Owning and starting a business

For some people, being the boss, and which by boss I mean business owner, would be the greatest thing ever. Most think you get to pick your own hours, make the most money, and make everyone do the things you want done. Of course there is work involved and it takes work to make it but the rewards will be better owning a business that succeeds. The ultimate goal is becoming a millionaire and retiring at the age of forty and just drawing money from business production. However they really don’t understand the work it takes to make it a million dollar company. When these people are finally able to own a business they get a rude awakening. I am in no way trying to offend the typical business owner when I say, owning a business can be a challenging task that can cause many complications in your life and if you’re not careful they can change your life entirely.

Over the last eight years I have watched my Aunt and Grandfather start a completely new hospice. My aunt is the main boss of the business, my grandfather just put in money so that she was able to actually start the business. Over those last eight years she has had some of the roughest times in her life. Being a single mother is hard enough, but then to start a business from scratch made it much more difficult to not only raise a family by herself. My aunt has had many problems in the last eight years and her business is now getting to the point of choosing what she does. I see some teenagers saying they want to own a business when they get older, but they only think of the money they can earn, the people they can tell what to do, and the fact that they can work when they want to work and no one can tell them otherwise. My aunt has put in more work to her business in the last eight years than I have done homework assignments in my school career. When one owns a business, they must work constantly because there is always something that needs to be done. Whether there is a problem to sort out, bills to pay, or numbers and accounting paperwork to figure out, there is always something that they must do. I can remember staying the night at her house staying up late and playing video games while right down the hall she was in the office still working on paperwork at one and two in the morning. Still, she got up every day, went to work and did the same thing the next day. These grueling hours can cause many problems in the family, and with her being basically a single mother (got married about three years after starting the business), she always seemed to be stressed out. My cousin Joe (6’3, 350lbs, and obsessed with computer games) never really helped her out around her house so she was always down his back to make him do something but he never did. Those two constantly fought about little and stupid things and it really got annoying for a while. This continuous work put so much stress on her and if she was any less strong than she would not have lasted. She had a constant hassle of making decisions for the good of the business, hiring and firing new people, and trying to look after each employee to make sure they were giving the care they should be giving to the patient. It seems like with new business owners that the business is always in your mind thinking of ways to increase your appreciation among future patients or customers. With hard work, time management, and stress management you can make a business succeed to great lengths. Luckily her business is doing well now and she was looking to sell her business for something around $5 million. Owning a business is a difficult process one that you should be very prepared for because even if you have the greatest idea ever, being accepted in a community as a typical place to return to will take a very long time.

Four years ago, my father came up with the idea that he wanted to own a Chicago Style Hot Dog restaurant. He, like every typical virgin business owner, thought it was going to be a piece of cake. He got the money and thought he had the greatest idea ever by opening up a restaurant that our city doesn’t have. However, after a few weeks of opening reality set in and he was not the jolly man most remember him being. He looked at the city of Noblesville, and realized we didn’t really have a hotdog place in town. There is one problem with his thought process, he may have looked at the direct competition (other hotdog restaurants), but he failed to see the indirect competition (other fast food restaurants e.g. McDonalds or Burger King). When starting a fresh new business all the components must be looked at to judge whether starting the business is really worth the time and money. My dad has spent lots of money advertising trying to get his business known throughout Hamilton County and it has slowly been working. They say the biggest key to have a successful business is marketing. The toughest key about marketing however, is finding new ways to market to potential customers and get them to actually notice your advertisement. My father is good at coming up with ideas but gathering the money is a tough dilemma and can cause a lot of stress on the owner. Owners have a lot of work on their plate when trying to run the business due to every other person is always trying to help but it just doesn’t go the way you want it to happen. My father had some the most stressful times of his life, while owning this business. The business world is a constant cat and mouse game always trying to decide the best move to make next. His business has been slowly increasing its figures after starting out in the negative aspect of making money. It is still worth nothing right now due to the fact that the revenue earned is still below the expenses but it is slowly equaling itself which is a good sign. I have memories about when my dad was in an argument with a land lord or product agent .I can remember times where he used to be so stressed and just wouldn’t know how to handle it he would yell at me for simple small things that he thought I should have done. For instance, one day I didn’t clean my room because I was somewhat busy but more or less I was procrastinating. That night when he got home after working from open to close he blew up in my face over procrastinating. Procrastinating however is not the greatest way we should all be, especially if someone is going to own a business. Paying the bills is a business owner’s biggest concern. If the owner can’t pay the bills then there is not future and your life becomes horrible, and not being able to pay the bills causes the most stress on owners.

Owning and starting a business is one of the hardest things to do in life. You must first be able to have sufficient funds to run the business, have the time, and the ability to manage the stress. If you can manage all of these things plus the dilemma of making decisions for the better of the business you can run a successful business. Before you begin to own a business, please make sure you have the time to spend with your family because family is one of the most important things in life.

GOOD BYE FOR A NEXT POST