taking over the family business?
 

if your parents were to retire in 5 years, and their small business makes significantly more than you do BUT is in a line of work you are not interested in, would you take the sure bet of learning the ropes and changing your lifestyle for the money?

or would you continue to pursue your own path, whatever that may be?

what's the income difference, your earning potential in your current field, and most importantly,

WILL YOUR PARENTS KILL YOU IF YOU SAID YOU WILL TAKE OVER, BUT SELL THE BUSINESS SHORTLY AFTER?

unit, making money is tough no matter how you slice it............my father sold his business before I was old enough to make your decision, but I would have taken over the business in a heartbeat. I work in the spirts/wine business and love what I do and make, but in the end, I work for a company. You never become rich working for someone else. I make good money, but will never make more than +$250K working in Vancouver. As long as you don't hate what you do, I would take over the family business. Being your own boss is more rewarding than being a work bitch like me......I will eventually start my own business.

No matter what, working as your own boss is way more rewarding then being someone's slut.

Making more or making less.

I am at a similar crossroad. Do I quit my job making ridiculously huge money in pursuit of my own business that might make $0 or at best a fraction of what I make at my current job?

I'm still young but getting older in my brain. If I was making a billion a year I don't think I would want to stick around much longer. Keep in mind I do have some other income streams but honestly. I'd rather make half and have my own business any day.

There is something that no man can put a price on no matter how rich and that thing is your self worth and your time.

For me it was great that the family business was something I wanted to get into eventually, so when I had that opportunity I pounced on it. However, it would be nice to work for someone else first so you have some experience being someone's bitch.

In the long run, however, you'd realize that you're in it for the money because:

A) you'll be working way more than 9-5
B) you'll be doing everything that other people don't do
C) by the time you're done your work, you'll be dead tired
D) after A-C, you'll question yourself why you're doing all this work

^ exactly. lol. my dads about to retire from our business pretty soon here. ive been doing this since i was out of high school. thankfully i enjoy the business but i would still do it because theres nothing like having your own business. i have been my dads bitch boy for 5 years now and i cant wait till i have my own bitch boy when i take over this thing. lol

plus. the money is awesome.

nice insight here.
i think the main message here is if you can be your own boss, definitely do it.
my dad owns a powdercoating shop, i work in IT. i can see the glass ceiling from here.

I think it depends on the business, how it's setup and your personal goals. My dad started a contracting business 20 years ago. I've been working for him at least part time for probably 17 of those years and fulltime for the last 8.

I have no interest in ever taking over the family business even though I've very involved in it and know it inside out. I actually wish my dad would close the doors and go work for someone else, with his skillset he could make more money working less hours with less stress.

Probably sooner then this but the day my dad shuts it down, dies or retires is the day I find a new career.

depending on the type of business, being your own boss is often way more stressful than working for some else. You don't have a limited "set of duties", instead, every single thing under the company is your responsibilities

when you are working for someone, you typically have to be VERY VERY good in the field to start making 150K+, where else a lot seemingly very small business easily make well over 300K.
what kind of difference are you talking about anyway?

Btw, another good thing about the latter is that you can put everything under the company's bill....(i.e. camera, laptops, electronic, vehicles....etc) So you end up with a lot more spare money even with the same wages.

i'd rather work for myself and make 50k then work for some douche and make 100k. so if i was you i would take over the family business and never look back

I was searching for something else but found this old thread. It made me laugh because at the beginning of this year my dad shut down his business due to health. He had a major heart attack last summer, he almost died twice, had a quintuple bypass and spent 3 months in the hospital because of complications. I got thrown into the role and ran the business for 6 months but it was a bit to much for me and I didn't like the hours or the workload Mind you I had a lot of other stress, mainly would my dad live so on top of everything else it was the craziest time of my life.

So fast forward 4 months, I actually attempted what I said I'd do but I haven't found anything yet. My dad's health is improving and he's doing what I wished he would do in this post, going to work for someone else. So he's opening up a startup for someone else in Regina this summer.

The irony of the whole thing is if I don't find anything by the end of the summer I'm going to Regina to work for him again. What we want to do and what we do are two different things. I have a family, mortgage and bills like everyone else. We make a plan but life works out the way it does and we do what we gotta do. :)

I think it's better to find your own path and make a career for yourself. A friend of mine's dad owns a really profitable wine company but he wants his son to make his own career for himself. He's currently in some science program at UBC. He says that even though he knows he can take over the business anytime he wants, it's more rewarding and self-satisfying to do it yourself, so to speak. And i totally agree.

However, if your parents ask you to help out in the family business, that is obviously a different matter..

Interesting, I'm in the same boat right now.

My dad owns a machine shop in another country and the business is within the oil and gas industry. He wants me to take over the business but my school background is in finance. I'm 25 and I'm having a quarter life crisis. I worked for him right after I graduated and I spent 2 years. During that time I didn't really enjoy what I was doing, I found it it was too technical, plus I had NO engineering background at all. Another thing that discouraged me is that my dad is one of those guys who is really bad in teaching/doesn't explain stuff very well. When I was working I had to get assistance from the employees instead of from him. The money is there, but I don't really find it enjoyable.

Now I'm back in van, thinking to go to BCIT to get some technical knowledge, haven't decided about the program yet.

Some say we won't always get to do that we enjoy the most but as long as we can survive, we should do it. What are your guys' opinions?

I think in a long run, unless you are passionate about running business or the industry that your parents business is in, it's very hard to stay long time in it.

My parents, together with my uncle own a company that's worth some serious $$$, with them two being major shareholders. The four of us second generations (my 2 cousins+me+my bro) have worked there since we were old enough to work as my parents wanted us to take it over one day. But all 4 of us eventually left the company to pursue our own career. The major reason is that, even though we are very familiar with the business, we were simply not passionate enough to take it over and stay there for the rest of our lives.

I now have my own real estate business. (basically just buy some apartment buildings, fix them up and rent them out) Even though it might be much less lucrative than taking my parents' business over (I'm getting about 65K net after tax, comparing to my parents who clears well over 600K net a year)

I don't regret much. After all, it's my own thing.

business > employee

I'm going to be taking over my dad's company when he feels he wants to retire.

Might as well be my own boss instead of someone elses or be both .

Flexible hours.

All profits to me = win?

My dad figured that if I do dental school by the time I'm done he could retire and give me his practice. Its tough because I don't really want to do dentistry but his business has been hugely successful :(

If it's not something you'd be interested in doing for a lifetime, don't do it. Money shouldn't be a motive because it will most certainly lead to your downfall. In the case that it isn't, why not sell the business and use the money profitted from the business to indulge in a individualistic path? If running a business isn't your thing, the business will probably suffer anyway. And at some point, it will lead to bankrupcy. It is key to set your priorities straight so that they emerge to a common focal point.

haha, and equally all losses = on you

i'm with all you guys - being your own boss is king. i'm an employee with my own business on the side, and am looking to buy into some other businesses that i can 'assist' and 'advise' in my free time. as for actually running a business, i can't risk losing my salary currently, as my education is in finance, not any specific field, one needs to learn that business before running it

Thats why you go into a business that requires alot of demand , something that people will always need to do.

having your own business in plumbing can make you 300-500k yearly or so.

hmmm, that's incredibly optomistic - any business can make you 300-500K or so... but i don't think any plumber can just go out and make taht kind of cash.

running your own business is not as easy as one may think, luck is a part of it, the rest is hard work, hiring the right people, and hard work

oh ya, hard work is also a big part (if that's not clear yet :) )

I am currently working at my moms restaurant, she wants to hand it down to me when its time. Im just trying to learn the business, I have been working for her here and there for about 6-7 years now. Hated the restaurant business at first but now I am actaully considering taking over. Being your own boss doesn't necessarily mean everything, yes you dont have anyone to boss you around but there are HUGE responsibility you need to take care of. HARD WORK like what 4444 said, employees you can count on

Pretty much, everyone thinks it's so easy but they never see the negative sides of it like when you don't get paid for work done, mistquoting, broken tools, machinery, overhead and all the other things.

A good example, someone is renovating my moms bathroom right now. All the other quotes were like 9-12K. My mom found someone will to do it for $4,000, he works for a larger company and there contractors bid there own work. It took him like 3 weeks to do a 5-7 day job and he totally fucked it up, everything has to be ripped out and he's fired by said company. They now have to buy everything twice and redo the job, the owner said his original quote would have been $11,000 buddy fucked up. They are honoring his quote so they are doing a 11K job twice and doing for 4K.

We used to have shit like this happen all the time when we had our family business as well. Our employees would fuck something up, it would have to be ripped out and redone. The employees don't give a fuck because they get paid regardless, end of the day it's the business owner who gets fucked but everyone thinks it's so easy to be a millionaire. We used to have 75 employees, more people = more problems not necessarily more profit. ::)