioritizing, organization, and displaying a willingness to learn.

Punctuality, be on time, be ready, set and go. Many employers enjoy when you come to work regularly and on time. If an employer has to be concerned with the thought of you might not coming or being late if you did show up, your employment becomes lower on the value scale. When you arrive a bit early, you not only give yourself the advantage of preparation but it shows your boss they can depend on you.

Time management is the key to doing your job effectively. Be prepared, don’t just punch in and then decide to collect all of the things necessary for you to complete your job! Time is a huge part of an effective business. As my current employer would say, “Time is money.” This quote is very true, when you are not ready, you are wasting their time, the consumer’s time and your manager’s time is costing the company money. You and I both know most companies do not have the luxury of throwing money out the door on each employee. So be considerate of that.

I can’t find anything! Do you even know where your desk is? How can you find it in this mess! Are these phrases you hear a lot? They shouldn’t be. In order to assist your boss in a productive and effective business you have to be organized. It allows you to find things at the drop of a hat. Think about it; what if you were at home and nothing was organized? You have to spend time looking for your keys, your wallet or even that movie you wanted to watch and all you want to do is relax and get your errands done. Your boss feels the same way. They want to come into work and know that everything is easily accessible to keep the business going. Do them a favor and be organized!

What comes first?? Well, you need to be able to determine this. If your boss is anything like mine, they will throw a laundry list of things that need to be done in your direction. You need to show that you can handle this. Assert yourself, delegate responsibilities and prioritize what you need to complete. Sometimes, there is not always the time to allow for the entire list to be completed. However, if you show your boss that you have completed what was of most importance, their satisfaction will be eminent.

Examples of things a boss never wants to hear include “I don’t know how to do that” and “that is not part of my job!” Always be willing to learn. You may have had years of training and education but there is always more to learn. Be open minded; when you are approaching a task don’t think of it as a chore look at it as an exciting experience. When your boss asks you to do something that you are unsure of how to complete say, “No but I am more than willing to learn!” It shows that you take a sincere approach to the job. Your boss will appreciate your enthusiasm and put other opportunities in front of you. By opening the door to learning and experience you become more valuable as an employee.

These few steps will make a great difference in your boss’ opinion instantly. You will also feel better about the effort you place in your work and feel great achievement because of this. Your boss will enjoy the changes and will admire your work ethic. It’s easy, so what are you waiting for?? Improve your boss’ outlook on you, today.

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Welcome to the Business and Finance page of Hot Psychology Magazine

The world of business encompasses a variety of topics; therefore, various topics will be discussed here dealing with business and the people involved in it (stakeholders). There have been articles about motivation, business planning, employee satisfaction and most recently life insurance decisions as well as many more. In future articles, we will share how to make your boss happy and the operations of a family owned business.

The Business and Finance team looks forward to engaging in conversation regarding the topics shared in the articles. We feel this will enhance the relationship we already have with you.

To all a great day and we will see you in the virtual world.

Should I Buy Term or Whole Life?

By Jay S. Harrison

At some times in our life, we are faced with buying life insurance for ourselves and/or our family. There are so many types, and so many companies. What kind should we buy? What are the purposes? What are the differences?

Before telling you what the differences are between whole life and term life insurances, I will let you know a little about my background in this area. As a financial analyst, I was an independent distributor that issued term life insurance for over four years. I have sold, and am currently selling whole life insurance, with the availability to sell some term. I am a debit route insurance producer licensed to sell within the state of Louisiana. I provide home service to my clients. Most of my customers prefer me to collect their monthly premiums from their homes.

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Calling Into Work Made Easy, or The Ease of Technological White Lies

By Rene Cintron

Many people have called in sick to work when they were actually just fine. Well, I have been reading many news reports lately about how technology is making it easier to lie to the boss. As the world becomes more technologically advanced with such mediums of communication as email and text messaging, it will become easier to call in sick and to distort the truth.

The majority of people admitted to feeling less guilty about lying when having the electronic device between them and the boss. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is not having to pretend with voice adjustments or background noise changes.

Even calling in with cell phones makes it easier because the phone call can be made from anywhere. The caller can say that they are home sick or at the doctor’s office and actually be elsewhere. Take away the voice and now the text message comes in to say: “I’m sick not coming.”

Not only has the caller remove the voice factor, but also the response factor. The boss now can call or text back. At this point, the caller feels that they have accomplished their part of the deal by notifying the boss and feel that there is no further communication needed. This means that they will more than likely not answer the phone and attribute it to something else. The boss may be forced to text back. Now, the caller has time to think of a great answer / excuse to give the boss.

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