My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. ~ George Washington.
This Sunday is Mother’s Day and as many of the local retailers are scrambling to make a profit on this recognized day of honoring your mother, I decided to devote my marketing blog topic on how your parents have impacted the success of your business. As the quote above from our first president points out, George Washington’s mother had a profound impact on the success of his life. What impact did your mother or father have on the success of your business?
My father passed away in 1992, but he was the role model I used for my life in terms of career success. He was a self made man who didn’t have anything handed to him. He brought his enthusiasm and passion for life in to his dream of having his own business. With six kids he was able to accomplish more than most people would dream of accomplishing. His business grew steadily even during a couple of recessions and during the paper shortage of the early 1970’s that affected the printing and design business that he was in. He had a natural ability to connect with people and to service customers in a way that he seldom lost accounts. People could see he was genuine and caring and a smart business man.
My mother was the nurturer in the family and I recognized that you need this as the glue to hold everything together in your home and business. Someone has to do the day to day work of making sure everyone is looked after and if something needed to be fixed, my mother was the one who either got one of us to do it or hired a professional to handle it. She was great at managing people and projects even though she never worked outside the home all the years of my life. Both of my parents were advocates for education and making sure their team of 6 kids had opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that would carry us through our life. My Dad understood that you were never done learning and this has been the foundation to my own business model as I continue to gain more skills as today’s technology constantly changes the landscape in the marketing and advertising field.
Why is all of this important for a business owner to see about their parents beyond the Mother’s Day holiday theme? Most of what we have today is because of who we were when we were small and the biggest influence on our life and our business is our parents. We take the best of them and make it our own. We also try to avoid the parts we may not have liked, but often that gets rolled up in to all of this, too. So, if you had a parent who was afraid to take risks and never dared to own their own business and you saw this as a negative, you may wish to thank them today for you starting your own company. And, if you, like me, had a mother who was obsessive about making sure things got fixed, the mortgage paid and that the house was picked-up and in order. Well, I guess, like me, you need to say “THANKS MOM” for teaching me to prioritize bills and manage projects, all while presenting an orderly appearance.
Look closely at how much your business has been influenced by your parents and be sure to stop in at a local retailer today to buy your Mother a Mother’s Day gift!
All my best to your success!
~Charlene
