Posted by on Apr 11, 2009 in Ramblings, Strategy | 2 comments

It is Saturday morning, and I didn’t feel like writing a serious small business marketing tip this morning. Today’s post is a bit of a ramble, so if you are looking for my pointed business tips come back tomorrow.  If you are ok, with the musings of a small business owner for a change, stay, read, comment, enjoy!

Every now and then, on very rare occasions, I miss my big corporate job.  I don’t miss the politics, or the bureaucracy, or the snails pace at which change occurs, but some days I miss being a marketing person.

At roundpeg, I am a business owner which means I don’t  get to do what I went into business to do as often as I would like.   I am an accountant;  I pay bills and balance check statements (I do out-source my payroll) .  I am IT support;  I run wires and trouble shoot computers. I am an HR manager, hiring, coaching, worrying about company insurance.   And every now and then I am a marketing person.

And on top of all of that, I don’t make as much money as I did as a Marketing VP, so why do I stay? Perhaps, as my corporate friends tell me, I am unemployable.  I am too independent to work for anyone else.

That may be true, but mostly,  I just like the environment we have created at roundpeg. As a small business marketing firm, our official-greeterclients are small business owners with visions, dreams and plans. Small business owners, just like me.   Often, these small business owners are misunderstood.  People think we have a high tolerance for risk,  more willing to take chances then others.

I have come to realize that is not true.  Small business owners do not have a higher tolerance for risk, theyare simply more optimistic.  They believe they will succeed, so it isn’t risky to invest in their business.

They know it is going to work out. That kind of enthusiasm and optimism is contagious.  That is why I stay.  Despite the smaller budgets, longer hours, and distracting tasks, there is a rush  when we can help them win big: an article in the paper, an award, or a big sale. I love the passion and the energy of the small business community, it is where I feel at home.

And speaking of home, that’s is the other reason I know I am here to stay.  At roundpeg, we wanted a place our clients would feel at home.  So we have located our offices in an old house on 106th in the commercial district of Home Place (sandwiched in between Carmel and Indy).  Coffee is always on, clients come in through the kitchen, and they are always greeted by Clyde ( pictured to the left) and occaisionally Bonnie ( our 85 pound visiting pup).

I like the chaos, the informality, and the energy  in an office where the emphasis is always on the quality of the work, not what we are wearing, or who we are impressing.  This is going to work out.  We are going to be successful.  I believe it, so I am here to stay.

What about you?  Are you a small business owner wondering if you have made the right choice? Why do you stay?

More on This Topic

  • http://aplawrence.com/Employment Tony Lawrence

    I don’t know if I’m “too independent to work for anyone else”

    I do know that I hated the lack of flexibility. It might be a beautiful summer Friday afternoon with the phones dead, seemingly almost all of the rest of the world having left early, but the corporation wants you at your desk – even if the week before you’d put in eighty hours!

    I also didn’t like the arrogance of the “big guys”.

    I worked somewhere once where we had a terrible blizzard. The bosses all left early but we weren’t allowed to.. it took some of us many extra hours to get home, some never made it at all, but of course the owners expected us all there bright and early the next day – even though they didn’t come in themselves because the roads were still bad.

    Finally, I just prefer to make my own decisions. I don’t want to live under someone else’s whim.

  • http://www.roundpeg.biz Lorraine

    When I was in corporate, I was lucky. i had bosses who, for the most part were good people, relatively fair. It was the process, how long it took to make changes which finally wore me out!