6-minute read
If you own a small business, one of the most important aspects of keeping it going might mean passing it down to your children one day. There are some ways to do that well, and some methods that may not be as effective. While every business owner must do what they feel is right in their situation, discovering the right fit can entail a trial-and-error process.
Rather than put your business at risk by searching for methods that may not be effective, choosing guidance from professionals right from the very beginning is almost always easier.
Hiring Your Children for Your Small Business
One of the best options for a generational business is to hire the family's children, so they can work in the business before it becomes theirs. Naturally, this does not entail hiring underage children to work in ways that are not appropriate or legal.
Child labor laws are very real, and they apply to your own children just as much as to the children of others. However, when your children are legally old enough to work for your business, hiring them can be the right option.
Before they start work, expose children to the business as much as reasonably possible — but only if it is safe to do so. For example, they can come to work with you or visit you at work after school.
Be the judge of what works for your business, your children, and your goals for the future. When they are old enough, bring your children into the family business by hiring them and teaching them about what you have built.
Generational Businesses Are Quality Businesses
Generational businesses are fading away in many areas of the country, but you do not have to let that happen to the small business you have built. By hiring your children and eventually passing the business down to them, you can keep your generational business going.
Eventually, your children may pass that business down to another generation, by hiring their own children when they are old enough to work. Not all children will want to work in the family business, but many of them will see the value of it for a secure financial future.
In many places across the country, from large cities and metropolitan areas to small towns and rural communities, generational businesses are being handed down from parents to children, and from children to their children. These businesses are often small to medium-sized endeavors, and offer many types of goods and services.
The deli down the street may be a generational business, and the corner store may be one as well. No matter which businesses fall into this category, though, the majority of them will be quality businesses operated by people who care about their families, friends, and communities.
Choosing a Roth IRA for Your Financial Protection
One advantage of a generational business is the way a family can work together to save for everyone's future. When you hire your children and help them save their money, you give them a start in life that others may not have.
A Roth IRA savings plan — one for you and one for your children — is among the many ways you can keep building financial security while also building a small business. You can start one of these plans for your children long before they are old enough to work for your business, and they can continue the IRA for themselves as adults.
Another aspect to consider is the creation of a Roth IRA for savings you can rely on in your later years. While you are saving for your children's future and helping them make their way into operating a generational business, you also want to be mindful of your own savings.
Starting a Roth IRA savings plan for yourself as early as possible can mean added security during retirement. If you are uncertain about how to do this, a financial professional can help you. They can show you the benefits of saving for yourself and for your children's future at the same the time.
When you choose to focus on savings with a Roth IRA and also work toward the building of a generational business, you give yourself and your children a chance at financial security and strength for the long term. Not only is that a smart financial move, but it may provide peace of mind as you watch your children move into the family business, operate it with success, and continue to build their financial future based on the valuable start you have given them.
Their success is your success, and you can take pride in your small business and the opportunities you have created for your children, as well. Hiring them and teaching them about hard work through the family business and financial responsibility through savings and a Roth IRA will provide them with the chance to go far in life.