Trying To Get My Daughter Into the Business

Jerry Valentine

Just some thoughts to ponder.  I'm seriously considering trying to get my daughter into the plumbing, heating and cooling business that I own.  I'm getting "up there" -- not quite ready to quit, but knowing that I should be considering it.  My daughter has NO experience in our business, but seems to be willing to make an effort to try to "step in".  

We are a small "mom and pop" company that has been around "forever".  I'm the second generation owner.  Located in central Pa.  Our business is very good -- lots of repeat customers -- very few new ones -- we really don't need them -- hardly any "down time" -- usually always have  more to do than we can do.   No one to pass the business to. 

Daughter lives in Baltimore -- time to "get out of there".  She'd like to come home and "take over the business" (over a several year time period).  I'm worried what my customers reaction will be to dealing with a "lady". 

Anyone ever try this?  Know anyone who did?

Comments welcomed.

Thanks.

Jerry

 

Mark Eatherton

Have had numerous female students...

In fact one of them does boiler service work for me on a regular basis. Personally, I think they make better mechanics because they are cleaner and more thorough in their work.



However, female technicians do have physical limitations that most men don't. With that said, maybe you should bring her into the fold and teach her the "business" end of the business, as opposed to starting her into digging, turning and burning right away. You can always find good people to work in the field. Maybe she can run the business... Or if she is mechanically inclined, and not afraid to get dirty, she can work as a mechanic, first, and then fall back to the office later, after she's gotten to know the ropes.



Other than physical lifting limitations, they make great mechanics, if they are so inclined.



ME

Steamhead

Yeah, I understand

why someone would want to leave Baltimore........ especially after the last election........ but-



Has your daughter considered finding a job in this field to see if she likes it? What kind of work does she do now?

tim smith

Re: Succession of ownership

We are 2nd owners of a 73 yr old business. We did not know anyone when we started working for the old owner, 6 yrs later we were buying out the business and all the clients knew we ran it already by then. I don't think any customers care as long as they have had time to get to know your daughter with you guiding them and her together. I feel the bigger problem is her gaining trust and respect of employees. That is where I think the gender problem sometimes kicks in. If she jumps in and gets her hands dirty and shows them she is just as gung ho as anyone else, no problem.  Just my .02

Jamie Hall

from the viewpoint of a client...

I would have no problem with your daughter working on my system --  provided only that she knew what she was doing, which suggests bringing her into the system and letting her learn as much as she can about both the business and field ends of the game.



There could possibly be a problem with some of the guys.  There shouldn't be, but there might be.  There are two sides to this, though -- some foul language is almost inevitable, and she would need to be able to cope with that, but on the other hand anything looking like sexual harrasment should be stopped instantly, and if there is even a hint of it you need to make clear that it won't be tolerated.



Go for it, would be what I would say!

Jean-David Beyer

Prejudice.

A friend of mine is, among other things, and expert welder, can weld steel, stainless steel, aluminum up to 4 inches thick, is qualified for high pressure steam boilers, ships, and aircraft. She experienced a lot of sexual prejudice from co-workers. She still does art welding for artists who have no problems with a woman welder, and has taught welding in a trade school so her students can get licenses in her state. Not all welders are prejudiced in that way, but it is a significant problem.



I imagine in a small family-owned business, the owner can educate the employess on how prejudice is ignorant, and that there can be consequences for that.



As a homeowner, I am prejudiced against incompetent technicians, but their sex does not matter to me.



I met a woman who is a locomotive engineer on the local commuter railroad. She has no trouble operating a 3500 horsepower diesel-electric locomotive. She could not lift it, but neither could a man. I think she is pretty cool.

Bebes

From my experience

I'm a woman who's been in the trades for decades now. My experience, in general, has been quite positive. Women do tend to be neater, which has been much appreciated. I think the women of the household, who tended to be home more waiting for us, found it interesting, and perhaps less threatening, to have a woman technician. It helps if she either knows how to accomplish the task, or makes it clear that she's going to find out how to do the job right.



Sure, there are going to be times when people are put off by a woman. We're all put off by any number of things, gender being just one of them. The more I understood that, the less I responded to it, and the better things went. These days, I don't get open comments about being a woman in the trades, but more a sense that it makes a few guys uncomfortable. I'm in a position now where I have to supervise these guys as well as others for the days work. I'm so used to that kind of reaction, rare tho it is these days, that i don't really think much about it. I push thru, teach them what they need to know, and let the day unfold. For the most part their feelings dissipate as the day wears on. If it doesn't, well, that's OK too. I do make a point to engage them in ways that have nothing to do with the situation, to put it into the background. My point is, it's kind of going to be up to her to decide how she'll respond to the situations. If she doesn't make a big deal about it, it probably won't be one.



Hope that's helpful.

meplumber

Daughter in the business.

I had the pleasure many, many years ago to work for a "Mom and Pop" that was transitioning their only child, a daughter, to take over the business.



First off. I respected the hell out of the owners. He had entered the trade during the depression and was an absolute pleasure to work for. He set the foundation for all my trade knowledge.



He made the decision that the only way his daughter would be taken seriously was if she had come up through the ranks. So, she started as an apprentice and worked her way up from journeyman to master. She had just passed her master exam when I went to work for them.



Yes, she had physical limitations. But her technical knowledge made that easy to over look. She couldn't carry 150 lbs or dig in a ditch all day, but she would try like hell. It made it so much easier for her to command the respect of the crew.



The old owner could have simply told us to respect her authority and we would have because we respected him. But the fact that she had earned it the hard way was priceless. That hard earned knowledge was a bonus with the customer base as well.



If I had a daughter to bring up in the family business, I would do it this way.



Best of Luck to you.