Brick and Mortar Blues

I met a gentleman the other day who used to own an industrial equipment and supply company. About a year ago he decided to sell the place and took a $20K loss in the process. That $20K had to come out of his personal funds. He is now back to work as an employee of someone else and is beginning to get that old feeling of restlessness back. He works for someone he would never hire. I've worked for a few supervisors and managers that fit in that same category. I have a feeling we all have.

Since, it seems, I only know people who want to start a business, be free from the shackles of a "job", do their own thing, set their own hours... I was very curious as to why he would get out of owning his business.

No matter how sick he was, he had to come into work. He could never take a true vacation. He worked 60 to 80 hour weeks. He had to deal with payroll, payroll taxes, business taxes of every color and type, customers who would pay 60-90-120 days late, vendors who demanded cash up front, employees who didn't want to work....

The list went on.

I told him that I have no employees. All purchases are paid for before they ship so there's no possibility of a late payment. I handle no sales tax, no use tax, no business license renewals, no employee tax, no inventory tax. I only have one vendor. And once in awhile I don't feel like working, so I don't. I'm taking a week off for the 4th of July. I'm taking a week off in August to go to Nashville. I'm taking a week off in November for family Thanksgiving. Lucky thing I haven't been sick lately, so I don't care about sick days right now. If I get sick, I'll stay in bed.

It sounds to me like this guy owned a job instead of business. It also sounds like I'd be doing even better if I put a little more effort into my business. It sounds like I need to teach this guy how to relax. It also sounds like he could teach me a thing or two... what do you think?

Maybe we can help each other out and meet in the middle.

Are you thinking of a brick and mortar business? I wish you all the luck in the world!