Can a family be run like a business?  If you break the tasks in a family down, it looks quite a bit like a business.  There are employees to manage (our kids), a CEO and COO (husband and wife, I’m not saying which is which), the exchange of capital (money in and money out), a product delivered (the education of ourselves and our children), and community outreach (civic or church involvement and volunteer work).   So maybe running a family is much like running a business – but what does that mean?

And what happens if we don’t run our family like a business?  When a business does not have a mission, it tends to flounder.  When a business does not have more income than expenses, it fails.  When a business is unable to produce a product that is useful, the business is not taken seriously.  The same goes with families.  If a family does not have a mission, it flounders.  When a family has more expenses than income, they are broke and stressed out.  When a family is not seeking to learn for a lifetime, they begin to stumble and cease to be a productive community in society.

But why should I run my family like a business?  You are so impersonal, Eric.  Well, did you know that according to DivorceSupport.com that the top 5 problems in marital relationships are: money problems, children, sex, time apart, and household responsibilities?  It appears to me that 4 of the top 5 issues seem to stem around “business like” problems.

Below are four steps we have found to make a positive difference in the running of our family business.

1. Develop a family mission and values statement.  It is vital to be able to answer the “why” behind doing what it is we are doing.  If we have the “why” figured out, it is easier to make it through the hard and lean times.  Our values help us as we make decisions.  Whenever the Scherrer’s are faced with a big decision we filter it through our values – whatever outcome matches our values is usually the right decision
2. Make and stick to a budget.  According to the Motley Fool, nearly 70% of Americans have less than $1000.00 in savings.  The really sad part of this statistic is that it’s not that most American’s are not making enough, it’s that their budget is out of control.  Or, to be more precise, they don’t have a budget.   Developing a budget together, and holding each other accountable for sticking to the budget is essential.  And though it will take practice and may be hard at first – with tenacity, you will see your savings add up and your debt go down.  And, most importantly, you will see your marital stress regarding money being to fade away.  I recommend Every Dollar as a budget template, it’s what we use and find it to be just the right fit.
3. Have a family meeting once per week. This meeting time is where you take a look at the week ahead and determine where the friction points are, where do we need to compromise on schedules, when does a spouse need to be home, etc.  This is the time to review the calendar so that there are no surprises for the week ahead.  This meeting time is also a great time to look back over the budget for the past week and determine how we are doing so far – what adjustments need to be made, etc.  If you’re like me, you may think of a number of things during the week you want to talk about during your family meeting, but just can’t remember them when it comes to meeting time.  For these I recommend Asana.  Asana is a useful tool designed to share work efforts between team members.  I have found it a great to way to jot down my thoughts to share with Kelly as well as to remind me to bring them up during our meetings.  I recommend conducting your meeting on Sunday afternoons.  This will give you the opportunity to prep for the week ahead after you have had the weekend to think through the past week.
4.  Have a weekly “shareholders” meeting.  And by shareholders, I mean husband and wife – this is a date time.  It can be as simple as an hour of coffee in the middle of the day or as complicated as getting a sitter and going out for a movie and dinner.  Regardless, don’t forget why you started this family business in the first place.

Don’t let the idea of running your family like a business bring up thoughts of impersonal transactions. Instead, think of the best businesses you have seen and remember how relational they are – your family, as your greatest relational asset, could be managed just as if it were your dream start up.