by wanderlustguy 9 Replies latest jw friends
I've read this on the thread about minimum wage, and I own a small business, have run several small businesses (under 100 employees) and feel this is one of the easiest, least restrictive, and most profitable business demographics to be in. As a matter of fact, I do even better the smaller the business is. So...first off...do you own your own small business? Do you feel you are at a disadvantage?
Thoughts?
I did well for 25 years or so, but times changed, and I wanted my life back. So I sold some property and was able to retire comfortably. Working for "the man", I would not be in the same position I am in now.
I agree , i run 2 business, that are relatively small, and have been in business for 28 years, i hate employees, so i use mostly subs, and i like that better, sometimes it is feast or famine though, but i have not punched a clock since 1979!
big d
Yep, small business. Sometimes I love it, sometimes it's a pain in the butt. Recently tried my hand at being an employer, I HATED that, so I'm back to just me. I don't know precisely if I'm "disadvantaged," but it seems that the paperwork hoops a small business owner has to jump through, can be a bit excessive. However, even after taxes, I come out ahead of where I would be if I worked for someone else doing the exact same thing, so I'm happy.
American workers don´t want to work as hard anymore. Many desire things their parents had after working many years. Many want jobs but few want to work. Increasing global pressure and foreign workers who are happy to have a job will make many obsolete. Americans need to wake up and educate themselves.
American workers don´t want to work as hard anymore. Many desire things their parents had after working many years. Many want jobs but few want to work. Increasing global pressure and foreign workers who are happy to have a job will make many obsolete. Americans need to wake up and educate themselves. I think your full of MExican Tacos. I have worked hard for 30 years for 2 US companies. Both of my jobs went out of the country. The first to TAco Land the second to China and Russia. I worked hard 6 days a week 50 hours a week. I now work as a detention officer with a diversified group of Amerikans, the majority are young, and I am amazed at how hard they will work. Many of them only sleep 1 or 2 hours a day because of the state of the US economy. I have known about 5 young people under 30 to have strokes and heart attacks in the last 2 years because of this, in my opinion. When I started working in 72 we had health insurance in the US 100 dollars a month for a family. And when you went to the hospital they didnt send you a bill, your insurance paid for it. In 72 gas was 32cents a gallon. By 78 gas was 50 cents a gallon. I made 11 dollars an hour in an US factory, And a big house cost 40,000$. Today in Florida, Gas is 3 $ a gallon houses start about 200,000. And factory pay if you can find it is about 7.50$ an hour. I'm not sure what you mean by educate yourself. I'm all for college. But if everybody had a college education it would be kind of worthless. There are only so many jobs for teachers, and we have too many lawyers. And since we dont make much in Amerika anymore your kind of wasting your time studying engineering. The last time I took the postal exam there was an engineer taking it. When the politicians have an agenda to turn the US into an anex of Mexico another, 3rd world country the workers loose. Workers should have a good life and good things, Health care, vacations, retirement. There is a new paradigm. Countries used to fight over territory so they could be independent and not enslaved to other cultures. Now there is no more culture there is one world run by corporations and the working man as always gets screwed. In the big picture I think the one world government is here and probably has been here since WW2. The big corporations do business all over the world. And the big corporations pretty much run the governments. The world runs by the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules. That would be the corporations. So I guess in that sense if your a business man who doesnt work and employes wage earners you are on the right side maybe, I still think you will get screwed in the end. By the corporations. The road to success is not working hard but working smart.
Jaguar's comments are excellent.
When I was growing up, I was taught in class about Big Blue.
At the time, IBM touted "a job for life."
You could work for a big corporation and they would take care of you.
By the time I graduated, there was a paradigm switch. You could work your a$$ off for a big corp only to get screwed by the next round of layoff.
You know what I feel is the new direction for prosperity for smart Americans?
I think it's Small American Business owners that are smart enough to "welcome their employees" into the company.
My company welcomes loyal and smart employees to profit share.
And it's not the old big corporate "joke of a profit share" where people get .2 percent of whatever.
My associates get percentages. Long time associates get 30 percent. Newer ones get 15 percent.
Sure... you have to earn your way up to that.
But smart business owners are making it so that their "employees" run it like it's their own busines.
Doing that, makes them extremely productive.
I have always been self-employed or owned my own business. I own a small business, 8 employees - all part time except me. It was a great business for a long time, but even though I saw the handwriting on the wall (the Wal-Mart effect that is) I didn't get out in time and now the business is really struggling and so am I. I had no competition for years, had enough of a market to make a reasonable living. But then large corporate career schools moved in and there's no way I can compete, except for having an excellent program and a very good reputation. But I don't have the $$$ to compete as far as marketing goes. So, on the whole I like small business, but when you go against the big guys, it's very hard to win.
Small business owner here. Less than 10 employees. Some advantages, some disadvantages. Unfortunately, I'm in an area of slow growth, so I can't expect to get rich quick. However, my expenses are less than most areas and my customers are very loyal. I'm smart, talented, and confident that the business will continue to grow. I come from a family of independent business owners, so I came into this with my eyes open.
Employees can certainly be problematic. But with time and experience you grab and keep the talent as you can get it. Laws, bookkeeping, and regulations can be complex, but you learn them as you go and it gets easier. So, I'm planning to stick with small business.
Side note: When I was on vacation in Switzerland staying with family of friends, they mentioned that almost nobody had any concept of actually starting their own business. Anybody that seemed ambitious enough to have started a business in the US would have the mindset there of getting a good job with a big company instead. They thought it really hurt the Swiss economy to have talented people just sitting in offices with secure, but mundane, jobs.
So...first off...do you own your own small business? Do you feel you are at a disadvantage?
My wife and I have two small businesses. Wife runs one, I run the other.
My only concern is that of health care costs.
Other than that, I see only advantages!
