Small business is the heart and soul of our nation. I fully believe that. But holy fuck it’s hard. Andrea and I both work full time. We both enjoy our jobs. She’s a librarian at one of our local grade schools, and I work for the university. We enjoy a salary and benefits, both of which are based upon our multiple degrees.
So why would two sane (okay, she is, but maybe I’m not?) people, start a business together when they both have full time jobs with benefits and stability?
All I can come up with is love.
Okay, I know, that’s a strange answer, but bear with me. I enjoy my job, but I love art. I love good design. I love drawing. I love painting. I love hanging out with people. I even love drinking beer and wine.
And, strangely enough, Andrea loves me. (sometimes I wonder why)
So the answer is love. At least for us. Andrea’s mind is sharp and amazing and she carries us onward with her amazing bookkeeping abilities and her burgeoning social media expertise. And me? I simply claim to be the talent. I know, it’s pretentious, but it does make a funny joke. But literally, that may be all I’m good for.
Honestly, though, there are days where it sucks. There are weeks where I’ll be broken down because of the things I’ve had to deal with, and truth be told, so will Andrea. And it will still be Friday, and we will still have an event, and we will still love all of you. Because despite how hard it is, I love this business. And in a small way, I think Andrea does, too. The fact that we love each other and we love interacting with our guests is what pulls us through. But back to the suck…
On a daily basis, with my ‘real’ job, I deal with many different issues. “Can you add this to the text of such and such page.” Or “Can you make the picture fill the screen, but not mess up the text?” Or, “Do what you want… “ only to be replaced later by, “Why on earth did you do THAT?” Okay, it’s not actually that bad, but there have been times when it seems like it. I guess my point is that we all deal with a multitude of crap. I mean, seriously, Andrea has told me many times about the first grader who knows exactly what book he or she is looking for… “Mrs. Wollenberg… it’s blue… it has a cover… and a kitty on it… “ And have you ever wondered how many blue books with a cover and a kitty are in the library? I hope you see my point.
Being employed full time and owning a small business, though, is a lot like having two or three full time jobs. At least it feels that way, sometimes. When you’re working full time and own a small business, you still have to manage your small business as if you worked there full time, even when you don’t. I’m sure some of my co-workers think it’s a bit strange when I try to quietly answer our business phone, “Uncorked Inspiration, this is Neal.” It’s a strange balancing act. An act that has required me to sometimes work through lunch hours at my full time job in order to leave a bit early so I can go set up, or make up for time when I had to go down to Uncorked to meet someone to sell a painting. Any number of things like that.
It’s also a balancing act when you’re trying to “have a life” outside of work. I can’t even count how many times I’ve had to tell close friends “Sorry, no, we can’t go out Friday night because we have a paint and sip.” We’ve literally gotten to an age where we truly realize the importance of those times with friends, and yet here we are trying to grow a business. Some people might even ask, “Is it worth it?”
Truthfully, yes. It is. There are hard parts. There are the parts where I’m back cleaning brushes. There are parts where we might not have as many painters as we’d like. There are even times when we question whether or not we were stupid to do something like this. But then there are also times when I see a technique work well for a painter, or something clicks for them, or just the joy I see when they’re painting with us. As cliché as that may sound, it completely makes it worth it. So we continue on, constantly trying to improve, constantly putting our very best out there. Then, randomly, someone comes up to me and says, “I know how hard it is to ‘be up front’… to be the one ‘performing’… making the jokes. And you do such a great job of it. Every time I’ve come, you keep it fresh and fun.” When someone says something like that, it floors me. Because I know my goofy dad jokes, and puns, and off-color humor about our one-inch ‘man’s brush’ is a little bit old hat for many of our repeat offenders… but to hear that they still feel there is freshness and most of all fun… totally makes it worth it. The truth is, I have never done an event where I’ve thought, “I hate my job.” It’s quite the opposite. I may be tired at the end of the weekend, missing my friends and the things we do together, but I always feel love for what I do. That’s how I know it’s right.
Thanks for being a part of this with us.
-Neal