Normal

“Normal”

1.conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2.serving to establish a standard.
3.approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment; free from any mental disorder; sane.

If you are going to open a small business, I would suggest that you think about what “normal” means to you. Basically, you will need to define the ‘standard’ or ‘common type’ referenced in the first definition above.

Once you cross over into business ownership, you need to change your standard of ‘normal living’ from the residential, 40 hour per week wage earner to the standard of ‘normal living’ of a business owner. How do you do that if this is your first time to own a business?? That is the situation Tracy and I find ourselves in. We entered into business ownership not knowing what it would bring. We knew in an abstract way that it would be difficult, and that our lives would change.

I reference ‘normal’ to whatever my life is like at the time. I spent twelve years in the military, and the demands placed on us changed frequently, sometimes daily. I was trained as an early adult to be flexible and to adapt to the demands of life on a daily basis. Tracy did not have that type of past experience, and this transition has been much harder on her. Don’t get me wrong… she is a trooper and she has risen to the challenge, but her nature is to wonder when this difficult period is going to be over so we can get back to ‘normal’. Life’s answer to that is that we gave up ‘normal’ the day we opened Nemo’s. This is assuming that you still consider the 40 hour week, live in your house, and raise your kids as the definition of normal. I realized quickly that we have a new standard of normal, and it is as yet not fully defined. Tracy has spent most of the last year with the expectation of the shop getting to the point that some amount of normalcy would return. I think the last week or so has been a real growing period for her. We had a discussion about how difficult things are now, and what our options are. We pretty much narrowed it down to the following:

1. Give up, throw in the towel, and go back to non-business owner type of normal

2. Dig deeper, find that place deep in your soul where your motivation and determination lie, and keep going, but with a sense of frustration and bad attitude.

3. Dig deeper, find that place deep in your soul where your motivation and determination lie, and keep going; but with a sense of optimism, positive attitude, and thankfulness for the opportunity you are pursuing.

Tracy and I both agreed that option #1 is not an option for us. We are both determined and strong. “Giving up” is not who we are. I have been operating on option #3, and Tracy has been wavering between #2 and #3, depending on how things are going. After our discussion, we both agreed to do our best to stay with #3. Regardless of how hard things are, the frustration, complaints, self-doubt, etc of option #2 are very harmful to your day to day lives. If you give in to that, it is very easy for morale to decline. If you stay there for too long, bad morale will eventually degrade your sense of purpose, your motivation, your determination, and everything else you need to see things through. Tracy and I both agreed that we need to stick with option #3, and we made commitments to each other to do so.

So, if you are looking into owning a small business, give all of this some thought. Some things to consider:

1.If you are married, be sure to evaluate the strength of your relationship. If it is not strong, or if there are cracks in the foundation, so to speak, opening a business will illuminate those weaknesses quickly. Some marriages do not survive a small business attempt. Tracy and I both see our marriage as a covenant with God first, and a commitment to each other secondly. The strength of our relationship is solidified in our faith, and that very much helps us to stay strong, even when stress is high and things are tough.

2.If you are not willing to redefine your concept of normal living, then just stop now and don’t proceed. Business ownership is going to demand things of you that you will not see coming. These demands will require energy, time, loss of sleep, personal sacrifices of material possessions (lack of $$$ to buy things you want, unable continue in hobbies you enjoy, no vacations, etc). There is no way for you to evaluate and plan for everything, because you have no idea what is going to come up. But, you do need to search your soul and decide if you are willing to make changes, to make sacrifices, and to muster up the strength to take on the challenges and succeed!

3.If you have children, you need to consider them in your business planning. When we were designing the shop, we included a 10x12 room for the kids. It has a TV, a computer, books, art supplies, games, and I bought a Nintendo Gamecube on EBay for $60 for the shop. This room allows them to spend time at the shop with us without being miserable. It also allows them to have a private area if they stay home sick from school. As far as time commitments go, you absolutely need to make some decisions concerning your kids. If you are exhausted and you have two hours of admin to do for the shop, are you going to do your paperwork in the evening, or are you going to spend time with your kids and family, and then do the paperwork after everyone goes to bed? Your answer to that question will greatly determine the quality of your life moving forward. We choose to spend time with the kids, and then do the ‘homework’ after they have gone to bed. Yes, it is tough to give up sleep when you are already exhausted, but in ten years our kids are still going to like us. I participate in an on-line photography contest site called DPChallenge. They post a topic and you have to take a photo that best represents that topic, while still being creative and appealing to look at. They recently had two topics called “Heaven” and “Hell”. One of the photos in the “Hell” competition was of a woman working in a restaurant, with her young child sitting in the background in the kitchen. The title of the photo is "While Mommy Works... a Childhood Lost". It made me really sad to see the look on the child’s face, and it made me really happy that we incorporated plans for our children when we were ‘designing’ our business.

Here is the photo by BA Martin:
(http://dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=620251)


4.Vehicles… This may sound like a simple thing, but there are some things to think about. First of all (unless you are independently wealthy) you must realize that you cannot afford to pay $500+ per month for a car payment and insurance. We had a Suburban with a $450 per month payment when we were planning our business. We got rid of it and now have a Suzuki Aerio SX. We have room for us and the kids, and that is about all… We went from 12 mpg to 30mpg, halved our car payment, and have a brand new vehicle with no looming repairs (our Suburban had 70,000 miles and things were starting to go wrong with it). We also have two ‘beaters’ that we paid cash for. I have a ’69 Chevy truck that is invaluable if you are going to be doing any of your own demo or construction. I also have an ’87 Jeep Cherokee. Neither are nice vehicles, but they are serving a purpose and there are no payments!! Would I like to have a new (or newer) vehicle? YES!!! Is that reasonable or responsible right now? NO!!!

I could probably think of many more things to discuss, but I need to get busy. I would like to comment on our faith again. We are Christians, and we believe that trusting in God and surrendering ourselves to Him is vital to our success. We know that we can not do this on our own. Without God’s blessing and help, we are nothing… You may or may not agree, but it helps us to keep going and get through this difficulty…

JD