Have you ever heard of “Small Business Saturday”? I never did before a couple of years ago, but I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s a national day created by American Express to encourage people to support their local small businesses instead of the big guys – the mega giants such as Best Buy, Staples, Denny’s, Ralphs Supermarket, Macy’s and the like. And we certainly can’t leave out Wal-Mart. Their international empire has wiped out many a small business because the little guys just can’t compete.
Whenever possible, I try to shop from the small businesses in my community. It is important to me because I AM a small business. I know firsthand how hard and expensive it is to keep a small business going. The costs are all outrageous, and everything adds up quickly, especially here in California. The list of products & services we need and have to pay for is long: accounting, legal, licenses or permits, insurance, industry or association fees, website hosting, design (and possibly search engine optimization or “pay per click” advertising), print and/or online advertising, marketing and printing, fixtures or equipment, inventory, and perhaps the most expensive of them all…rent and payroll. On top of that, we pay our own healthcare ($16,000 per year for my family), we pay have to pay 100% of our FICA taxes to Social Security when regular employees only pay 50%, we don’t have any matching 401K contributions or pensions, and dang it…no paid vacation days. There are more expenses, but I’m depressing myself now that I’m thinking about this. The only people that will help us little guys in business are the ones that will CHARGE us for it.
But you know, in spite of all the headaches, the stress, the responsibility of keeping people employed, the sacrifice of time, money, energy and devotion….it’s all worth it in the end. I have the freedom to make my own decisions, spend my time the way I want to, work when I want to work and vacation or goof off when I don’t. And another of my favorites (this is cool!), I can delegate tasks to others that I either don’t want to or can’t do myself. I love my admin people because they are so good at doing all that stuff FOR me. And I like it.
But perhaps the single most important reason why owning your own business is the way to go (for everyone), is because only then can you truly control your own income and what we call “get ahead.” If I want to make more money, I know I gotta bust my ass and identify the problems, come up with new solutions, and then put in some hard work (or money) to get it done. Everyone in America should be so lucky. I’m not kidding. I get to decide EVERY YEAR how much money I make. It’s all up to me and I either hit my target or I don’t, but I am ultimately responsible for my own income.
Please be clear – I am NOT criticizing anyone who currently has a J-O-B and is a W2 employee. What I’m saying is that if you don’t have an additional source of income that you control (such as a business on the side), or if you’re not working on creating a business for yourself…you will always be at the mercy of your boss, their boss, their bosses boss and on up the food chain. Decisions will be made about YOUR LIFE in which you will have absolutely no say. And these life altering, sometimes devastating decisions can happen at any time – no matter how much time, energy or sacrifice you have devoted.
As you read this, I encourage you to think about how you can create your own business and financially protect yourself and your family. There are so many opportunities available to you. I hope you know me well enough by now that I am not a “salesy” kinda gal. I don’t often use my own personal message in our Gazette to sell anything, much less our own GlitterBug services. But in this instance, I am making an exception. If you don’t have another source of income, no idea about what you could do, and no means of making it happen, consider allowing us to teach you to buy gold. Consider becoming a GlitterBug Gold Buyer and we’ll provide you with everything you need before you do it, and while you’re doing it.
And if you’ve read this far, support your local community small businesses not just on Small Business Saturday, November 24th, but EVERY DAY of the year. Next time you go out to eat, buy your pet supplies, groceries, or prescriptions, or get your oil changed. Hopefully next year at this time, you will be encouraging others to support you in your small business….
