All in the Family

The Psychodynamics of the Family-Owned Laundry Business – And How to Keep Yours Running Smoothly and EfficientlyMy guess is that early on nearly all small businesses were family-run businesses, especially in smaller towns. Since then, we’ve evolved from there to having “regular” (non-related) employees as well.Nonetheless, the family-owned model has endured, even to the point of becoming cross-generational in many cases. There are roughly 30,000 vended laundries in the United States, and I would venture to guess that a substantial amount of these businesses are family-owned-and-operated.Writing a column about the psychodynamics of a family business is a daunting task, considering the complexity of such enterprises. In fact, it’s likely that many people have no idea just how complicated they can be. Then again, I would bet that most of you involved in family-run self-service laundries certainly understand what I mean.I’m very familiar with the family-owned concept. I began my professional career a number of years ago in a family-owned iron and steel foundry business. My father (clearly the boss), my brother and I were the owners. I spent 17 years there.Now, years later, I’m still in a family-owned business. This time, it’s a laundry machinery distributorship and one coin laundry – and it’s just two of us now, me and my (slightly) younger brother, Fred.I guess that makes me sort of an expert on family-owned businesses, huh?I’ve now been in the laundry business for more than 30 years, and a mere two letters differentiate my two occupational titles. It always struck me as highly amusing that I went from “foundry” to “laundry.” Maybe it’s because they rhyme.Owning a small business is often complicated. But owning a small business with other family members is uniquely complicated, from psychological and sociological standpoints.Among the typical problems in a family-owned business is something referred to as “role conflict.” This is the distinction between someone’s role in the family, and his or her role in the business. This issue can become mighty complicated and sensitive, depending on how it’s handled.Additionally, in a family-owned business, members are often given jobs simply because they are related to the owner. Many times in this scenario, the feelings of the non-family-member employees are that “success in the business is relative – and the closer the relative, the greater the success.” Another huge issue can involve multiple generations of relatives within a business – with the older generations feeling very attached to the business, which they truly consider to be theirs alone.Of course, not all family-owned businesses are small in size. Some family-owned operations are actually extremely large. Here are a few examples of some of the more well-known ones:• Mars, Inc., $30 billion in sales (candy manufacturer)• Bechtel Engineering, $31 billion in sales (construction)• Koch Industries, $100 billion in sales (diversified products)However, the fact remains that the vast majority of family-run companies typically fall into the category of “small businesses,” such as vended laundries.Permit me to share a story with you, just to set the tone: While in the family foundry business, I heard about an organization called the SOBs. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. These letters actually stood for “Sons of Bosses.” It was a group devoted to people like me, who found it a bit shall I say “nerve wracking” working for my father.I joined immediately. And we would have monthly meetings to share our stories and hopefully better understand our working relationships with good ol’ Dad.The meetings actually turned out to be a humorous combination of group therapy and complaining sessions, and honestly didn’t help me all that much. However, at the time, I remember being surprised that there was not a DOB organization as well.What makes family-owned businesses so complex psychologically and sociologically are the amount of possible combinations and permutations that the family scenario can assume. Here are 16 of the most common ones:• Father and son
• Father and daughter
• Father, son and daughter
• Husband and wife
• Brother and brother
• Brother and sister
• Sister and sister
• Husband, wife and son
• Husband, wife and daughter
• Grandfather, son and son’s son
• Grandfather, daughter and daughter’s son
• Grandfather, daughter and daughter’s daughter
• Grandmother, daughter and daughter’s son or daughter
• Grandmother, son and son’s son or daughter
• Cousins
• Other relatives and non-relativesThat’s quite an amazing list. And even more incredible is the fact that each of these has its own unique and distinct psychological and sociological aura and psychodynamics that would surely take a fairly long textbook to explain.Aside from the complexity of the day-to-day work environment, family-owned-and-operated small businesses can (and often do) relate differently to suppliers and customers than non-family-owned small businesses might.So, what’s the best way to structure your family-owned laundry business? Here are eight suggestions to keep your operation running as smoothly and efficiently as possible:1. All family members involved in the business should communicate on a regular basis by virtue of a scheduled meeting with a specific agenda. Make sure all of you are fully informed and on the same page strategically.2. Focus on keeping your business issues separate from family issues. In other words, business activities belong at the office, and family matters belong strictly at home. Never the twain shall meet.3. When you reach a business decision, always document it so that, if you ever have to refer to it in the future, it’s available to review in black-and-white.4. If “unresolvable” issues arise, employ an outside expert to mitigate the area of conflict on an objective level. 5. Listen to all family member and non-family member ideas for change and growth. A good idea is a good idea, no matter who came up with it.6. Agree on compensation based upon the nature of the job performed, not the person’s relationship to the family.7. Specifically define each job position’s responsibilities, and don’t permit any overlap – such as who is in charge of the attendants, etc.8. Formalize a succession strategy. Planning for the future of your business is critical.I couldn’t help but laugh at the photo I’ve included here. It’s a sign outside of a tire store located in the Midwest. When you’re in a family-owned-and-operated business, sometimes you’ve simply got to laugh – it’s far cheaper than therapy.