By Deb Beddoe Chairman of the Board Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce
As the Chamber celebrates small business this month, it seems like a good opportunity to congratulate all of the small business owners who have taken the chance to succeed in small business. Taking this chance means believing in yourself. Small business owners make significant personal sacrifices when starting a business, and believing that the personal sacrifices you make will be rewarded come from believing that you can make it happen.
Here are just a few examples of the personal sacrifices of small business owners:
- Most small business owners left a good job or career behind. To start a business means that until the company is profitable, there may be no owner’s salary, or a substantially reduced salary in the beginning.
- Not only do small business owners leave the hopes of a regular paycheck and benefits behind, but they are also having to invest their own money into the business startup.
- There is no routine or job description for a small business owner. The routine is everything unexpected that comes up and the job description is wearing every hat in the organization. And not just the hats that fit you well.
- The 40-hour work week becomes a dream to aspire to. When it’s all up to you to meet payroll, make sure the clients are happy, meet with potential investors, and figure out why the vendors are not shipping, family and friends are often left frustrated by the cancelled dates.
- And when you finally get to the point where you bring in your first trusted employee to help you with the chaos, you have to learn the skill of letting go. Being in control and then suddenly letting go can have the same feeling as jumping out of a perfectly good airplane … terrifying at first, until you allow yourself to trust and enjoy.