New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

I met a very sweet family last night with a bittersweet story.  Their husband/father had been called home a couple of years ago after a short two and a half month battle with cancer.  But even though the father left this earth, his legacy lives on in his wife and two children.  Both of the children are wonderful examples of Godly young adults that passionately love the Lord, but one key lesson that I took away from their story was how their father and mother had prepared them.

The son of this family was only 18 years old when his father passed away, but because he had worked closely with his father since he was 13 (made possible because he was homeschooled), he was able to step in and take over the family business.  And this isn't just any family business.  This is a mergers and acquisitions advisory business - a business where the principal has to generate deal flow by convincing prospective clients that he is the person best suited to represent their company in a sale, find a buyer for their company, negotiate with a buyer on their behalf, structure the deal appropriately to minimize taxes and risk, and maximize the selling price of their company.  Not many 18-year-olds could come close to pulling that off, but in this case, this impressive young man was well prepared by a loving father that poured himself into his son's life in a way that prepared his son for the future. 

Now just 20, this young man has already generated and closed several deals on his own and is well established in his own right with referenceable clients that rave about his ability to successfully sell their businesses and advise them throughout the entire process.  Wow!  I came away awed and inspired that I have a lot of work to do to prepare my son.  And thanks to a faithful father, we now have an excellent example to look to.  May God richly bless the legacy that this faithful father left his family.