Do you talk to your family about your work or business? And how supportive are they?
Growing up, I sometimes wished I had someone in my family who was more action-oriented and could guide me towards business.
Coming from a post-communist country like Slovakia, most older generations were used to simply being employed. So when I wanted to become independent and start my own business, my family often tried to talk me out of it, made excuses for why it wouldn’t work, or even laughed at me.
That made trying something of my own even harder. And it was difficult to change my mindset.
I never really found common ground with my family on this topic. Instead, I found communities of people who were more business-oriented and surrounded myself with them.
How about you?
Did you grow up in an entrepreneurial environment? Do you talk to your family about business and get their support? Or, if you have children, do you try to teach them an entrepreneurial mindset?
Replies
I didn't grow up in an entrepreneurial environment either, and I still feel I have a lot to catch up on. Whenever I talk to successful founders, I notice most of them were pushed into some kind of business experience very young: selling things, small projects, a family shop.
My family sounds a lot like yours, very risk-averse. So I simply don't share my entrepreneurial journey with them. Being a founder means being all up one day and all down the next, and only other founders really get that. Sharing the lows with people who already think it's a bad idea just gives them evidence.
To your last question: yes, definitely. I think the entrepreneurial mindset is the best thing you can pass on to your kids. Not the business, the mindset.
@ilyasb I think it is better not to share the business with them at least they are interested. Because they tend to bring you a little bit down (in terms of "don't try to do that, do traditional job")
@saksham_shukla28 You are right here, we will support you as we are business oriented :)
I grew up hearing money corrupted people yet it still was worshipped.
The first time I solved a problem with money instead of time my mom gave me a funny look.
@build_with_aj Funny look :D is there any Google image reference I can use to imagine what it looked like? :D
@busmark_w_nika Google confused Mexican mom, that should give you an idea.
@build_with_aj :DDD
I didn’t come from an entrepreneurial family, and I didn’t have much support when I decided to build something of my own. I’m building LessBill as a side hustle alongside my job.
@rushi_21 Feel sorry to hear that. But I am pretty sure that you found your entrepreneurial family here :)
Those who knew me before I transitioned into tech 10 years ago, are the least supportive just because they do not fully understand what I do, they just say “he works with computers”. 🤣 Regarding entrepreneurial mindset, even less are supportive, they simply cannot see the vision, but that is motivation to succeed.
@jason013 LOL. I can bet that they want you to fix anything related to tech :D
My family knows about my job, and of course we talk about it (it's especially important to discuss this with the kids - so they understand how people work and earn money, what responsibility means, and so on).
50-50 not so supportive at the start, but with time they started to understand I can't work a normal job, and actually and finnally I'm building something that will last.
Living in Romania, is not so diferent then Slovakia. The grandparents also talked me out of it a few times, and now they seem pretty supportive.
My mom was always supportive, my dad not so much, but yeah with time they understood that is hard to get a job, get a house. Is pretty hard even to make a business here in Romania, they charge 42-47% of salary and somewhere around 30% for businesses. The gouverment here is a b. :)
But I feel like the project I'm building right now would eventually work fine.
One of the hardest parts is making family understand that working from home is still real work. They often think that you’re available and can be interrupted at any time. Setting clear rules and making them understand that “I’m working” means “please don’t disturb” can be surprisingly difficult.