For John Eilermann St Louis CEO and Chairman of McBride housing, bring his son Jake into the picture was always something which he wanted to do, and with the recent announcement that Jake would in fact become president, the dream fo a proud father has come true. There are many men and women out there who create their own business and who would love nothing more than for their kids to come into the fold, either to take over from the parent or, as in Jake’s case, to join the parent and run the show together.

For as many kids who do want to get involved with their parent’s business however, there are just as many who want nothing to do with it, so how can parents deal with this certain situation.

Letting Them Choose

Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with trying cajole or encourage your child to walk into the family business, it is essential that they are never pushed. If you push your kids into something like this then you are going to find that they outright reject this, not because they necessarily don’t want to, but because they don’t want to be pushed into something like this. The key is to let them decide and to allow them the chance to try things before they do decide. There is rarely a time limit to this kind of thing which is exactly why your kids have the chance to experience life before deciding if this is for them.

Acceptance

All parents should be accepting in the decision that their kids take, and if they do decide to walk into the family business then it is essential that there is plenty of support to help them do so. If your kids decide that  they do not wish to be involved in the family business then no matter how disappointed that you may be, it is critical that you accept their decision and move on. Any ill feelings towards your children for their decision are unwarranted and not helpful.

Clear Path to Success

Assuming that your children do in fact want to come into the family business, it will be important for them that you have a clear understanding of how you are going to make this a reality. This means that  they get the help, the support and the experience that they need in order to walk into the business and feel confident in what is being expected of them. A failure to do this will only add pressure o the expectations on your child’s shoulders and that is not fair on them at all.

This is a nice dream to have and it is one which many parents share, the reality however is that if you truly wish for your child to one day come into the family business, there is only so much that you can do as a parent to make that happen, the rest must be organic.