Thick and thin: what one father/daughter duo learned after jumping into business together.

• Author: Kinder, Peri
• Position: Lessons Learned

Successful business owners know they need the flexibility of an Olympic gymnast, the strength of bulletproof glass and the resilience of a rubber band to make it through the daily challenges of operating a business. It's the entrepreneur who can bounce back from a crisis that succeeds.

Father/daughter duo Doug Hatch and Emily Howard learned some valuable lessons about flexibility, communication, patience and focus when they started working together in March 2014.

Howard had worked as a customer service and sales rep for a Unishippers franchise for 18 months when the opportunity to own her own franchise came available. She knew her father would be the perfect business partner and couldn't wait to invite him to join her. "I knew we could work together. All those fears you hear about working with family? I didn't have those concerns about working with my father."

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Hatch had worked in the corporate world for nearly 30 years, selling construction materials, but he had no qualms leaving his well-paying job to work with his daughter at the Unishippers franchise. He knew Howard loved the company and that she was having great success as a sales rep. Even though he would be his daughter's employee and a minority investor in the company, Hatch was eager to sign the franchise deal.

Immediately, the partnership hit a speed bump. The same week the deal was finalized, Howard discovered she was pregnant. She and her husband, Roland, had discussed having a baby, but were planning to wait until the business was a little more settled. This happy (although unexpected) twist created an abrupt change in day-to-day operations, especially as Howard's energy level dropped significantly.

Roles were revised, shared and expanded as the family created a flexible schedule to keep Howard involved with running the business. Tasks shifted to Hatch who spent time drumming up new clients' while Howard got more involved in customer care and preparing for a new baby. Once she gave birth to her son, the stress increased. He was colicky, crying for hours at a time for the first four months, trying everyone's patience.

"I underestimated starting a business and having a baby. I was so tired. I was just exhausted. We had to learn how to communicate effectively and quickly," Howard says. "All three of us had to learn to work around a crying baby. As a business owner, regardless of a crying baby, I still had to get things done. But everyone was extremely...