The Dysfunctional Family Business

I've been doing research and looking for articles on the internet about family owned business'. Not so much for information, I guess I just want to know my co-workers and I are not alone and I have someting to relate to. I suppose I am also looking to see what happens to companies in situations such as this.

I've read about where family members don't get along and a bunch of articles written by business consultants who help family owned business' that come to them to save their company.

I'm sure the situation at this company is not unique. This is a second generation family owned business that should have been turned over to the third generation long ago, not that it would have changed anything.

This is a family that constists of the founders son as president, his sister and brother-in-law and son. Although the family sticks together, the president is in charge and micro-manages. The rest of the family members have no decision making authority, but pretty much get what they want. The employees are left in the dark with all of the stress and responsibility on their shoulders.

The family has no business plan, no vision, no business sense and the company has no money. The goal of the president, who is nearing seventy, is to collect a paycheck for as long as humanly possible and to remain in charge, as I assume his father didn't let him be when he was alive, for as long as possible. He gets a kick out of making petty rules, while ignoring the real issues.

The real problem with the company at this point is he will not give us any answers. I'm sure he should have filed for bankruptcy long ago. He dodges the same phone calls he makes us answer to, yet will not tell us what to tell the angry customers and suppliers. His answer to everything is "Just tell them we're working on it". we've been telling them that for years and now risk losing some of our major customers because we can't fill their orders, and suppliers because we can't pay our bills.

As for the rest of the family, they are all dumb as rocks. If the economy was in better shape and if I wasn't so stressed and burned out it might be a little easier.

It's a vicious cycle. I'm worried about my health and the health of my co-workers due to stress levels around here. Out of fifteen employees at least two people a week call in sick. Its what we call attitued adjustment days. Every couple weeks or so we just have to get away for a day.

I could go on for hours, but in a nutshell; there you have it....another version of the Dysfuctional Family Business.