Remind Me Never To Have A Business

Sometimes I wonder why we don’t just let kids serve as CEOs of major corporations, because they have a knack of using their unjaded young perspective to provide wisdom and foresight few adults have. Let me relate a story passed on to me by a fellow business colleague about her daughter’s early experience with the world of business. Morgan, 11, and her sister were selling candy bars to help earn their way to summer camp. Morgan and her Mom were busy about the task of counting the money from their sales. Amidst the mountains of money and candy stacked everywhere, Mom instructed her young entrepreneur to count beginning and ending inventory and money, and match it all up to figure out what was sold. Frustration didn’t take long to set in, and Morgan stopped to ask, “Mom, is this what business is like?” “Yup, pretty much,” replied Mom. “But is it this STRESSFUL???!!!” asked Morgan. “Yup.” After a minute of careful thought, Morgan announced her decision. “Remind me never to have a business.” Any business owner can surely relate to the realities of business so simply observed by a child. I know I can. A wise associate of mine said the other day that no one goes into business for an education. But you sure get one regardless. I think about how I’m kept up at night thinking of how to tweak, tinker, and adjust things to keep the business afloat and headed in the right direction. From an outside perspective, it must seem to be maddening – and it is, at times. Sometimes I ponder the comforts of knowing how my day will go and in letting someone else make the big decisions – the benefits that come with many nine-to-five jobs. But I wouldn’t change it for a second. Albeit extremely frightening and certainly stressful at times, there is something so rewarding about going after your own dream, steering your own ship, and calling the shots of your own business. It’s been difficult, especially the last few months thanks to the bleak economy. But by the grace of God, we’re surviving, and doors continue to open up. Many experienced peers of mine consistently point out that if you can merely survive an economic situation like this, you’ve really done something. We’ll see. But thanks to the testimonies and e-mails of people who love and have connected with my art and the strip, I know I already have.