Lessons from the family business(es)

In the heart of Kansas, two competing hardware stores stood side-by-side.

Strangely, they were owned –separately–  by the same married couple.

And there was Bethy — one of the couple’s five children who recently recounted her experience growing up in her parents’ stores (including a rather tickling story about how her mother revealed the mysteries of the birds and the bees using pipe fittings as props 🐦🐝 🧰).

While the stores largely sold the same inventory, Bethy’s father’s store catered more to industrial needs, while her mother’s store charmed everyday customers.

Bethy spent her childhood scampering between these two worlds.

But she learned so much more than how to sell hardware farmers and housewives – her childhood was a masterclass in entrepreneurship.

Lucky duck.

But don’t freak out if you don’t own a business your kids can dip their toe in. 

I’ve pulled out the two most important business lessons that Bethy learned as the child of entrepreneurs so that you can start thinking about how you can implement them with your kids.

Let’s dive in 👇

Lesson 1: Solve Problems

Despite selling similar (if not identical) products, Bethy’s parents operated adjacent hardware stores targeting different customers.

How is that possible?

• 🔩 A bolt isn’t just a bolt. 

• 🔨 A hammer isn’t just a hammer. 

• 🔦 A flashlight isn’t just a flashlight.

At their heart, these products are solutions to someone’s problem.

The problem that an industrial farmer faces is very different from the problem faced by a kid working on a science project — even if the solution is the same.

This is why Bethy’s two parents were able to operate successfully while (seemingly) competing with one another. They sold the same solution, but to dramatically different problems.

Lesson 2: Be Adaptable

When Kmart moved to town, Bethy’s mom thought she was finished.

Her prices were already higher than her husband’s store next door. Surely she couldn’t compete with Kmart’s prices and accessibility.

But rather than being run out of business, she adapted by focusing on the one thing Kmart couldn’t do — high-touch customer service.

She added:

• 🎁 Free gift wrapping

• 🏠 Home delivery

• 🤝 1:1 in-store service

And while Bethy rolled her eyes at the extra work, that level of personalized service saved her hide once by creating customers who truly cared.

When Bethy lost the deposit bag off the back of her bike on the way to the bank, concerned customers returned to the store when they realized their checks hadn’t cleared.

Without question, they wrote new checks when they were regaled with the story of how “Bethy lost the bank bag”.

That alone was worth all the late nights in the gift wrapping room…