Family business

Did you know that 99% of small businesses fail? Did you know that a large contributing factor to this statistic is a failure to adequately plan. This was one of the first facts I learnt in my high school business studies class.

A love for business was born in me back then which I have not been able to shake since. 14 years later, I have graduated from a degree in business, only my role now is in our home, not out running a business.

Since graduating, I've spent quite a lot of time feeling stupid for holding our family up financially, by investing in an [expensive] education that we can't use to better our financial position. What a waste of time and money I've thought. But do you know what I'm now learning? This degree has taught me plenty for running a successful household and managing money. See, I'm starting to see that families are not all that dissimilar to a small business.

You have the CEO (the husband), the leader of the whole company. The Managing Director (me - the wife) who oversees the day-to-day running of the household. The CFO (someone who controls the finances, in charge of the budget and paying the bills). Money comes in (income or profits) and money goes out (expenses). A place (home) is required for the base operations to take place in. The company (family) has a vision, where they want to be, and a core service offering: providing a nurturing place to support, strengthen and encourage people (children), a platform from which to propel them into the world to achieve all that God has planned for them. Running a successful family requires intense management of resources, money, time and energy; and significant collaboration between the senior management team (husband and wife).

Back to my introductory statement, many small businesses fail for lack of planning. I wonder if this can be true for families also. Many families, while still together, may not achieve all they could or want to for lack of planning. Planning keeps you focused, on track and working together. Planning creates a peace around achieving goals. It increases success and the beauty is that it comes in all shapes and sizes. I like plans and I think they are important. Can you tell? ;)

Anyway, I wanted to encourage all the wives (and mums) out there. If you are a wife or a mum, your role is incredibly valuable, you are also a Managing Director with the potential to have a very successful business!