Siblings in Business: Making it Work

If you have siblings and want to start a company together, it’s quite possible you’ll find yourself in one of two camps: one where you can’t imagine running a company without their help, and the other where they seem like the natural choice. Even the best of siblings get into arguments and live to annoy one another (usually out of love and knowing how to push each other’s buttons). However, you might always have each others’ backs and know how to work well together. While you may wonder how some siblings do it, plenty of them run successful ventures together. Family businesses contribute a high percentage to the Canadian and American GDPs and sibling businesses are a part of that success. We wanted to celebrate families working together by showing off some sibling entrepreneurial success stories around the world! Maybe it will inspire you and your siblings to start something together someday.

Family Business Success Stories

Patrick and John Collison, Co-Founders of Stripe

Siblings Patrick and John Collision are entrepreneurs who started on their journey as co-founders together a while ago. The brothers started Stripe in 2010 when they decided to give developers the tools to build secure e-commerce solutions. While both brothers worked on separate projects and throughout their schooling, Stripe was a bootstrapped, part-time initiative to solve their issues with other projects. Today, Stripe is a well-known secure payment platform with a great integration process. It has had a huge impact on tech, especially startups that use the software on a daily basis.

James and Alexa Hirschfeld, Co-Founders of Paperless Post

If you’ve ever looked into e-vites for an event, you’ve probably stumbled across Paperless Post. James and Alexa Hirschfeld co-founded Paperless Post in 2009 to reshape how to send invites online. When trying to send invites himself, James Hirschfeld realized that he couldn’t find a solution that allowed for attractive, customized invitations. They have stated that they’re each one half of a whole and have the necessary balanced skillset to work together.

Ellen Rucker Sellers & Ione Rucker Jamison, Co-Founders Rucker Roots Waxhaw

Sister-duo Ellen and Ione Rucker started their company, Rucker Roots in 2015. They wanted to create a high-quality product with natural ingredients that treated hair well. Ellen used to create DIY hair treatments at home, which led to the idea to make it into a business. Since both sisters are passionate about the product, they are able to promote their love of natural hair as well as how to care for it through their business. With their other sister Ruby, Ellen and Ione also co-star on WE TV’s reality show, Love Thy Sister. These sisters are united by their passions, which can only contribute to the success of their business.

Zack and Ross Lipson, Co-Founders of Dutchie

Brothers Zack and Ross Lipson entered the cannabis startup scene in 2017 with Dutchie, a cannabis delivery and order management service (for those over the age of 21). This decision came after Zack’s success with a food delivery company and confidence in their entrepreneurial family spirit. As an order and delivery startup, Dutchie has a software-as-a-service component that the brothers refer to as “the Shopify of the cannabis industry.” Zack and Ross say that it’s a mutual interest, entrepreneurial family spirit and a balance of skills that allow them to succeed together.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

If your business is family orientated, you might even consider a .FAMILY domain for your website through Hover. A yourbrandname.family domain can highlight the nature or focus of your business and place emphasis on this important element of your brand. Hover has hundreds of interesting and unique domain names on sale so feel free to look around and see what works best for your family.

As the siblings above prove, you can likely start a successful venture in any industry alongside your sibling by examining your skills, passions and work ethic. If you have a solid balance of skills, an honest relationship and the ability to collaborate, you may have what it takes to move forward on an entrepreneurial journey with one of the most trusted people in your life. Having likely known your sibling for your entire life, only you know the answer to that question!