One of the things that a lot of people cannot ever do is separate out their personal life from their business. For some reason, the lines gray, and overlap. Which is fine. If you’re seeking to just run a small store, and never have anything else that you’re seeking from this, then bring on family and friends to help and don’t sweat it.
But if you’re seeking to create something huge, and you have opportunity to do so, then grasp it firmly and don’t let go. I can speak from experience that there have been more than once that there were opportunities that I only had one shot at in the businesses that I’ve owned and I made the wrong decision. This opportunity will unlikely come again, and the think that you’ll get another shot is just like thinking that you’ll get the winning lottery ticket. Again.
And when you own a corporation, you can never ever take things personal. Even if a business partner happens to be family or a friend. Business is business, and friendship and family are separate. If people hold it against you, then they’re not good business folks. Because while family and friends can help you out when the going gets tough and such, bad management teams and bad employers/employees can drag a business into ruin. Don’t ever mix the two up and feel like you have some sort of obligation.
Would I personally hand over the reigns of any of my businesses to my children? Sure, if they proved themselves to be capable. But if not, then the business would go to the hands of people that could manage it and would succeed with it. It’s nothing personal, just business.