79: Navigating the Dynamics of Family Business

The majority of small businesses are family-owned. Complex dynamics come into play as family members navigate business decisions while seeking to enjoy leisure time together.  Join Dr. Sabrina, Mike, and their guest, Alex Schauer, on today’s episode, as Alex shares her personal story of running a business with her family, what she has learned, and how she uses her personal experience to serve her clients. Alex Schauer works with business leaders to increase their revenue. On the day she married her husband, she also became an integral part of their family’s manufacturing company.  She learned firsthand the challenges family business leaders face working with siblings and parents—while also growing a thriving business.  Over the past 2 years, she has helped over one hundred businesses create a marketing strategy to increase their revenue. She especially loves working with family businesses to help them communicate their marketing message—without telling the story about how their grandfather started the company! Profit by Design is a Tap the Potential production in collaboration with Small Business Consulting Group. Show Highlights: Marrying into a family business, Alex and her husband spent the first year navigating married life and business life. The family business needed help with marketing, so Alex stepped into that role and found creative ways to market their company and product. Using the StoryBrand framework, their revenue increased by 417%. Other businesses saw what Alex’s business had achieved and reached out for more details. This was Alex’s introduction to working with other businesses to create a marketing strategy to help them increase their revenue. Dr. Sabrina explains psychological dynamics at play in family business and ways to successfully communicate as a family working together. Family members are not always a good fit for the business. Balance your client’s needs with your family’s needs. Communication within a family business needs to involve going to each other when there is a problem, because Mom and Dad won’t always be available in day-to-day operations. Personality types and how they affect family dynamics. Alex addresses what business owners may be missing in marketing and branding. Dr. Sabrina shares the importance of consistency in business, and relates one of her favorite YouTube videos from Simon Sinek, “Do You Love Your Wife?”. The point of the video is that there is not a point in time where your wife fell in love with you, but it was because of an accumulation of the small things you did that showed thoughtfulness. It’s the repetition of these things over a period of time that leads to the realization that you love your spouse. This is key and pertains to marketing and leadership, as Dr. Sabrina details. Alex wraps up the conversation by expressing how it is a privilege to be able to work with family members because we don’t have forever. Be each other’s biggest cheerleaders to help them become the people they need to be in this world. Links and Resources: Are You Ready to Take Your Life Back from Your Business?  The FIRST STEP is taking our Assessment at: https://www.tapthepotential.com/assessment NEXT, meet with our Success Team Lead to debrief your results. THEN, join our Better Business, Better Life program! Get the Book!! How to Hire the Best - Contractors Editionwww.TapThePotential.com/book How to Hire the Best Toolkit www.TapThePotential.com/Toolkit Get Your 2020 Action Planner Now! The Pumpkin Plan Action Planner 2020 https://www.tapthepotential.com/planner Dr. Sabrina’s WEBSITE Dr. Sabrina’s PODCAST - PLEASE RATE & REVIEW! Profit by Design, a Tap the Potential production in collaboration with Small Business Consulting Group For Resources & Tools from Sponsors - https://www.profitbydesignpodcast.com Subscribe & Share Podcasts! - https://www.profitbydesignpodcast.com/podcasts/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProfitByDesign/ Simon Sinek’s “Do You Love Your Wife?” Free Gift from Alex! https://schauerco.com/family FREE PDF: “How to Work Together and Still Love Each Other” Recommended Episodes: 78: Veggies First: Doing Good Things on a Daily Basis 77: The Iconist: The Art and Science of Standing Out with Jamie Mustard Upcoming Books: How to Hire the Best: The Entrepreneur's Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top Performing Team Members by Sabrina Starling, PhD - Publishing Sep 15, 2020 The 4 Week Vacation: Work Supports Life, Not the Other Way Around by Sabrina Starling, PhD - Publishing Dec 1, 2020