Let's Talk Business

Relax, I'm not trying to sell you anything. I just need to clear the air on the subject of business ownership. Many people, friends included, think that because you happen to own your own business, you must be rolling in it. If they only knew the 'it' I was rolling in, they'd probably keep their distance. I don't understand the notion where they think I'm pulling money in hand over fist. Let's take a moment and analyze the situation. Let's play the 'observation game'. Look, first, at Kevin's house. It happens to be rather small, with practically nothing for closet space, AND only one bathroom. Plus, I reside in South Omaha, on a piece of property the size of a postage stamp. Folks may rationalize, maybe he just likes it that way. Simple and unassuming. They're not far off. I do like simple and unassuming, but with slightly more , well thought out, space. Let's now focus on the house itself. If you look closely at the windows, not all match. There happens to be three new windows, and the remainder are the originals. There are about three or four more that need to be replaced, so why doesn't Kevin take care of that? He shouldn't be such a tightwad and dip into his Swiss bank account, and replace those worn out windows. Then there's the siding. I think 35 years is pretty much beyond the life expectancy of the siding that's been through several hail storms, and that freak October snow storm. If Kevin would just part with some of that money, he could single handedly spark the economy! Oh, let's not forget the crumbling front porch steps. He does concrete work for a living, why hasn't he replaced them? What a lazy turd! I think what people fail to realize, even though I'm a business owner, all the money taken into the company, is not mine. In fact, a rather small amount actually stops in my account. Easily 50% (that number can climb based upon the material picked) of all jobs goes right back out the door to pay vendors. Well maybe all the profit is built into the over inflated price I charge? All jobs, I make 15 - 30% based on the size of the job. Smaller jobs - 30%, larger jobs - 15%. Commercial jobs are even less. So let's base a hypothetical, Kevin type, smells of money, equation, with one hundred dollars. $100 - $50(material) = $50. $50 - 70%(labor) = $15. Let's not forget Uncle Sam, he likes money too! $15 - $4.50(taxes) = $10.50. There are also overhead costs that a percentage can't really be factored in, because it changes from job to job. It's a big guess on my part while working up the estimate. Some jobs are more profitable than others, but some may say, ' Surely you make more than $100 dollars on your jobs'? Sometimes. My whole reason for going into business had very little to do with making HUGE amounts of money. For years, I was a company man. I worked my tail off for unthankful employers. They would scream because you finished the job a day early, rather than two days early. They would promise you perks, and then take them away. Some had never even set tile, so the mistakes would get passed on to you, along with the blame. Homey was tired of playin' those games, so he went into business for himself in 1997, and hasn't looked back. I do make a little more for my efforts, but my efforts are twice as much as they used to be. I often tell people, "I'm the proud owner of a multi hundred dollar business", and "I get really excited when I see a comma in my bank account".