SO YOU have decided you will not give up your job. Who can you trust to run things at the store in your absence? If you are thinking of your cousin you should know that the combination of family and business is thought by some to be a deadly one. Still, others advise that it is the only way to find a partner or manager you can trust.
"I would agree with the statement that family and business cannot mix," said Robert Williams.
"I had my half sister working here with me. She was running the wholesale, while I was managing the distributorship. She carried me down very badly. She went in early and opened and did what she wanted. She would sell on credit and when she collected, the money would not go back into the register.
"The Chinese have been succesful in working with family, but my experience is that it does not work."
But Andrea Graham, president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, said: "Unless you have a dedicated family member to run things, it is hard to manage when you can only afford a certain calibre of people... If I am going to be robbed, let it be by a relative.
"The Ammars and the Azans are a good example of relatives who do business together. Having a relative to manage your business is the best thing, but it depends on what kind of relative. It also depends on the performance that you demand from them. If they come to work late, they must account for this. Some will take you for a ride and some will take you for granted.. But many families do well, especially if it's a tradition.
"In my business, if I were to bring in someone else to replace my relative I would have to pay them much more. But, I provide her with a car and pay for her accommodation. It is a trade off. At the end of the day, the understanding is that you are a worker and we have a business to run. Because she is a relative also, I cannot give leeway and cannot be seen to be granting exceptional favours."
According to Hopeton Morrison, general manager of the St. Thomas Credit Union: "Running a business by remote is not impossible, though difficult. It is hard to hold a 9 to 5 job and run a business, so when it has to be done I usually recommend a close family member to take charge in your absence. There is evidence of persons who have done a good job of it.
"Several corporate executives from the 1980s and 1990s had stores, rent-a-car businesses and other ventures. Yes they were absentee owners, but the key is to have a family member, wife, partner, or highly reliable child. The relationship must be that close, because nephews, nieces, sisters and brothers have been known to take people out faster than a stranger would. It must be someone who has a vested interest as you," he said.
