C
Chris
Guest
So as most of you know I own a pipeline company in Southern California, we are a small family owned business. I started this company from nothing starting in 2007 when the economy was crashing. I saw the pipeline company I was working for go out of business in 2007 which jump started me working towards my licensing and gathering of tools. He started up another pipeline company immediately that I worked at but I knew it was only a matter of time before that on failed as well. I learned most everything I know about running a company from him right and wrong and I knew where I would do things differently. Well 2008 rolls around and he goes out of business again and this time I did not jump on going back with him for another ride. I was his project manager and my name had been drug through the dirt with him. Somehow I was also a bad person because he could not stop spending or ripping people off.
In early 2009 I officially opened the doors to my business, at the time there was very little work to be had and no one was working. I did whatever I could to pay the bills. I was at rock bottom so there was no place to go but up. Over the next 7 years I grew this company into a multi million dollar company (On Paper). Four years ago my wife and I started a family with our first daughter and two years ago with our second daughter. Life was great! I was providing for my family like most wish they could. I grew up in a very poor household and always wanted to be able to give my kids the life I never had and I was now able to do this.
Over the last couple years I have had more stress and more sleepless nights than anyone should. I was borderline depressed yet I had everything a guy would want. It has gotten worse this year. I have been working long days for over 7 years now and it is dragging me down, my hair is turning white.
For the last year or more my wife and I have been thinking about moving out of state to a slower pace of life (we both grew up in a small town). For the last year I have been noticing more and more of what I don't like about Southern California. We live in a place that has some of the worst traffic in the nation, crime has been rising and we are way too over populated. You can drive 4 hours north and still not pass any empty land. Everyone that lives here only lives here so they can work to keep living here. Most people are on the road or working from sun up to sun down five days a week to only try and catch up with life on the weekend. The cost of living is so high that most people are living at the poverty line and don't even know it, they try to act middle class by going into major debt to make it look as if they are doing great. Very few people have a savings or are even doing ok. Everyone is so busy trying to make a living that no one really gets together with anyone else anymore to do things. (I grew up going to BBQ's and get togethers with friends and family). Here we have to plan a month in advance to go to dinner with a friend. This is not the life I want or want for my children. I am scared of what this place will be in another 20 years when my kids are adults. It seems that our youth is lazy and rude. I don't want my daughters to be 18 years old covered in tattoos and piercings doing drugs because it is legal and not wanting to get ahead in life because there is no need. If I can do anything to slow or stop this I will.
Next is back to running my company and taxes. The state of California makes it very difficult to make a profit here. Between the feds and the state most small business is spending between 55 and 70% of the money brought in in some sort of tax and then at the end of the year if you happened to save any money in the bank you have to write a check for about 37% of that money. Every year my CPA tells me how I need to spend my money or give it away. Says I need to buy equipment or give hefty bonuses. I have done this every year I had money except one where I tried to save and I got hit with a huge penalty for saving and had to give a lot of it away. Essentially every January I am starting over trying to save money to give it away next year.
Now comes this morning, I came into my office and checked the mail, there was a letter from the county. They are assessing my companies value so that I can pay another tax based on years of saving and building my company. This was the last straw, I am done with this place. I am tired of every week having to cut a check in the thousands to one form of government or another just so that in the end I can make less money than my employees.
It's kind of funny I used to tell people I want to move and they always told me the grass isn't greener on the other side. Over the last few months I tell people I want to go and they just insist I save them a spot when I get there.
This is my story for the day, just felt I should share my views as a small business owner in this state.
In early 2009 I officially opened the doors to my business, at the time there was very little work to be had and no one was working. I did whatever I could to pay the bills. I was at rock bottom so there was no place to go but up. Over the next 7 years I grew this company into a multi million dollar company (On Paper). Four years ago my wife and I started a family with our first daughter and two years ago with our second daughter. Life was great! I was providing for my family like most wish they could. I grew up in a very poor household and always wanted to be able to give my kids the life I never had and I was now able to do this.
Over the last couple years I have had more stress and more sleepless nights than anyone should. I was borderline depressed yet I had everything a guy would want. It has gotten worse this year. I have been working long days for over 7 years now and it is dragging me down, my hair is turning white.
For the last year or more my wife and I have been thinking about moving out of state to a slower pace of life (we both grew up in a small town). For the last year I have been noticing more and more of what I don't like about Southern California. We live in a place that has some of the worst traffic in the nation, crime has been rising and we are way too over populated. You can drive 4 hours north and still not pass any empty land. Everyone that lives here only lives here so they can work to keep living here. Most people are on the road or working from sun up to sun down five days a week to only try and catch up with life on the weekend. The cost of living is so high that most people are living at the poverty line and don't even know it, they try to act middle class by going into major debt to make it look as if they are doing great. Very few people have a savings or are even doing ok. Everyone is so busy trying to make a living that no one really gets together with anyone else anymore to do things. (I grew up going to BBQ's and get togethers with friends and family). Here we have to plan a month in advance to go to dinner with a friend. This is not the life I want or want for my children. I am scared of what this place will be in another 20 years when my kids are adults. It seems that our youth is lazy and rude. I don't want my daughters to be 18 years old covered in tattoos and piercings doing drugs because it is legal and not wanting to get ahead in life because there is no need. If I can do anything to slow or stop this I will.
Next is back to running my company and taxes. The state of California makes it very difficult to make a profit here. Between the feds and the state most small business is spending between 55 and 70% of the money brought in in some sort of tax and then at the end of the year if you happened to save any money in the bank you have to write a check for about 37% of that money. Every year my CPA tells me how I need to spend my money or give it away. Says I need to buy equipment or give hefty bonuses. I have done this every year I had money except one where I tried to save and I got hit with a huge penalty for saving and had to give a lot of it away. Essentially every January I am starting over trying to save money to give it away next year.
Now comes this morning, I came into my office and checked the mail, there was a letter from the county. They are assessing my companies value so that I can pay another tax based on years of saving and building my company. This was the last straw, I am done with this place. I am tired of every week having to cut a check in the thousands to one form of government or another just so that in the end I can make less money than my employees.
It's kind of funny I used to tell people I want to move and they always told me the grass isn't greener on the other side. Over the last few months I tell people I want to go and they just insist I save them a spot when I get there.
This is my story for the day, just felt I should share my views as a small business owner in this state.
