Are there any other small business owners on here?

[cam2fst4u]

Originally Posted by bolteon593

you have got to be kidding me, if people are actually noticing what your driving; you might just be in the worng industry and or the wrong location.


ie


when people here show up in expensive cars in LA, as according to LA standards, they get dealt respect. i know that doesn't make sense, but it makes no less sense then your customer base seeing your new car purchase as anything more then you making a monetary dive.

personally, i own a corporation; the camaro is the company car... people dont judge me on what i drive but on what i produce, then again this is LA; so feel free to take it with a grain of whatever.

Wish I was joking....I would think LA would be alot different than a small town. I have never been there. Which if you came out here and drove through you would miss it. But yes like someone else stated they act like you are spending their money and then do not come in for a while and some never again. I have always been happy if someone is able to get a nice car/home/motorcycle/tv whatever. If that is what makes you happy and you enjoy it then good im glad for them. just wish everyone felt the same way.

[bolteon593]

Originally Posted by cam2fst4u

Wish I was joking....I would think LA would be alot different than a small town. I have never been there. Which if you came out here and drove through you would miss it. But yes like someone else stated they act like you are spending their money and then do not come in for a while and some never again. I have always been happy if someone is able to get a nice car/home/motorcycle/tv whatever. If that is what makes you happy and you enjoy it then good im glad for them. just wish everyone felt the same way.

in that case, i would suggest leave... the people here may be shallow and define you by the way of the thing that you drive but that by now means they degrade you by the thing that you drive...

never heard of being penned as a "how dare you drive this" sort of situation, perhapes if your making more money then the people doing as such you need to move on. jmnsho.

[cam2fst4u]

I have tried to sell but no luck. The people that can get the money or can afford it do not want to be in this county. and the people that would cant get the money. So I am stuck here.

[Scott@Bjorn3D]

Originally Posted by Liberty1

I used to be in the business of going door to door selling life insurance. I own a Cavalier and was planning on buying the new Cadillac CTS. Everyone at my office told me it was not a good idea as it would bring unnecessary attention and possible negative attention toward myself. It doesn't matter what we as businesspeople thing. It's all about what the customer perceives.

I believe it was Brian Tracy who stated (and I roughly quote) that 80% of all sales are closed within the first 30 seconds. Fist impression and appearance is everything!

Yeah that is like when you go to the dealership and these guys have nice suits on a gold chains or fancy watch. Just turns me off right away know I am the one paying for that. My dealership is small town, everyone wears jeans and flanel shirts in the winter and polos in the summer.


We did think about that issue back when we moved here. My wife is a pharmacist and she found a house she loved on the golf coarse and we bought it. It brought on the stigma to all the kids friends and their parents that we are rich and snobby. Well we bought our house in Jersey for 256,000 and 3 years later sold it for 345,000. We lucked out got out before the market started going down. So buying a house for 315,000 on the golf coarse did not ding us. And we got alot bigger house down here than we had in Jersey.

In 2006 I got Kathie an Acura RL for a birthday present. First really nice car she ever had. She drove a Lancer for years that sounded like the engine was going to explode every time you punched it. Before that she had a van when Zac was a baby. That made people think we are rich again.

But with 3 kids and now one with cancer and Kathie working 40 less hours a month and me missing days for the 3 hour drive to the doctor there is no rich. Not that we ever where, I just try to manage the money the best we can. I would not even be getting the Camaro if it was not for my Accord's lease being up soon. Need a car to drive and the Camaro is not going to cost alot more in payments than I was paying for a loaded Accord V-6.

Oh well life story here, but that stigma does hurt at time.

[cam2fst4u]

Hey Scott I dont know that I have ever said it or not but I am very sorry for your family and daughter you are in my thoughts and prayers

[NAHURRY]

so far my Landscape/Grading business had'nt been afected by the economy,
praying everyday it dont though.

[cam2fst4u]

glad to hear your still doing good hope it continues for you

[1camaro70]

I to am a small business owner with my wife, we have 4 employees, are a professional business, we both left the big firm, one multi-millionaire client told us that in our town people would judge you by your car, so he drove around in an old station wagen. Will buying the Camaro affect my clients? Will I be able to afford it in this economy? I hope we can all survive the next 2 to 4 years.........your vote means something.

[CamaroDude]

I also own a small business and the economy right about now is my worst enemy but hopefully this doesn't effect me getting the camaro.

[infernoinandout]

I have been in business 15 years and worked my butt off, at first it was just me and the wife. Now I have a good staff that handles all the grunt work. I show up at customers houses driving a 2004 ford 150 supercrew with 20" sick rims and always shining. I earned what we have, house, camper, rental property, decent sized business. Wife is never home always away on business trips and working on second masters degree (paid cash for that too.) My camaro is a gift to me and her for 15 years of hard work. Yes people will be upset, but we earned it. I have a motto I live by, if you work hard and pay your bills good things will come. Might take some time (15 years), but its well worth the sacrifices.

[Koolwip]

I own private pre-schools in Texas. I have a lot of cars and I tend to only drive my truck to the schools. I know it should be a case of, "who cares what they think - I worked for this and i deserve it..." however, the sad truth is, at least in my business, there is so much competition and so many sensitive areas that can cause a disenrollment, that I do not want to piss my customers off by making them think they are paying the high tuition simply so i can drive a nice car. Truth be known, I made my money as an attorney for 12 years and have made essentially nothing in the last three years owning and operating these schools - that is not why i started them.

For those of us in business for ourselves, we all have our own flavor of customers. In some cases it is good for clients/customers to see us in a fancy car, in other cases, it could "cost you the sale." Sad, but most of the times perception, rather than reality, rules.

The other member said it best when he said that no one can be happy for anyone anymore - it is all about "why cant I have it too?"

[b_pappy]

Yeah, I work for a small engineering firm, and a few of us, including the pres & VP are car enthusiasts. We don't drive our "good" cars for that very reason, customer impression. The Pres owns 3 classic Jags, plus an XKR, and the VP owns a SL 55 and a NSX. In fact my boss went off when I bought a (used) Cadillac XLR, till I pointed out it cost me less than a new Camry. Anyhow, we keep our good cars at home except for an occasional Friday when we know no customers will be by. It's silly, but it happens.
On the flip side, when I was looking for a contractor I looked at what they drove - they better be driving American! Turns out the best price, and quality of work was from the guy driving a Chevy truck.
Bruce

[CamaroCorsa]

It's nice to see all of us sharing our struggles. As of now, being apart of international automotive sales and advertising is tough. A lot of my income has tanked at the moment, and trying to move cars to Europe is not easy. I've faced a lot of hardships, losing my grandparents, my mother being sick, and family having a tough time. My father, being with American Express (Ameriprise) worked hard for over 25 years, and now being a financial advisor, losing 25% of his clients due to the economy crashing is not fun, same thing with myself, a lot of my clients do not want to purchase. I used to have orders every week, now it's once a month. At this point the only thing that matters, is my family is in good health. Also, going back to image, it really is a shame that image is all people perceive you to be. My uncle owns a restaurant and does pretty well. Once he bought his ZO6 last year, he parks it out of sight behind the restaurant. Myself, had my business go under 3 years ago, due to bad location, bad traffic and advertising. At this point, my camaro, I am not going to feel ashamed for buying one. I owe this to myself. For years, I have dealt with jobs being under appreciated, under estimated, under paid. I majored in International Business, speak 2 languages, and worked in a supermarket when I was 16, and learned how customer service works, and applied it to my car sales. Looking back, 6 years of hard work, got me to this. Tired of bosses who didn't know my name, nor give me the time of day. I care about quality of work, not the quantity and volume. I sell all luxury brands of vehicles, and most importantly, help my clients sell their cars for the prices they want, not greedy dealers who low ball them thousands of dollars less, and within the month or less. Quality gentlemen, I do not work in volume. As most of you, know a lot of your customers, contacts, business relations, etc. That I found is the key. My clients, it is my job to be apart of their life, put myself in their shoes, show them that I care about them, whereas big corporations have hundreds of thousands of clients, and it is so impersonal and bureaucratic, take their clients money, and boot them out the door with a grin on their face (AIG). Working in the business just taught me, be humble, respectful, listen to their needs and wants, and most of all, don't make them want something that is not going to benefit them. I love what I do and wouldn't trade it for the world. I am blessed that my hard work has got me to where I am, blessed that my family is in good health, and blessed to have clients that feel like friends, and associates that feel like family. In this time, we all stick together, nothing good comes without stress, blood, sweat and tears.

[2Muchmark]

Hi -

I have owned my own business for years now, and have seen lots of ups and downs. 2008 was a bad year but all it took for me was some downsizing. I switched a few employees to sub contractors, reduced overhead by moving half my business to a much smaller location, and the other half to all-home work. I am easily saving over $120k a year now - I wish I had done it last year instead of waiting for things to turn around.

Anyway I have been waiting for this car to come out forever and I see no reason why I should not treat myself to this little gift. If you're a business owner you probably already do alot more than the 40 hours per week that most others do. You deserve your car, my friend. If you haven't already done so, go to your favorite dealer and order yours in your favorite color scheme, and get ready to enjoy some of what all that hard work has brought you.

Cheers!