Today is small business Saturday. I love small businesses. I spent part of my day doing my Christmas shopping at stores where the owners were the clerks, stock people, bookkeepers, janitors, and coffee makers. They started work before the store opened and went home after the store closed (which was often 16 or 18 hours later) and took paperwork home with them. There were no paid "holidays" or "weekends"... when you own a small business, you are always "working".
Then, I came home and turned on CNN (I'll admit it with no shame, I am a "news junkie") to be treated to pictures of the OWS crowd. I have no doubt that they have some legitimate grievances; however, I have little sympathy for their strategy or their nebulous cause. I do know that they have the themes of resenting those who have made too much money while perhaps also complaining that these same folks aren't providing enough jobs. They don't like "evil" corporations in general, but probably wouldn't turn down a job with one of those "evil" corporations should one become available.
I've worked for three of those "evil" Corporations over the years. Every one of them started out as a small business, as someone working in a garage with an idea, opening a shop with a dream, starting a service with a business plan. My favorite is SAIC. Dr. Bob Beyster and a few of his friends started this services company in a store front in San Diego, California. I was lucky enough to be recruited by a friend while it was on its way up. I remember when we broke into the Fortune 1000 then the Fortune 500... 400... 300... 200.
Most of the small businesses that I patronized today will fail within five years. A few will successfully continue and perhaps fund a nice retirement for the owners or a legacy for their Children. A very few will turn into large Corporations following the path of every other Fortune 500 Company in America. All of the Companies for which I worked: GE, Texas Instruments, SAIC... all of them started out as one Man's dream.
Where are the dreamers today? Where's the next Steve Jobs? From the looks of things, he or she is probably in India... or China... or Malaysia. For the record, that's ok with me... but I wish we still produced one or two now and then.
When I watch the OWS crowd on CNN, I can't help but wonder exactly what they want. They resent those who have achieved business success; however, it appears that they also expect these same folks to give them jobs. I can assure you that if I were still a Vice President at SAIC, I would "Google" every resume that crossed my desk for some association with OWS... and quickly "shred" anyone I found. Why would I possibly hire someone who pretty much considers my existence to be "evil"?
This is a conundrum. I'm guessing that the OWS folks have pretty much rendered themselves unemployable with any major corporation or successful business... and protesting isn't a career. What do do?
Don't get a job... start a business!
Quit bitching! Decide what skills you may possess, what service you may provide, what product you may make. Beg, borrow or... well... borrow $100, buy something wholesale, mark it up, and sell it retail at a flea market, sporting event, or park. Take the profit, buy more stuff, and do it again... 18 hours a day... weekdays and weekends... until you save enough to rent a store front. Keep saving and hire your first employee. Repeat until you drop.
That's what many of the people against whom you are protesting did to get where they are. Stop complaining about them and join them. Start a small business. When it fails, start another one, and another one, and another one. Jack Welch, CEO of GE during my tenure there, valued failure. It is the best education.
If you think a traditional "job" will get you that "middle class" dream, think again. The irony was that "it really was a dream". We talk about the "joys" of home ownership, the "pleasures" of two cars, a boat, perhaps a vacation home, the good life. The fallacy of this appealing scenario is that no one ever actually "owned" anything. The "middle class" rented their lives from others. They lived in homes they never intended to keep, drove cars without ever seeing the title, I could go on.
My point. The "new normal" to achieve what we wistfully call middle class is small business. We should replace the term "middle class" with "entrepreneurial class". The American Dream in the new normal will be reserved for those with the courage to start their own business and claim their own future. There's plenty of room in an ever expanding global, multinational world for those willing to take the risk.
My fear is that the OWS generation is a generation of entitlement waiting for others to "do something" for them. I hope I'm wrong.
So... happy small business Saturday! The best way to celebrate this day is to start a small business... and perhaps give an OWS protestor a job to get them off the street! But then, why would possibly hire an OWS protestor?
