Many small businesses are family affairs. Mom, dad, brother, sister, son, daughter - they're all there. Sometimes the family pet gets in on the action as well. It can be a wonderful experience and a true win-win for all involved.

Or it can be a fight waiting to happen...especially if your kids are involved and it's confusing when you're acting as employer versus parent.

While there is much to be gained from having a child work in a parent's business, management consultant Lonnie Pacelli warned that this new relationship -- that of employer-employee -- needs to be approached with care.

"You absolutely have to set expectations up front that this is ... different," said Pacelli, owner of Leading on the Edge International in Sammamish, Wash.

He suggests owners let teens know that at work, their mothers or fathers are now their bosses, not parents.

BusinessWeek looks at the issue of kids working in small business in an article titled Owners' kids head to small businesses...and offers a few tips to make the experience most beneficial.