This summer, my daughter started expressing her entrepreneurial spirit. Though she is only 8, she has watched me move from corporate America to running my own business. This transition has been over the past year, so she has been gleaning ideas from me on how to run her business venture (well, she’s had a few).
Her first venture was to open a restaurant with outdoor dining on our patio, called “Dining with Class.” Her enthusiasm quickly became infectious; her creativity amazing; and well, the operations pretty incredible. She, of course, was the owner / in charge of operations. Her dad was the chef, her brother a server and I (Mom) was tagged with marketing the restaurant, funny isn’t it?
Then her passion moved to opening “Lawn Care with Class.” This was a much easier business; however, she’s decided to add a partner (a 9-year old friend on the street). From running the business perspective, it was just the two partners who would get the jobs and dad who was in charge of doing all the work! Again, great spirit, but reality was a little blurry.
With her mind racing onto her next venture, she wasn’t aware how she was affecting me and my business! She had raised three concepts that really mattered to my business:
- Instilling a Passion to Succeed - By sharing her excitement with family, friends and neighbors, she soon had them asking us when these companies would be accepting new visitors / customers. Her “sales force” would have spread news about her quickly!
- Strive to Be the Best – By focusing on securing the most qualified people, learning from them, listening to them and becomiong an employer that no one wants to leave, she was creating a strong team from the start and planning to only add people who will increase the strength of the team.
- Focus on the Details – Though my daughter has very little business planning experience, I realized that her instinct of focusing on the small things built relationships and trust which cemented customers that will last a lifetime.
Not that we will be opening our family restaurant or a lawn care service anytime soon, but it is amazing to me how the basic principles of business have been re-taught to me by my 8 year old daughter. She’s an amazing person and I cannot wait until the day when she joins my business! BTW, it may be soon, since she’s already taking keyboarding classes in the 3rd grade!
