What family businesses exist. Family business

If you decide to start your own family business, then first you will need to carefully study the ideas for a family business from scratch. This is necessary because there is a large number of various kinds of pitfalls.

Any successful entrepreneurial activity from scratch is based on trust. Apparently, this is the main reason why family business ideas currently dominate in the field of small business.

Benefits of a family business from scratch

  • Relatives are interested in their common business idea being promising, while employees are pursuing exclusively their own goals;
  • Each of the employees knows all the positive and negative qualities of their colleagues, because they have known each other for far from the first year;
  • Relations within the team are relaxed and trusting;
  • Determined that family business at home is more promising than office;
  • Minimizing the risk of information leakage to competitors.

But, on the other hand, if you try to combine family relations with partnerships and financial, then certain kinds of difficulties may arise, which will naturally affect the deterioration of the intra-family atmosphere.

What is the best way to start a home business from scratch?

If a financial resources you have zero, but you still want to start a family business at home, we recommend that you consider the following home business options from scratch:

  • Assembly and disassembly of furniture;
  • Fun shop;
  • Courier services.

In addition to those presented, there are a huge number of other ideas. The choice of a particular one will depend solely on your preferences, as well as financial capabilities. For example, you can organize the delivery of food, which, by the way, you can also cook right at home. The female half of the team could do various kinds of housework.

If you decide to open a family business from scratch, then you just need to find out the features and "pitfalls" of this complex process. More on this below.

Is it worth starting a family business?

Many will think that the family is sacred and its members will never betray each other, so the family business is simply doomed to success. But is it really so? Let's figure this out. To begin with, we will tell you why it is worth organizing a family business.

  1. Members of the same family are interested in the prosperity of the business, unlike employees of standard firms. So everyone will strive to ensure that the business develops and is successful.
  2. The employees of the family firm have known each other since childhood, so they know each other. Everyone will know the flaws weak sides and the prevailing character traits of colleagues. And that can make doing business a lot easier.
  3. Relations in the team of such a company will be trusting and relaxed.
  4. It has been proven that family companies stay afloat much longer than other firms.
  5. If all employees of a family company are relatives, then this will significantly reduce the risk of information leakage to competitors. All production secrets will be carefully kept.

Now for the disadvantages:

  • when mixing career and money interests with family relationships and values, some difficulties may arise;
  • if difficulties arise, they are likely to affect the situation in the family;
  • some employees of a family firm may think that such a business is an opportunity to generate income without effort. And this is not good for the cause;
  • sometimes a person cannot objectively assess the abilities of his relative;
  • there may be disputes and disagreements about the income of employees.

It is worth weighing all the pros and cons in advance and decide whether the case will be successful in this particular situation. And only when all the risks and probable outcomes of events have been assessed, you can proceed to opening a case.

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Where to start: business ideas

So, to organize your family business, you need to find a win-win and profitable idea. This is not as easy to do as it might seem at first glance. It is important to study the characteristics of the market of a particular city in order to find out what is popular and most in demand. And you can come up with some kind of chip that will interest many and bring income. Another important point: you need to find out the ideas and abilities of your family members. Suddenly, one of them knows how to work superbly with his hands, is engaged in needlework and creates unique things. We offer a few sample ideas.

  1. Fun shop. you can sell fun and funny souvenirs. Today it is in demand.
  2. Home help agency. For example, the female part of the company could be engaged in cleaning (washing dishes and floors, vacuuming), and men are quite capable of performing purely male duties (for example, hanging a shelf).
  3. Services of couriers and loaders. Many need the delivery of documents, goods or something else. You can safely do just that.
  4. Homemade family meals. So, if one of the family members loves and knows how to cook, then you can organize a kind of mini-cafe right at home.
  5. Assembly and disassembly of furniture. This service is provided by furniture stores, but many prefer to save money and turn to a private master.

There are many more different ideas out there. But the choice of a single one depends on your family, its members, their abilities and capabilities.

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We draw up a business plan

A business plan is considered practically a document, because it will certainly be required if you are looking for investors or taking a loan. How to compose it? This includes several sections:

  1. Description of your project. Here you can specify how the company will work, what you will offer your client. In addition, in this part you can indicate the amount required for opening, as well as the time frame for which you plan to return it.
  2. Description of your business. Specify what goals you want to achieve (customer satisfaction) and how you will achieve them. Describe how you see your business, your customers and employees. You can even write the address of the future company.
  3. A listing and description of the goods and services that you will offer to consumers. Tell us what are the features of what you offer.
  4. The results of your marketing research, namely: listing your competitors, potential clients. Write about the specifics of the sales market and what niche your family company will occupy.
  5. Production plan. Here it is necessary to describe technological process from the beginning to the end.
  6. Sales plan. It should describe how you plan to sell the product. Do not forget to tell us how you are going to attract customers.
  7. Financial plan. Here you need to calculate and paint all the income and expenses of the enterprise.
  8. Firm stability analysis. Think of all ways to eliminate problems and get out of any situations. Assess the state of the company and its stability.
  9. Indication of laws and acts that will regulate the activities of your company.
  10. Applications: calculations, tables and so on.

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Other important points

What else do you need to start your family business?

  1. Capital. you decided to open a business from scratch, so most likely you don’t have your own money. Then you need to decide how and where you will get funds for opening, because without initial capital it is impossible to open almost any more or less serious business. If you decide to take a loan, then study all the available offers of banks and choose the most optimal one. You can find investors, but it's more difficult.
  2. Registration. The company must be registered. The form depends on the specific type of activity. Most often, they open an LLC or an individual entrepreneur. You can find out all the details and features of registration in the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
  3. Room. Decide where your firm will operate. For example, it could be an apartment. But if you are planning something large-scale, then it is better to rent a room.
  4. Equipment. Find out what devices, fixtures and appliances will be required to carry out the activities of a family business. Calculate how much money it can take. It is best to choose leasing at the initial stage, that is, to rent equipment in order to understand whether the business will be profitable. And you can buy used devices, but always serviceable.
  5. Incomes and their distribution. It is very important at the initial stage to decide what will be wage each of the employees, so that later there would be no disagreement.
  6. Advertising. Your firm needs to be known, so decide how you will find clients. You can place information about the company on the Internet, in newspapers and on television. Call everyone personally, tell your friends and acquaintances about yourself.

Quite often people talk about the need or rather the desire to create their own family business, indeed the idea is even very attractive. After all, on the one hand, everyone works together, on the other hand, the proper level of control is provided, relatives after all. This position is largely understandable and perhaps somewhat justified, although of course it has a number of significant nuances, which you can read about here (do not forget to subscribe to the blog for beginner entrepreneurs and receive all new articles in your email). But today it will not be about pitfalls, but let's talk about the pleasant aspects, or rather about best ideas business for the family.

Ideas for a family business are placed in random order, due to the impossibility of unambiguously determining the favorites.

Number one on the list is a family business in the trade.

There are many directions in trade, but speaking about them in from the perspective of family business, first of all we are talking about small specialized shops . As a simple example, the same spice trade or tea shop. In the West, for example, the same American business, small grocery stores or highly specialized grocery stores, there are many small sweets shops in the EU (the same marzipans about this one). Alas, in Russia, small consumer goods stores or trade in the markets have become almost a family business, but practice shows that such trade is becoming more competitive and less profitable every year. Plus, of course, do not forget about a certain organizational structure of each type of trade, it is in highly specialized stores that there is a need to attract close people in order to strengthen quality control. Again, an example of a family business in trade:

- a specialized shop for the sale and tailoring of curtains. In this case, thanks to relatives, a number of organizational moments can be provided:

  • First, quality control. In large industries, there are entire departments; in a small business, either a very good employee (and this is already a decent salary) or a family member can really control well, which is more logical and reliable.
  • Secondly, the purchase of materials. A small business in the form of a small shop-studio does not physically need large balances of goods, while it must have a large selection to meet customer needs. The consequence of this balance is the constant need to purchase small lots from different suppliers (based on the realities of business, all this is done for cash), as a result, attracting a “stranger” person is fraught with losses (theft).

As you can see, the above two aspects require the presence of reliable people at the same time in two directions (one simply physically does not have time), and here this form of small business as a family business fully manifests itself. In any case, it fully justifies itself in this context.

But one important nuance, trading with close relatives justifies itself only in some cases and I do not recommend using it everywhere.

In second place is the idea of ​​a business with close relatives, indirectly related to trade, but based on production.

As you yourself understand, the second successful direction for a family small business, where there is good examples this is the creation of small mini-shops with trading floors. Most good example can serve as a shop selling marzipan jewelry. The scheme is something like this:

  • - one of the family members is engaged in the manufacture of marzipan treats themselves;
  • - the second buys the necessary raw materials and sells it.

But the examples, of course, do not end there, we can recall small mini-bakeries, as an example, small shops selling Georgian bread and pastries. There it happens in much the same way, some of the relatives bake, the rest sell. In this context, one can also recall small home workshops for the production of dumplings, homemade meatballs, although one can also recall the production of garden figures (provided that one of the family members has developed creative inclinations) and so on. All these directions do not require big investments and at the same time they have sufficient potential for successful implementation (they work in niches where large manufacturers are poorly represented).

But you should not forget. What is far from being acceptable in all forms of organizing small mini-shops is the presence of family members, because a family business, in addition to obvious advantages, has even more disadvantages.

In third place is a business in the field of agriculture.

The creation of family farms is very fashionable and most likely the right trend in the development of small businesses in Russia. A truly family farm has a number of advantages:

  • - enhanced control over all aspects of work, because in agriculture difficult to control all aspects of cultivation. As an example, a pig will not say how much food it has eaten. And the result will appear in a couple of months, when she just dies, a joke of course, but in fact, until the owner figures out that someone is not being reported, time will already be lost.
  • - the ability to expand the scope of activities by covering additional business segments, as an example, we can cite the possibility of opening the so-called "green" business, that is, green tourism. Recent times this direction is very popular in the market. One such opportunity for a small family business has already been discussed -

Many types of successful family business can be successfully organized if you approach the issue correctly. Some believe that relatives are reliable business partners who can be trusted. But the other side is that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between family and business, otherwise you can ruin family relations and be left without profit.

Advantages and disadvantages of a family business

Many businesses, once founded by members of the same family, are developing and prospering. But it can turn out exactly the opposite. Before deciding to organize a joint business, you need to weigh all the pros and cons.

The benefits of a common family business include:

  • Trust comes first. If trust and mutual understanding reign in the family, it means that it is much easier for relatives to transfer communication to business level. It is difficult to trust a stranger like a relative.
  • If each member of the family contributes their financial savings in equal shares, then he will definitely work tirelessly to return the investment and get a good profit. This, first of all, leads to the stabilization of the enterprise in the market.
  • A clear advantage of a family business is start-up capital. It is much easier to open a small family business in which several people have invested their money. It is more difficult to raise the required amount alone.

But the medal has another side, which also cannot be ignored. In addition to the advantages, the family business also has disadvantages:

  • Relatives are not always easy to get along with. It is difficult to point out their shortcomings or incompetence, this can provoke a serious quarrel and negatively affect the organization of the work process. It is much easier for an outsider who works under an employment contract to present something.
  • The second, no less important, disadvantage of a family business is that everyone wants to borrow leadership position and single-handedly manage the business. This is enough complex issue, which is better to decide at the planning stage, otherwise the whole thing may collapse. The issue of inheritance of a common cause also needs to be legally formalized in advance.
  • Not all relatives are generalists. It takes a lot of time to quickly learn a new business and successfully apply knowledge in practice, and the efficiency of actions is the first key to success. It is easier to hire an employee who has education and work experience. It is unlikely that in one family there will immediately be a team of professionals who can work effectively in several areas at the same time.
  • It is necessary to distinguish between work and personal relationships. In no case should family relationships affect the organization of work activities. Each employee has certain official duties that are not related to home. In order for the business for the family not to become a bone of contention, everything needs to be discussed possible situations in the family circle before starting a business.

How to successfully start a business

The planning stage is the most important for any undertaking. So before you start new business, you need to find out exactly what business can be done by all family members. That is, in what work process each relative will be involved. This should be done based on personal experience, professional and creative abilities, education and work experience.

Family Business Ideas

To establish a family business, you do not need to immediately plan a global enterprise that will bring unrealistic profits. It is better to start small and gradually increase the pace of development. Here are the types of family business, one of which will be a great start for you.

Sales

The most popular area today. Indeed, at small investment you can easily deploy a fairly profitable business - a store or a trading shop. The direction can be different: food, shoes or clothes, books and stationery. When choosing a direction, everything depends on the demand of the population and on the number of competitors. Renting a small room, creating an unusual design in it, deciding on working equipment and the product itself, advertising a point of high quality is easy to do with a properly organized approach.

Services

You need to think about what family members know and can do. Based on this, you can open a business in the service sector. Lots of business ideas. For example, a car service or car wash, a cleaning company for cleaning houses and offices, a tailoring or shoe repair shop. In general, it all depends on the abilities of relatives.

Agriculture

This does not mean at all that it is necessary to sow hectares of land with grain and maintain an entire pig farm. You can start growing greenery or flowers, breeding fish or snails. In this case, you need to take care to immediately find points of sale. But on the other hand, each family member does not need to master complex professions, it is enough to love nature and approach work with special responsibility.

At family business there are a number of advantages. One of them is working with people who are trustworthy. In addition, each member of the family “sicks” for the cause and tries to invest as much strength as possible for prosperity. No matter what kind of business is run by the family, the main income will remain within the family. For these reasons, more and more families want to start their own business and run a family business. However, there may be pitfalls along the way. For example, if there are difficulties in business, discord in relationships can also occur. But if you're not afraid possible problems and know how to resolve all issues without conflict, then the family business is just for you!

Having decided to start a family business, some already know what they will do in advance, while others are in search of suitable ideas. In this article, we have collected all kinds of options and ideas that will help you decide on the choice of your business.

Before starting any business, and even more so a family business, it is necessary to determine exactly the number of family members and relatives who will take part in it. There are the following varieties:

Family corporation. In other words, this type of business can be defined as joint-stock company, in which the shareholders are representatives of one family, and all rights are transferred exclusively by inheritance. To create such a business requires a lot of investment and the choice of a serious direction.

The family company is a less serious variety, in comparison with the previous form of business. In such companies, each member of the family has his own place, or position, and everyone does his own thing.

Small business. Most often, it is this form of business that is implied when the conversation turns to the family business. Two, three or more people can participate in a small business, depending on the activity and need.

If you decide to start a family business, you need to take into account the following points. The tips below will help you organize a family business that will bring not only profit, but also a lot of money. positive emotions. So:

  • Be sure to set boundaries between family and work relationships.
  • Each member of the family should know the circle of their personal responsibilities and understand the importance of doing them.
  • Develop and read the relevant literature, conduct a regular analysis of your activities.

What does success depend on entrepreneurial activity? First of all, success depends on the chosen direction, competitiveness and on the abilities of each business participant. Much depends on the size initial investment. When choosing a direction of activity, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each family member who wants and will take part in joint activities.

Consider a few interesting ideas that do not require financial investments:

Opening an online store of any orientation - things, underwear;

  • Translation services;
  • Creation and content of sites;
  • Conducting educational meetings or trainings;
  • Cleaning or courier services;
  • Services for organizing weddings or birthdays;
  • Photographers Service.

Ideas that require financial investment:

  • Opening a cafe, bakery or dumplings;
  • Opening a small hotel or hostel;
  • Breeding of birds, fish, animals;
  • planting plants for sale;
  • Opening of a kindergarten;
  • Making souvenirs;
  • Manufacture of furniture and interior items.

Let's pay attention to some types of business activities that are prohibited at the level of legislation:

  1. Opening a private security agency;
  2. Manufacture of weapons and pyrotechnic materials;
  3. Manufacture of tobacco and alcoholic products;
  4. Manufacturing of medicines;
  5. Counterfeit of any product.

How and where to start a family business

As mentioned above, the first step is to decide on the direction of activity. Knowing what family members understand, choose suitable business won't be difficult. Also, it is necessary to analyze how competitive business being created, how filled is this niche, what is the profitability of this type of business, etc.? Only after you answer these questions, you can confidently proceed to the next stage - the preliminary distribution of profits. It is necessary to discuss in advance and come to an agreement with all business participants in who and what percentage of the profit will receive. This will save you from many unpleasant and conflict situations further.

The most important step before starting any business is drawing up a business plan. Get together with the whole family, think over and draw up a plan in which, among others, the following aspects must be noted:

  1. Type of activity;
  2. Exemplary development strategy;
  3. Definition of a specific position or functions for each family member;
  4. Calculation of the amount of investments;
  5. Determination and analysis of the needs of the category of the population, which is actually targeted by your chosen business activity.

It is important to understand that without financial starting investments, it will be difficult to quickly promote a business, and in some cases even impossible. If you have a great desire to start a business, and you are sure that it will be profitable, but you do not have enough funds to start it, you can try to get a loan from a bank.

After you have decided on the direction of activity and have drawn up a business plan, you need to register your company or individual entrepreneur in government bodies. This will give you the opportunity to carry out your activities on a legal basis.

With the right approach, a family business can become a source of good income and strengthen family ties even more. If you are serious about doing business, it remains to wish you good luck!

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