5 Times When a Child Should Get into the Family Business

Some children don’t get along well with their parents. When they get to adolescence, they’re excited because they know that before too long, they’ll be 18, and they can move out. Others can’t wait to head off to college because they and their parents don’t see eye to eye.

On the other hand, some kids love their parents very much, and they’re quite close to them. Ideally, the parents feel the same way. Often, the children will decide to go into the family business if there is one.

If you’re a young person, and you’re considering going into the same business that one or both of your parents did, you should keep a few things in mind. In this article, we’ll talk about some reasons why you might decide to take this step.

You Can’t Imagine Life Far Away from Your Parents

There are all kinds of family businesses. You’ll never need to hunt for a lawyer if both of your parents are attorneys, or maybe they’re doctors. It could be that they own a pharmacy, or perhaps they’re into industrial manufacturing.

Whatever the family business is, children loving their parents is one of the most common reasons they’ll decide to get into it when they become adults. Maybe that sounds like your situation.

You might regard your parents as your best friends. They’ve always given you great advice, and you have many happy memories with them. Some families are very close, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

That could be the perfect reason to get into the family business. You can work alongside your parents every day, and possibly your siblings as well. That might sound like a wonderful life to you.

You Have an Aptitude for It

It could be that you find you have an aptitude for the business, just as your parents do. Maybe you discover that you have a particular skill set that makes you the perfect candidate to be a high-placed individual within their company.

You might envision nothing but working in the family business from the time that you are very young. Your parents can train you for it, and if you grow up around it, you’ll probably be more than ready to involve yourself once you reach adulthood.

The Business Has Been in the Family for Many Generations

Some families have been in the same business for multiple generations. Think about Heinz ketchup and the Heinz family, or Bush’s baked beans and the Bush family. These are family institutions that have made the founders lots of money.

You might feel like you want to involve yourself as an adult because you know your family name is synonymous with a particular industry, niche, or product line. If you want to keep that tradition going, and you know that your parents and other relatives want the same thing, that can be reason enough to go in that direction.

You Want to Bring the Family Business to New Heights

You also might have a family business that has existed for generations, but it’s on the decline. That could be because your parents or whoever is in charge doesn’t know how to carry it into the 21st century.

As a younger person, you might be able to bring a new perspective to the company. You may come up with new marketing campaigns, or you might start using social media to boost sales.

You could come up with entirely new revenue streams or a new business model that puts a twist on the traditional products. You could be the one who saves the company or transforms it into a different but equally dynamic version of itself.

You Might Feel Pride About Your Heritage

If there’s family money, maybe it came from the one business that your family cultivated. You could strike out on your own, but you want to continue in the same tradition that you know has made your parents and grandparents success stories.

Your community may know your family, and your parents and other relatives might have standing there. That can attract you to stay and be part of it.

Whether it’s any one of these reasons or a combination of several, you should only join the family business if you feel passionate about it. If you want to do something else, then you shouldn’t let tradition bind you. If you’re going to do something other than what your family expects, they will hopefully understand.