Family run business - advantages and disadvantages

[sheldenburg]

Hi all,

I am writing this essay to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a family run business. Any comments are welcome! Let me know the approx. band score if you can. Thanks!

Topic: Some people think that the best way to run a business is within the family. what are the advantages and disadvantages of a family run business?

It is thought by some people that family run business has some advantages with its unique family bond relationship over the normal businesses. However, as the business grows, the limitation of family run business will appear.
One evident benefit to running business with family members is that the business is based on a more grounded foundation as each family member understands each other better than just normal business partners. This benefit is especially critical for lots of start-ups. Family bond relationship will definitely help to reduce the misunderstanding and disputes at the early stage of a business. Also, family members tend to have more dedication to their common goals, this is extremely helpful for a new business that is usually on the shortage of labours and cannot afford big staff turnovers.

However, as the business grows larger and larger, the limitation of the family-run business will appear. A fundamental drawback is that the staff is selected and hired purely based on the family relationship instead of the skill set. When there is a position cannot be fulfilled by family members, it is inevitable to hire personnel outside of the family. This is usually when the problems come into the business. The old family based management system will not be suitable for a larger business scale. The business will confront problems in human resources, succession, sibling relationship, identity development and so on. Lots of family run company fail in this transition from a family run start-up to a company in a larger scale if the care was not taken to reform their management team and company structure.

In conclusion, while having family members as founding members within a company is advantageous as the business started, better management system and company structure are required as the business grows larger to overcome the limitation of the family run business.

[David.IELTS.Examiner]

Hello!

Overall, a good essay. Vocabulary and grammar - both range and accuracy - are good. Organisation is clear with a good range of connectives used well.

My only suggestion for improvement is that you should not suggest that one situation is true for all people. In the first main paragraph, you fail to note that running a family business could (easily!) lead to arguments between family members. If the business is not successful, this could also (very easily!) lead to problems between family members.

All the best,
David

[sheldenburg]

Thanks a lot for reviewing my essay David!

I would need 8 band score in writing in GT. Can you please give me an indicative score on the essay above? need to build some confidence as I am preparing the test...

Thanks

Shelddonburg

[Flick]

Topic: Some people think that the best way to run a business is within the family. what are the advantages and disadvantages of a family run business?

It is thought by some people that a family run business has some advantages with its unique family bond over the normal businesses. However, as the business grows, the limitations of a family run business will appear.

One evident benefit to running a business with family members is that the business is based on a more grounded foundation, as each family member understands each other better than just normal business partners. This benefit is especially critical for lots of start-ups. The family bond will definitely help to reduce misunderstanding and disputes during the early stage of a business. Also, family members tend to have more dedication to their common goals, which is extremely helpful for a new business that is usually short on labourers and cannot afford big staff turnovers.

However, as the business grows larger and larger, the limitation of the family run business will appear. A fundamental drawback is that the staff is selected and hired purely based on the family relationship instead of the skill set. When there is a position that cannot be fulfilled by family members, it is inevitable to hire personnel outside of the family. This is usually when problems in the business start. The old family-based management system will not be suitable for a larger company. The business will confront problems in human resources, succession, sibling relationship, identity development and so on. Lots of family run companies fail in this transition from a family run start-up to a company of a larger scale if the care was not taken to reform their management team and company structure.

In conclusion, while having family members as founding members within a company is advantageous as the business starts, a better management system and company structure are required as the business grows larger to overcome the limitations of the family run business.