I am happy to report that Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing hit bestseller lists at the New York Times, Wall St. Journal, USA Today and Amazon.com in its first week of release. Thanks to everyone who bought the book and made it possible!
Between 60% and 70% of small businesses are family-owned, and that’s where most of their problems start—with the rest of the family. I don’t want your kids to hate you. I don’t want your husband or wife to storm out of the room. But in my experience with thousands of small businesses, I have found that putting a relative in a role they are not suited for will lead to failure, and it’s done way too often.
Ninety percent of the time you are giving a position to a family member who is not the best qualified person for the job. If you are looking for a good sales manager, picking a family member in need of a paycheck is insanity.
An alarming number of business owners believe that when they’re building a business they shouldn’t pay themselves a salary. They sacrifice their own income for many years to get their business up and running. Venture capitalists call this “sweat equity.” I call it working for nothing and being a fool .
I want my employees to do what I say, not what they think. As a manager I don’t have the time to keep repeating instructions. I believe too much is lost by allowing employees to disregard special instructions because they think they have a better way. I don’t want them to try to shade what has to be done. They can view me any way they want on their own time, but when they’re on my clock, I want them to take my word as an absolute decree. If they do what I say, they can go home happy and job secure.
Watch a video of an interview I did with BusinessWeek.com here.