When starting your business you may feel compelled to hire friends and family, especially if you’re not sure who to hire or have friends and family with the need for a job. However, there are few things to consider before you hire a member of your family or a close friend. One thing to consider is how you would feel if the business caused problems with your friendship or the closeness with your family and this can happen. Too often people don’t think about how a friendship or family member can be affected by the everyday decisions of a job or business.
Consider how your friend or family member would feel if you had to let them go. This can be due to financial issues, downsizing or simply a conflict between the two of you. Maybe they’re just not a good fit for your company. Regardless of the reason, these types of things can happen and you don’t want your business relationship to affect your friendship or closeness with your family due to every day issues that can come up. This doesn’t mean that you can’t successfully work with a family member or friend but it does mean that you should probably consider all the factors that can affect your relationship before you hire them.
The important thing to remember is if you do decide to hire friend or family member, sit down with them and discuss how your business relationship is not a part of your everyday relationship. Have the understanding that work is separate and it should be treated that way.