The Family Business

If you have some skill, some tools and a customer, you’re in business. All you need to do is find more customers or allow them to find you.  The best way to start a family business is by planning to keep “overhead” as low as possible.  Many of us office from home.  Some of the best family businesses own the property and the buildings they use to operate the business. 

My father-in-law owned his family businesses.  His home was on the property and was on a state highway.  He owned a 2 acre lot on Highway 21 in South St. Louis Mo.  His home was on one end of his lot and his “strip mall” was on the other end.  He operated a filling station, barber shop, shoe repair and implement sharpening.  He rented the filling station bays to two brothers who were auto mechanics, his wife help pump the gas and he cut hair and took in shoes and implements.  After hours he would repair the shoes and sharpen the implements.  His home was a few steps away.

My favorite restaurants are family businesses.  They tend to employ a lot of people and turnover is low and their restaurant is always full of customers who know them and know each other.  Their food is good and their prices are low.  Their land and buildings are paid off.  These restaurants become local “icons”. 

Family businesses often employ family members and treat other employees like family.  Another favorite of mine is the family automobile dealer.  The Family Farm or Ranch is my favorite family business.  These have passed through the generations.

Inheritance Tax

Our current inheritance tax doesn’t touch families when the net worth of the deceased parent is less than $5.43 million, the exclusion for 2015.  But family auto dealers and family farms and ranches are often appraised at over $5.43 million.  Anything over this is taxes at 40%.  So, a $10 million business will owe 40% of $4.57 million or $1.828 million.  This requires the family to take out a loan or sell acreage or part of the business to pay the death taxes and this happens every generation.  It’s time to repeal the inheritance tax.

US Constitution

The US economy was based on the family.  After 1620, most families owned their own businesses. They were farmers, merchants and craftsmen.  Being someone’s employee was not the path to financial independence.  Children learned the family business early or sought apprenticeships to learn a trade.  All were homeschooled, they paid tutors as needed and literacy was high.  In Europe, families were also the primary economic unit, but the land was already owned by the “royals”.  Our immigrants came to America, because land was available and opportunity was abundant.

We are still here, but we’ve witnessed how our own corrupt government has removed all of our opportunity.

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader