The fellow I was talking with said, "If they aren't only about making money, then they aren't really businesses."
That makes me wonder. Only once in my life, have I been a "business owner": way back in the day when I was a paper boy. In those days, I was granted a contract with the Greensboro Daily News (this was when we had a morning paper and an evening paper) to buy newspapers from the company and deliver to my customers. I was required to charge a set price for the papers, and to pay once a month for the papers that I had gotten delivered to me. Thus, I had to control my inventory, collect my accounts receivables and pay my bills on time.
But my business wasn't ONLY about making money. I was in the business of serving my customers: talking with them when I went to collect every month, being understanding when they were short of cash some particular evening, allowing them to pay a couple of months in advance if they wanted... and my big deal was to no longer toss the papers into their driveways as I biked past them in a rush to get done ASAP; instead, I WALKED my route through my neighborhoods and placed the papers carefully exactly where each customer asked me to put it.
I got a lot of pleasure out of doing this, and many people went out of their way to let me know how much my efforts were appreciated. Years later, a neighbor was talking with me and said, "You know, of all the paper boys we've had in this neighborhood, you were the best, bar none." In another instance, I learned one day while I was in college that one of my customers had dies an untimely death due to some illness. I went to the funeral home to pay my respects to her family. When I got to greet a family member, I felt a bit foolish in saying ,"I know this will sound a little weird, but I once was her paper boy, long ago." The lady I was talking with said, "Were you the one that always put her paper by the back door in her carport? She talked about you all the time!"
THAT was what my business was about. The pleasure of giving such good service that people would talk about me long after the business was completed.
Could I start up a business today and be successful at it? I believe it could happen, if I could get the right backing and advice. Would I become rich beyond my wildest dreams and have a house with elevators for all my cars? Probably not, but you know what? It would not matter, so long as I managed to remain true to my dreams of treating everyone involved (customers AND employees) the best I could.
Of course, failing to rape every penny I could find out of customers, and paying the lowest wages possible to all my employees because "it's all about making money" -- I would be seen by many as a "failure," and "not a REAL business." however, I wouldn't care. Because I have a slightly different idea of what "success" is and what "capitalism" can be.
I know... it's all fantasy unless I carry through. But even a fantasy can have some effect on the world, eh?Statistics: Posted by SouthernFriedInfidel — Mon Jan 28, 2013 1:00 am
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