Why I Decided To Leave My Family Business

From an early age it was my dream to run our family business.

I was an entrepreneur from a very early age. I had a paper route in grade school. I sold vacuum cleaners in high school and loved everything about being an entrepreneur. I also loved the rich history of our business and the respect it commanded in our community.

I attended college and got a degree in business and entered our business right after college. Working for 16 years climbing the corporate ladder, I eventually became Vice President of Operations of our 300 employee business.

As I grew and matured as a person it became increasingly evident that while I enjoyed much of the family business, there were some key personal values that were not being fulfilled by working in the business. The values that weren’t close to getting fulfilled were autonomy (the ability to make my own decisions) and financial reward (the ability to reach a certain level of personal income).

So eventually I was at a crossroads of deciding if I was willing to continue to pursue the dream of being in the family business at the cost of giving up on a couple of my core values. Ultimately after a great amount of consternation and reflection, I decided I needed to make a change.

Deciding to leave the family business is best achieved in a process over time rather than a quick emotional knee-jerk reaction. Here’s the process I followed: I had to get clear about what was important to me I had to clearly and maturely ask for what I wanted I had to be able to hear no, try other avenues and be willing to accept the situation without developing resentment and anger I had to evaluate the prospects of earning money elsewhere I  had to have the courage to leave everything behind and start a new path

It was the best decision of my life.  Looking back now I know I made the right decision. I also can rest assured knowing I was thoughtful and methodical about the decision making process.  I’m not sure if leaving the family business is going to be the right decision for you, but I hope this article will help in your process.

Coach Pete Insight The worst thing would be to later have regrets about a decision or lack of decision in your life.  Be relentless and courageous in pursuit of your most fulfilling and rewarding life.