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Drew LeWay, owner of ADL Electrical Solutions in State College, Pennsylvania acknowledges that although “it’s pretty good to have customers,” but he also warns that it’s “pretty hard to charge your family.”

Accepting family as clients or business partners can certainly broaden your customer base, but you need to be clear and consistent in your dealings with family from the outset to ensure your relationships—and business—don’t suffer.

Your company might not have the resources to accomplish everything by itself, so forming working relationships with other companies, no matter how large in scope, is often necessary. And it can be more beneficial than you think. When companies with similar philosophies and values become business allies, great opportunities and valuable relationships usually result.

Your frustrations of being unable to communicate with your Hispanic workers can be resolved by teaching them English at home in as few as five months.

Getting work from property managers has paid off for Dan Gratz, president of AB&R Plumbing in Anaheim, Calif. Fifty percent of Gratz’s work comes from property managers, and it makes his life easier.

“All the haggling and prep work is already done when you show up for a job,” he says. “There’s no haggling over the bill, no song and dance show to the homeowner to sell yourself.”