50 Years Old and a Successful Business Woman

I remember my graduation day in June of 1974 very well. Almost everyone of my friends was gloating about going to college to get some kind of degree.

They felt it was the only way to have a successful life. Sad thing was most of them had no idea as to what they wanted degree in or what type of career they planned to pursue. And this was the general conscientious of my whole graduating class. Then there were a handful of us that were off to find a job. This is the category I fell into because I couldn’t afford it and I really didn’t want to go to school anymore. I figured I could always go later if and when I had a reason to. My friends said once you stop going you will never go back. I was willing to take that chance.

I made the right choice for me, anyway. At my 10th reunion a lot of my friends had their degrees and did not have a job in their degree field. Some of my girlfriends had not even used their degree because they ended up getting married and having babies.

I on the other hand went to work full time at our local Kmart where I had worked at part time during school. It was a fun job and I was able to afford my own apartment quickly. I bought furniture, clothes, and appliances before most of my friends were out of their little dorms. I made many new friends both young and old and met a very handsome man I ended up marrying. Life was good.

After a few years I was burnt out with retail and my time being scheduled.

I found a job where I delivered flyers! Sounds weird I know but let me tell you it was quite profitable and I got so much exercise walking around delivering them. The best part was I could make as much as I wanted which was perfect! Life was real good.

Then I fell into another couple of odd jobs, one was assembling starter solenoids for cars. I made $01 for each one I did while in my pajamas watching TV late at night. Second I started doing market research calls from my home in between the other two jobs. It sounds like a lot but I only worked between 10 and 15 daytime hours per week. With doing these three things I was doing very well. The best part I was in control of my time. Life was even better now. That was until the three jobs each fizzed out in a few years.

It turned out ok, though, because I got married and started helping my husband at his job. He worked at a family business and could pretty much make his own hours. So by working with him, he was able to get done faster and we were able to spend a lot of time together.

After a few years we decided that now it was time for kids. So I took some time off to have our two little girls, Kristi and Katie. I stayed home with them but still helped my husband and watched friends kids who still worked. Then when Katie was three and in preschool I needed to do something to help out. So my husband and I sat down to ponder what that would be I knew I did not want to go back to working for a company that was in control of my time.

We decided it was time to start our own business, so now I had a real purpose to go to the Community College to take some small business classes. I took classes for accounting, business law, and starting a business. I took only classes I needed to succeed in business and nothing more. I was in a hurry to get something going and be productive.

What we decided on was a mowing service. We had some friends who had elderly parents that were in need of this service. And the plus side of was I enjoyed mowing.
So this began my first sole proprietor business adventure. This job was a great one to start because the cost to start it was minimal.

We only had to buy a trailer to tote around the equipment we already used for our own yard on. I started in the spring and in a month I had more jobs than I could handle. We decided I would work only two days because it was pretty physical work. I would hook up my trailer and take off early in the morning, mow 6-8 lawns, and come home by late afternoon tired, hot, and smelly. I really enjoyed it and I was in top shape from all the walking. This job started in early March and with leaf clean up went into early November. That gave me four months vacation time! I was making more than some of my other friends who worked year round. This business lasted for three years and would have lasted longer if I had not broken my wrist. It was a very bad break that kept me in a cast for almost a year.

During this time a friend of ours husband died and she asked if we would be interested in taking over his antique and collectible business. My husband had learned many things about this business from spending time with him so she thought he was the best person to continue it. We made her an offer for all his inventory and she agreed. We still have the antique and collectible business going today. My husband buys, I mark, it take it to our booth at a co-op, and go back at the end of the month to collect a check. But I never knew how much I would make and that made budgeting hard.

So again we put our heads together and decided to buy a soda vending machine to put at my husbands work to replace one that had been removed. It was a fun and easy job so I decided to find a few other places to place vending machines. This began a new business adventure for our whole family with the girls helping out on vacation time and now we have over 50 machines placed all over the metro area. I now work about 25 hours a week between buying product, stocking the truck, and filling the machines. It is a great job and I enjoy all the people I get to know in the locations where we have our machines.

I feel fortunate to have found such a great and fun way to make some extra money while still being able to have the flexibility to be in control over my time. This made it so nice when I am not feeling well, want to attend my girls school events, or when the weather is bad like it was last week! I just turned fifty and have no desire to stop what I do. This job keeps me in shape, affords us extras, and is so much fun.!