Entrepreneurship: The All in the Family Edition

Forget advanced degrees, spending 10 years learning the ropes and reading all those books about how to start a business. What you really need to do, in order to be a successful entrepreneur, is have a child. (Or two.)

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That, in over-simplified form, is the takeaway message from "The ParentPreneur Edge," by Julie Lenzer Kirk (Wiley, .95).

The analogy between starting a business and becoming a parent is not new. But the surface parallels are striking. In both cases, no experience is necessary, an understanding of psychology is vital and if things go well, you are hoping to leave a legacy.

But Ms. Kirk says there are five specific traits you need to succeed at either endeavor:

1. Resourcefulness. Every small business and/or child is unique. You need to figure out on a case-by-case basis how to nurture them.

2. Perseverance. Things don't always go well initially.

3. Patience. Everything always seems to take longer than you would like.

4. Passion. You absolutely need to want the best for your business and your children.

5. Vision. Goals are good.

MINI-MOGULS One of the hardest things to do is explain to a younger child what it is you do for a living.

To give them an idea - without boring them to tears - have them click on "Hot Shot Business," spapps.go.com/hsb4/landing/ where they will have a chance to be (virtual) entrepreneurs themselves.

The game, created by the Kauffman Foundation, which promotes entrepreneurship, and Disney, let's them start a business they'll be able to relate to - for example, they can open a candy shop, pet spa or landscaping service - and forces them to consider basic business choices like should they self-finance or get a bank loan.

The game is capitalism at its finest. As one of the animated guides explains: "work hard; be smart; make a fortune."

PAGING DR. FREUD Of course, you could end up working for you son or daughter entrepreneur, as Fortune points out.

William H. Gates Sr., a lawyer, is co-chairman of his son's foundation. Carmine Coppola, "the Julliard-trained apprentice of Toscanini," has scored some of Francis Ford Coppola's films. And G. Harry Huizenga, after retiring from the construction business, "oversaw real estate for his son H. Wayne Huizenga's company, Blockbuster Entertainment."

OUT, OUT I.T. Today, you can outsource everything from your payroll to your secretarial help.

If you thinking of having someone else handle your information technology, Douglas J. Erwin, chairman and chief executive of the privately held company, The Planet, which says it has more than 22,000 small- and medium-size businesses as clients and 2.8 million Web sites worldwide, answer three frequently asked questions:

1. How much? "Small businesses can lease a server for as little at a month," Mr. Erwin said. "They also have the ability to add servers, and upgrade to more powerful servers, equipment and enhanced support on demand."

2. Is it seamless? That is, will a customer know that the I.T. is being handled by someone else?

"Outsourced I.T. infrastructure can deliver a customer experience that is far better than a small business can manage in house," he said.

3. Is there a rule of thumb to follow that says, if I am under $X in revenues and/or Y # of employees, I should outsource. If I am over either number could I handle it myself?

"The majority of customers who use the services of The Planet are small businesses with fewer than five servers - and many with just one."

LAST CALL This may be of some solace the next time you check your e-mail only to be overwhelmed by all the messages marked urgent.

Half of all small-business owners receive 21 business-related e-mails a day, with 16 percent saying they receive 51 or more, according to SurePayroll, an online payroll provider, which took a random survey of 241 of its small-business customers.

Among the other findings:

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Some 64 percent of respondents said they used more than one e-mail address, and nearly a third use three or more addresses.

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More than 25 percent check e-mail more than 20 times a day.

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More than 50 percent spend about one to two hours reading or writing e-mail on a daily basis.

There was no mention of many e-mails these small-business owners received from former Nigerian foreign ministers looking for someone to help them stash a fortune.

Paul B. Brown writes the "What's Offline" column that runs every Saturday in The New York Times and is the co-author of Dream Home Diaries that appears elsewhere on this site.

If there is a Web site, blog, seminar or book you think would be helpful to your fellow readers, please e-mail Paul B. Brown at paulbbrown@nytimes.com.