Hiring Your Kids

There can be no doubt that raising kids is one of the most difficult roles you will take on in life. We are not speaking in a negative way, either. Every parent knows the stress that comes in trying to shield their children from many of the troubles that will come their way in this life, and yet at the same time wanting them to grow into well rounded individuals. The choices that we make on this path must always be carefully balanced, and the choice is always quite strenuous.

Families who operate their own businesses have even more difficult choices ahead of them when it comes to their kids. Whether they sell homemade crafts from their Ajax homes or raise sheep, every parent knows that at some point they will have to decide whether or not to hire their kids to work at the family business.

For some family businesses, it is obvious that the kids will some day become involved. In fact, they might be groomed for a position within the business from the day they are born. Of course, what a parent wants or thinks will happen and what a child eventually decides can be very different. It's one of the issues we will be looking at in this series about hiring your kids in the family business.

Many of these articles will have a focus on the potentially negative atmosphere that can be created when hiring one's kids. Many families have a problem separating the work and the home life. Once you start working with your kids as their boss, you will start to understand why it is so important to keep these spheres separate. A disagreement with your daughter over Mon Cheri gowns for a wedding will be very different when you are a vendor than when you are discussing her own wedding!

Defining what constitutes your parent/child relationship and what constitutes your work relationship are therefore very important parts of hiring your kids to work with you successfully. It goes both ways, as well; you don't want family feuds over the business to appear in a Cabbagetown blog for all to see! We'll take a look at how both you and your children can set up easy to observe boundaries between your different spheres.

You will also find information on preparing both your kids and yourself when it comes to the new, working relationship. Most of us are a lot different at home than we are at work; a busted vacuum pump system at the office will usually not bring about the same reaction as it will at home. Both parent and child need to realize how the home atmosphere is different from the work one, and that it's a pretty normal differentiation.

Whether a mom and pop business offers cash for jewelry or sells real estate the question of including the kids in the family business will arise sooner or later. The information in these articles can help you make the right decisions and create the right atmosphere when that time comes.