BFH> That was excellent business advice. I made a print out of it thank
 BFH> you!
Thank you and...you're welcome, Bob ! Didn't really think what I had wrote 
as
anything BUT good old Common Sense, never mind `business advice'.
 BFH> Good show and a quality email at that.
Oooooo ! My head ! It's swelling, Bob ! And, I'm turning beet-red ! 
Usually_,
all I get back are criticisms and snide remarks...!! ...
 BFH> There are hidden and serious problems with family business,
 BFH> usually husband and wife teams and with the strong headed females or
 BFH> even males, if one does not assume the "Boss" position and take the
 BFH> bull by the horns, soon it will be anarchy.
It comes to this anyways, until "the proof is in the bag", so to speak. In my
case, the Better Half sunk into something more akin to a depression and 
idn't
come out of it until after a month and a half later, when I produced the 
much
improved) figures for the business. She was bright enough to correlate those
figures to the institution of the `new system', but that doesn't mean that
she's "happy": occassionally, she slips back into her old style...until I 
ome
along and catch her at that game. Let me tell you, we've had a few `unholy
wars' at such times, but she usually comes around. I think all it is, is that
she enjoys a good argument every once in awhile...
 BFH> Come tax time on will know. Come Tax audit and you will go under fast.
 BFH> Many a firm has been killed by tax audits it is both humiliating and
 BFH> failure to be found in error all over the place and can't explain what
 BFH> the shxxt went wrong. Nothing really bad happened but then no good
 BFH> either.
Oh, but my, YES ! Not to be able to effectively _counter_ a tax audit has 
ust
got to be the ultimate humiliation for any businessperson that considers
themself a "professional". It's "okay" to suffer a `slap on the wrist' from
the Taxman but to LOSE a business because of sloppy business practices is a
most digusting deal. The ramifications can (and, generally DO) run long and
deep way after the business has been lost. Reputations DO precede ! Business
folklore runs rampant with the tales of who lost what, when and how...and
within a small community, bespeaks volumes left, right and center. "Why" is
only considered as a last restort, and is usually an "unforgivable" in the
long run scheme of things.
 BFH> I think a good discussion should come from talking about how to
 BFH> maintain order and a system when doing a home business, which is like a
 BFH> family business.
I don't agree with your analogy, Bob. I regard that a _home-based business_ 
s
NOT the "same" as a "family business". What's the difference ? First, a home
-based business may not necessarily employ other members of a family, and
that's important to remember ! As employers to others, we _must_ remain
circumspect to their legal rights, and to be able to recognise (and reward)
their abilities in a professional fashion. Not too many family members have
the ability to fully differentiate between "business" and "family" aspects of
the home-based business: if Joey is fired from his position by Dad/Mom/The
Boss, then it's conceivable that Joey's negative experience within the
"family" business will disrupt the social fabric of the family itself ! This
would not be the case if an "outsider" to the family were fired: severance
pay would follow, as per the Law, and that would generally be it.
 BFH> Talking about it honestly will help, keeping it to yourself makes 
hings
 BFH> worse if no remedy in sight.
These things NEED to be aired _BEFORE_ a home-based business is initiated.
While it would make sense for the more experienced person to take the lead
(ie - to become The Boss), this can become a difficult and trying experience
to endure when a couple (ie - husband and wife) have "put-in" equal monetary
holdings. And then there's "ego" - who's to claim the position of "Founder"
should the Company really take-off later ! In essence, what we have here are
all the makings of a small war, and this well before the Company is even
begun ! All is NOT lost though, since much of the planning - including Chain
of Command delegations - for the future can be taken care of if the couple
works _together_ on their Business Plan, jointly and equally. If a couple
can't cobble-together a B.P. between them then, I think, that alone 
pells-out
an enterprise's chance for success in the future !
In my case, the Better Half knew more about the pets industry than I, so we
agreed that she would be known as The Boss, even though I anted-up the dough
to get into the business. Now, I'm not totally naive, so I _told_ her that
since it was my money that was going into this thing, that I reserved the
right to make any and all changes "as I saw fit", whenever I "saw fit". As it
turned out, I was "right" about a number of issues, and our numbers today
demonstrate this beyond the shadow of any doubt !
Semper Fi
RTP
~~~ PGPBLUE 3.0 
---
---------------