Family First, Then Business

Listen to Randy as he explains how his father instilled a "family first" mindset for his business. Since in family business, it is normal for conflict to arise among members, it is important to remember "FFB" - Family first, then business. Keeping family at the forefront can help ensure a lasting relationship among members as well as contribute to the success of the family business.

When it came to decision making, or when it came to some of the highs and lows of the business, we definitely had some stressful times. I think that’s normal in any type of business, any type for family. But my father being the patriarch of it, the person we all respected, and still respect, he was very, very clear, he always said that, he was clear in terms of what we were doing in the sense that family always came first. So he would constantly say to us when we got into any type of disagreement, 3 simple letters – FFB – and it was “family first, then business”; so if we had any issues, he would keep bringing that back to us. He’s a very passionate individual, not only about his business, but about his family, and for whatever reason, he was the guy who would put things back on track. Often if we got into any type of conflicts, any type of arguments, which we did, that’s completely normal in terms of any family or any business, so when you combine the two, you’re going to have that friction, he was very, very good about getting us back on track in terms of, hey , let’s just deal with this in a way that’s not going to jeopardize the business, and certainly not going to jeopardize the family, it always came back to the family, we didn’t want to be in a situation that we weren’t speaking to each other and we’re extremely close even to this day. Key Takeaways: • Conflict is normal in any family and any business • When solving conflict, remember FFB – Family first, then business