“The company has been bought out, you have been laid off.”
These words were given to my dad in the early 80’s after going from job to job of trying to build a career in food route sales. They are scary; but the culture of the companies he worked for was worse. Micromanagement seemed to be the name of the game. In retrospect, that final layoff was one of the best things that could have happened to him. After reading in a magazine that carpet cleaning was the most profitable new business to be in, he took his life savings and put it into a truck and a truck mount system. As most of you know, starting a business is one of the most difficult things to do and doing carpet cleaning has to be one of the most physical jobs one could have. Why did he do it? Why did he not go to work for another company? He certainly had a knack for sales and was a hard worker. He has told this story to me a few times with a lot more detail about all the difficulties working for a company that had bad managers and the toll it takes. He was ready to determine his own destiny. There is something about having the autonomy to make our own decisions, and our own mistakes.