Time to cash in my chips.
I’ve been at this game for the better part of 9 1/2 years (I almost can’t believe it’s been that long) and after sitting back in my chair and looking at where I’ve been and where I’m going, it’s become painfully clear that it’s time to fold it up and take my chips to the window. Let me say that’s it’s a bittersweet proposition and for those of you who own your own business, you know exactly what I’m talking about. When you own a business, especially a small business, you become the business and your life becomes everything you do to keep that going. There have been good times and bad, successes and failures, profits and losses. I’ve sat at the table and started with a short stack. Taken down some good pots and lost some monsters too. Been dealt some sweet hands and some real shitty ones. After investing an enormous part of my life to something I always thought would turn into something I could be proud of, I just can’t say that I’m much further ahead than I was when I started, and if I look hard enough, probably further behind than I’d like to admit.
I can walk away from this experience with a couple things that lessen the pain of failure. I never took advantage of anyone, I always produced a quality product to the best of my abilities, and I never took a shortcut. I see and hear so many horror stories of people who hired someone and entrusted them with their home (or business) and were promised a bill of goods and then taken for a ride. I have a conscience and as easy as it can be to do that to a person, it’s not something that would allow me to sleep at night. From a learning standpoint, the knowledge and experience I gathered along the way I can never regret. Albeit one of the most expensive educations you could sign up for, it will be something I’ll never give up and keep with me into the future.
The downsides of being a small business have been stacked pretty highly. I think the one thing I came to understand is that you truly “live” what you do. Any recreation time, be it just myself or with my family, became a time of guilt. Guilt that I felt I could be doing something to further the business and be more successful, instead of spending time enjoying myself…like that feeling you have homework or a book report due that you know needs to be done and you shouldn’t be out playing with your friends. Add in constant worries that there are bills that need to be paid, payrolls to be met, future work to be secured, and that’s before you even look at the personal side of your life and everything that goes with being a “civilian”. To say that a business can consume a person would be an understatement. At least for me, it became a constant process of what’s going on and what needs to be done tomorrow and I found I spent more time thinking about it than was probably healthy.
As of this post I have accepted a position with the Kaz Companies (http://www.kazbrothers.net), which I’m sure you’ve all heard of. I will be joining their sales and project development department and my focus at this point will be on kitchens, baths, and additions…which is mainly what I focused on during the operation of Arrow Enterprises. My first day will be Monday February 17th. I spoke to a few different companies, and even thought about a complete career re-direction in a completely unrelated field, but I think the group at Kaz were the best choice. I handled sales with Arrow, along with everything else, and somewhere along the line I realized I became very good at it. It was never something I liked previously but now I realize that might have been one of my strong suits all along. After numerous meetings with the owner I feel he and I see eye to eye on quality and developing a list of happy customers. They have a serious commitment to quality, integrity, and customer satisfaction and those were values at the core of my own business. It was my goal to be able to work with a group that shared the same values as I do.
I would like to think people here, both past customers and otherwise, will follow me to my new employer and I might still be able to service your needs, just with a different company. I’d like to thank those of you who had the confidence to hire me on for their remodeling and construction needs. There are some members here who were not so helpful and to anyone who feel they might have "slipped through the cracks, I apologize. It was not my intention. In summary, I’d like to think this will be a move in a good direction. I know there will be some downside to not “being the boss” but I also feel there will be a number of benefits working as a part of a team for a common goal. Thanks for reading.
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PS-On another note, I will be slowly de-commissioning my shop space. I have amassed a fair amount of tools / equipment and building materials. I’ve had some items posted up for sale here on it’s own thread with little response. If anyone is in the market for anything construction related, don’t hesitate to ask. I may also plan on a “Garage Sale” for NYSpeed members in the Spring. Again, if you have any projects coming up, don’t hesitate to ask…I just may have it. Thanks.