Small Business Career

Amber Davis
Per the Bloomberg report. 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs will fail within their eighteen months
of running their own business. I was just as surprised by this fail rate as you are. So why do I still
want to run my own business? Well thats simple, I want to be my own boss. In this paper, you
will see research, as well as questions answered by a small business owner to help you decide if
this is the right path for you.
To begin lets discuss why 80% of businesses fail within 18months of starting up. Per
Eric Wagner in the article Five Reasons 8 out of 10 Businesses Fail, He wrote that they fail
because entrepreneurs are not thinking enough like their customers. A second reason businesses
fail is because they lack variety in the market, the ideas that they come up with are not unique
and do not stand out. The third, as he put it, bleed to death by failure to communicate People
have great ideas but fail because they ultimately suck at getting that idea across to people clearly.
The fourth and fifth reason that Eric gave were self-sabotage and the fact that entrepreneurs lack
the capability of creating a profit from their own ideas. (Wagner, 2013)
Now you are probably asking why is she talking about failing businesses in a paper that
should be explaining what you should expect out of owning your own business. Well to clarify
why I began this way is so you understand the mess that you are getting yourself into, and same
thing our parents tried to tell us before we made a mistake, LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE.
Knowing what works and what doesnt may be your deciding factor on going into something like
this or if you will be part of that 80%

I interviewed Kenn Cradel a local small business owner. He with a business partner, John
own and manage the Tinderbox in Midvale, UT. For reference this Tinderbox is a cigar, Tabaco,
and gift shop. Kenn and John bought the Tinderbox back in 2011 from the previous owners when
they decided to retire. Since they own a Tabaco store they are taxed higher in Utah Tabaco is
taxed at 86%. This makes their business higher risk.
Owning a business may require no college to extensive amounts of schooling, lets
shorten this gap by talking specifically into owning your own shop. This can include a retail
shop, caf, restaurant, book store, etc.. In an online article written by John Rampton, he talks
about some of the most useful college degrees for owning your own business. Can you guess the
degree on the top of his list? Thats right an English/ Writing degree (Rampton & more, 2015.)
The rest of Ramtons list went as followed, second Accounting and Finance, three
communications, four computer engineering, and the fifth is philosophy. (Rampton & more,
2015) As you can see these can range from an associates degree to bachelors degree.
Writing does play a role in being a business owner, from inventory, to emails to vendors
for new products, or complaints about how some product has arrived. Most of the time spent
owning a businesss is mostly focused on one on one interaction with cliental writing still plays a
role in the whole ordeal.
Kenn has suggested that you get a bachelors degree in business at the least an associate
in finance and business, unless you pay an accountant to manage your books for you, which
could be an expensive cost. Kenn made it a point during the one on one interview to note that he
himself only has an associate but his business partner who handles the books has an extensive
background in finance including being a loan officer for a mortgage company for several years.

If you havent gotten bored by my ranting yet lets talk about the important part of
owning your own business, money. Most SBA loans require you to put at least 10% down. Per
SBA.gov most small businesses in 2009 cost 30,000 to start up. This cost is for home based
businesses, other expenses need to be factored in as well depending on the type of business you
want to run. For Kenn Cradel him and his business partner start up loan was for $500,000.
These loans are also not meant to be long term loans in fact most of these loans require them to
be paid off with in 6 years. However, a line of credit can also be set up with these loans for use in
inventory, upkeep, and supplies. (Cradel, 2016).
Now for those who think that owning a small business is going to make you rich quick, I
am sorry to say that you have been lied to. At the beginning, you are almost in poverty level, you
dont get paid unless everything else gets paid and you make a profit. Kenn stated that on a good
month he will take home just shy of $3,000 a month. (Cradel, 2016). Seem like a lot? If he
works only 40 hours a week (as a business owner its not likely that you will be so luck) he
makes $18.75 an hour and of course over time is not a thing.
Continuing to the number of hours that you will be spending as a business owner. Most
people assume that this means that they get to pick their own hours and only must work when
they fell like it, again, sadly you are wrong. In the begging, you will work on average 60-65
hours a week. (Cradel, 2016). Your $18.75 just turned into a $12.50 an hour and again you do not
get over time. Sorry boss. Just to add salt to that wound you are always on call if something goes
wrong, kiss a 9-5 good bye when you are open from 7-9. On a happier note when you do finally
get up and going you will find your work weeks turn into a normal 40-hour work week and
occasional interruptions.

It should be noted on top of the rambling list of negative that I seem to have made it clear
about owning a small business, there is of course more. Kenn like all business owners file taxes a
little differently one thing that he said he wasnt prepared for was the extra taxes that he had to
file on his income tax. Its not like I actually got to spend the money on myself, 10,000 was not
mine for the spending, but I had to claim it on my taxes, as he put it (Cradel, 2016).
I feel like we now have a good idea of what it takes to own a small business, lets go into
talking about the daily life of an owner. In my interview with Kenn he mapped out what his daily
life was like which included a range of things from keeping inventory, to unloading the freight,
and interacting with customers. Overall, he stated he loved his job and what he did and when
asked if he would make the same choice again, he stated yes because the benefits outweighed the
negatives.
To conclude this paper, I will leave you with advice given by Kenn, If after all of this
reading you still decide that owning your own business is the right thing for you then to get
started like you would with any college project. Research, find out as much as you can about the
business you want to start up. Find out if there is a similar idea out there and if it is successful.
See if your area is the right demographic for your business. Lets be honest starting up an
electronic store in the middle of Amish country most likely wont be as successful as it would be
in a big city.
Make sure this is something that you actually enjoy doing because this is a much bigger
commitment than a pair of shoes, or who you are taking on a date next Friday night. Spend as
much time as you need to doing the research, creating a plan, and saving money. Finish your
degree and if at the end of it you still like it then peruse it. Dont rush into it. (Cradel, 2016).

Bibliography:
Cradel, Kenn. Interview 26 Nov. 2015
How to estimate the cost of starting a business from scratch. (2016, January 18). Retrieved
November 24, 2016, from https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-estimate-cost-startingbusiness-scratch
Rampton, J., & more, R. (2015, January 16). 5 college degrees that prepare you for smallbusiness success. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from The Treps,
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241197
Wagner, E. T. (2013, September 12). Five reasons 8 out of 10 businesses fail. Forbes. Retrieved
from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10businesses-fail/#aff192a5e3c6
Questions:

1. How do you feel about your job?

2. What is your favorite part about your job?
3. Why did you choose to open a business?
4. What is the day to day life?
5. What challenges did you face that you werent expecting?
6. What type of politics and interpersonal relationships involved with owning your own
business?
7. What are your personal expectation for owning a business?
8. What is your least favorite part?
9. Looking back would you make this choice again? Advice / things that werent asked that
I should know?

10. How do you use writing in everyday life? What education would you recement?
11. Common misconceptions. Rich,
12. How did you begin the process of starting your own business?
13. How much schooling would you suggest to someone considering owning their own
business?
14. Would you suggest any specific college courses?