03.23.08
Why I Don’t Want a Regular Business
Let’s define a regular business - I’m not talking about being a self-employed salesman, like a financial planner, handyman, gift basket creator, consultant, coach, craftsman, website designer - someone who sells their own time. That is simply stupid, since you have limited time and it’s your most valuable resource, so you should NEVER sell it unless there is a significant back-end with huge leverage, and 99% of these people don’t have that in place. I’m talking about a business like a lube joint, a printing business, painting business, fencing business, restaurant, hotel, retail store, dry cleaner, hair salon.
Most regular businesses involve taking up a lot of your time, huge risk, limited income potential, “Feast or Famine” income cycles, employees, inventory, competition, and silly little profit margins. Most owners of these businesses make little money, or they make great money, but they have too little time to enjoy it. After dealing with thousands of business owners in different industries over many years, I think I have a pretty good idea of their challenges, limitations, and risk.
I don’t want to deal with employees in a socialistic society where they have more legal protection than I do. I don’t want to deal with the increasing cost of overheads and advertising. I don’t want to deal with customers I don’t like or respect, just because I need their money. I don’t like risk, period. And I never met a dollar I didn’t like, so high profit is important to me. And at 55, living in beautiful British Columbia with a wonderful wife of 22 years, my time is too valuable to spend with anyone I don’t like and respect.
But if I HAD a regular business, I would use Joint Ventures to duplicate and leverage that business through the roof. Then I would sell it, and simply broker Joint Ventures, as I do now. I don’t want a franchisor who is really my boss, to tell me what to do and how to do it. I don’t want to deal with unscrupulous suppliers, off-shore competitors, difficult, brain dead customers, or be at risk from changes in local laws, environment, buildings, politics, or weather that I can’t control. The world is changing, as you might have noticed. Conventional business has become extremely risky.
If you GAVE me a business, ANY business, I would simply give it back. Don’t need it, don’t want it. Keep it. Over the years, I have been offered shares in businesses, pieces of business, you name it. Never made any sense to me. I have been that self-employed salesman, too, and I simply had too much self-respect to continue as a mercenary prostitute. I was quite ready to shoot a few of my esteemed “Consulting Clients” and swore I would never be desperate enough (or crazy enough) to debase myself like that again.
The reason why most people get into conventional small businesses is usually because they don’t know that they have an option - that’s why I’m a Joint Venture Broker. I do what I like, when I like, where I like, with whom I like, IF I like. My freedom is simply too important to me.
Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com
