Quote:
Originally Posted by alelks
Hmmm,
Let's see.
I only have a high-school education.
I spent 20 years in the military (all in SF). I became a Program Manager for Lockheed Martin making over 85K per year in Fayetteville, NC while at the same time starting my own business which now has 17 years under it's belt.
You're DAMN right I did all that by myself. The only people I have to thank for it are my parents for raising me right and the soldiers who fought and/or fought and died so I could have the freedom to do it.
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I've built, bought, and sold a few businesses.
While I took the most risk(my capital and my credit), I definitely appreciate all the folks who supported me along the way. Family, friends, mentors...and especially outstanding staff.
In my opinion, and in my business, our competitive advantage is having the best team in the industry....which means I spend the biggest chunk of my time keeping my staff happy.
Politicians stepping deeper into that relationship between my staff and I, or as a non-working, non-shareholding "partner" is quite scary.
If there's one thing I'd be keen to see US small business owners or just prospective entrepreneurs learn is the difference between new business formation in the US compared to other countries such as New Zealand, Singapore, Australia as just a few examples.
Way down here, it's easy(to start, NOT to compete...that's a different story). Way up there, not so much anymore.
Just my 0.02c