Many small-business owners are eager to hire their children. They're getting employees they know they can trust, and it can be rewarding to teach and learn from sons and daughters. Many of the parents dream of passing the business on to their children someday.

But, of course, there are pitfalls.

A small-business owner must learn how to balance being a boss and a parent — how to have a business as well as a personal relationship with a child. The needs of other employees, and the company itself, also must be considered.

Denyse Selesnick says that even after working with her daughter Stephanie for 10 years, she sometimes struggles with letting go of her role as a parent.

"Every generation, we know better than the kids ... we know

everything," said Selesnick, president of International Trade Information Inc. of Woodland Hills, Calif., a company that organizes trade shows.

Yet Selesnick also realizes that her 40-year-old daughter has matured in her work and she has become more responsible and more knowledgeable about the business.

"She's now my partner," Selesnick said.

Not every parent-and-child business relationship works out. To succeed, parents and children need to rise above family dynamics, or learn to use them in a constructive way, said Joseph Astrachan, a professor of family business at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

"Parents are rarely honest with kids about what their weaknesses are. It's OK in a family, but in a business, it's a killer," he said.

Selesnick said she has learned from working with her daughter to tread lightly.

"You have to think about what you say very carefully," she said. "You have to criticize in a positive way."

Another complication can come from hiring more than one child. Sibling rivalries can take on a new dimension in the workplace.

For parents considering taking a child into the business, Astrachan recommends thinking important issues through ahead of time, in the same way you would for any new employee.

"Make it very clear what they're going to be paid and what your minimal expectations are and do not waver," he said.

Sarabeth Grossman, 19, is just starting to work for her mother, Donna Gould, at Phoenix Media, Gould's public relations firm in Matawan, N.J. Gould said she plans to treat her daughter like any employee in the same position.