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The soul of small business
There are about 23 million small businesses in the United States. They provide half of all private sector jobs and create 40 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. Ninety-eight percent of all new businesses and two-thirds of new jobs are created by small business. Small businesses touch every aspect of our daily lives from the food we eat, to the houses we live in, and the fertilizer we put on our lawns. It could well be argued that small business is the “soul” of America. But what is the “soul” of the small business? What drives people into business for themselves? And what keeps them there in spite of long hours, interminable stress and, oft times, shoe-string budgets? The answers may be as varied as the number of businesses out there. In this series we will talk to some local entrepreneurs and attempt to put our finger to the pulse of the small business. (Stats from the U.S. Small Business Administration and National Federation of Independent Business websites).
savvy outlook An auto accident and disillusionment with school were the impetus for an opportunity for Amy Ziobrowski of Spencerport. She had worked at Rubino’s, a pizza and sub shop, for three years during high school and really enjoyed it. In the fall, following her graduation, she was returning home with a friend from a wedding when a car pulled in front of their vehicle. She ended up folded under the passenger side dash with a broken ankle, three fractured vertebrae and permanent nerve damage in her leg. “A little over a year later, I was still recovering and trying to work a little bit again. I still wanted to go back to school, I thought, just because that was the thing to do. Everyone is so insistent on getting a degree. I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I tried three semesters (at MCC) but school is really just not my thing. I knew I had to find something to do that I loved doing,” she says. Then her boss, owner of Rubino’s told her: “If you want the business, it’s yours.” A settlement from the accident provided the down payment to buy the business and at 19 years old, Amy became owner of the re-named Westside Pizza and Subs, located in Spencerport at 42 Nichols Road in the plaza behind McDonalds. “I’m lucky to be doing it as young as I am,” says Amy. “I caught a lot of flap from people because when I bought the store I was only 19 years old. People didn’t believe that I owned it. They thought that my parents bought it for me. People would come in and say: ‘Oh, you’ve switched names. Is there a new owner?’ It got to the point where I’d just say ‘Yeah’. I would rather not have to tell them because then they would say, ‘Oh, but you’re only nineteen.’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I am. And I’m making it work. So what’s the big deal?’ ” The school of business She admits she jumped into the business a bit green. “I was pretty much the manager when I worked here for (the previous owner), but I really had no clue what I was getting myself into. I knew nothing about all the insurances you needed to carry, bookwork for employees, and how taxes worked. I kind of figured it out as I went.” Amy also learned quickly the need to be shrewd. She says a lot of people tried to take advantage of her because she was young, and female. “All of the sudden I had all these people (vendors) coming in trying to sell me different things. Being a new business, you have everybody trying to be your best friend.” After a few bad experiences she grew savvy and began to use only those vendors and services that were recommended. Then came a course in Economics. “It’s not always how much money you can make (in business) but it’s how much money you can save. When I took over the business there were a lot of unneeded expenses, like paying $50 for a fax line when we never really got faxes in and never faxed things out. That was the first thing I got rid of. And I sold my neighbor some of my space because I really didn’t need it and they were desperate for space. I was able to cut back on my costs that way and help them out,” she says. A family affair “Her dad and I helped out wherever we could from the get-go,” explains Jan. “When she wanted to buy the business, we said go for it, because failure is not in her vocabulary. We knew she would make it one way or another. And even if the store didn’t make it, how many people can say, at that age, ‘I owned my own business.’” But just how is it working together as a family? “It gets tense at times,” mother and daughter admit, especially since Amy lives at home so they are together a lot. “We all have our ups and downs,” says Amy. “Usually (the tension) is gone before we leave. You just can’t bring it home with you. We have a lot of respect for each other, a mutual respect.” “We make it work,” Jan adds. “The family will always be there. The business –hopefully, will always be there, but if not, family is still family.” Always on call “And I haven’t been able to step up to the plate as far as grasping everything,” her mom adds. “She’s done this for three or four years before the rest of us, so we can’t keep up with her.” “It’s not a hard business, but there is just a lot you need to know and you need to be able to multi-task,” Amy says. “And you have to be fast and proficient at it,” adds her mom. “People that come in for lunch only have a half hour so you’ve got to get them in and out,” says Amy. “Same thing with dinner. People want their food ten minutes before they order it. The hardest part is that it just never stops. There are always people coming in and out. You never get a break. You can’t catch up. You are always trying to prep stuff for tomorrow, and doing extra cleaning where you can. We’re open seven days a week. I work every day, usually.” “She’s always on call,” says mom. “Even if she’s not here it’s very hard for her to relax and enjoy the day off because she’s wondering what we’re doing. ‘Are they remembering this? Did they do that?’ ” “Once you get into that pattern, it’s…it ends up being like an addiction. This is my life. That’s the decision I made when I got into it,” says Amy. “I like the fast pace,” Amy admits. “I like the rush. I like the busy times when you only have so much time to get so much done. It’s like an adrenaline rush.” “That’s the part I get real old on,” adds her mom, wryly. What it takes “(Managing) employees is one of the more challenging aspects of running any business,” explains Amy. “They can make you or break you. They can just decide ‘I’m not going to go to work today.’ And you’re stuck trying to cover for that. And scheduling so everybody’s happy. One says ‘I don’t want to work in the morning’, or ‘I don’t want to work at night.’ That makes it tough, too.” Working with a lot of family and friends also has its unique challenges. “One of the hardest parts is to draw the line between friendship and boss. It’s hard to do when you work with somebody, and you’re here that many hours with somebody, you want to be their friend because otherwise you’re going to be miserable. But at the same time you have to maintain that business relationship. But we’re all okay with that. We joke around a lot. And they’re all very hard working. They care a lot about the business too. They get mad at themselves when they mess up. I don’t have to say much.” Putting youth on hold “A lot of people my age decide they’re going to have fun these years and then work hard later. I decided I’d rather work harder now and when I’m in my thirties I can come to work here and there and check on the business and not have to work forty hours a week unless I want to,” she says. Amy’s advice to other young entrepreneurs: “Don’t be afraid to try. Everybody should own their own business at one point or another. It makes them a better worker. Because without having a personal involvement you don’t realize how big a deal it is when you call in sick or come in fifteen minutes late, how much that affects somebody else.” Especially kids don’t realize that because they don’t think about it. All it means to them is they don’t make as much money that week. They don’t look at the big picture.” “Dedication is the key to any business,” she adds. “Your heart has to be into it and you have to be willing to give 110 percent of yourself to it. My other advice would be that you don’t have to go to school to be successful.” She also advises not to be afraid to talk with other business owners. Advice from friends and relatives who owned similar type businesses was a great help to her. Camaraderie and community After a little more than a year in business, Westside Pizza and Subs is 100 percent paid for and turning a profit, explains Amy. “Most people don’t make money for their first three to five years (in business). If worse comes to worse, all I have to do is sell all my equipment and I can still walk away with something without having debt. That’s a very comforting thing to know that I am ahead of the game already.” Future plans “That would be nice,” adds her mom. •How do you stand out in such a competitive business? -- “You’ve got to have the best pizza in town,” she says with a smile. “You really have to keep the customer happy, and keep things consistent. You’ve got to get a good customer base. A lot of it is word of mouth. As soon as there is something new, this town being so small, everybody talks. If its good food, or if its bad food, it spreads so fast,” she says. Repeat customers are one of the most important things for her business, she explains, and she prides herself that she has loyal customers from as far away as Brockport and even Hamlin. “They come in and tell us: ‘You have the best subs, or the best wings in town.’ We have a lot of great customers. There is the occasional one that will really just ruin your day sometimes. But for the most part we have so many good customers. That’s what makes it worthwhile.” •Greatest fear -- “That it just doesn’t work out. That in the end it doesn’t pay off for all I’ve put into it. You always fear that you’re not going to succeed in anything. When you’re putting a lot on the line, when you put a lot of money and a lot of time into something it makes it that much scarier.” •On success: -- “I don’t think of success as making money all the time. I think success is going home at the end of the day and knowing that I tried my hardest, and to have people coming in and saying, like ‘you have the best pizza in town.’ That is what keeps me going.” •Ever had thoughts of giving it up? -- “I get frustrated and sometimes say I would, but for me, at this point, it would take a lot for me to get rid of it. It would take a lot of money to get me out of here because this is my life. This was my first job. This is pretty much all I’ve ever done. It’s become my second home. I’m very attached to it.” Note: This is the first of the series of articles. Subjects are chosen at random from in and nearby the readership. |
