A couple of associates and I have been traveling and meeting with potential investors in the effort to explore launching a start up company. The three of us are currently happily employed but our entrepreneurial personalities saw an opportunity we felt we needed to explore. We all work for the same organization and have the blessing of our boss, who has offered to be an initial investor. Our boss is one of those "evil and greedy" rich guys who happens to employ 79 well compensated people.
I am posting this here because I wanted to share a couple of real life reasons why our economy is currently a disaster and unemployment is at record levels. It is important to know who is ultimately responsible.
Without going into too much detail and violating any Confidentiality Agreements I am under, I will give a quick explanation of what we were planning on doing and why we decided not to go forward, at least not until 2012, when Obama is out of office and the Republicans control both the House and Senate.
Our opportunity would be to launch a small company that would initially consist of 10-15 salaried and hourly employees. The business model is sound and the potential investors we visited on the East Coast are very enthusiastic and would normally be willing to invest. The management team (my associates and myself) has a history of strong performance and proven success which gives great comfort to our potential investors.
We were feeling very enthusiastic about the possibility of creating a start up company until we got deeper into the DD and discovered some serious regulatory issues that were recently established by our government - Democrat controlled congress and the Obama Administration. These significant new regulatory requirements along with the uncertainty of any long term stability related to corporate taxes and the confiscatory requirements of Obamacare make it very difficult to justify putting our investor's and our capital at risk at this time. The exercise of doing our DD confirmed to us that the current Federal (Strong), State (mildl) and Local (Missoula strong) political climate is openly hostile to business and the profit motive.
In addition and as an aside, we seriously considered headquartering in Missoula but discounted the that option because of the anti business/corporate sentiment prevalent in the local government and general population, the lack of appropriately skilled and educated work force (we need scientists and engineers), and the below average work ethic (long hours of work at a high performance). Our conclusions are based on our observations over the many years each of us have lived and worked in Missoula.
Had there been a more friendly environment for our business, we would have happily created a company and hired a dozen people with the goal of continued growth in the future. Being honest, my personal and selfish incentive was to generate a lot of wealth for myself but I also would be providing good paying jobs and opportunities for others in addition to ultimately provide an important commodity to the marketplace.
But my associates and I will wait. We know our idea and business model are sound and can be potentially very profitable. We will wait until the climate for business, profits, and success change to being a positive one. I am certain that will be in 2012 when Obama and the Democrats are swept out of office at all levels of government.
Translation: the other guys saw your solid record of business failures, and decided to abandon the plans.
ReplyDeleteOn my way to Lake Coeur d’Alene the other day, I stopped in Missoula to have lunch.
ReplyDeleteAt one table, I observed a young man about 30-years old with shoulder-length hair who was dressed in shabby clothes. He was totally absorbed in studying the cartoon pictures on his paper placemat. Obviously a stoner, one of those hang-around-the-university-forever types.
At another table, I saw a young couple not much out of their teens who had two very small children. They were getting ready to leave, and one of the little girls was acting up, not wanting to go. The father, a fairly big fellow, leaned over the table and threatened the child with his fist.
Missoula: What a dump. I cannot understand why you would even considered it as a place to do business.
And which eating establishment did your tale take place in?
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