Her near-death and surprising recovery 15 years ago made self-employment our only choice. It just wasn't possible to go looking for a job, even when things were hard. We had to be together so her health was cared for.
Our family businesses have paid the bills all along, even while we were living without a home (house-sitting across the US and Canada) and then moving from New Jersey to Wisconsin to Arizona.
Along the way our Little One has become a high school graduate and a skilled artist, writer, coder, and more. Since her graduation a few weeks ago she has started working with us more and more.
Being around the two people I love most on earth is a massive benefit to having a family business.
It also means there is absolute trust, complete cooperation, flexibility, open communication, and lots of hugging, especially after our afternoon break to practice the songs I write (we perform as a band, too!)
The upshot of it is this: I want your family business to succeed the way ours has, so you can have the joy we do.