How many times did you see a JW start a business

by karter 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  biblexaminer

  There's plenty bros here who started businesses for themselves. The two mitigating factors seem always to be;

  1) Low Education/Employability

  2) Desire to self-spiritualize. (Pioneer etc)

  One bro here, he's an elder, does painting etc. But now the end is not here, yet his need for shelter and sustenance persists.

  He complains often that he "can't do it anymore" and that he's old. I usually join in, suggesting he's going to be doing it in a wheelchair with a long stick. We laugh together. He doesn't know that I am laughing at him, not with...

  What a sucker for Watchtower.

  Another brother here made a reno business, but the work seems to be full time LOL. So much for more spirituality. How's that 'working' song go.... 🎶
• 

  Bugbear

  In my country almost all brothers and sisters are unqualified to have any ordinary job. They haven´t got the education enough to fit todays labor market. So many of them are freelancers, cleaning windows, carrying out the morning papers, doing the lawn. Many of them are doing these sorts of jobs as moonlighting jobs from other brothers in the cong. So quite a number of them have at retirement, no retirement points, they have not a nickel when they are ready to go.
  luckily enough, in our country, we do have a welfare system that will keep them alive on a minimum level. But when their cars are broken, the dentist need their payment, when their spouse need a descent funeral, the brothers in the congregation announce that there is a brother in need….

  I can see in their eyes that they feel so ashamed of their situation, specially they that worked full time as CO,s and pioneers…. I feel that they were tricked by soc. to believe that the end was so so so SO close now… The soc. don´t give a shit about these sad people…
• 

  James Mixon

  The majority of brothers that became JW's around the 60's are still working today, so sad. They didn't plan for the future, medical expenses have exhausted their saving...
• 

  Vidiot

  Lost count.

  More often than not, they used the "prosperity gospel" rationale, too.

  Never worked.
• 

  NewYork44M

  I have see the "brothers" follow two basic tracks in business. The first being multi level marketing. This almost always ends in disaster. The business continues to until the marketers reach their credit limit on the credit cards when they buy their inventory.

  The other being some sort of cleaning or other service related business. A person can eke out a living doing this. But I have never seen anyone get rich. I always hear about those that get rich with a cleaning business, but never met any of these people. Nor have I reviewed their financial statements.

  We had an elder with a TrimLine franchise. I understand that ended in disaster. There were a number of brothers involved in the carpet cleaning business. I forget the name, but with all story's of wealth, I never saw any of it. Just a lot of very hard work with little payback.

  With my financial background as a CPA, an brother asked me to review his books in his cleaning business. He was convinced that he was making a fortune, but from what I saw, he was barely making enough to pay off the capital investments of the machines.

  Starting and maintaining a small business is very hard work. It requires skills beyond the scope of most people. I admire those who succeed. Unfortunately, the religion creates one additional barrier to success.
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  smiddy

  A few brothers were in the building industry self employed as were a couple in the plastering and painting in the building game and all self employed .

  Their was also a couple who ran a beauty salon specialising in hair removal using electrolosis that my wife believed was a bit of a con and she opted out of it.

  A brother Elder was also in the cabinet making business self employed and hired young bros, including my son which I was grateful for at the time when he left school.

  I think this was an exceptional area in S.E.Qland where a lot of the bros.were in one way or another connected to the building industry.
• 

  BluesBrother

  Around here window cleaning is the business of choice. They say hard work and a good round gets enough money in 2 days to pioneer. Sometimes the businesses turn into lucrative firms, mostly they fold up and he gets a job when he gets married.

  One bro I Knew was getting worried the last time I saw him. Time was passing and he felt too old to keep it up much longer, of course he had no pension plan bar State Benefits.
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  My Name is of No Consequence

  I've certainly seen dubs inherit family business like golf courses, construction companies, etc. It must be nice.
  
• 

  raven

  Ah yes,

  I knew two elders who started a business.. One had the idea and created it, the other elder was a partner in it.. These two ended up making big bucks with their shoelace invention. Eventually one elder and his family moved out of their 3 bedroom 1 bath into a 6 bedroom 5 bath home up in the mountains.. It was extremely lavish. The other elder also got a new home, except this one came with an elevator.. Ha, and these same elders were giving talks about simplicity and giving more to the org. Eventually they had a falling out over the business, one elder who was actually the KOBE at the time was removed from his position, he ended up standing up during the announcement of his removal, gathered his family and stormed out of the KH.. To date, the shoelace biz is still around...
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  janusfulcrum

  One JW who started his own business and became quite wealthy was Roger Kent, who founded Rug Doctor, in California. The company went international and the UK website still cites him as the founder. Not sure if he remained a JW. I knew his daughter , Linda.

  Side note: she was the roommate of Wynne Warren, a computer whiz , who went to Bethel to work on MEPS, married Warren Pake, subsequently had a meltdown , left Bethel, Warren and the truth . Anyone here remember her from Bethel?