Archive for July 7th, 2009
2 items.
A Word From My Mind: Family Owned & Operated
July 7th, 2009 | by JasonPosted In: A Word From My Mind, Blog Content
Family Owned & Operated
My father, for many years, ran his own business. It was first called Faithful Cleaning Service and then Sparkling Floors. As you can probably tell, it was a janitorial business. It was family owned and operated. When I was about thirteen, I started working full time with my Dad. A few years later my brother joined in. We weren’t exactly paid, I mean, he did provide us with a roof over our head, clothes on our back and food on the table, but that didn’t stop me from keeping a running tally of how much money he “owed” me. My father got out of paying me a lot of it when he bought me my first computer, I think it was a Tandy(Anybody remember those?). When I was fifteen I discovered that my Dad wasn’t even paying me minimum wage! I decided it was time to spread my wings and look for other employment. I spent six months at McDonalds and then, when I turned sixteen I went to work for the county library. I still helped my father on occasion, but when I finally moved out and got my job as a 911 Dispatcher, I stopped with the family business altogether. He kept the business for as long as he could, but without my brother and I, he eventually had to close it down. He just couldn’t handle carrying all the machinery around by himself and hiring help outside the family never worked out well.
Surprisingly, this isn’t going to be another column about my Dad. Well, not exactly.
I was the firstborn and, like my siblings, I was home schooled all the way through high school. My siblings and I had a front row seat for the trials and tribulations that came from running your own business. My father was a great idea man, but ideas do not implement themselves. And when you’re running your own business, just being the idea man doesn’t cut it. The family business had it’s highs and it’s lows. It was stressful and sometimes enjoyable. My parents were never held down my strict schedule. If we wanted to take off in the middle of the week, we could. And I think, what was best of all, is that I got to see my parents. They were always there. I may have not appreciated that when I was younger, but I do now. Too many kids grow up seeing their parents for a handful of hours in the evening and maybe on the weekends. But me and my siblings, we saw them all the time and thank God for that.
All that being said, though, I heard, repeatedly, from both of my parents: get a county job. A county job had security. Once you were in the county, you were set. Nobody ever lost a county job. And after watching how difficult it was running your own business, I was all for job security. I was perfectly content to get a nice county job, write my books and wait to be “discovered”.
I spent four years working at the county library, four years working as a County 911 Dispatcher, one year as a Crime Analyst for the County Sheriff and then another four months back as a Dispatcher. Outside of my mother, this the most solid career track record in my family.
Then something happened. Well, several something’s happened actually.
First, I was growing upset that I hadn’t been “discovered” yet. Second, I hated working for the County Sheriff, I had zero interest in law enforcement. Third, the economy began its downward spiral. Fourth, my sister-in-law and her husband gave me a book for my 26th birthday. The book was 48 Days to the Work You Love. I read that book and it was a real eye opener for me.
County jobs didn’t have that security anymore. Corporate jobs didn’t have any security. Teachers didn’t even have any security. The old axioms weren’t true anymore.
I finished the book and read the author’s second book, No More Mondays, which was all about starting your own business and breaking away from the traditional workplace model.
For the past several months I had been feeling unrest, unhappiness and, to be honest, fear. Then I started to get some ideas and I started to feel hopeful.
After praying about it and discussing it with my wife, I quit my job with County Sheriff’s office in April of this year. I decided that I wasn’t going to wait and be “discovered.” I had written five novels and no publisher was interested in taking a chance on an unknown because they were all running out of money. Nobody cared about my job security or my unrest and unhappiness other than me and my wife.
So I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps. I started my own business. Never in a million years would I have ever thought I’d say that. My own business? What do I know about running a business?
But that’s what One Stray Word is, a business. A business built by my wife and I. And believe me, none of this would have be at all possible without my wife.
I’ll be honest, every day is a bit of struggle because I don’t know anything about running my own business. But I find myself looking forward to figuring it out. People seem to think that now that I’m working from home all I do is sit around and play on Wii. I don’t even get to read as much as I used to. There are days where I’m sitting in front of the computer from noon till ten o’clock at night. And I love it!
OSW may not be huge, it may not even be paying any bills right now, but every day it grows a little more. Every day my wife and I talk, God and I talk. We discuss what works and what doesn’t. Every day is a learning experience. I once told a boss, in response that for my “training” I needed to sit and watch them as they worked for several hours, I told them that I learned by doing and watching wasn’t going to help. With OSW I’ve had to put my money where my mouth is. What did I know what about building a website before April? Nothing. What did I know about making a webcomic before the end of May? Nothing. Look at this! I have a webcomic. I have a website! I didn’t know how to do any of this six months ago! I literally cannot believe myself. Who am I? Because I’m not even sure anymore. I thank God every day for blessing me. Because, honestly, that’s the only explanation. Really.. Can you think of any other?
While although I would love to wake up tomorrow and discover that OSW has suddenly become one of the most popular sites on the web, I know these things take time. It’s like a plant that needs to be watered every day. So we’ll water it every day. I can be patient. That’s something else I’m learning about. Patience. Learning by doing.
My father’s business may only been janitorial and it may have had its ups and downs, but there was always a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food on the table. And if I can match my father’s success in that, then what more can I ask for?
My father, for many years, ran his own business. It was first called Faithful Cleaning Service and then Sparkling Floors. As you can probably tell, it was a janitorial business. It was family owned and operated. When I was about thirteen, I started working full time with my Dad. A few years later my brother joined in. We weren’t exactly paid, I mean, he did provide us with a roof over our head, clothes on our back and food on the table, but that didn’t stop me from keeping a running tally of how much money he “owed” me. My father got out of paying me a lot of it when he bought me my first computer, I think it was a Tandy(Anybody remember those?). When I was fifteen I discovered that my Dad wasn’t even paying me minimum wage! I decided it was time to spread my wings and look for other employment. I spent six months at McDonalds and then, when I turned sixteen I went to work for the county library. I still helped my father on occasion, but when I finally moved out and got my job as a 911 Dispatcher, I stopped with the family business altogether. He kept the business for as long as he could, but without my brother and I, he eventually had to close it down. He just couldn’t handle carrying all the machinery around by himself and hiring help outside the family never worked out well.
Surprisingly, this isn’t going to be another column about my Dad. Well, not exactly.
Comment
