I'm late to the party that is this thread. I really enjoyed reading everyone's stories. It really gives a new perspective on people's other posts.
My own story began with taking Engineering at U of C. I hated every minute of if. I hated the classes, the profs, and all the stupid bureaucracy of university. I managed a B+ average through the first two years, but in the summer a few weeks before my third year, I dropped out of school. Easily the best decision of my life. The day I officially dropped out is probably the happiest day of my life.
I did drop out with a plan though. I wanted to open a comic store! I bought a big collection that summer on time payments and hit the convention circuit. I also went back to my farm hand job to save money for the store. I worked 50 to 60 hours a week on the farm and did weekend conventions a couple times a month for the next year and half.
At 21 years old, I rented a space on 16th Ave here in Calgary and opened up. I did all the renos myself, and built most of my own displays to save money. The day I opened I had less than $1000 in my bank account, but I also had no debt. This was in November 1994, during the biggest crash in comic book history! Great timing, haha. Actually it worked out for me, as I was able to buy out a lot of other failed stores for pennies on the dollar and there were lots of people looking for new regular stores to replace ones that were going away.
I also started carrying Magic the Gathering a few months after opening. That was a pretty good decision too.
In my first year I worked 363 days. Every day except christmas and New Year's Day. Same thing in my second year. It wasn't until my third year that I actually hired someone to work Sundays for me so I could have one day a week off. The guy I hired way back then was CP's favorite banned poster, Bertuzzied!
Almost 22 years later, I'm still at it. Business has grown every year except one and I'm still very happy with my decision back in the summer of 1993. When I started out I just wanted to do something that I loved, and hoped I would make enough to survive. I'm happy to report that I still love it, and I've made a really good living doing it as well. I've also stopped working every day. In the last few years I've managed to transition to just doing back ground stuff, and not being behind the counter on the front lines any more. I probably still put in 25 to 30 hours a week doing orders and stuff, but my schedule is quite flexible now, and I think I've got a really good team taking care of the store when I'm not there.
Small business is really a life style more than a job. In the end, everything is your responsibility. You have to constantly rethink things, keep learning and keep adjusting. Also, when you turn your hobby into your job, you kind of lose your hobby. I still love comics, but I don't read many any more.
Like I said though, I am quite happy with my job. I feel bad for the people in this thread who hate what they do. I'm not sure I would recommend small business for those of you with young families, or if you want to have any sort of social life in the first few years... but if you can do it, being your own boss can be pretty great. It also helps to be young, cocky, and too stupid to realize that your hair brained plan probably shouldn't work!
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