Mark Van Rol

One of the biggest issues in family businesses is that people stop knowing which hat they’re wearing.

Are we having a business conversation here?
A husband and wife conversation?
A sibling conversation?
A parent and child conversation?

When those lines get blurred, things get messy quickly.

What should be a straightforward business conversation suddenly becomes personal.

When it comes to Family businesses. They do not need less structure because they are family, they usually need more.

I’ve been helping a lot of family-run businesses put clearer boundaries in place, so they can stop reacting to old history and start dealing with what’s happening in the business now.

If you run a family business and need support with this, I’d love to have a chat.

Last week I went out for dinner with a divorce barrister and a family law solicitor.

A sentence that definitely needs some context. 😅

Luckily, it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with networking.

I wanted to introduce my wife Kate to Dil, who’s part of one of my networking groups.

What followed was exactly the kind of evening that reminds me why I value networking so much:
good food, lots of laughs, and a potential opportunity for two brilliant people to collaborate.

That’s the bit I think people sometimes overlook.

Networking is about knowing people well enough to spot when there could be a really good fit between them.

And when that happens, it’s a lovely thing to be part of.

A little trick I use with clients when things feel overwhelming…

When your to-do list gets ridiculous, stop and ask yourself two questions:

1. What actually moves the business forward?
2. What can wait or be delegated?

Most business owners are busy… but not always productive.

When you strip the day back to the few things that really matter, everything suddenly feels clearer.

Progress usually comes from a handful of important actions, not 30 small ones.

If your day feels chaotic right now, try the two-question reset.

You’ll probably realise half your list doesn’t need doing today.

This flipchart came from a recent session with a client.

There’s a lot on it that many business owners will recognise.

And one thing I always love about sessions like this is using a flipchart and writing things down properly.

There’s a reason for that.

When you write things down by hand, it activates something in the brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). It tells your brain: this matters.

That simple act improves focus, memory, and clarity.

It also helps people slow down and really think about what’s happening in the business.

Sometimes the most powerful breakthroughs come from getting ideas out of your head and onto a page.

And once they’re visible, you can start turning them into systems that make the business stronger.

One of the businesses I work with has:

• Double their turnover
• Increase gross profit
• And the owner actually worked fewer hours than the year before

This is the combination I like to see.

When we started working together, like a lot of business owners, everything went through them.

The shift happened when they started letting go of control and built a team that could step up.

Another big change was creating a team ethos.

We spent time working on values, making sure the team understood them, shared them, and reflected them in how they worked together.

It stopped being one person carrying the business…
and became a collective effort.

Great momentum, and I know there is more of that in 2026.

As a leader in your business, some of the biggest questions you need to ask yourself is:

Who do I need to be, or become, for this business to get where I want it to go?

Most people answer that too quickly.
They write the first few things that come into their head and move on.

But this needs more thought than that.

TIP

Step back and identifying the 3 or 4 things that would make the biggest difference to you as a leader and to the business as a result.

When a business owner becomes clearer about who they need to be as a leader, a few powerful things start to happen.

1. Better decisions get made
2. The team steps up
3. You stop being the bottleneck
4. The business becomes easier to run
5. Growth becomes more predictable

May is an interesting month for business owners.

A few Bank Holidays appear in the calendar…
But most owners keep going.

You’d assume by this point, everyone would be well ahead.

But this is exactly when I start hearing: “The goals we set in January aren’t quite happening.”

Despite working harder than ever, the results aren’t quite lining up.

That’s the irony.

Sometimes the answer isn’t to work harder.

It’s to stop.

Bank Holidays are actually the perfect moment to do that, because everyone else has switched off.

Get on the plane.
Take a few hours.
Step back from the noise.

And if taking time away from the business feels impossible right now…
or it’s something you know you should do but never quite manage…

Maybe it’s time for a conversation.

I’d be very happy to talk.

Quick leadership tip I use with teams.

If someone comes to you with a problem…
Don’t give them the answer.

Give them a question.

Something like:

• What options have you considered?
• What outcome are you aiming for?
• If I wasn’t here, what would you do?

It feels slower at first.

But what you’re actually doing is teaching your team how to think, not just how to follow instructions.

I’ve written a longer article on how to coach your team to improve critical thinking and problem solving.

It’s pinned on my profile if you’d like to learn more.

And if this is something you’re struggling with in your business, I’d be more than happy to talk through some strategies that can help.

A little snapshot of a typical day as a business coach.

It usually starts early… a bit of thinking time before the day gets going.

Then it’s straight into client sessions, working through strategy, leadership challenges, or helping someone get clearer on the next 90 days for their business.

There’s usually a team session or workshop in there somewhere, too.
Helping teams communicate better, solve problems, and get aligned on where the business is heading.

A quick break away from the desk at some point is essential, fresh air and a reset before the next conversation.

The rest of the day tends to be a mix of:

• Reviewing client plans and progress
• Preparing for GrowthClub or workshops
• Talking with business owners about the challenges they’re facing
• And occasionally celebrating a few client wins along the way

No two days are exactly the same, and that’s one of the things I enjoy most about it.