Working with a family member can be fraught with difficulty – or it can be the best decision you’ve ever made. HANNAH DAVIES speaks to a father and son team and a couple to see how they’ve made a personal relationship professional

SETTING up a business with a family member can be a great idea. You know what makes the other person tick and you’re more likely to put in the extra hours to make it work.

Family businesses are nothing new, and were once the norm, and now, for small start-ups, they are increasingly common again.

But turning a family relationship into a professional one can be a challenge, to say the least.

Father and son team Michael, 25, and John Turnbull, 63, of Hexham, Northumberland, are enjoying their work as a family graphic design team, Lime Design North Ltd, based in Newcastle’s West End, who count auctioneers Andersen and Garland among their clientele.

Key to making their professional relationship work is having complementary expertise in entirely different fields.

John worked for Barclays Bank for 33 years, joining in 1967 as a junior making the tea and working his way up to corporate manager before retiring in April 2000. He was coaxed out of retirement in 2010 by his son Michael, a graphic designer.

Michael, a former pupil at Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, pursued his love of graphic design through a degree at Newcastle College and then different design jobs in Newcastle, gaining skills in everything from web design to print work.

John says: “Michael’s always loved design, even as a child he was always drawing and making things out of Lego and Meccano.

“I told him ‘you need to do something you like and enjoy because you’ve got 40-odd years of it’. So that’s where it started from.” Michael had gained experience in developing artwork from conception to print. John said: “Michael said after three or four months, ‘why should I do it for anybody else?’.”

John laughs as he adds: “In other words, do you have any money?

“So we sat and chatted about it and said ‘there’s got to be a niche somewhere for someone who can offer a quality service at a good price’.”

It’s not all been easy, though.

Michael says: “It can be difficult working together, but dad isn’t here all the time – he goes out and does the selling while I develop the artwork.”

John says: “I tend to take a day a week off and, anyway, we’re both strong characters.

“Where it does have its drawbacks, it also has a lot of plusses. Michael knows the websites, the design side and can guide people over what they need.

“He can do everything himself on the design side. He designs it, artworks it, gets it print ready, and they just print it. I do the finance and sales side of things. So it does complement each other.

“It’s been a big learning curve for both of us.”

John’s expertise has also proved useful. He adds: “I thought I was going to be retired. But I quite enjoy it. I’ve spent nearly all my working life dealing with people, so that’s handy and it’s something Michael is picking up as we’re going along.

Michael adds: “I’m learning the financial side of things, so when he retires I can run the business. I know without dad’s help that is something I would have struggled with.

“We had a disagreement over my pay as dad keeps a strict eye on the financial side of it.

“That’s where I’d struggle if I started up myself.”

John continues: “When we were doing the business plan, Michael said ‘will I get paid in month one?’

“I told him we wouldn’t get paid until month four, otherwise I might just as well have handed him the investment money. But that really was the biggest disagreement.

“The best thing about working together is now we know each other’s temperaments. I can shut off easier. But I tend to keep on thinking about where the next job’s coming through.

“But it’s definitely helped Michael to mature because, to a large degree, his future is in his hands.”

Partners Clare Smith, 39 and Seppe Anthony, 40, work together running Chic Antiques in North Tyneside. Seppe has been working in antiques for over 20 years, and the couple have worked together for four years.

They have a son Harvey, nine, and live in Newcastle.

Claire says they work well together because of a shared passion in the job and a great personal relationship which translates well into a professional one.

She states: “Seppe has been in this for two decades and still gets excited about it, and I’ve a huge interest in texture and colour.

“We’ve got a similar eye, and we like the same sort of thing, which means we both get the same buzz.

“It is great sharing that and, when we’ve got a customer excited as well, I think that’s infectious on all of us.

“We do talk about work at home, but at the same time we recognise we need a work/life balance, especially for our son.

“But we do find working together is absolutely fine. We never fall out but, as anyone who knows us would say, we bicker all of the time.

“The thing that really matters is we’re great friends and we have a great amount of respect for each other.

“We make the time to listen to each others thoughts and concerns about the business.

“As much as work is something we’re passionate about, we place a great importance on home and family time.”

She adds: “A sense of humour really does see us through a lot.”

Clare also says it is important that she and Seppe spend time apart from each other, even if it is only occasionally.

She comments: “Our time away from each other is limited, because of the business and the fact we’ve got a son together. To be honest, that’s absolutely fine with me, but at the same time it is good to have outside influences and spend a little time apart to keep things fresh.”

Still, Clare says she would recommend for anyone to go into business with a family member.

She says: “Look at whether you have the same interests and passions, or ones which complement each other.

“At the end of the day, running your own business is hard work but what you put in, you get out.

“The important thing is to enjoy it and remember you have to separate yourself and keep home and work separate as much as possible – for everyone’s sanity.”

WORKING WITH FAMILY: WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Too much knowledge You know so much about the other person it could cloud your professional judgment of them.

A past You’ve most likely had some arguments or negative experiences with them which may influence a working relationship. You have years of experiences with them, both positive and negative.

Pressing buttons You know how to wind up the other person, and what motivates or irritates them.

Dislike or like too much You may not like parts of your relative’s personality which come out in a working relationship, or you may be over protective of them or overly critical.

Too close With a relative you may provide too much supervision, or be tempted to provide too little.

How to make it work Allow time to learn their working methods. Because something works in a home setting doesn’t mean it always does at work. Your relative may be happy to play a quieter role at home than at work or vice versa. Allow time to develop a professional relationship, even if you are very close personally.

Expect conflicts Don’t take it personally if differences arise at work, and calmly work out a mediation process that works for both of you.

Don’t get other family members involved This can spell disaster for both personal and professional relationships, the ultimate no-go area.

Keep work at work Establish clear boundaries about where and when you can talk shop and make sure you stick to them. Make sure work isn’t spoken about at family functions and make sure no one else, for example spouses, discuss it there either

We do talk about work at home, but at the same time we recognise we need a work/life balance