Some background: my brother owns a very successful bulk retail liquid propane gas business in PA. My dad owned the same kind of business for many decades, and my brother began working for him right out of high school. In 1990, my dad, then age 63, got an offer from another company to buy the business. The company agreed to provide a good job for my brother, and the buy-out would give my parents an opportunity to retire in relative comfort. So Dad took the offer, retired, and my brother worked for the new company. In the ensuing years, the company that bought my father out was itself sold, and sold again. My brother continued to work in the business for each successive company, but by the last time around, was pretty unhappy. My parents both passed at the end of 2000, and less than 9 months later, my brother was laid off. As it happened, he had a good chunk of money on hand, partly from his own savings, but a good deal of it from a life insurance policy from my parents. He decided immediately he would go into business for himself. With that money, he was able to buy the land for a propane plant. He qualified for an SBA loan, and a local bank, which had dealt with my father for many, many years, was readily willing to extend additional financing to him. He enrolled at Penn State in some continuing ed classes related to business start-ups. He was able to take his time starting up, and was able to do it right. Long story short, he put a lot of work into it, and is now reaping the rewards. And that's terrific.
So, some months back, we were having a discussion about politics, the economy, etc. He had bought into right-wing rhetoric about how unemployment insurance encourages people not to work, etc., etc. And then he said, "Well, when I lost my job, I started my own business, there's nothing stopping these folks from doing the same, blah, blah, blah." You get the idea. So I pointed out to him that not everybody is in a position to do what he did. When he asked what I meant, I pointed out the following:
- not everybody is laid off at a time when they happen to have $100 grand or so on hand from a life insurance payout;
- not everyone who loses a job has 30 years of experience in a particular business that they can parlay into a business of their own, and not everyone is cut out to own and operate a business;
- my brother had a ready-made customer base from the days when my Dad had his business. They had been dealing with my Dad, and my brother, for decades, and they continued to have dealings with my brother after the successive companies bought the business. Although he was barred from soliciting those customers directly, the local newspaper ran an article about the "re-opening" of Kessinger Propane -- a name they knew from way back -- and as a result, customers began coming to him right from the beginning. He is well-known and well-liked in the area (a rural area, with a population of only about 40,000 across the entire county).
- not everybody who starts a business can expect the kind of good will my brother received on the part of the local bank, based on the bank's dealings with my father.
I pointed out that none of that detracts from the work he contributed towards making his business a success, and yes, he has every right to be proud of himself for his success. But I also pointed out that these factors represented a very significant 'head start' on that success. I don't know if I ultimately changed his mind, but he conceded I had a good point, so I guess that's a start!
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