For sophomore Avika Rajmane, helping out with her family’s business is simply a routine part of her life.

“For quite a few years now, I’ve been going to my parents office, especially during my school breaks, and helping them out with simple tasks like emailing and calling people for them so that they, and their employees, can focus on doing the work they need to do to keep the company running,” Rajmane said.

There are over 32.4 million family-run businesses in the United States alone, accounting for around 83.3 million jobs. Like Rajmane, many high school students are asked by their family to help out, while others choose to assist them. The experience of working with their family gives students a unique perspective to the inside of a business, often giving them useful skills for future jobs, such as problem-solving, communication and leadership. Although a temporary opportunity for some, many, like Rajmane, said they think being involved in their family’s business is integral to their development and will help them in the long run. Rajmane’s parents’ business performs a multitude of tasks, such as accounting, taxes and payroll. They have locations in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend and India.

Rajmane said she learned a lot from participating in business activities.

“I feel I have definitely learned more people skills from watching my parents talk to clients,” Rajmane said. “I’ve learned first hand from talking to clients myself how to network with other people which I think is an important skill to have both socially and professionally.”

Counselor David Schleper said he agreed with this sentiment and said there are other important points working in these businesses teach students.

“Learning life lessons at work is great for students. Being on time, being a team player, doing a job well done, being respectful and helping others are just a few skills they will learn,” Schleper said.

Sophomore Rosie Squillante, whose parents own multiple businesses, said being a part of her family’s business provided her with many skills.

“My primary roles are accounting, data entry and entry-level auditing,” Squillante said. “I also assist with preparing legal documents for the legal department.”

Schleper said one challenge students may have with work is balancing employment with school. 

“We have seen students who work many hours feel an academic impact,” Schleper said. “The problem is that some students need to work more hours for financial reasons, and that can definitely strain students.”

Rajmane said her family’s business has never caused her to stress academically.

“My parents are pretty good about making sure their work doesn’t interfere with my school,” Rajmane said. “Sometimes I’ll have to go to the office after school but I’ve found that I actually seem to focus better there.”

Schleper said there are times where parents will ultimately make their kids follow their footsteps.

“I don’t see a lot of pressure for students to take over a family business, but I think that sometimes a parent’s dream for their kid gets passed on to the kid whether they like it or not,” Schleper said.

Squillante said she would like to take over her family’s business when she gets older.

“I do see myself taking over the family business. In fact, my goal is to eventually run the family business alongside my sister,” Squillante said. “When I was little, my dream was for my sister and I to be entrepreneurs together.”

Additionally, Squillante said her future career goals were influenced by watching her parents.

“Through the years, we saw how our parents ran their business,” Squillante said. “The freedom, being in charge, the success and how dynamic it was. We knew that lifestyle was ideally suited for us.”

However, Rajmane said she could not see herself taking over her family’s business in the future.

“For a while, I was really considering going into my parents’ field but ultimately I found that my passion lay in healthcare and decided to pursue that instead,” Rajmane said.

Although she will not take over the business, Rajmane said being a part of it taught her valuable life lessons which she will carry with her.

Rajmane said “I think it has definitely instilled a drive in me to get to a point in my life where in a sense I am my own boss in my work life and to have a good work life balance in the future since that is what I’ve always seen my parents do.”