On working together as a family

At bread + butter, we're working together as a family to help hungry people, develop a sustainable business model and find out what it takes to make a real difference. One of our readers wanted to hear more about part of this, and submitted the following comment:

"I think your business is interesting, and I'm curious about how it is developing. I've attended some programs run by the UNH Center for Family Business, and would like to read more about how you are working together as a family, particularly with young children. Is it part of your plan to write more about this on your website?"

It has definitely been interesting. I've found that I need to remind myself that this work is very different than my regular job at a 60 year-old corporation with thousands of employees and all the resources it needs to be successful. Starting up a business on nights and weekends with one laptop computer and a few hundred dollars of investment is definitely not the same. I've also found that I need to regularly remind myself that two of bread + butter's partners are only 10 and 12 years old, and what we can expect from them is not the same thing a manager can expect from regular employees. Lastly, I'm finding that all of my family members have great ideas, and are much more creative than I am, which is a very good thing. Where I can help them is taking the ideas and finding a way to help put them into action, so that they don't get stuck in the idea stage due to short attention spans or other competing priorities. All in all, it continues to be a lot of fun. I'm excited about our mission. I only wish we had a few more hands on deck so that we could make more progress more quickly.

-Tom

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