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Oh what a wonderful tradition! I worked part-time in the family business as a student and recently employed my kids in my business as students.
I personally found it to be a great way to really “experience” my family’s business values and personality. It was an experience I can remember as if it were yesterday.
I hope the experience was similar for my children and I think it was. They get to see dad in action, how he interacts, works, treats people and carries himself as a professional. I think getting to interact with your parents in a professional setting really allows for children to get to know their parents from a different perspective and lens. And I guess the same is true for parent and child.
Most recently my son graduated from film school and presented an idea on how I could take my traditional business and expand it dramatically through combining traditional training with filmmaking and entertainment and the explosion of video on the web. What an exciting opportunity to be creative, collaborative and capitalize on the unique opportunity for both of us.
Like everything, there are pros and cons to this arrangement. Here are a few:
Pros:
- more time with your kids and perhaps more importantly in a different setting
- getting needed work done by cheap (sometimes) lovable labor
- giving the office staff a chance to get to know your family more
- creates exposure to family’s profession so that children have more information to choose their own profession
Cons:
- getting the office staff to get to know your family more
- potentially seeing work habits that are not up to the family standard
- being a potentially difficult position of having to fire your children
- potentially causing more conflict in already tumultuous teenager/parent relationships
Overall, if both parties want it to work and make a commitment not to let it negatively affect their relationship – give it a try! It will be a good learning experience for everyone involved!