This story was written for WRAL TechWire Innovator partner Wake Technical Community College.

Family businesses account for more than 50 percent of the gross domestic product in the United States and generate more than 75 percent of new jobs.

Big names like Wal-Mart, Comcast and Ford Motor Company are all family businesses. In fact, studies have shown that roughly 35 percent of all Fortune 500 companies are family-controlled, spanning all types of businesses from smaller owned-and-operated ones to large enterprises.

In a world full of global enterprises and mom-and-pop shops alike, it’s hard to dispute that a family business can be a successful one.

For instance, Raleigh restaurateurs Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha followed the success of their restaurant Bida Manda with the opening of Brewery Bhavana last year. Since then, the brother and sister have generated hundreds of positive reviews on Yelp and earned the 2018 Triangle Business Journal CEO of the Year Award.

The Nolinthas are but one example in the Triangle of local entrepreneurs who have gone into business with their parents, children, spouses or siblings.

“I think it’s great going into business with a family member when you have a really strong relationship with that person, because you already know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Sue Robinson explained.

Sue and her daughter Christiana recently launched an online retail boutique, Haute. Haute offers a selection of curated clothing and jewelry. Their e-commerce fashion business is the first step to achieving a lifelong entrepreneurial dream, and they hope to open a brick-and-mortar store next year.

“I just graduated from East Carolina University in May. I studied fashion merchandising and business. This has kind of always been my plan,” Christiana said. “I didn’t necessarily think I was going to do it right out of school, but my mom also had the same dream.”

Sue explained that with Christiana’s business degree, it seemed like “the perfect time to get started.” The mother and daughter leveraged the resources of the Small Business Center at Wake Technical Community College to help them get started.

“We were trying to learn more about the legality behind [building a] business and ended up getting a bunch of different connections through our counselor [at the Small Business Center] and just valuable information,” Christiana said. “Our counselor knew so much information that it kind of brought up more questions.”

Sue said Cherith Roberson, the director of the Small Business Center, helped guide them through the process of drafting their business plan and recommended approaches to reach their target market.

“The majority of our business plan was very specific to who we want to sell to, and how we plan on selling and differentiating ourselves from other local boutiques in Raleigh or big box businesses that have very similar styles as us,” Christiana explained. “We’re starting from scratch. We’re learning all of this on our own, so having somebody who really knew the background of starting a business and how to reach markets was very helpful.”

Christiana and Sue also took advantage of free Wake Tech Community College courses to help them create Haute’s website and develop a business account. Sue said these courses at the Center are great resources for people with full-time jobs who are looking to get instruction on a flexible basis.

Sometimes your part-time gig starts to take over your full-time job, and you take the plunge into self-employment like couple Joy and Michael Kidder. The Kidders own a commercial electrical business.

“We started the business years ago as a side business to make a little bit of extra money while we were both working,” Joy said. “Eventually, this grew to the point where it was a choice of working and not doing the side business as much, or quit working and do the side business full time because it was to the point of two full-time jobs.”

Michael has a professional background in electrical engineering and Joy has a professional background in accounting. When she told her husband that she would need to quit her full-time job to handle their electrical business accounts full time, he was reluctant, but Joy was confident it was the right time to take a leap of faith.

It’s a well-known statistic that half of all businesses fail within the first five years of launching, but the Kidders’ track record of maintaining their business years before as a side venture helped prove that they have what it takes. They also saved a year’s salary before working for themselves full time.

In addition to their financial preparations, the Kidders also sought advice from the Small Business Center at Wake Tech.

“Basically, we talked about getting some insurance for our family, and for some help with employee payroll taxes. Just basically advice on starting a full-blown business,” Joy explained. “Cherith [at the Center] encouraged me to quit my job — she knew I was overwhelmed.”

Joy said that she and her husband have a great working relationship and have done several projects together, and said the best thing about being self-employed is the autonomy and the reduced sense of stress she feels.

Others, like the Sanders family, may not be directly in business with each other, but they rely on one another as they take on their concurrent entrepreneurial journeys.

Vickie and her sons Jordan and Jamison each have their own businesses, and all participated in LaunchRALEIGH, a program that supports and develops entrepreneurs in underserved communities in Southeast Raleigh. The Wake Tech-Wells Fargo Center for Entrepreneurship is one of LaunchRALEIGH’s supporting partners.

Vickie owns Caring For You Services, a home health care agency. Jamison is the founder and owner of Robert Jamison Collection, a custom menswear line, which he started in 2013 after he was laid off from his job. Jordan, who owns The Sixthman, a basketball sneaker service company, said participating in LaunchRALEIGH was one of his most rewarding experiences to date.

“My mother and older brother — I never thought in a million years would we be peers,” Jordan said. “LaunchRALEIGH really opened my eyes to what is truly possible in small business. It has a transgenerational message that has inspired me in my 20s, my brother in his 30s, and my mother in her later years. We were blessed to be chosen and allowed to strengthen our businesses alongside each other.”

“I have a passion for entrepreneurship which has run in our family for many years as my grandfather was a large general contractor in the Raleigh-Durham area,” added Jamison, who also noted that you must be willing to work with others because your business cannot grow without networking.

Each week the Sanders get together and have a family business conference.

“We discuss how and what we have accomplished within the weeks and months, and what our goals are. We also like to role-play as though we are customers to each other to enhance our customer satisfaction and business skills,” Jamison said. “Having businesses allow us to challenge each other with new ideas and concepts that we may have researched, and can then apply.”

Jamison said there is nothing like being your own boss and calling your own shots. He also believes there are enough customers and clientele to go around for everyone and he always tries to encourage other entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams. His brother believes that allies can provide support, but your power resides within you.

“The life of an entrepreneur is a never-ending Ironman race with no finish line. How long you endure and how far we go is on us,” Jordan said.

LaunchRALEIGH is one of seven Launch programs around Wake County.  If you are interested in joining a program but do not see your town listed, email entrepreneurship@waketech.edu.

This story was written for WRAL TechWire Innovator partner Wake Technical Community College.