Rant/advice on family members and business.

**InMotion** · Feb 11th, 2012, 09:19 AM

So why is it that you can get more advice and help from strangers in business than wealthy family members, not necessarily parents? Is it the old adage that they don't want you to outshine them? I have several wealthy family members, close cousins etc., not parents, and I have received more contacts and business advice from total strangers, that I have built rapport with, than I ever did from them. I moved on to other mentors years ago but it is a little puzzling. You think family is there to help, but in business I have not found it to be the case. Also, family will screw you over before others will, seems contradictory but I have seen it many times; they somehow feel that they can get away with bullsh*t somehow.

*I advise people to never do business with friends or family, unless maybe they are your parents, you probably wont get anywhere. What you are looking for is to make contacts with who they do business with. Look for friends of family and friends of friends, your really two degrees separated in this regard. Just my two cents.

**MJDeMarco** · Feb 14th, 2012, 11:30 AM

Might have to do with perceived social hierarchies. In the family unit, they perceive themselves as holding a higher stature/status and to help you would endanger that status. This would make a good sociology study.

Originally Posted by IdleMogul

*I advise people to never do business with friends or family, unless maybe they are your parents, you probably wont get anywhere. What you are looking for is to make contacts with who they do business with. Look for friends of family and friends of friends, your really two degrees separated in this regard. Just my two cents.

Ditto.

**Trevor Kuntz** · Feb 14th, 2012, 12:53 PM

They already have preconceived notions about who you are in their heads. For example, my close family is very supportive of my ventures, but my extended family, not so much. My younger brother is a very talented musician and my extended family views him with animosity because my cousins are just normal kids with normal talents (much like myself).
I think that there is a social hierarchy, like MJ said. Families are together forever and therefore, people are compared over lifetimes, not just over the few years that someone might know someone else. You might say that the stakes are higher because the perceived impact of success is greater in the family unit. That's just my two cents.