All my life as a child, I heard my father and his friends talk about the wonders of owning a restaurant. What they would buy as a building, the food they would serve, the wine, the clientele…how wonderful to “work for yourself.”  And no matter the conversation, the dreams, the ideas…it never materialized. It was too big to handle, after all, and too much risk – even for a man with a truck load of money and all the ideas possible.

I’ve thought a lot about why people dream, and others actually make dreams a reality, and I think it has to do with something my lawyer once said about me, “Judy, you don’t know that the things you do….you can’t do!!!!!!!”  Some people just don’t believe that a good idea should go to waste, while others are afraid of their dreams becoming a reality. My father never owned his restaurant, and I doubt he would be pleased to know that I own a restaurant license…it would be a matter of jealousy…but the difference between us is that I took the plunge and he didn’t.

I started my own business of “day care” when I was pregnant with my fourth child. It was a way of making enough money to supply a new furnace and Christmas for the kids.  I began to care for the two boys down the street before and after school in my home. In eight years, I was serving sixty-seven children on a weekly basis. I provided breakfast, lunch, preschool, after school snack, and a busy schedule of learning. In the summer they all loaded in the car, and I took them swimming.

When my youngest went to Kindergarten, I moved on to building a preschool for my parish, and then with my best friend, I built my present situation…a little school for little people called The Garden School.

For most female personalities, building a business means an active amount of talking – phone, Saturday mornings at the dog-nut house, visits, activities and pretty much your whole life. This talking is an important part of production because a lot of the talking is about goals, avenues to meet those goals, sharing experiences, commiserating, and working problems out. This means having a partner or someone equally interested in your business adventure. People choose partners for many reasons including compatibility, similar goals, similar work ethic, similar beliefs. People choose a partner on the grounds of honesty, and the belief that he or she is not going just quit – either at once, or worse, in stages.

But more than any other trait a good partner should have when creating a business from the ground up is a finely tuned work ethic.  A small business work ethic always says: “This is MY work for ME to do.”  Someone with a genuine work ethic rises to the occasion of daily chores, problems and necessities that make the business work…every day…seven days a week. A work ethic dictates that someone always be busy with improvements and additions that help build the business…that push it forward into excellence.  And what active people learn quickly about a small business is that it IS demanding every single day – not just when it’s convenient or when you want to. You don’t turn out the lights on Friday and then not show up again until Monday. A business that works or continues to thrive is a business owned by someone who really cares and is willing to not only say, “This is MY work for ME to do,” but also says through their work, “I am proud of what I am doing.”

In the child care business, there are a host of behind the scenes preparations for the business to run well. They include: writing — curriculum including some school texts, developing a website or blog so families moving into the area are attracted to your place first. There is the interior development of school policies, menus to make and  and food policies and food licenses to create, maintain and record. There are food records, buying and planning, and recording receipts. There are school handbooks, faculty handbooks, calendars, the never ending notes home, thank you notes and announcements meeting parent, state, and finally your own expectations.

There are parent interviews and enrolling new children, health forms, food forms, enrollment forms…and there is the constant hiring of teachers which means teacher training, developing pay scales, perks, and creating a work environment that makes people want to come to work. There is a constant organizing of teaching staff…and teaching,

In the daily running of the school, there are classes to teach, meals to create, hours to manage, plans for activities to create and carry out. There are summer trips to plan for and execute. There are summer expenses to manage. The year holds occasions like Grandparents’ Tea, school plays, Christmas programs, Holiday occasions, dances, sings, and picnics.

And in ordinary time there is the the feat of paying bills, issuing pay checks, managing accounts, there is the never ending shopping for supplies, toys, project materials, paper products, food, milk, and all the extras that make it count.

Then there is the cleaning, the carpet washing every week, the floors, closets, toys shelves, keeping the kitchen inspection ready. In our case there is the zoo room and remembering which animals require what food and extras and procuring all that – and doing that every single day without fail.

Then there is the garden, food garden, and landscaped garden, the watering, the feeding, the pruning, the purchasing…

It’s too much for one person to do well. It takes a staff. I’m grateful that our staff is as competent and as dependable as they are. It makes a school like ours work. But ultimately, there is a certain work load that is dependent on the owners, and this work is the never ending story.

Starting your own business and doing it well demands that It’s my job for me to do attitude and work ethic. Because when you pass the buck, to whom are you passing it? If you expect that someone is going to constantly rescue you from your work, you’re not meant for owning your own business. It’s not about vacations or huge pay checks or what the next perk is…it’s about my job for me to do for the survival of the business.

So as we turn the corner on this summer and gallop into the August stretch, it’s time to start working on the next season…the start of school…new students…new parents…rules to learn…then it will be time to buckle down for learning…then before long it will be time to work on the holidays…then the inclement weather…and these aren’t dreams talked about on a lazy Sunday…it’s daily work-filled reality if you own your own business.