~ One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure ~

Before accepting the offer to run the family business, I had already spent a few weeks and many hours, staying up all night vetting through the financials.  I bought the Quick Books software, my mother gave me all of the bank statements and cancelled checks for the year and I classified every single expense and matched them up with their respective invoices to really get a feel for the the day to day financial operations.  Remember, I am about 26 years old, never taken a business class or accounting class, have no idea about operations or management in a formal setting, however, going through each expense, each source of revenue line by line gave me incredible insight and discipline that I still apply to this day.  In order to fix something, you have to cut through the smoke and mirrors to discover the truth.

'Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don't' Jay Z

I immediately identified the problems and presented thorough and logical solutions however there was a small problem - nepotism - and let me tell you - this was a struggle I dealt with for the first five years at least.  And what made matters worse... People's perception of me.... Who was I coming in and changing things - the estranged daughter who had an unfavorable reputation? Why would anyone listen to me - what do I know about Dance Competitions? I was a train wreck in my personal life - why would I be able to execute in my professional life? 

As I stated in my last post, there were three legal partners in this LLC.  The company had not been profitable.... ever - and one of the partners was actually quite annoyed that each year he received a K1 for a loss or very small profit for his 10% share holding.  One year as these tax documents were being generated, he mentioned that his shares were worthless at which point I said, "Put a price on it, I'll buy them."  I honestly don't remember if it was $900 and change or $1100 and change and I wish I would have kept the cancelled check as it represents another defining moment in who I am today.

Single mom, new business venture, no insurance, pay cut, fighting a group of people who had worked with my mom for years who were quite comfortable with the status quo.... and I decide it's a good idea to write a personal check to buy 10% of Rainbow.....


~One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure~

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If I can do it.... you can certainly do it ~ there is nothing special or extraordinary about me other than my integrity and work ethic!

This one is for anyone who has a million excuses as to why they aren't succeeding in life and/or anyone who hasn't strengthened their mind to believe in themselves! Let me set the stage - It's 2006 - I'm several years into 'taking over the family business' and I am fighting an uphill battle in my personal and professional life.  Without going into too much detail ~ I was married in an extremely toxic relationship Was raising 3 step daughters on and off throughout the years Was the sole income earner in the household Had DRAMA with my son's father - court/custody battle - I believe the quote was "I am an unfit mother because I work on the weekends" - PS - Zero child support was coming my direction Was trying to prove to my mother that she had not made a wrong decision in placing me in charge Was fighting my mother's long term business associates tooth and nail to grow the business even to the point where I almost quit (I gave my mothe...
Read more

I was an #entrepreneur before it was trending...

It's fascinating to me how people evolve over time. What isn't acceptable or respected at one point in time becomes the 'new craze' that everyone is aspiring to be. I come from humble beginnings. My father was an independent contractor who built our home from the ground up and my mother, a singer, dancer, actress, teacher who made more sacrifices to take care of others than any one woman should. I learned early on after watching my parents work every day of the week, every hour of the day as small business owners and still didn't have health insurance or a savings account for a rainy day much less retirement, that I wanted NO part of that. My God Parents were both government employees and they were stable, home paid for, retirement on the horizon, with great dental insurance LOL.... That was going to be my path! I have always been a strong willed person and during my teenage years I had strong opinions on everything. My parents were going through changes w...
Read more

Double Down On Your Strenghs

Image
I have to get something off my chest.... recently I've been finding my voice... and using it (yikes).  I'm not good at it yet - some responses come out quite humble and respectful... others not so much.  I've heard from a few people including some that are VERY close to me say, "You think you're all that" or "You think you're smarter than everyone else" when I respond passionately about a subject that I am confident in. Let me set the record straight (Exhibit A) LOL I'm just going to let you marinate on this for a minute. My SAT scores from 1993 - Thank GOD UNLV didn't have admission requirements back then! Those of you who have kids headed off to college would be mortified if they came home with this.... That being said... I learned early on that I was going to have to work harder and get creative in order to survive... so that's what I did. I actually get a little irritated when someone says... 'Oh, she was able to...
Read more