5 Things Family Businesses can Learn from Andy's Haunted House Experiences

I rarely actually watched episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show...and Halloween is one of my lease favorite holidays, but for the past 8 or 9 years I have looked forward to the new clip of her executive producer, Andy, going through a haunted house each October. Since there won't be a new clip this year, I thought maybe there was a way to make it relevant to share a previous clip again. So with that, I bring to you the 5 things Andy can teach family businesses by going through a haunted house. (Forgive me for some slight reaches to tease out learning points!)

1) Don't hide the fact you ARE a FAMILY business!

Andy is often found hiding behind people or objects - but it never helps him get through the haunted house faster or less frightened! Some families proudly state they are a family business and some don't. While there may not be a hard and fast rule whether you should brand yourself as one or not, I am a firm believer you can utilize your status of "family business" as a competitive advantage. Customers prefer to work with family businesses and family businesses are the most trusted type of business (See: Study: Customers Really Do Trust Family Businesses More)

2) Do business together

You never see Andy going through a haunted house alone. He always has a partner - sometimes someone he works closely with and sometimes someone who is coming in just for the walk through the haunted house (he has several celebrity companions in the later years). As a family business, you always have someone to work alongside. Solve problems together, commiserate together and celebrate together! Remember you're not alone as you are leading your family business.

3) Face your fears and tell them where to go!

One thing Andy can teach us all is to confront your fears! I mean, he looks scared from the start - before he steps foot in the haunted house. But he goes in anyway (maybe because it was his job, but this is your job too!). Is there something you're facing in your business right now that scares you? A big goal? An unhappy major client? The recession? Needing to tell your (daughter/son, niece/nephew, mom/dad...) that they aren't meeting expectations? Family businesses are faced with any number of fears on a daily basis - some standard business challenges and some unique to family businesses.

My advice here, be like Andy, step up to the fear and yell "Stop it!".

In all seriousness, sit down and look at the fear - why does it scare you? Sometimes fear can mean it's an exciting opportunity. Are there steps you can take to minimize the fear? Maybe once you write out a plan, it will be less scary. What's stopping you from moving forward now? Maybe it's something that should be tackled right away - but maybe there's a good reason wait.

4) Be transparent

Andy lays it out there. He tells us what he's experiencing, how he's feeling, his evaluation of the actors in the haunted house. In family business, you maybe shouldn't share everything with your entire company, but it is a good practice to be as transparent as possible. Everyone involved with your company needs a different level of access and information depending on the situation and the role they play. It's important to consider this when drafting your messaging - whether to your employees or to internal stakeholders. There are lots of tools out there to help with messaging, but one tool, specifically tailored to family businesses, is Trusted Family. Trusted Family offers a customizable, secure platform to communicate and collaborate with other stakeholders. Designed around what access each individual has, it allows you to be transparent in your communications while limiting the reach of information and creating just one place everyone needs to go to find information.

5) Have fun!

Even though Andy was a somewhat reluctant participant in these forays into haunted houses, he pokes fun at himself and tries to make the best of it with whomever is accompanying him. I hope you can remember to do the same in your business. Through the important sales pitches and the high-stake deals, remember to enjoy that you're able to spend your business days working alongside your family. Have fun with them and with the rest of your team members.

Even if its just taking a few minutes out of your day to share a YouTube video with them.

I've shared one of my favorite, go ahead and google "Andy Haunted House" and you can find many more.