Involving Relatives in Business

In some cultures people involve their relatives in running of businesses. I am not sure in Tanzanian culture if this is very successful.  I have heard complaints from people on how their businesses die because of relatives. 

There are two aspects of relatives and their involvement in your business that I will discuss.

When you own a small establishment some relatives would think if they want something they can get it at a discount, or even for free!

Imagine someone with a small Kiosk , selling food items and every day one relative comes along and asks for sugar let’s say, promising to pay the following week.  At the end of the week you get a totally different story, I will get you the money, things have been tight. How ironic.

Maybe we should be taught in entrepreneurial studies how to deal with such cases.

I have one principle that could sound harsh, but at the end of the day it’s for the livelihood of my business. If you come to buy something, come with enough money. If by any chance you bought more stuff than the cash you have in hand, no worries, we set a date for payment. Come that day, I will remind you like I would remind any other customer of mine .In fact I would hassle you like there’s no tomorrow. Come on, its business for Gods’ sake, nothing personal!

On another note, having relatives run your business can be tricky. There’s that employer/employee relationship that has to be there but also there is the relative aspect that also has to be there. Both should be considered in the right proportion but neither party should take advantage of the other because of that relationship.

If I am to pay you on time, I will pay you like I would pay any other employee, and if you are to need permission for a day off or emergency, you should follow the same procedures as any other employee.

It is so easy to lay these ground rules, but implementation is the problem.