ROLE OF FAMILY IN START UP SUCCESS

THE FAMILY ROLE IN BUSINESS START UPS SUCCESS
“what do you want to become when you grow up?” growing up this was the common question asked both at dining tables with visiting uncles as well as in classrooms with bored career masters, unfortunately nobody will define for you what growing up really means and when it happens. For my friends who have just finished the university; this is it. This is the time called when I grow up, parents should also know that this is that time.
So let us consider some options now that you have grown up, you could go dropping you CVs around, get called for a series of interviews and probably get a job, you could nestle up to a well connected uncle, auntie or relative- that is what we affably call technical know who. You also could apply for an internship or a volunteer’s job. The other option joining your family owned business or starting your own business from scratch if you have the desire but mostly the grit to stick with it. This is not an article on career guidance it is about business so I will get to it.
If you are like me and so many people who feel they are cut out for the dog eat dog world of business and you have a unique business idea and business model this article is dedicated to you and your family. I come to it with the assumption that family is the crib of utmost loyalty and unconditional love, just like Marlon Brando told his son in the GOD FATHER, “Family comes first, always look out for family”. Both you and your family need to grasp that the journey you have embarked upon, is grueling, perilous, often lonesome, but ultimately fulfilling, liberating and enjoyable, this is the bitter-sweet reality of business, so you are going to need all the support you can get.
In africa small businesses like the one you are likely to start up account for 90% employment, over half of production is done by small people and SMEs account for over 80% of the service industry in Uganda alone, so you are on the right track. These businesses find themselves intricately interwoven with families, either started to support family cashflow, or even provide work for children and at times for an inheritance, however out of the 3 businesses started today in Uganda, 2 will not be in existence 1 year from now. One of the reasons I believe is because of a misconstrued perspective of family involvement in the lives of the business owners.
Many parents tell there children to study hard and get a good job, unfortunately these jobs aren’t there, so after 20 years of school people graduate with limited options of profession, families should therefore appreciate that children have different endowments and talents, families need to let go of prejudices of what their children should become, should a member of your family be it spouse of child start a business here are some things you need to do to enable their success.
The first role therefore is understanding the difference in preference: families need to come to terms with the fact that you for example want to start a gardening business instead of doing the IT you studied at the university. Once the family understands the choice and desire of their members they can set out to empower and advise you to be the best gardener you can be, parents shouldn’t try to live the life they failed to live through controlling their lives. So if your children are going to be successful in their business they need the family understanding and respect of the career path because business is a career.
Secondly provide moral support: there is nothing more gratifying and motivating for a young person setting out into the unknown world of business, than hearing from their parents and relatives the words “we believe in you, and we know you can do it, believe in yourself and you can count on it that we are behind you’ unless your child is into drugs, pornography or prostitution for a business, you need to let them know you trust that they can do it
the dad to a friend of mine, opened up a restaurant and offered him the opportunity to own and run it, having been at the university studying entrepreneurship we knew we had to do something original, today that restaurant has the best business practice, the most delicious food and a unique model that has endeared everyone at clement hill and corporate village, simply because this young man’s father believed in him, so if your son chooses to start a business support them, remember it could be worse, they could be counterfeiting, prostituting or dealing drugs, if they have your confidence however they till desist from such, despite the desperation.
Thirdly provide financial support: this is only if it is possible, however financial support is not necessarily startup capital, or overheads, this varies from business to business, personally with my coaching practice all I needed was my blackberry and laptop which I had by the time I started out. Try to remember that a business is like a baby growing up, you can’t wait for them to start walking, talking with you or even give back to you the fruit of their jobs, but you must patiently wait for them to start taking themselves to the toilet or getting a snack from the fridge without crying, that is what all parents dream of but patiently endure.
Even so your child can’t wait to pay their own bills, rent and utilities out of the business, but more often than not families will quickly pull back or demand once someone starts a business, as a parent you could offer to take care say of airtime expenses, rent, and to not make them sloppy make it a working capital loan. You don’t want your son to be starving his business because he is also starving. A friend of mine had his parents take care of his wardrobe while he was walking the streets for tenders, not only was he the best dressed struggler, he gained the confidence of his prospects, I last read of him in the young achievers awards recently, so families should help with those responsibilities that will stifle the cash flow into their child’s startup, an idea as I mentioned is to treat it as working capital.
Fourthly, volunteer sales and marketing: If your brother or sister makes fruit juice, volunteer a day or two work with them to sell at an event, even if it is to count the money. My fiancée makes jewelry and all manner of textile; I have often taken some of her stock and sold for her. I would encourage you to become a non paid worker, because at this stage paid workers are the lead depletor of cash flow. Be the marketing person for your wife, child, or siblings business, tell people about them. Recently I was stunned by a gentle old lady who approached me with a glisten in her eyes as she offered me a pretty little bag to buy, I didn’t care about the bag as much as I did about the passion this woman had for her daughters work, she was full of praises for her daughters talent. I bought the bag and gave it away, because as a retired lady she had volunteered to market her daughter if that is not family, nothing else is.
Fifthly, celebrate and encourage: I have already told you that business is not for the faint hearted, but they can get by with sufficient encouragement and motivation. When your family member makes say a business loss, loses property to a bank and other misfortunes, this is not time to say “we told you so’ it is a time to rebuild, to encourage to bolster one another. Every successful businessman will tell you that more often than not they have wanted to quit, encourage you child or spouse not to quit, there is nothing dispiriting to an entrepreneur than a family that suggests quittance of the possibility for the certainty of employment, please don’t, instead suggest ways they can do better.
Just like you celebrated your child’s first baby steps, first words, first wedding anniversary, take the time to celebrate your family members successes, life is like a bus ride, take time to enjoy the stops, in this case the first contract, the first million, the first office, however keep it small and as much as is possible don’t let them use that first million to celebrate, sponsor that party till they can call one themselves. These milestones make the business journey a little more bearable though perilous and unforgiving it be.
Parents, spouses try to remember that the only thing worse than a friends betrayal is a family that shows no confidence in us, so whatever you do don’t be a source of discouragement to the entrepreneurs in your life, peradventure we shall have more startups surviving.