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Study Shows that Entrepreneurial Skills are Hereditary

This is a guest post by Stuart Draper, founder of Get Found First.  Stuart is the brother of my sister’s husband.  He’s my brother-in-law’s little brother.  Whichever way you want to say it he’s a great entrepreneur and runs a growing SEO/PPC/SEM company.   This is his post:Study Shows that Entrepreneurial Skills are HereditaryNormally, I blog about PPC Management on my website, but I’m excited to talk today about entrepreneurial matters and the relationship it may or may not have to family relationships.  About a week ago I was reading a blog post by Neil Patel, a young, successful entrepreneur who has created multi-million dollar businesses.  In his post, he tells his story, and mentions that his mom and dad, and other members of his extended family were entrepreneurial and that it “runs in the family” to be an entrepreneur.  It made me think about my entrepreneurial story, and where I got mine from.

My dad is a great man!  He has provided very well for 8 children (yes…really…I have 8 siblings), who are now all happily married.  He paid for all 8 sets of orthodontic braces, all of our annual family trips, all of our fun traditions like going boating and camping, and even paid for a percentage of every child’s college education.  He did that working for the man. In many ways he has an entrepreneurial spirit, but he has always worked for someone Else’s company.  I guess more than anything, he never ventured off on his own because the opportunity never presented itself. You have a lot of very big bills when you are the father of 8 kids, and the security of a set monthly income is hard to leave. Without going into as much detail with the rest. Take a look at this list of family members and their jobs:

Brother-In-Law (B.I.L) Mike Hadfield: Founder of Summit Northwest – Construction Company
B.I.L. Marcus Stones: Owner of Stones Family Dental – A Dentist in Salem Oregon
Brother Quinn Draper: Owner of  Draper Orthodontics – An Orthodonist in Woodland, WA
B.I.L. Ryan Pierce: VP of a Bank
B.I.L. Jason Bates: VP of Swift Transportation – The semi-trucks you see all over the country
Me: Stuart Draper: Founder of Multiple Businesses including, The Christmas Light Guys, Get Found First, and The One-Man Hitch
Brother Tyler Draper: College Student – Wants to be an EMT
Brother Travis Draper: College Student – Wants to be a Nurse Anesthetist

Grandpa Draper: Was a banker
Uncle Roland Ogden: Owns an OK Tire franchise
Uncle Dave Draper: Professor of Sports Medicine at BYU
Grandpa Jones: Was a banker and an insurance salesman
Uncle Craig Brady: Founder and CEO of a multi-million dollar printing business
Uncle Dave Jones: Sales Manager
Uncle Brent Jones: Works for Delta Airlines
Uncle Frank Prater: Founder of City 1st Mortgage in Salt Lake
Uncle Rod Jones: Founder and Broker of Idaho’s Real Estate

And on my wife’s side of the family:

Grandpa Webb: Was a high school teacher
Father-In-Law Richie Webb: Partner in Hemming Properties and Part-Owner of Multiple Five Guys Franchises
Uncle Chad Webb: Educator
Uncle Jeff Hemmingsen: Owner of Dunes Dental for Kids in South Dakota
Uncle Brad Unsicker: Founder of Wyn Medical, A successful medical supplies company
Uncle Keith Larson: Partner in Engineering Firm
Uncle Tom Oniki: Marketing for large tech company
Uncle Kurt Webb: Mall Manager for Simon
Uncle Ryan Webb: Educator
Uncle Levi: Military – Air Force

Grandpa Crandall: Founder of CPA Firm
Uncle Kent Oseen: Owner of CPA Firm
Uncle Steve Crandall: Owner of CPA Firm and Part-Owner of Multiple Five Guys Franchises
Uncle Mike: Self-Employed IT Guy
Uncle Rob Crandall: Partner of a CPA Firm
Uncle Alex Tavares: Part owner of multiple businesses in Brazil
B.I.L. Adam Morris: Partner in CPA Firm —His dad owns his own Probate Law Firm in Las Vegas
B.I.L. Nathan Webb: Student

My point in sharing all of this is to show you just how ridiculously large my family is!  Okay, not really. What I wanted to show was just how much of my immediate and extended family are entrepreneurial.  Here are the stats:

Of the four grandpas, 1 out of 4 were entrepreneurs.
Of my dad and father-in-law, 1 out of 2 are entrepreneurs.
Of my uncles, 12 out of 20 are entrepreneurs at some level.
Of my brothers, myself, and my brothers-in law, 5 out of 10 are entrepreneurs at some level.
Of all 36 men, 20 are entrepreneurs.

55% of the men in 3 generations of my family and my wife’s family are entrepreneurs.

Is it in my blood?  Is being an entrepreneur hereditary? Maybe.  Maybe not.  I am not going to jump to conclusions.  There are soooo many other factors that determine the makings of an entrepreneur.  I do not categorize my dad as an entrepreneur, but I definitely have developed a lot of the attributes of an entrepreneur that he has.  Sure my dad is not an entrepreneur because he has never started his own business, but he has a lot of the same traits of an entrepreneur.

Is it contagious.  I would argue no.  It takes a lot more than being around, and in some cases even living with, an entrepreneur to become one!  That said, for me, being around so many successful entrepreneurs has given me more hunger to have success building my own businesses.

Can it be developed?  Of this, I am certain.  Look at my family.  Dentists are scientists, yet a lot of them develop the necessary attributes to be outstanding entrepreneurs. Construction workers are handymen, but so many find a way to start their own businesses.  CPAs know how to crunch numbers and remember tax law, but they develop the necessary attributes to start their own business.  Remember, not all entrepreneurs seek out millions in VC funding to start their business.  Of all of my family that are entrepreneurs, only 2 of the 20 have received funding for their projects.

Maybe I have rambled a little.  Maybe this has been a little too personal, but I hope that you have found it to be insightful and eye opening.

So, what are the numbers for your family?  How many are entrepreneurs?  What type of entrepreneurs are they?

Stuart Draper
Founder, CEO
www.GetFoundFirst.Com

Office: (208) 991-3463

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/getfoundfirst
Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/studraper

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