Interview With a Business Owner

Interview with a Business Owner

Interview with business owner

Zahorsky defines a sole proprietorship as the most basic of all business legal structures. It is a business of one without corporation or limited liability status. The business owner is the company's representative both fully and legally. This business form includes part-time businesses, direct sellers, new start-ups, contractors and consultants.

Felicia Robins started her small, local catering company a bit over five years ago (F. Robins, personal communication, October 18, 2010). She had been a stay at home mother since she got married over fifteen years ago when she decided to do something different in her life, that she enjoyed while making a bit of money on the side. She had experience from working at her parents' diner where she practically grew up picking up a few things here and there. Her parents' business however closed down after her father died and her mother sold the diner. The idea came about when she offered to help a friend cater for her mother-in-law's birthday party which had a large number of guests. The success of the party made the two women to consider going into catering together. They did a few jobs together so as to check the market and decided that it was a business that could thrive. When it was time to bring in the capital though, her friend backed out due to personal reasons and since Felicia wanted to start a business, she decided to do it alone with the support of her husband. Her company caters for small gatherings like birthdays, small weddings, and private parties among others. She never takes jobs that will require too much manpower as it is only part-time and the only people she can hire to help cater are her friends. She also does not want jobs that will overwhelm her thereby making her perform poorly as she gets her clients through word of mouth from one client to another or by referrals from friends.

One of the advantages that Mrs. Robins gave was that the cost of setting up and operating her business was low which made it easy to start due to the limited capital he had at hand. She had wanted to set up a partnership but the person she was to get into business with backed out at the last minute which had, at first, made her to reconsider starting a business. Her husband then advised her to go ahead with her plans as she could run the business on his own and hire a few workers whenever the workload was big. She said that if she had gone into a partnership, the business would probably have failed due to the personality differences she would have had with her partner. Another advantage she gave was that when it comes to her finances, she is the only one who is responsible for her salary and only has to consider other peoples salary when there is a big catering job to be done. She put it as "the bigger the job, the bigger the pay" so her salary would not be affected.

Another advantage she gave was that when it comes to filing her taxes, it is easier because she just files an individual tax return and includes any losses or profits her business made and that the profits that her business makes flow through directly to her personal tax returns. Individual and business incomes are considered as the same and that the self-employed taxes were also applicable.

One of the main disadvantages that Mrs. Robins gave was that in as much as all the money she makes is mostly hers, she is also responsible for all the debts and actions of her company. She said that her personal wealth and assets are in a way connected to her business.

Another disadvantage was that she had to come up with the starting up capital on her own without any stable assistance. Her husband helped her with a bit of the amount required for capital but the she was forced to take loans from a few of her relatives, which she did not want to do at the beginning, so as to get the business on its feet.

Being a sole proprietor is difficult for her as all the decisions rest on her shoulders. There are jobs she has had to turn down due to personal and family responsibilities which she would have considered if she had a partner. Another disadvantage which she finds in running a sole proprietorship is that her medical insurance premiums are not directly deductible from business income. It can only be partially deducted so as to make adjustments to the income.

Felicia believes that it is important to sell what they actually market. That is why she only agrees to take jobs that she will be able to cater, that is, deliver what she promises to her clients. In this way, nobody feels shortchanged at any point. She also pays her friends for the hours they help her so as to ensure that she can count on them at another time.

Felicia's strategy for gaining and maintaining new business is to deliver on the promises she makes to her clients. She also makes sure that she is always on time and follows the agreed menu choices to the letter and consulting her clients should there be any necessary changes to be made. She believes that by making her clients happy, she will be able to attract new clients through word of mouth or by referring her to her friends. The key to running a successful business is perseverance because there are times, especially at the beginning when business is slow. It is at this time when an individual is bound to give up but by holding on through the hard times, they are able to learn from their personal mistakes and correct them, thereby making them better business persons.