GON Reader Question
I liked reading about your daughter going off to college. Do you have any tips for a recent high school grad who wants to start his own business and how we can stay organized as a family and support him with his plan while he lives at home?
He has his own room and can use most of the garage. He wants to make furniture and/or some kind of gardening work.
I think the thing I'm not sure about is how to
keep him accountable so that he is actually working and not just researching all the time, and what to expect from him in terms of chores and family time.
Time on the computer is a concern
too. People can endlessly research things and should I worry that he does that too much?
Thanks,
-- Carmen
Response from Maria Gracia
Hi Carmen,
Thank you for your question. Congratulations to your son on his high school graduation. This is an exciting time in his life...and wonderful that he has entrepreneurial goals!
As you're probably well aware, starting a business is very challenging. It takes a lot of discipline and knowledge. Not only will he have to know how to do the work (gardening and making the furniture), but he will also need to market those services offline and online, manage his business accounting and taxes, acquire needed supplies, handle maintenance tasks, and so
on.
He'll be wearing ALL of the business hats when he's just starting out.
Is he also working another job while he gets this off the ground? Hopefully your answer is "yes" because that will give him the income he needs for his personal and business necessities.
As far as you keeping him accountable, if that's going to be your role, you're taking on a big one. Encourage him, certainly. Guide him if he asks for help. But as a home business owner, his accountability will, in the end, be his responsibility.
Researching is part of running a business. I've been in business since 1997 and I still research today in 2022. Doing so is important. It helps give you direction.
But, I know what you're saying. One can research endlessly. If that's all that's happening, that won't pay the bills.
My advice to him is to work on small mini-goals at a time. Research that mini-goal. Then apply what he learned from it. Then research mini-goal number two, and apply that. Keep repeating.
Experience, "the actual doing," is where the real learning comes in. He tries something. It may fail. He tries something else. It may not fail as badly as the first time. He tries a third time...and he (hopefully) begins to see a small success. And so on.
As far as your family staying organized while he's getting his business off the ground, it is recommended that he establish regular work hours, just like a regular job, and takes no family requests during that time unless it's a true
emergency.
Hopefully he will also keep his business paperwork, supplies, tools, etc. in his own workspace, as well as the section of the garage that is dedicated to his business. When
living at home, very often business related stuff begins to pour into other rooms. It's very important that this doesn't happen...for everyone's sanity.
I will also caution him, since he's just starting out, to do whatever he can on a shoestring budget. There are plenty of ways to get the word out without breaking the bank.
As far as chores, if he's living home he should definitely be taking responsibility for some of those tasks. If he has his own bathroom, for example, cleaning it can be one of those chores. Maybe he is responsible for mowing the lawn or snow blowing. Perhaps he can clean up after dinner if he's eating meals home every evening.
An hour a day dedicated to cleaning and/or other chores is probably about right. He could always break it up into two 30-minute segments if that works better for him.
Family time for an 18-year old can be a bit tricky. This is definitely the time for him to spread his wings, go out with his friends, work on his goals, and chase his dreams in his personal and business life.
Hopefully, since he's living home, he'll sit down to share family meals, go out for a mom/son coffee on occasion, head out with your family when you're attending a sporting event now and then, and so on.
Good luck to him in this new exciting phase in his life.
