The holiday season is commonly filled with family gatherings where people travel near and far to reunite with multiple generations. Personally, I was blessed to be able to look around our table on more than one occasion and see grandparents, siblings, spouses, and children engaged filling the room with conversation and laughter. True wealth is found in our family, friends, and shared experiences. The earlier this is learned the more fulfilling a life will be experienced.
Sitting at the holiday dinner table for most families will be numerous people who elected to take on what my mother calls, “the most rewarding & challenging job available” parenthood. It is my hope that everyone who was in the presence of their mother and/or father during the last couple of weeks took a moment and said, “Thank You” for their contribution to your life.
The importance of engaged parents as a foundational element to successful lives should not be understated. There is no replacement for the guidance, security, and love they provide children as they develop into adults.
Numerous studies have shown that children with engaged parents are more successful in school (https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/parental-involvement-is-key-to-student-success), happier & healthier (https://youth.gov/youth-topics/impact-family-engagement), and better off economically later in life (https://www.deseret.com/2015/2/5/20557905/the-erosion-of-traditional-families-is-affecting-income-inequality).
As a professional facilitator of business sales since 1994, I have had the pleasure to frequently witness the value parents play in the mentorship of future generations of entrepreneurs and the success of family-owned companies. Parents are commonly regarded as the most important teachers in a person’s life and the tutelage provided often extends to business in families that have pursued the American Dream of working for themselves, controlling their own destiny, and financially achieving greater heights than would have been possible as an employee. Recently, I facilitated a meeting where an Asian mother & father, who are successful business owners, brought their three sons to a meeting at a manufacturing company they had identified as a good fit for their eldest son to own & operate based on his prior work experience. It was wonderful to hear the son’s excitement about the opportunity being presented him by his parents supported by his own SBA loan, as he engaged on an operational tour with the retiring owner and witness the glow of pride from his mother & father based on who he was at age thirty and his potential for the future. I can imagine future family dinner discussions among the group strategically planning and problem solving through the opportunities and issues that face the business.
Similarly, at another December meeting another set of parents selling a distribution company were excited to introduce their son, who did not want the responsibility of ownership, to the husband & wife team that would be buying their company in January feeling good about the future employment opportunity for him with the successful entrepreneurial team selected as their successors.
No one has the ability to provide better advice from a position of knowledge, experience, and LOVE to a child than a parent.
It is an honor at IBA for us to be recognized as a market leading business brokerage firm serving the family-owned business community in the Pacific Northwest. This community serves as the backbone of the regional economy. Its value creating limitless opportunity to entrepreneurial families for business and financial achievement, employment for people in large & small communities, and a tax base to support public services is fundamental to our quality of life in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. We welcome conversations about the business sale process from family business owners whether a sale is desired in 2023, 2024, or 2027. All conversations with IBA will be held in strict confidence. 100% of our fees are payable upon performance when the project is completed.
As an entrepreneur myself from a family filled with business owners, “Thank you Mom & Dad for your guidance, support, and love”. Working at my father’s veterinary hospital growing up opened my eyes to “the possible” in America.
IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, and mergers & acquisitions community on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family-owned businesses. IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.