Being a dad of a 1st grader, I can honestly say that I do not want my son to follow me into this business. I do believe in the free enterprise system but when it comes to our kind(food) I feel it locks you in and steals your life.
What say you?
pt
I have always told my children to find what they would have a passion for as a career. If you regret how you are spending your life then you are doing the wrong thing. I have 3 of my 4 adult children working with me. We enjoy the time we spend together at the store but I would not expect them to want the place as their own.
I tried to sell the place a while back and got major resistance from the family. One of my daughters said “You can’t sell because this is part of who I am.” So in answer to the question no I don’t want them to follow, but if that is what they are passionate about I will encourage that passion.
My old boss was once asked " are you gonna leave this plAce for your son?"
His response was a cold no…it was more of a… My son is way better than this. That was when I realized it was Time to open my own place. I love this business. I’ve been to culinary school, I’ve worked for the best. Pizza is what I love and I’m happy to do it for a living. I would love to build a chain and have someone to Leave it to. I come from a family of business owners. It’s what I’ve always known.
No I would not want this for my children i enjoy it but i have a stress that noone should have i hav epushed both of my sons to go to school(i was a high school drop out with no college or trade school) i have had all my training through experience and corporate mgmt classes with domions. I want my kids to do better and make a good living and enjoy life, that is why one son is going to school to become a graphic design artist (wants to design video games) and my other son just graduated from Marine Boot Camp in San Diego yesterday and he will be going to OSU in the spring for a medical field job.
so think of of better for your kids
Why not? My biz is successful due to my work, as opposed to someone else biz is successful due to my work. I control the work environment I exist in, I choose my own hours and dress the way I wish. I think that everyone that is answering NO to this question is suffering from the “grass is greener on the other side” syndrome: they know all the problems they encounter in the Pizza biz, and think that a job in another sector would be better - but that’s just because they are not aware of the problems that exist in that other sector. Work is work, if you are happy with what you do, and are making a good living, then there is nothing else to consider.
I have been in the field for about 25 years and I am passionate about what I do. Yes it has it stress levels but I love it. My oldest son who is 14 has come in several times to help out or make extra money for something he wants. He shows a great talent for it. Would I want him to pursue this: probably not. Sure it would be nice to pass it on to him or my other son but I would rather them try to find their own path. Go to college and see what else they are good at and then and only then make that choice.
If my kids wanted to do it, and they know a lot more about what is involved than I did when we started, I would love for them to do it. Personally, I expect both of them to be self employed in an occupation that allows a little more free time. My oldest was capable of managing the store when he was 16, he is now in grad school persuing a career as a vet. My youngest is not as enthused at the store (hates it) and has not finalized his career plans. He has enough scholarships that college will be a breeze as long as he stays commited to school.
Rick
If she wanted to. When she was young we let her work there but as she got older we had her get a job outside of our business…it was a smart move for her to experience another working enviroment. Before leaving for college she worked at a bank…because that is where the money is…LOL.
Kris
My son is only 20 months old, so I have a little while until he’s choosing a career. I don’t care what he does, as long as he’s happy with it. That said, I have no intention or fantasy of him one day “taking over the family business.” My exit strategy is to be out of restaurant ownership within the next five years or so.
i can offer a perspective from the kids view having grown up in a mom&pop shop and now running it…i left a successful corporate career as an auditor to take over the family business 13yrs ago and never looked back. My sister and I took the business to the next level with the blood, sweat, and tears my parents put in. Thankfully, things are going well and we are working less as each year goes by. My parents fully retired a few years ago and are enjoying themselves. My sister and I wach have 3 kids each and plan to have them pitch in as soon as they are old enough to appreciate the values that we learnd as children.
I would suggest the experience of secondary education and work experience in an unrelated field to fully appreciate the restaurant biz. You never want to be saying “i should have…” for the rest of your life. As for myself I have no regrets and love what I am doing (except when dealing with employees and/or customers) 
It is all too often that we constanly b!tch about all the negatives about this biz, but lets not forget about all the positives as well
For us that answer no it’s not the “grass is greener”. I worked for corporate America, was it greener? No! But I can say that the food business steals your life. I’ve owned other businesses and nothing compares to the food business.
Think about it, we work when everyone else is relaxing. Our busiest times are the weekends. Theres a reason that drugs and alcohol are used widely in the food business.
With that said, the best thing about the business is being able to manipulate my schedule to make time for the important things. Of course I’m always connected to the business.
If my son wanted to get into this business after seeing all that I deal with then more power to him. I just don’t want him to feel this is his only choice.
If I had to do it again, I would of gone a different direction and wouldn’t of spent all that money early in my 20’s with my first shop. This business is a young persons game, get in and work your tail off before the wife and family comes and save,save and save. Invest that money and have it work for you.
Or you can be a pizza expert a have people pay you for you to tell them how to run their business and make $$$ without slinging pies.
pt