Learn the inside stories and what it (really) takes to run your family like a business.
We have our own set of challenges because we’ve decided to run our family like a business.
Managing a family of six like a business is not easy, but I definitely have some great stories to share.
Are you ready for a good laugh?
Watch this hilarious video and get real-life stories about what happened in the early days of running our family like a business.
The key to running your family like a business
The first key to managing your family like a business is having a sense of humor.
Here’s the truth……
Running a business is hard.
Running a family is even harder.
But, what if you could take the principles of running your company and apply them to parenting?
What would that look like?
The second key to running your family like a business is realizing that you are the CEO.
How to run your family like a business
You need to set goals and establish clear expectations for everyone in the company (i.e., children).
Be sure to create an organizational chart, so each person knows their role, as well as what they should be working on this week.
Put together a weekly agenda with deadlines and goals so that everyone has something tangible to work towards.
Lastly, make sure you’re not too hard on yourself when things don’t go according to plan – it’s only natural for kids sometimes!
For example, our “Fun Fridays” turned into “Stinky Sundays”. haha
Learn here how parents can instill character traits in their kids!
How to make your family an official business
Why did I come up with this idea for my family?
It’s because, for a living, I buy and sell businesses.
So why not have a business as a family?
Now our challenges are with human resources, accounting, budgeting, just like any business, right?
Hiring and firing.
Have you ever had to fire your kid?
I did.
In fact, I had to fire my son.
The reason I fired him is that when he started mowing the yard, he decided to make crop circles.
That’s just one example of what can happen.
But, it taught him some things early on.
This is where we decided to legally incorporate our family as 2bTimms LLC.
We even created a family logo, check it out:
This is not a joke. You can actually look at the Delaware Register.
We’re a legally incorporated family.
The reason we did that is so that we can take advantage of all the tax savings that come along with the incorporation.
Can you imagine writing off your family…… all of you entrepreneurs out there?
Stop and think about that for a second, right?
That’s right…… get some tax breaks (well, and so much more, haha).
What happened once we set up our family like a business?
It’s official, our kids are our family business, which meant that they kept wanting to bring their friends to work.
So we had to change casual Fridays to “Friend Friday”.
What we forgot is that when you have six kids and they each bring a friend, that means six more kids will show up.
Now that’s some serious chaos right there.
Here’s where things got a little crazy.
Hide and Go Seek turned into an expensive moment for the 2bTimms household (if you haven’t watched the video above, you must watch it to learn what happened to my $500 Salmon from Alaska, haha).
There’s also a wild story about my wife’s olive oil and spreading it all over the floors for some indoor ice-skating.
These are just a couple of crazy examples.
In fact, in some of these moments, I can now see how they might have gotten out of the R&D department, but how they would ever make it past legal? No clue.
Rather than seeing this as chaos or troubling, we realized it was part of team-building.
What my wife and I also realized is that creating a culture of entrepreneurship in the household can be beneficial for everyone involved.
While there was chaos and unexpected times when we ran our family like a business, ultimately, it built character, responsibility, relationships, impactfulness, unity, and so much more.
What is a funny family story that you love to share with others? Share over on Instagram @themarktimm. I would love to hear your story.
Are you interested in achieving professional success without sacrificing personal fulfillment?