11/ 21/ 2006
by Lena Basha
Uncovering the childhood experiences that shape successful small-business owners
Most small-business owners would be thrilled if their children wanted to follow in their footsteps. Sure, running a small business is tough and oftentimes stressful, but it can also bring about an enormous sense of pride, independence and, well, ownership. But what type of person decides to take those risks? Are there childhood experiences all successful business owners share? Researchers at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management recently found a strong connection between entrepreneurialism and genetics.
But having the perfect genetic makeup of a small-business owner isn't enough--and growing up in a family of entrepreneurs doesn't make you a shoo-in for your own success. Instead, these second- (and third-) generation entrepreneurs say taking the plunge into ownership demands hard work and a willingness to take risks. Those qualities, combined with the lessons they learned from their parents (and the lessons they're instilling in their children today), are how they maintain small-business legacies in their families.
When you love your job and do it well, it shows--and rubs off on others, says Katrina Markoff, owner of Chicago-based Vosges Haut-Chocolat.
Markoff comes from a long line of successful small-business owners. Her mother runs a hazardous waste removal business; her father was a restaurateur and antique dealer; her grandfather had a janitorial supply company; her uncle runs a mail-order catalog.
The list goes on.
"I was literally surrounded by small-business owners," says the owner of the luxury chocolate boutique with locations in Chicago, New York and Las Vegas. "Growing up, my siblings and I always helped our mother add up receipts and invoices on Saturdays. We were always around the business."
But it wasn't the invoices that excited Markoff; it was watching her mom persevere as a single mother, a business owner and a woman in a male-dominated field.
"It was amazing to have her as a role model," Markoff says. "My mom was never the type to worry. She always said, 'What do you have to lose? Why not do it?' If I'd decide I wanted to be a mechanic, she'd tell me to research the best mechanical schools in the country. She was always encouraging. I tried to keep those lessons in mind when starting my business."
Like Markoff, Javier Centeno worked for his parents, Manuel and Mirna, when he was growing up. He helped them by doing small tasks such as making photocopies and stuffing envelopes at their thriving printing business in El Salvador. "When I was 12, I started going to my dad's meetings," Javier says. "I always thought I would end up taking it over with my sisters when my parents decided to retire."
But when his family immigrated to the United States in 1998 to escape civil war in El Salvador, Centeno watched his parents go from successful business owners to factory workers in Milwaukee.
"It was hard to see my parents work for someone else when I had always seen them working for themselves," says Javier, who co-owns Spanglish Diseño, a multicultural branding and design firm in Milwaukee, with three partners. "But from day one, they were determined to start new businesses here in the United States. My parents are not the kind of people who give up."
Last year, Centeno's father opened Centeno Home Improvement Solutions, and his mother began Paso a Pasito Family Child Care, a licensed child-care center she runs out of their home.
"We have always been entrepreneurs, and this is a country of opportunities, so we knew we could make it happen eventually," Manuel says. "You have to have determination to make your dreams come true. You can have the desire, but if you don't have the determination, things are not going to happen."
Seeing his parents' determination helped Javier decide to leave his secure job as a Web designer and venture out on his own.
"They always taught me to be dedicated and prepared," he says. "They said that a business takes a lot of effort, that things don't always happen as expected, and that you need to be prepared for any obstacle. They're proof of that. They were willing to do whatever it took to become business owners again--and they succeeded."
U.S. Census Bureau data shows that half of all small-business owners who were raised in a small-business family worked in the family business before launching their own ventures. Contributing to that statistic is John Muscarello's family. Muscarello's three children have worked at the three businesses he has owned for as long as he can remember.
The owner of West Babylon, N.Y.-based Comfy Cuisine, which manufactures gluten- and sugar-free frozen entrees, Muscarello hopes his children will one day run the business he has worked years to build. But it's not going to be a gift, he says. "No matter how wealthy I ever get, I'm not going to give them everything; that's not how it works," he says. "If they're going to come into this business, they have to bring something to the table."
That attitude is no surprise, coming from a man who goes to work before dawn and still thinks about Comfy Cuisine past sundown. "I work hard because I don't want anyone else to control my destiny," says Muscarello, who, at age 13, saw his father get laid off after years of service to a construction company. "And I don't want that for my kids, either."
His plan seems to be working. His 21-year-old son, John Jr., has taken to the business, spending his summer vacations doing everything from making the entrees and washing pots and pans to making sales calls, writing press releases and helping dad with business decisions. He even has a title: head of sales and marketing.
"If I worked for anyone else, I wouldn't be involved in the marketing of the business or have the boss ask me what I think we should do next," says John Jr., who is completing his communications degree at York College in Pennsylvania. "I feel important, like I'm really contributing to the business."
Still, he admits that the added responsibility isn't easy. "I think you find more often that a family business is just given to the kids, but the kids were never really a big part of it," John Jr. says. "That's not the case with us.
I work hard for the company, and my dad will be the first to tell you that he is harder on me than he is on all of his other employees."
After graduation, John Jr. hopes to return home to run Comfy Cuisine, but he also sees something else in his future: "I have seen Comfy Cuisine evolve, and I have been a big part of it, but I wasn't there for the original concept," he says. "I'd like to open my own business someday so that I can see what it really feels like--not just to run a business, but to come up with the concept and watch it grow."
Dan Duffy isn't the only small-business owner in his house. The owner of Effective Data, a specialized technology-consulting firm headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., shares his home with the owner of Kasey's Crazy Cookies--his 11-year-old daughter, Kasey.
"She makes oversized chocolate chip cookies and sells them to her classmates during breaks," Duffy says. "My other daughter, Abby, wants to own her own photography business with a friend."
Childhood business ventures are common additions to the resumes of today's successful small-business owners--and for good reason. No matter how simple the idea--or how little the profits--childhood businesses can help budding entrepreneurs get an early start on the basics, such as taking risks, marketing a product and serving customers.
"The kids love to talk about their businesses," Duffy says. "They'll probably change a million times before they grow up and maybe even fail a few times. But who cares? That's all part of it."
Duffy's parents didn't own a small business--unless you count raising 11 children and sending them all to private school a business venture--but they definitely made an impression on their children. Eight of the 11 Duffy children are small-business owners today.
"My family really believed in all those corny, motivational sayings like 'Dare to dream,' and 'If it's to be, it's up to me,' " he says. "Our motto was always 'Wouldn't one of the biggest failures be not trying?' I still believe that. If the business fails tomorrow, that's OK because I know that I tried my best, and it was a good time. I try to teach those same things to my kids."
Peter Duffy, Dan's older brother and the owner of Elgin, Ill.-based Remarkable Representatives, a manufacturer's rep firm, knows that understanding the value of a dollar can be a critical skill when setting up a business model, and he is thankful he was taught that lesson as a child.
What he remembers most about growing up in a house with 10 siblings was the fact they were working--all the time. "We were taught that if you want something, you have to work for it," he says. "We always had to have jobs."
Duffy says being financially responsible at a young age also gave him more independence and accountability. "I'd work all summer and make so much money," he recalls. "But then school would start. On the first day, I paid the tuition, and just like that, most of it was gone. Even though it was painful at the time, that lesson taught me a lot at a young age. "
Even though Peter and Dan admit that they have more money now than they did growing up, their kids still know the value of a dollar. Why do you think Kasey makes her crazy cookies?
"If she wants new earrings," Dan says, "she knows she has to work to make the money for them."
What Inspired Me …
Each year, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation recognizes up-and-coming small-business owners by awarding scholarships to high-school seniors who have shown a knack for entrepreneurship. Over the years, the top winners of the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards have proven themselves to be savvy business owners. Here's a look at how their not-so-distant childhoods helped turn them into young entrepreneurs:
Matt Schuster
Where he is now: The 2004 NFIB/Visa Entrepreneur of the Year shows no signs of stopping. The Auburn University junior is focused on growing his business, Sound Source Productions, which has quadrupled in size in the past two years.
How he got here: Schuster's parents cultivated his interest in lighting and sound at an early age when they took him backstage at local concert events and introduced him to production experts. "It always fascinated me," Schuster says. "And when it came time to run my business, my parents were very supportive, driving me to gigs and helping me set up."
Jesse Dodds
Where he is now: This 2005 Young Entrepreneur Scholar from Montrose, Iowa, is now a sophomore at Iowa State University, studying engineering. His business, Jesse Dodds' Gourmet Sweet Corn, now has 300 customers (up from 20 in 2005) and was featured on the cover of Homestead, a magazine of the John Deere Corporation.
How he got here: While his parents offered support and encouragement to Dodds' business idea, they also challenged him, suggesting he seek funding for his business from an outside source: "To begin my business, I had to borrow money from a youth loan program at the Farm Service Agency." That's OK, he says, "because I believe I learned even more as a result."
Leah Hansen
Where she is now: The 2006 central region Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Hansen is a freshman at South Dakota State University, where she is studying animal science. She plans to return home to Letcher, S.D., next summer to continue her puppy-breeding business, James River Kennels.
How she got here: "Like my parents (who own Hansen Wheel and Wagon), I like to be able to do my own thing. I could see how much they really enjoyed running their own business and doing something they like to do. And I thought, 'Hey, I can do the same.' " Her dad, Doug, says giving Leah responsibilities at the family business also helped her understand from an early age how a business works: "She was exposed to operating a business as opposed to only working for a business, which gave her the opportunity to come up with her own ideas for the business and try to make them work," he says.
Web Extra
Matching the right personality to the right job also determines small-business success, says Bill Wagner, author of The Entrepreneur Next Door. Learn how to help the budding entrepreneur in your life match her personality type to a business venture in the "Web Extras" section of www.NFIB.com/toolsandtips.
NFIB.com
Learn more about the 2007 Young Entrepreneur Awards at www.NFIB.com/YEF.
