Losing a Job Vs. Closing a Business
View from Restaurant That Closed Down
Being vegetarian for the past 6 years has created some inconveniences when it comes to finding places to eat. But one that probably has impacted me the most is not being able to have lunch or dinner in a majority of restaurants in Puerto Rico.
Yesterday as we drove to the west coast of Puerto Rico, I was looking forward to eating some Puerto Rican vegan cuisine near the beach. As we drove through the road where most Joyudas restaurants are known for seafood, I noticed most restaurants were closed on a Thursday during the summer. The adults in the car where all hungry and my 18-month daughter was a bit uncomfortable after being in her car seat for quite some time.
One Less Small Business in Puerto Rico
As we arrived closer to my vegetarian mofongo haven, we noticed that our favorite restaurant, Pino’s, who caters to vegans and vegetarians, had gone out of business.
Some local politicians like Gov. Fortuño & Puerto Rico’s Secretary of Commerce say that the economy has improved just to gain votes and support. I am observing the opposite and it bothers me when politicians, instead of fixing the issues, misinform the public to meet their political goals. The past few months I have seen many small businesses I supported close operations. Nothing bothers me more than to see one of the few places that caters to vegetarians and a family-owned business, disappear.
As a small business owner I can relate to many of the struggles we all go through. In the past 4 Years I have gone from not having enough groceries to go through the week, while focusin on closing my next deal. My previous home was foreclosed on by Banco Popular who was more interested in squeezing even more money from me, instead of trying to lend me a helping hand when my past clients where not paying me on time.
Losing a Job vs. Closing a business
There is a big difference between losing your job and losing a business. People complain sometimes when they lose a job because they have to look for a new one. Losing your job is something terrible but it is very different from losing a business.
When a small business closes, the owners have depleted all of their earnings. As a small business person I can tell you that I have been close to that moment many times and have been resilient enough to recover and keep my business running.
As a business owner you lose everything. You can’t start another business unless you had an adequately planned exit strategy.
Starting a business requires having enough capital to be able to get it off the ground. Finding a job does not require you to have capital (other than intellectual).
My advice: if you are chasing your dreams you should diversify your income stream. I will write a bit more about this in a future post until then I advise you to read Becky McCray’s Small Town Rules.
Do you have a project you are starting or running?
Así es como ha estado Joyuda en Cabo Rojo por algún tiempo, pero no sabia que iba tan mal como para no abrir jueves y hasta Pino’s cerró. Me identifico totalmente con todo lo que expones, pues como dueña de una micro agroempresa también las he pasado duras para sobrevivir y mantenerme a flote. Pero hay que echarle todas las ganas, pues como tu dices cuando uno es dueño de negocio y pierde su negocio, lo pierde todo! Así que manos arriba y a seguir apoyando el comercio local y las iniciativas locales para promover las micro y pequeñas empresas. Gracias por compartir.
No lo pude haber dicho mejor, Jennifer. Me pregunto, donde es tu agroempresa? Tienes algun website donde pueda ver alguna info o pagina de fb? Por si acaso, no soy un programador tratando de venderte un website 🙂 solo me interesa apoyar la industria local. Especialmente la agricola.
Hector al momento es http://tropicalbloompr.com
gracias
@facebook-526930745:disqus la clave es en seguir apoyandonos! Con el espiritu luchador de ustedes y lo mucho que los aprecio por ser buenas personas se que en el futuro todo mejorara para todos!
Me parece curioso que publiques esto hoy, ahora mismo estoy haciendo un trabajo para la universidad (clase de consejeria de grupos), un analisis critico sobre la resiliencia y como buscarla en miembros de grupos (incluyendo grupos de tarea, como en companias) para hacerla florecer y energizar el esfuerzo colectivo.
@hector_loesencial:disqus no entendi bien lo de grupos de tareas en compañías y como eso se ata al tema! me puedes explicar un poco mas.
Gracias por leer y comentar!
Existen varios tipos de grupos: consejería
y terapia, apoyo, tareas, educativos como salones de clase o talleres, etc. Grupos
de tarea son aquellos que se componen de individuos que juntos desean realizar
alguna tarea. Por ejemplo, una compañía y su equipo de trabajo que juntos desean lograr objetivos organizacionales como mayor ventas, mejorar calidad, construir edificios para expandir operaciones, etc. Pequeñas empresas,
aunque sean operadas por a veces solo 2 o 3 personas, tienen también su grupo
de trabajo. Mencionaste que has
podido permanecer operando porque fuiste “resilient enough to recover and keep my
business running”. Cada grupo necesita que
por lo menos 1 de sus miembros recurra a su resiliencia para motivarse y
motivar al resto a persistir.
Hector,
Gracias por explicarlo un poco mas! Ayer tuve una conversación con @guarionex88:twitter sobre ese tema. La verdad es que te tengo que dar la razon que al menos uno del equipo debe tener ese espiritu y tambien buscar como projectarlo al resto del equipo.
Gracias por comentar y tomarte ese tiempo addicional. Espero poder conocerte pronto en persona.
Excelente!
I’ve met a few entrepeneurs and the first thing that I notice in them is their positive attitude. Being positive and having a vision are very important things when you start a business. But as a bird that learns to fly one will have a few bumps and may fall. But along with vision resilience is another necessary trait of an entrepeneur. I’ve seen some entrepeneurs have difficult times and lose their investment. What do they do? They reinvested again and learned frome their errors and began anew. Most business owners might tell you that they didn’t suceed on their first try, or the second, or the third… they succeded because they kept trying until they nailed it .
Resilience, I like that word.