Doing business with dad

These five father-child teams say starting a small business together was a leap of faith, but they all agree that the secret to their success is trust.

Rich, Todd and Jeff Perry
Rich, Todd and Jeff Perry
Business: Lighting services

After years of owning and running an event production company, Rich Perry wanted an opportunity to go into business with his two sons. "I thought I could find a franchise where all three of us could work together," Rich said.

So he and his sons, Todd and Jeff, decided to purchase an Outdoor Lighting Perspectives location in Phoenix and they opened their doors in April.

"We all at some point thought we would work together," Jeff said. "When this opportunity came along we embraced it."

Since opening, Rich admits that there have been some struggles, "but it's exciting," he said. "We're gaining every week."

The threesome says they have struck a division of labor that suits their individual skills. While Rich oversees the business operations, Jeff is the sales person and his brother Todd works behind the scenes.

"Todd is the more meticulous, detail-oriented person and Jeff is the opposite," Rich said. "I think it works out great," he added.

"Even before we had this business we would talk just about every day, now with the business we talk even more, but (our relationship) hasn't changed very much," Rich said.

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Rich, Todd and Jeff Perry
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.