Business owners and sons?

[ricky82g]

I know this is way too early but my son is only 2 1/2 and we will be having another boy at the end of may and I'm only 30 and have only owned a business for a few months but i still daydream that my son (s) will want to help me, will stick by my side and learn the business and want to take over someday so i can retire and they can support me if god willing my business is successful. I'm just curious of business owners experience with this? How did you get your son or daughters to like the trade or not. Did they ride along with you at a young age? Just everybody's overall experience with it.

Thanks

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Snapperhead]

My boss had one of his sons work for about 6 years , then after the son got tired of fighting with the ol man he finally told him shove it. Now the younger son is 18 and just began working with his dad , and probly wont be long .... the boss is a real ass at times , especially to his sons.

I know a guy owns an electric company and his son loves working for his dad , all commercial work.

[kdean1]

When I started my business 16 years ago I hired my 22 year old son. He worked part time for 6 months and then came on full time. I made him a partner 2 years ago. He's my right hand man. He said if someone had told him 5 years before that he'd be working with me he'd have laughed at the thought.
Our youngest son (13 years younger that the other) worked for me during high school and learned well. But after high school it wasn't cool to work for Dad so he worked at a fast food place for about 4 years. After a while he decided that fast food is not a good career path. He came back to work for me full time 5 years ago. He continues to learn and we have sent him for further training.

As with any employee, treat them with respect. Make sure they know what is expected and how to do it. If they make a mistake, help them fix it and make it a teaching opportunity. Give them good training and commend them for what they do well.

My sons enjoy learning and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Our customers compliment me on their work. I tell them with a smile they've been trained by the best. I'm very happy to have them working with me. When I decide to slow down and eventually retire that they will continue the business. But I still enjoy working so I don't know how soon that will be.

[newoldtech]

If your smart you will encourage them and teach them everything you can about the trade, so they have something to fall back on if med School doesn't pan out. Which should be every parents first choice if their kid is up to it. HVAC, while an honorable profession and certainly right for many, should be some where down the list.

[coolcajun]

I started working for my dad at 17 when he opened the company. I am 38 now and he works for me. Lol.

[ricky82g]

Kdean1 did you ever take your son with you on service calls? if so how old was he when he actually started to become interested?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[crstephens83]

ok so i grew up working with my dad, holding his flashlight while sitting on his bucket, I worked summers all through jr high and when i got into high school i wanted nothing to do with this! It was a year out of high school that i decided to go to work for him, and i love it now. Ive been doing this for about 12 years now, we learn from each other every day. He's 50 now and maybe has 10 years left, he would retire now if i would let him, but Im not ready yet. We do butt heads, we are both stubborn. We get along by staying out of each other's way. I run three techs, and they answer to me, and I answer to him. Mostly these days he's in the office he signs the checks, and helps me with ideas and I help hime in the same sense. He hasn't been an employee in a long time so he sometimes thinks like a boss and not an employee, which can be good and bad so that is where we balance each other out. I have the most respect for my dad now, I do understand why he has done the things he has done! The one thing i wish now is that I would have gone to school and gotten a degree before I started working, because it sure has been a pain doing it now.

[kdean1]

Kdean1 did you ever take your son with you on service calls? if so how old was he when he actually started to become interested?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

He was 15 or so, not much younger, when I took him on service calls. At first he just carried the tool box or gauges. He was attentive when I explained what I was doing and why. I was very pleased when we checked pressures and superheat and he said:"I'll go get the refrigerant. The pressures are low and the superheat is too high."
He had worked with me when I was an installer with another company. He was only 8 or so then. For him it was a big deal to go to work with me.
I enjoy working with my children so I try to make it a pleasant experience for them. A few years ago we both had a great time when I taught him how to lay out stairs when we were building new storage space in our building. He learns best when it is a "hands-on" lesson. He likes to work on his motorcycle and his Honda 2000 so I guess I managed to convey the satisfaction I feel from fixing or making things.
Now both boys (men really) will suggest a change in what I have in mind for a job. Their suggestions often are improvements on what I planned. I tell them so. If I don't agree I explain why and we reach a conclusion together. Its no wonder we all enjoy our work.

[Gotwood]

I think it's all going to be based on how you raise him.....
And your relationship with one another.
From my personal experience(me and my father) encourage him as much as possible and DO NOT make him feel like everything can be done better. Let him find his own ways and give advice.

[EK99]

I work with a father and son. Its a small company just us three. The best advice I can give is if your sons end up being a part of the company be willing to let go and change. Don't get stuck it the way you think the company should be ran. They may have good ideas about growing the company. Stay open minded

[EugeneTheJeep]

I took my 30 YO daughter out with me yesterday for the first time. We were changing a heat exchanger in a 2 ton Trane RTU. We knocked it out in 2 hrs. I found even though she is petite, she is stronger then I thought, and I told her what to do and she did most of the work. She was top of the class in mechanical aptitude when the US Army gave the class a test in high school. We will have to see how she does next week? Maybe I finally found a tech that is at my same caliber?

[RoBoTeq]

Though all of my three boys worked with me, none of them wanted to continue in the HVAC industry. After decades of building a decent following, I walked away from the contracting side of the industry and went to the dark side of manufacturing/distribution of HVAC. My boys all have other careers, but two of them do fall back on HVAC once in a while.

If you are actually building a business, there is more of a chance your sons will want to be part of it because they can use business schooling to make your business better than you have. If what you really own is a job, a small company name that you are the reason for it's existance, then it is unlikely your sons are going to want to do what you have done to provide for them.

[ricky82g]

Thanks for all the great replys and insight on this, there is nothing like having a bunch of seasoned vets of the trade giving there 2 cents to a young pup! Even though my son is only 2 1/2. He so much wants to be involved in everything I do, could be just a phase haven't crossed that bridge yet but I know I'm never going to pressure him in doing what I love. I just hope he does

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[Carbon]

The best advice I was given and can now recommend without hesitation is make them work somewhere else for at least 2 years. If they don't they'll only know as much as you do. I made this a company rule. My daughter, after college, went to work as a consultant in DC. The training she received was top notch. We couldn't have taught her what she learned in a million years. She came back to work for me after 4 years and has really taken us to another level. We have the most sophisticated computer systems in town that are so simple to use even my idiot techs have no problem with them. There is a measurable increase in profitably. If college isn't for them, have them work for one of the bigger guys in your market or a manufacturer or controls company. What they learn can expand your business. Good luck!

[contractorr]

The business owner sons are not much interested to expand there parents business.They should try to learn in order to compete in today's more dynamic market.

[Buddy Lee]

I am a son, well step-son, to a business owner. I did some summer jobs for him until he hired me full time when I was 22. I decide to go to trade school and after 2 years, after I began to feel taken for granted. I was making less money than techs at other companies and I had conflicts with my step-fathers partner. I quit and went to work for another contractor. After 6 years and 3 employers, I returned to work for him and now have been with him for 10 (18 years in the field total) years and his partner in not with company any more.

The best thing I ever did was leave. I got a lot of experience and contacts that I would never have made. My Step-Father is a great tech and knows more than most in the field I have met, but what I learned from the older techs at the other companies gave me a more diverse experience and I have been able to bring a lot to the company.

[Hunter844]

I am a son of an owner. I have been a partner since 2007 and mainly have always been stuck in the office working on the business and not in it. My dad will be retiring this September, we may bring him back for summer 2014 if we feel he is needed. My uncle is the majority owner and he plans on working for another ten years. I'll be taking a larger role in the field this summer which is fine by me...after 13 years in the office you get a little cabin fever.

Over the years me and my dad have had our lumps, he is very hard headed and i am too. He tries to run things like we are still back in 1986. Actually we fight about once a week but now days its more tongue and cheek.

There are a lot of things I might have done differently had I had the luxury of hindsight. I might have opted to work for another company first. That advise is well warranted. I might have pushed harder for the importance of a legally binding buy/sell agreement (exit strategy) and a pension plan. We have a pension plan combined with key man insurance with whole life...still working on a Buy/Sell but should have that settled sometime in the coming few months. These are things I wish we had setup ten years ago but didn't.

[whiteair]

most of my family does HVAC - my uncle owns one of the larger hvac companies in south jersey, some other uncles work for the local utilities. all my cousins and i worked at the hvac company during the summer, and i worked summer, easter holidays, etc. the day i graduated highschool my dad made me go to work full time at the hvac company. i ended up leaving and going to college for something, did other jobs and stuff for years, and then ended up going to school to be an electrician. electricians dont pay their helpers much, so i fell back on hvac where i would get more initially and pay the bills. went from warehouse in highschool, to commercial helper, to residential helper, to residential installer to service tech to service management to now opening my own company.

my kids? my girlfriend of 8 years who i will most likely be marrying has said that " our children will NOT be doing hvac for a living, and will be going to college " - sooooo if i do everythign right i will hopefully build up a *big* hvac company and then my kiddies with their business degrees will blow the company up to a huge one. thats probably a daydream, that part. haha

[eglide99]

I work for my son LOL. My son has worked since he was 13 (summers and weekends). Sent him to school little by little he just took over. I still have a co truck at the house and he better call me a couple of days a week to get me out of the house. ....."sorry honey I can't do them chores today Jr needs some parts"

[klee7013]

I am also a son 23. Started working summers when i was13 or so(instead of baby sitters). First year worked at the shop sweeping floors, going to the gas station and getting drinks. The next summer or two i was a helper. Then i got sick Aspergillus in the lungs. (long story short i have a ****ty immune system) . The last year or so of high school i came in and did paperwork on the computer after schoo. Then i worked part time and went to school for hvac, then business. My older brother also worked during the summers but he decided he did not want in the co business. After 5 years at one school and a little over a semester at another he came back and is still working with us.

Kind of weird being over my older brother and at times can be a pain. I would recommend also to go work for another company or two. See how life actually is i wish i did.

Finally our dad as let us make a few changes at a time. Hell we didn't even have contracts to sign for customers okaying work and timely payment till a few weeks ago. Our Accounts Receivable is was to high. Trying to get it to collecting the money on the job but it will be a while before that because hell when asked our techs say no we dont take money we will bill ya. WTF is someone offers to pay call the office get a price and collect. IMO the best time to collect is when the customer is actually thankful that you fixed their unit not a week or so down the road and they think the invoice is unfair.

enough with my rant. But yes it can and does work. Good luck to your new business and son. My dad started his 2 years before i was born and it is still holding strong