Small Business, Big Lessons™ – Fun and/or Profit

As a friend of mine told me years ago, “everything looks easy when you’re at a picnic on a Sunday.” Sometimes the same thing can be said about small business. Many people that never owned a small business are envious, thinking that a small business owner must be rich – comparatively speaking – and hardly ever needs to work. They must have so much time off while their employees hold down the fort and handle the day-to-day, right? In a word, no.

In this forum, I hope to share real life insights and tips on small business ownership. Sometimes serious, sometime with a bit of humor, but always trying to provide practical guidance for anyone that is considering entering the world of small business ownership or expanding their horizons for an existing business. Non-business owners, I invite you to read and gain a perspective on the life of a small business owner. The same principles are at work in every business at different levels, and you may find something of value to leverage in your “day job” – or maybe you will find the fire within to start your own business!

My lessons were learned the old-fashioned way, through trial-and-error. If I can, I’d like to help others by sharing my lessons learned. At the start of my career, I saw myself as smart and entrepreneurial. I had an MBA, and I thought I knew a lot about the world I was entering. I found out just how little I really knew as I started down the road to entrepreneurship. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. Having an academic knowledge of what you’re getting into is one thing, but applying it to real life business challenges is another thing entirely.

I look forward to hearing your questions and ongoing feedback. If you have a business challenge, I look forward to hearing from you. I’m not here to dispense advice, and anyone who has known me for some time knows this to be true. I’m the sort of person who looks for alternative solutions and perspectives. This doesn’t mean my view is always right, but the core philosophy is to look at things that you may not be able to see, or do not want to see, and encourage curiosity and continuous learning.

So, on Sunday at your next picnic, how many people are wondering how rich you are and how little you work? With our small business, I only worked part time and had a great deal of flexibility. I got to pick the 12 hours in the day I worked! Being the owner of a small business can be fun, profitable, and satisfying. But, like anything in life, you get out of the business what you put into it.

About the Author:

Gregory Woloszczuk is an Entrepreneur and experienced tech executive that helps small business owners grow their top and bottom line. Gregory believes in straight talk and helping others see things they need to see but may not want to with a focus on taking responsibly for one’s own business. He and his wife, Maureen, started GMW Carolina in 2006.

Gregory has been fortunate to have been part of building teams for companies that went through hyper-growth as well as his own company. He also has experience in working through economic downturns and taking responsibility to fix what is in his control. The focus has always been working with partners, customers, and building a successful business channel. His range of experience includes marketing, sales, support, training, and operations.

Gregory holds an MBA from Nichols College.