November 14, 2024
One of my acquaintances runs a very small manufacturing operation. He works long days and seems quite busy. He is not wealthy or well-known, but he seems to enjoy teaching his employees their jobs while working very hard. The business is expanding little by little, and his workers also appear to be enjoying themselves. I have another acquaintance with a gift for investing in the stock market. He never works long, enjoys golfing in his spare time, and pulls in several million dollars a year. He often travels abroad and seems to enjoy such a lovely life.
I imagine that most people would say the second of these two is the more “talented” or perhaps “getting the most out of life.” He doesn’t work that hard at his job and can spend money on hobbies and leisure. Unlike the small manufacturing business owner, he doesn’t have to worry about customers or devote time to employees. He can keep all the money he makes for himself.
And while I do get that, if I had to choose to be one or the other, I think I would be the small manufacturing owner, as his life seems way more exciting to me.
When I was growing up, my parents didn’t have much. I was always scrambling to make enough money when I was younger. First, I worked hard for myself and, later, for my family to live a decent life, then to buy a house and send my children to college. Thankfully, I own a house now, even if it’s small. My kids have graduated from college, and we have some extras.
At some point, though, I realized that our younger staff members weren’t able to buy their own houses and would say things like, “It’s hard to buy a house in Los Angeles when prices are so high.” Prices are high in LA indeed, especially for real estate. So, I decided we needed to have salary targets with annual raises. And after a few years, all of our staff at manager level and above were able to buy a house.
Then I started to think about our people’s young children. Housing is one thing, but American college tuition is also extremely high. Even public universities run $40,000 to 50,000 annually, including room and board. And I didn’t want people saying, “I can’t send my kids to college because I chose to work for a low-paying company like TOPC.”
There are different reasons why people run companies. To be honest, when I started up the business, I was primarily concerned about generating enough income for myself. However, as the company grew and began to attract talented people, I gradually realized that I couldn’t just think about myself anymore. If the employees who worked at the company couldn’t be happy and prosperous, I couldn’t see the point in running a company. But then again, to pay people better, we would have to achieve higher sales and profitability. To do that, we would have to provide the best possible service to our clients. And for that to happen, each of our employees would have to grow and develop. The company president works to create a cycle whereby the staff members expand their capacities; they become able to provide better services, customers are pleased, and good margins can be earned.
Even with a small manufacturing shop, if the president starts with a vision and then works hard alongside his employees while promising a bright future, that business will surely grow. That’s why I would choose that life over a life of leisure – because that life has a dream, albeit a small one, and to the extent that my employees can have a better life in the future, I don’t think there is anything more uplifting than that .
Does satisfaction come from spending the money you make from your talents on yourself and using your time for your personal pursuits? Or does satisfaction come from utilizing your skills to grow and develop your employees and customers? How you live your life will probably be determined by how you answer that question.
Looking back at highly respected people in history, in times of turmoil, they acted in ways that sometimes didn’t even preserve their own lives for the sake of their good cause. My acquaintance with the manufacturing shop may have a small existence compared with those historical figures, and his dream may also be a small one. Still, he is exerting himself to the best of his ability on behalf of his workers. And if he has even a little bit of talent, there just might come a day when his business has grown bigger than anyone expected. If he mistreats his customers, of course, then the growth won’t be sustainable. By working uprightly and taking reasonable remuneration, he’ll generate margins that will support his employees' wages. By looking out for the people around him and not just himself, he can build a fair and satisfying business. And so long as he continues with that motivation in mind, I’m sure he’ll succeed.
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