Hidden Jewels - Entrepreneurial Spirit

This Hidden Jewels project is a bit overwhelming.  The scope is bigger than I have taken on in the past.  I have felt the pull of entrepreneurship since I was 16.  My first business was Shalom, a head shop in the back of an Army Recruiting storefront in the City of Tonawanda.  It was 1969 and my partners and I were 16 year old war protesters. The Irony did not escape anyone in town when we painted our section of the building Red White and Blue stars and stripes.  I don’t think that we made any money, but we made the paper and I learned a thing or two about the pro’s and con’s of working for ourselves. (It’s harder than working for someone else!)

The next venture began with my wedding.  I didn’t want traditional centerpieces and I thought the idea of balloon bouquets at the tables would add an air of frivolity to the occasion.  This was a unique idea for 1982 and the florists tried their best to discourage me.  Their suggestion was to add a balloon to a traditional arrangement.  Not what I had in mind, so I decided to make the balloon bouquets myself.  No, stress, just one more thing to do for an already over tasked me to do! The balloons were a success and I am still married to the groom 30 years later. The lack of ballooney solutions, coupled with a long layoff from my job at Delphi led me to my next venture: Balloons for all Occasions! I worked out of my garage and delivered balloon bouquets all over Lockport.  It was a unique gift idea and went over big!  My problems came not from lack of business, but lack of business savvy.  Billing and collecting money owed me were not my strong suit.  Luckily I soon was called back to Delphi and balloon businesses began sprouting up all over town. I learned about the importance of bookkeeping with this venture. (Blech: hire an accountant if you can afford it!)

Next bright idea came over drinks at our UAW hall in 1992.  A guy that I worked with in the Model Shop at Delphi and his wife were looking for a business opportunity.  They had recently sold their successful hot dog stand and were looking for another venture.  We were not working much overtime at the time, and thought that we all could contribute hours to a business. We tossed around several ideas and settled on looking into opening a liquor store in the south end of Lockport as the area was developing at a rapid pace and we loved wine and liquor! Booze Brothers was born and everything went along grandly for a while, until life took a detour.  Our workload at work went crazy, hitting three of the four of us with fifty plus hour work weeks.  A messy divorce for our partners ended any chance of success that we could have hoped for and we were forced to sell the business at a big loss. I learned a bit about partnerships with this venture. (Take care in your selection or maybe don’t do it!)

Fast forward to today….. In 2006 General Motors gave us a precious gift: Early retirement.  At the young age of 54, I was fortunate to be able to retire.  To young to rock on the porch, I resisted the urge to go back to working for someone else.  I have enjoyed considering my options for the past 6 years.  I have considered opening a gift shop, a haunted bed and breakfast, a restaurant/bakery, a Tim Horton franchise, and several internet businesses. I have chosen the Hidden Jewels project because I have spent most of my life working to support my passions: Now I am choosing to try to make an enterprise of them! Travel and seeking new and wonderful experiences have created my most valued memories, so I hope that I can create an opportunity for others to join me on making the most of this marvelous earth walk!