Family is the primary source of socialization in an individual’s life. It determines the person’s primary personality traits and directly correlates to the accessibility of resources, education, and financial capital, depending on family background. Similarly, an entrepreneur’s life is also heavily impacted by their family background in various ways. The relationship between family background and entrepreneurship is highly influential as it helps determine the factors that contribute to the success of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have a difficult journey to follow; their family background either makes this journey more accessible or more complex.
In this article, we will discuss the various impact of family background on an entrepreneur’s life and how it also shapes their entrepreneurial journey.
- Availability and accessibility of resources.
Access to crucial resources like financial capital, education, and network can help an entrepreneur. Family background plays a vital role in determining whether these resources are readily available and accessible to entrepreneurs throughout their life. Simply put, individuals with affluent family backgrounds have easier access to such crucial resources essential to starting and running a successful business. Entrepreneurs with a prosperous family background also benefit from their family’s existing networks in establishing a solid base for their business.
On the contrary, entrepreneurs from comparatively less privileged family backgrounds face multiple challenges due to lacking access to essential resources like capital and networking. Accessibility to resources is fundamental to any entrepreneur, and their family background has a significant impact on determining it.
- Support and Motivation.
The positive influence their family background can have on an entrepreneur’s life is beyond anything else. The entrepreneurial journey is filled with hurdles that require motivation and support to overcome. Families with a history of entrepreneurship can positively impact the mindset of an individual and encourage them to start an endeavor by themselves. Families who appreciate and support creativity and innovation in the form of entrepreneurship may also impact an entrepreneur’s will to start a business and motivate them to work hard.
On the other hand, individuals with families that restrict their creativity and ask them to adhere to specific rules for getting a degree and job are detrimental to entrepreneurial ideals. It is comparatively harder for entrepreneurs coming from such dense family backgrounds to achieve their entrepreneurial goals due to a lack of support and motivation from their families.
- Risk Tolerance.
An entrepreneur’s life is all about taking risks and benefiting from them. However, sometimes this risk may not lead to good results. The family background of an entrepreneur directly impacts the risk tolerance of the entrepreneur. Individuals who come from well-off families have a higher risk tolerance as they have some kind of safety net to fall back onto in case they face a failure. However, entrepreneurs who come from less privileged families don’t have such safety nets to fall back on, and their failure can have life-altering consequences that cannot be undone. The wealthier the family background is, the more an entrepreneur can afford to take risks and fail. Family background also impacts the capability of the entrepreneur to take such risks.
When a family value stability and encourages a culture of security, entrepreneurs from the such family background are unlikely to take risks. On the contrary, entrepreneurs who come from families who encourage risk and learning from them help frame the entrepreneur’s mindset towards taking a risk.
- Parental Role Models.
One of the most significant impacts of family background on an entrepreneur’s journey is the influence of role models on entrepreneurial intentions. Role models help frame an entrepreneur’s values, attitudes, goals, and aspirations. When an individual comes from a family background that has entrepreneur in them, they get to observe their experiences firsthand and learn from them. This helps them get better accustomed to the challenges and rewards associated with being an entrepreneur.
Conclusion
Individual with families who are not entrepreneur doesn’t have access to such valuable insights on how to start a business or run a business. They must learn everything by themselves; their role models are often public figures. A role model dramatically influences the mind of an entrepreneur and having parental role models can positively impact their journey.
The impact of family background on an entrepreneur’s life is profound, and we need to acknowledge it. Entrepreneurs from affluent family backgrounds face fewer challenges than entrepreneurs from less privileged families. In this article, we have assessed how family background can impact their journey. However, with the proper support and resources, entrepreneurs from any background can become successful if they have a passion for it!
