At times of economic downturn, research shows that more family members end up working together. Not only is a career in the family business more attractive when there is a lack of jobs elsewhere but also emerging entrepreneurs, of either generation, tend to look to family for support.

But is a blood tie in the workplace an invigorating influence or baggage to be carried? At times of stress, is there a tendency to revert to the roles of authoritarian parent and petulant child?

Formal discussions
Sarah Gough was in her mid 20s and living in Dublin when she first declared her interest in joining the family business, Mileeven Fine Foods in Co Kilkenny. Her mother, Éilis, was adamant that the matter should be discussed at a formal meeting away from the family home.

“I purposely wanted a place that was a public forum so that you would have constraints on the manner in which the whole discussion could take place,” explains Éilis, the company’s founder and managing director. “You don’t want emotions in it. It was a decision on her part to commit to something and it was a decision on my part to accept that.”

Trial period
They agreed a job description at that meeting and Éilis made it clear to her daughter that she would not be coming in because she was a member of the family but because of her talent and skills. She would also have a trial period like any other new employee.

Using the same recruitment criteria for family and non-family members within a business is crucial, according to Dr Linda Murphy, a lecturer in management at UCC’s Department of Management and Marketing. When parents and children are working together, clearly defined roles are very important.

Personal relationship
Murphy believes that a parent and adult child working together can surmount their personal relationship – and there are plenty of successful family businesses to prove that.

The ‘mother-daughter thing’ never comes into play in the workplace, Sarah says.

However, Éilis says: “It would be unreal to say you totally close yourself off from that fact that I’m her mother and she’s my daughter. What you do is consciously decide that is not part of the discussion.”

Unity of purpose
For both of them, unity of purpose is the big advantage of working together. “You have two people who are seriously driven towards the same goal,” says Sarah. Éilis believes that her daughter’s personal energy and commitment to the business “is something you don’t buy”.

“If there is a disadvantage,” adds Éilis, “it’s just the energy you have to put in to making sure you don’t cross over the personal relationship. That for me would be the worst thing that could happen: that it would fracture the relationship we always had. That would be a price I wouldn’t be prepared to pay.”

Peter Cullen and his eldest child Richard have been running a confectionary business together since they both found themselves out of work in 1997. Aran Candy is a notable success story, building up The Jelly Bean Factory brand and now employing almost 50 people at its plant in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

‘Lively’ blow ups
As head of production, Peter says that, at work, he largely puts it out of his mind that he is father of Richard, who looks after sales and marketing. However, “when there is a bit of a blow-up it can be quite lively,” he admits. “One says things to one’s children and they say things to you that you wouldn’t say to any other staff member.

“But I don’t think we have ever wanted not to work together,” he adds. “I enjoy working with him. He can be trying but I am sure he says exactly the same about me!”

Richard stresses that they have never disagreed on strategic thinking for the business but concedes that they may occasionally take comments personally.

Unspoken trust
What the Cullens single out as the big advantage of working together is a shared passion and an unspoken sense of trust. “The word trust is just there,” explains Richard. “You don’t even have to question it. We both eat, drink, live, sleep the business.”

Mary Heseltine, who works with her daughter Clare Conway, also talks about the “implicit trust” that exists between them. “You don’t have to watch your back.”

Clare had spent a decade working in financial services all over the world, before two redundancies within two years left her contemplating her future. She was “excited and flattered” when Mary suggested she might consider joining ESPRI, the market research company that she runs with her second husband, Walter, from their home in Dún Laoghaire.

Right person
She felt Clare was “brilliantly placed” to help the company look at smarter ways of doing business with rapidly evolving technology. “I really felt that Clare was going to be the right person technically, before she’s my daughter.”

For her part, Clare says: “I have realised that family business is really where it’s at because we are all in it together.”

Shared vision
Mother and daughter say they have a similar way of thinking and visualising problems, which makes it very easy to work as a team. For Mary, there is the added bonus of having a member of the next generation to share her vision.

“Originally I would have expected to get to 60, maybe 65 at a push, and at that point be pulling down the shutters. It would have never occurred to me that I would have wanted to hand something on. But I can see now it really will be worth maintaining its strength so that, at some point, Clare will have something that she can maintain for herself.”