Tips for a Successful Family Business | 24 Myths of Working in a Family Business
Millionaire's Corner | Biblical Business Tips | Rules to Live By

Tips for a Successful Family Business

1. Revolutionary changes foster fear, confusion and dissension.

2. Rarely does everyone learn of change in the same way, at the same time and to the same intensity.  When the news is circulated, expect confusion.

3. If something goes wrong, fix it first, then worry about who was at fault and how to prevent it in the future.

4. Teach the importance of details.  Many colleges only teach broad concepts.  The family members must be taught how to convert concept to reality with attention to detail.  Ask about details regularly.

5. Accept inefficiency in the learning phase.  Few people are efficient at everything they do.  You're better off gaining commitment and enthusiasm at the beginning as a trade-off for total efficiency.

24 Myths of Working in a Family Business
by Mike O'Malley
Myth #15:  "I don't care what happens to the business, I just want the kids to be happy."

• As the Boss...If you focus on the history of the family, you'll tell them what they want to hear.  If you focus on the future of the business, you'll tell them the truth.

• The Business of Family:  Have a rubber stamp made with the words "From the Library of (your name)."  Stamp the inside front cover of your favorite books.  Loan some of them to your nieces and nephews.

• I know I shouldn't be preaching, but just once I have to say "pick up your darn phone."  Call the family member you're not speaking to.  Say these 16 words:  "I want this to stop.  I want to find a way to make our relationship work."

• How to choose your successor:  the entrails.

Millionaire's Corner

• Millionaires are more likely to be found shopping at Wal-Mart and/or K'Mart than shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue or Brooks Brothers.

• Millionaires see creative intelligence as a major factor in explaining economic success.  Creative intelligence includes:  -seeing opportunities that others do not see, - finding a profitable niche, -specializing, -loving your career or business.

• Even steel cannot be hardened unless it's hammered, and it's no different with people.  Self-made millionaires report that degrading evaluations and comments by certain authority figures played a role in their ultimate success in life.  Hammering built the antibodies they needed to deflect criticism and temper their resolve.

Biblical Business Tips

• The master key of faith is obedience.  Obedience is doing anything God asks you to do.

• The key of obedience unlocks God's blessings in your life.

• Obedience is the real proof of your faith and confidence in God's word.

• Desire is a motivating force that causes you to grow in faith.

• Know where you are, then decide where you want to be.  Your faith in God will take you to where you want to be.

Rules to Live By

"Where a man does his best with only moderate powers, he will have the advantage over negligent superiority." - Jane Austen

"I believe that any man's life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day, and as nearly as possible reaching the high-water mark of pure and useful living." - Booker T. Washington

"Wealth is not of necessity a curse, nor poverty a blessing.  Wholesome and easy abundance is better than either extreme; better for our manhood that we have enough for daily comfort, enough for culture, for hospitality, for charity.  More than this may or may not be a blessing.  Certainly it can be a blessing only by being accepted as a trust." - Roswell D. Hitchcock