The 2nd goal becomes 1st..

It's looking like I'll have higher sales this month, significantly higher, but very little profits. In fact, I'll probably just break even.

Next month, I'm assuming I'll have higher sales again, and this time maybe even carry a little credit card balance into the following month.

This is the new paradigm for my business-- what I'm terming a "working profit." By which I mean, I'm taking out my own wages and paying the other overhead and buying inventory and breaking even.

I'm not trying to build up cash; either for the retirement or emergencies.

This is all strictly on purpose.

I've always maintained that you need to have a minimum of two results to make a business work. You can -- possibly -- keep a business afloat for a short time without one or the other of the two, but not forever. Obviously, #1 is more important than #2, but not by as much as you might think.

1). You need to make money.

2.) You need to have fun.

I believe the second goal is nearly as important as the first, and it seems to me I've seen as many businesses quit for the second reason as the first. (Though, most often, they are inextricably linked. Not making money is no fun, you know.) Burnout happens when you work really hard, and the results don't equal the work.

Anyway, after this many years it's as important for me to be engaged and interested in what I'm doing as it is to make money -- maybe more so, now that I'm not totally dependent on the business for survival.

Oh, sure. I could retrench for long periods of time, watch my pennies, and take satisfaction out of turning a bad situation into a profitable one.

But only for so long. It's a real drag.

People often say, "Wow. This must be a fun business. Games and Toys and Books and Comics, etc. You must get to play all day.

Well, no....though it doesn't hurt that what I sell is interesting stuff.

But that isn't really it.

What's important to me is that I Have My Own Business. That I Am My Own Boss. That I Make The Decisions.

When I do something, when I make a change, or an addition, I get to watch and see if it works. I get to play with it all.

I don't care how stupid and inept you are, if you do something for 25 -30 years, you tend to get pretty good at it. There is great satisfaction in seeing it pan out.

If I had to sum it up, it would be ----------

--------------

--------------Pride of Ownership.



Now, I know some people are in business strictly for the money.

Other people are in it for the activity.

I'm in it for the job of trying to do it right. (I'm not saying I'm doing it perfectly right, but I'm trying and trying.) My strongest motivation is to create the best store I can accomplish. I've never understood people who let their stores get messy. Who aren't curious about how it all works, who don't analyze and experiment and gather information. Who seem to want nothing more than to get away from their store -- to hire a manager and become "Lord of the Manor."

Maybe someday I'll see Pegasus Books as a revenue stream only, but I think if that day comes the wheels will start to come off the engine of the store unless I'm lucky and I've found that person who can do the job almost as well as me, and who takes an equal pride in the store.

Until then, I want to be fully engaged, which means buying the stuff I think the store needs (and, I have to face it -- I really like buying stuff; and I like seeing if the stuff sells; and if it doesn't sell, I like to see if there is some way to minimize the damage; and so on and so on.)

The process itself is the part that is enjoyable.

Frankly, it's not all that different from writing a novel, or creating a garden. You can't do it overnight, you have to really keep applying yourself toward the task, you need to be creative, you need to visualize the final result, and you keep being surprised by the parts that don't work and parts that take off unexpectedly, and you get feedback from the customers, and inside you know what you've accomplished.

I'm making a 'living wage' finally, and I don't discount the importance of that. But the real fun is in continuing to grow the store.