How I Raised Two Amazing, Young Entrepreneurs & How You Can Too

Raising Entrepreneurs

This is the shortest story ever written about the power and blessing of one man and his wife raising two, amazing young men who became entrepreneurs in their own way. It is my story to share because starting, funding, and growing successful small businesses becomes the fate and destiny for millions of people around the world. More than 30 million of us that we can count work as small business owners in America alone. Entrepreneurs founded the very nation many of us reading this article call home today; the United States of America. The rest of us make it all work somehow.

First, my wife, Janice, deserves equal if not way more credit over the last 30 years. Okay, I thought about it. She deserves way more credit! Our sons would not be who they are today without their incredible mother. I wouldn't be the entrepreneur I am today without the strength and unconditional love of my college sweetheart. Anyone out there who knows about being an entrepreneur knows how important this is to our success.

We had two, healthy boys early in our married life. I am the son of two entrepreneurial parents. As the father of two entrepreneurial sons I shared the good, the bad and the super-duper ugly of being an entrepreneur. They chose to follow this path in their own ways. I am so grateful for being able to share part of this story with you.

Christopher is 27 now. Alexander is 24. Neither of our sons "got it" when they were growing up. They were definitely soaking up the essence of living in an entrepreneurial home. Janice has been a career woman since the kids went of to school at a young age. She could work from home as a pharmaceutical and medical sales rep. It's one of the ways we financed my small business dreams. Did I tell you how freaking amazing this woman is yet?

Today, Chris works in the restaurant business and has done so since a young age. He also started and manages his own ecommerce business that he grows every day. Of our two sons, Chris is most like me; we don't like being told what to do and we basically are born to be entrepreneurs. He is a spender. We are not employable in a traditional kind of way if you know what I mean. Chris worked from a young age as an entrepreneur and took it to extremes beyond our wildest imaginations. Suffice it to say that he took a much different path to starting his first, real business. Now he enjoys a micro balanced life working and being an entrepreneur.

Alex is a different breed of entrepreneur. He's more like my wife. Everybody loves this guy. He's mellow and very much a team player. He follows directions well. He excelled at college graduating from the University of Arizona in four years while working part time "smiling and dialing" making sales calls to alumni. The day after he attended his graduation ceremony he started to get licensed in more than ten states as a mortgage banker with a big company. He excelled as an entrepreneur working for a big company as a salesman, unlike Chris, who never worked for a big company and found college not for him after several years of having fun. Alex is definitely a saver. Both are extremely strong sales people in their own way.

Four Powerful Lessons

I learned four powerful lessons that I believe you may apply to raising your children to think and be entrepreneurs. Perhaps given sufficient time left to raise and teach your children, maybe even your grandchildren, you will find part of my experience and what I learned helpful to you and your family.

Here are four, huge life lessons I learned about how to raise entrepreneurial children into high-functioning, young adults.

1. There are two kinds of entrepreneur. The first is like me or Chris and will generally not enjoy nor thrive working in a larger organization no matter how much it may foster entrepreneurial thinking. We pretty much need to blaze our own trails. I call this type of person the "live free or die" entrepreneur. We can definitely work well within a team environment mostly on a consulting or outsourced, contract basis because we add immediate, high value to almost any small business that needs sales results.

The second kind of entrepreneur thrives in a big company. Many Fortune 1000 companies today, even some mid and small size companies, practice cultures that foster entrepreneurial thinking and acting. These companies will go to all lengths to build and launch entrepreneurial success from within. I did this when I built part of my wealth management practice under the wings of big banks and brokerage firms that were heavily regulated. Some entrepreneurs require the structure and support to succeed by virtue of their work in science, military, technology, security, banking, insurance and other highly regulated industries.

Neither kind of entrepreneur is better than the other. They share similar characteristics of all entrepreneurs in that they are highly creative, brilliant, somewhat dysfunctional. Heck, many of us are borderline insane to be entrepreneurs. If you don't believe me, just look around you at what happens with the humans you know most subjecting themselves to daily, entrepreneurial pressures and the work-your-ass-off-all-the-time mindset that goes with being this way. We are emotional, creative animals for the most part!

2. What I (we) did worked. The other thing I learned is what I did to teach our boys about being an entrepreneur worked. I talked to them about being an entrepreneur and learning how to sell. I shared all the books I was reading even though they didn't care at the time about the books themselves. I worked from home for most of their formative years. One of the family jokes was, "Q: What does dad do for a living. A: He's a stay at home dad." ("Hardy har har," was my response even though it annoyed the heck out of me.)

3. I could never have done it alone. Personally, I believe in God. There is no way all this could have worked out the way it did without my higher power and guiding light in my life. Then there's Janice, for sure an angel sent by God to save me from myself! I don't believe I could have done it alone. Finding and maintaining a soul-mate, someone to support us when we crash, is essential to being a long-term entrepreneur. I give a ton of credit to any parent who pulls this off alone.

4. Teaching our kids to sell their ideas was the real key. I walked the walk when our sons were growing up and showed them the power of learning to sell our ideas. Of course, this requires having ideas in the first place. I taught our boys how to think out of the box, how to ask critical, important questions, how to read, how to be around all kinds of people in social situations and much, more. I taught them and my wife that everyone is selling all the time. Most of us just don't know it or won't admit it. By far, teaching and showing Chris and Alex the power of selling our ideas is the most important thing I did of all. It was the key.

How To Grow More Young Entrepreneurs

So what can you do to help your children become entrepreneurs starting from a young age?

First, you need to see yourself as an entrepreneur. This can't be faked. Next, do what I did. Just follow the steps I shared with you. Be the entrepreneur you are and demonstrate by being you. Do whatever you can to take that to a new level in your own way. Your greatest blessing is being a parent to your children. Share what you believe in if it's not being an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur isn't for everybody. Trust me. Just be true thine own self!

In summary, if I wanted to teach my kids how to be a great piano player or jazz musician it would not have worked. I am not that person. I am an entrepreneur. We have to be entrepreneurs to help grow more entrepreneurs. I lived my life to the fullest being an entrepreneur. Because I shared my passions and beliefs with my children from the beginning, and stuck it out to keep my family through all the toughest of times we lived through together, I get to live the life of my dreams and help other small business owners do the same thing. And so do our two sons.

I am so grateful today to have these two sons in my life. Chris and Alex were at home last night to celebrate Mother's Day with us. Then they go home where they get to wake up and build the life and small businesses of their dreams. One will do it mostly on his own as a bootstrapper, like me. The other will do so under the wings of larger company providing the regulatory and business structure required for mortgage banking. Both get to be who they want to be because they believe in themselves enough to take risks and go for the life of their dreams.

They were as much the teachers to me as they were the students. And therein lies one of the greatest mysteries and joys of life; being a parent.