Business...........

Dudu

Hello everyone!!!!

As some of you know I started a business this past school year, what I do basically is to help kids with the homework in the afternoon. I had 2 people helping me out , both quiet uneffective, here is my dilema:

1) The first one is my niece. She was usually not on time, which affected a lot the busines because she is the one who opens!!! She is always in a hurry and asked for a lot of permissions to leave earlier, she even took a subject in college that didnt allowed her to be on time every tuesday.... that forced me to hire someone else to cover that day. Besides she only works 2 hours a day 4 days a week , which isnt much. My sister (her mom) is having a very hard time right now and she isnt much of a help. I think she should get a real job and help in her house. But at the same time if i fire her i will be in a big family mess.... I told her that if I dont have enough kids I cant have assistant , so, she will be forced to find a job.

2) As my niece doesnt work at school is a little easier to just tell her that i dont have enough clients but this one is even harder .. this is a colleague, she helped me to find new clients last year and due to the situation with my niece she helped me to open the business on tuesdays , the problem with this one , is that she does a lot at the same time, therefore she is never on time and she is never focused on the task. I ended up dealing with a bunch of kids with no enough help at the end of the school year, and even worse she is always asking me for money ....

If I have only 3 to 4 kids I will be more relaxed and I will have the same profits as if i have these people working with me.... How should I handle this??? Please please help!!!!

jgnat

Run the business. The poor girl needs to learn that punctuality is gold. Otherwise you are setting her up for years of unsatisfactory performance. Set your expectations - on time every time or it's time to be looking for another job. And then follow through. Next time she is late it's over.

Take the flak from the family.

ruderedhead

This is your business. jgnat's advice is perfect not only for your niece, but for your colleague as well. A good business owner knows that their employees are a key component for their success. There should be no family mess if your niece, as an employee, cannot follow through with your reasonable expectation that she be there on time, stay for the time period she is scheduled for, and perform her duties well. You have not created a family mess because of her causing you unnecessary problems and perhaps hurting your business reputation, have you? Fair is fair. My husband has his own very successful business, and just had to let his brother go because he did not want to perform some of the duties required of his job. He was given a chance, and made his choice. The same for your colleague. She may have brought you some clients, but is she going to cost you clients and harm your reputation in the long run because she chooses to keep her plate too full to fulfill her commitment to you? You are also doing your clients a grave disservice by allowing this type of behavior. I know this may sound harsh, but if you want to run your own business, and be successful, you have to care about the business first. You are the one with something at stake here. Has an employer ever let you get away with this type of behavior? You are being taken advantage of. Put a stop to it now! I wish you all the best. rudered

MC RubberMallet

To be honest, a successful business is one where people come first. That's what generates business, and keep internal problems to a minimum. So you have to ask yourself, WHO is more important?

A) The people paying for the service and expecting a specific outcome or

B) Your unreliable employees

You do feel a sense of loyalty to the people you work with, which is why you have a dilemma. And you've probably seen people get burned by those whom they worked for and you don't want to be that boss.

But what are you willing to sacrifice? WHO is more important to you in this situation? Can you honestly help motivate and inspire those working for you? Is it worth the time and effort in your case?

The rough part of owning a business...

FreeGirl2006

As a small business owner I realized early on that I could not be successful and hire friends or family because typically my expectations and their expectations were quite different. My business is my baby and my mantra when I have to cut loose clients or employees is "it is business." I would explain to your sister that you need an assistant who is consistently reliable and you feel you have given your niece every opportunity you can but it has begun to affect your business and you can't continue. Ditto with your other employee but start out thanking her for all her help. Finish with an offer of a recommendation letter if you can honestly recommend something about her.