On my recent vacation in Massachusetts, I came across three small
businesses, two restaurants and a bookshop, that either had shut
down or whose owners had decided to close at the end of the summer
season.
The three businesses had a few things in common: they were
relatively small operations run by their owners and the personal
involvement of these proprietors was an important component of
their success.
When the time came for the owner-operators to stop working,
theirs weren't businesses that could easily be sold to anyone who
was likely to maintain the quality of the service.
Thinking about the challenges that smaller travel agencies face
to stay afloat and remain profitable, I did a little unscientific
research into the decisions of the three owners.
In the case of one of the two restaurants, the place was shut
down despite the fact that it had been quite popular with tourists
over the years.
The owner wasn't to be found so I asked a competitor down the
road what had happened and learned that the owner "had just gotten
tired of doing it." Does that ring a bell with any entrepreneur out
there?
In the case of the other restaurant, the second generation of a
family had been keeping the place going for years and had reached
the age where the work was becoming burdensome. The family
apparently couldn't bear just to sell the place they had lovingly
operated so they decided just to shut it down.
At the bookshop, I talked at some length with the proprietor.
The place was in the lower level of a lovely house. The owner and
his wife lived upstairs.
He told me his wife had just decided that the couple had become
slaves to the business and needed more time for themselves. Rather
than sell the business, they were liquidating the inventory and
planned to convert the area occupied by the bookshop into
additional living quarters.
I can't speak for the vanished owner of the already-shuttered
establishment but in the case of the two businesses that were in
the final days of operation, there was more than a tinge of regret
on the part of the owners who had decided to shut down.
They were proud of what they had achieved and knew that while
they would have more time for themselves, they would miss the
businesses they had tended so faithfully.
I know as I write this that there are travel agency owners
facing this kind of decision. Some who have decided to sell will
find buyers and get a price that makes sense and perhaps will
remain in the business under a management contract for a period of
time.
Others will just shut down and turn in their plates because the
day-to-day pressures have become too burdensome.
While some may say that leaving the business will be a blessing,
the truth for virtually all of them is that the travel industry is
in their blood and they know it.
As in the case of the two restaurants and the bookshop, the
owners will go off to a less turbulent life but they will look back
with pride and some longing for the days when running a small
business wasn't so hard.