How many of you are "Job Creators"?

[11b1776]

In my main business I am a co-owner with my ex-wife and her husband and we employ quite a few people. A couple of other small businesses I either own or co-own and operate either by myself or with a couple of co-owners and a few part time employees.

In our main business we have 2 locations, tattoo shops, in 2 different states: Iowa and California. We employ artists, piercers, bookeeping/secretarial help, shop managers, etc.

After graduating highschool in San Diego I knew I wasnt going to college, I was going to play music or be an artist. I first went to a music school in San Francisco and then at night I took a course at a mortuary school. My mom said I needed a backup in case the music didnt work out. On weekends I played gigs at punk and metal dives to help pay my rent. After music school I went straight into a program at a San Francisco art school. Me and my ex met after I finished art school and joined the same shop to apprentice where she was already working- she was doing piercing and tattooing. I was learning tattooing but mainly cleaning up the shop, running errands, etc. My apprenticing was going to take a few years with literally no pay and I had alot of bills to pay with a first marriage to a girl from highschool who was in the middle of medical school plus we had a kid on the way and living in the bay area was not as cheap as back home in San Diego. So I did alot of stuff on the side to make money. My parents were driven business people who started and ran their own businesses when I was growing up and they always encouraged us kids to learn about business from an early age. Ever since junior highschool if I wasnt working for my father I was always doing stuff on my own to make my own money.

After my first wife divorced me, me and my now ex got together and eventually married, and then we had a kid. We scraped up the money to start our own small shop. Most times back then she was the only artist and piercer in the shop as I had also been playing and touring as a professional musician since I was in highschool and that career was taking off too. When home I ran or helped run a couple of small businesses: a club PA/sound system rental company that was basically a 2 man operation- if I wasnt there working I would hire a guy to work with my partner, a small guitar and amp repair/custom build shop that I bought into that kept one guy very busy, an auto detail/audio install/custom shop that I went in on with a couple of old highschool friends that I worked in some times, and an arcade coin-op game distribution business that I pretty much ran myself with some part time help here and there when things would get crazy busy.

Things really took off for us when we bought out a friends much larger shop in northern California. A few years later we were able to buy out a friends shop in Des Moines Iowa and eventually ended up moving there so my ex could run the shop as it was really getting busy. I then was the one who got to drive I-80 regularly back and forth between the Iowa and California shops and our house and my side businesses in California.

Now 20 something years later I am still working my businesses and putting in alot of window time while also adding the challenge of living in northeastern Oklahoma with my current wife and stepkids.

Wow very interesting, good read!

 

[Dr. HK]

I am an evil business owner.

3 Part time, 6 full time employees.

Employees get paid before I do. And I'm still waiting on a few paychecks. I guess I get a lot of sweat equity!!!

Unless you own a business, it is hard to see all of the other expenses that go with it (overhead).
If you "pay" someone 10 bucks an hour, it costs another 10-15% of that to match FICA, Medicare, pay for unemployment bennies, uniforms, etc, etc. Add that up over a year and you get some significant "unseen" costs. And that is before things like vacation, sick days, health care, dental care, day care, child care, etc, etc, etc
Even the little things, like the employees that make 3-5 dollars over minimum wage with great hours and benefits, wanting a raise, but not understanding why they need to turn off the lights and water at the end of the day.
Or why they need to set the alarm if they are the last ones out the door.
Hey, can we get high speed internet so we can watch stuff on our lunch break?
Why can't I call my friend long distance?
Yes, I think you should lower your fees, these poor people need a break. Well, no, I'm not taking a pay cut to do that!
On and on and on.

actually this is what i do for a living, across the country. Price employees, to include labor, fringe, overheads, etc. Though it is not my business I have been doing this for years. That is not all, I also do make or buy decisions.

 

[Shadowrider]

I could be a job creator, quite easily. Instead, in large part because of .gov regulations and interference, I choose not to open a business and instead worry about myself and my family.

Guess I'm the problem, huh? Don't want to work more, make less and die early from the stress, all so I can provide jobs to someone else.

No thanks.

This is exactly my position too. Only I'm not a doctor, but still the same reservations apply. Those reservations would be government requirements and regulation. I'm in the oilfield. I could very easily become an employer as I do have my own business, I just elect to employ myself and call it good. I just don't want the headache and worrying about what new thing they think they have to regulate or what confiscation stream (taxes & fees) they think they need. The state does a far better job in the regulation part of things, but big brother thinks he needs to supervise and dictate. If the .gov wasn't made up of such hypocritical liars I might feel different. Bottom line is I'm not going to jump through hoops in an attempt to maintain my profit margin.

Good post JesseR.

 

[HMFIC]

I created my own job (several times) ... does that count?

 

[nofearfactor]

I created my own job (several times) ... does that count?

Hells ya, me too, also several times.

 

[mprvise]

Seven full time positions here, including health insurance and IRA. Not sure how much longer we'll be able to do all we do for our employees...

 

[dennishoddy]

My grandson is coming out to rake leaves this weekend.
I guess I'm a job creator?

 

[mightymouse]

My grandson is coming out to rake leaves this weekend.
I guess I'm a job creator?

Well, yeah, but remember what the Big O said, "You didn't build that!"

 

[O4L]

There is a way to create jobs and not have as much hassle, depending on what type of business you're in.

In construction and a few other fields, it is common to hire help as "independent contractors".

IMHO, if done right, it is a win-win situation.

Someone gets to enjoy the perks of being self-employed without starting a business of their own, and you get the help you need without having "employees".

 

[ef9turbo]

Ooh, me, me, me!! *raises hand*

I create jobs everyday whether I'm working or not. Example, when I go to Wal-Mart, I purposely leave items on shelves in a mess and will bring misc. items with me from the food section over to the, say, automotive. Why? Because if I do that, the Wal-Mart employee has to work to put items back in the correct spot, to clean up the shelves to be more presentable.