So my family owns a concrete company...

[G-Diddy20]

My great-grandfather started it in the 1950's and it is now a corporation in a small town in Maryland where we live. My grandfather is now dead as are his siblings, so my grandmother owns the company and my uncle runs it as president.


I am going into my junior year in college majoring in business and it has been brought to my attention that I may have an opportunity to take it over once my uncle retires in a few years. No one else in my generation of the family is attending college so I am their first choice as successor. They have also been discussing selling it.

My dilemma is this...I think that taking over the company would be a great opportunity for me, however, it is not exacty what i had in mind to do with my life. I have other aspirations and goals for myself, and am afraid that since the president of a corporation is a full time job, it would limit me on some of the other things that I wanted to do. On the other hand though, it is a great opportunity to make 80-110k a year (no one will tell me an exact figure) if I learn the about the company while in college now. I guess I am asking for is advice on what some of you would do in a similar situation. It would be great if I could own the company but not be there everyday, but since I don't know a whole lot about how the company operates, I am not quite sure what my options are. If you guys have any advice I would appreciate it. Thanks,

G

[AggroFish]

I think it's an awesome opportunity to put everything you learn in school into real life practice and gain valuable experience no matter what you decide to do down the road.

Keep in mind that nothing is forever. Just because you start at your family business doesnt mean you have to retire there. If you truly aspire to do other things you could always set up the business to run without you there, ala absentee owner.

[john voight]

Aggro is correct. If ib 3 years you decide to leave, your resume will be very unique, due to the abnormal amount of experience you had @ your age. Go for it.

[G-Diddy20]

I guess I never thought of it that way. Interesting perspectives. What do you guys think I should do to best learn the company? My mom and grandmother suggested following my uncle around while he was at work. Do you think my college would accept that as an internship?

G

[iron81]

Sure they would. Assisting the president of a medium sized company is a much better internship than most. After school, I'd take a job at the company, even if its a blue collar job in the plant, just to learn the company.

I'm surprised you care whether your college "accepts" it. Most don't care.

[APXG]

Just spend as much time involved in company operations as you can. Talk to all the workers, all of the people working under your uncle, then balance that with the exposure you have to his own advice. Afterwards, you can make the decision whether you like it there / feel comfortable in an executive role while being a "handpicked successor", as well be familiar with many of the nuances / inevitable problems that you will need to become proficient at solving.

If you aren't already jumping at the opportunity, you will likely decide the job is not for you, but the experience is virtually no-risk, and it will still 100% benefit you in the future regardless of your further career choice - and there is always a chance that you will fall in love with it.

[FastPlaySlow]

I'm in a similar situation as you. I've started working with my mom selling kitchen cabinets for about 2 years now, and I've definitely gained a lot of valuable business experience.

Would I give it up? Definitely. It gives me a lot of unwanted stress at my age.

I say learn about it more before you make a decision. Follow your uncle around first, and find out whether or not it's something you want to do.

[jt082005]

go for it...it is worth a shot. I wish I had something like that, I did get chance to work for my father but it entitled working with my stepmother who lets just say forgot to pay me for 4 months...then refused

but, go for it and give it a try

[TxSteve]

as others have said..

why would you NOT explore this avenue?

even if you ran the company for just a few years out of college (or were a VP, etc); that would look amazing on a resume and give you a large leg up looking for something you might enjoy more.

also; the fact that they are not willing to discuss the amount of money your uncle makes could mean it is a lot more than 110k.

if nothing else; you have an opportunity to learn every aspect of a business from the ground up and i think this will be invaluable to you.

[turnipmonster]

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I'm surprised you care whether your college "accepts" it. Most don't care.

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