Rob Severson - Specializing in finding the perfect financing solution for you and your business

How passion replaces being “lonely at the top”A common problem for many owners and managers is that they believe they have no one to talk with about their business.  Small business owners often have this problem more that others in that they have few people that are as educated, trained and broad thinking as they are.  So, what is the solution?I think my brother Tom is a good example of how to solve this problem.  He just successfully sold five of his six convenience stores that he had built up mostly on his own with the help of many employees that executed his vision.  He didn’t get extremely wealthy by some standards, but did very well.  How did he make it happen?Mainly, he has a passion for the oil business and convenience stores.  Our father had a small oil business and several gas stations and that is where he started his love affair with the industry.  He worked for Conoco for several years learning what others do and learning the business from a macro level.  When he bought a small distributorship 25 years ago he had a passion and vision for where he wanted to take it.  And he did it, by buying or opening four more stores, all on borrowed capital.Secondly he built outside contacts to have support people.  He probably went to 5-10 conferences a year to learn and network, such as:NACS  National Association of Convenience Stores, an organization of stores that has conferences, training and a lot of networking.  Tom was on the national board representing the small store owners, an experience that allowed him to meet the big players and get to know how they did things.Oil industry groups.  There are many of these that provide networking for all brands and have people from all sizes of businesses attending.  Tom got to know many of these people and now sells fuel to their operations plus has access to their counsel.Conoco  He has kept in touch with many contacts from his corporate days that provide more expertise for him as well as keeping up with what is going on in the business.CNT  Christian Network Team  A group of business owners, CEO’s or others that met monthly for breakfast for Bible study and to learn from each other how to solve various business problems that they had encountered.He was a member of a national group of similar businesses that created composite financial data, compared theirs to the others, and met frequently to discuss them.So with his passion for the business and his desire to learn from others he created a great network of people to talk with and support him.  Many of the successful people I have dealt with also have a passion for what they do which I believe vastly contributes to their success.  The ones I see that just want to make money on their business have a hard time. 

Law of untended outcomes strikes again!

I think we are all aware that the Taxpayers League of Minnesota is one of the most despised organizations in this State, especially by progressive tax advocates. I find this interesting in that I know the story of how it came in to existence.

About 20 years ago I approved some financing for a leveraged buyout of a local business for a man named Mike Wigley. He came up with about $130,000 through credit cards and stretching every nickel he had to make it work. We provided a loan for $7,000,000 to complete the purchase, which he personally guaranteed. If he would have failed, he would have been in personal and corporate bankruptcy immediately. But, he didn’t, and was very successful with it and made a lot of money when he sold the business.

Upon closing his deal he made the trip to his accountant to do his taxes. He was astounded by the amount he owed the governments for income tax! He had taken the risk, employed many people, and been successful through hard work and implementing his plan to own and turn around the business he had purchased. Now the governments wanted what seemed more like a “success fee” than tax.

Later in the day he had coffee with a gentleman that was considering starting a tax payer’s advocacy group. Mike was immediately interested and offered to do the first funding for it. He never had to fund it all because when others heard about it there was money coming in from everywhere to support what became the Taxpayers League of Minnesota!

Today this organization is one of the most powerful in the State, although despised by the “higher tax” people. The candidates that have signed the “no new taxes pledge” have all been criticized by their opponents. Some think this organization has far more power than it should, and maybe it has. This is an appropriate question no matter what your political persuasion is.

Is it a good idea to have an organization like this to keep government accountable? Or, has the government really been “sold” to high wealth people via their higher taxes thereby prompting them to get more involved and try to run it? Do wealthy people just like to “pull the strings” regardless of their political views? Is there a better system that would give us all the feeling of equal ownership of our government? Do the tax laws discourage small businesses in this State? I’d be curious to hear from people that I know about this with your comments on this blog.

Oh, and as an irony, Mike is a very generous person giving to schools, colleges (some very liberal ones at that), arts organizations and many other things in our community. He is a proponent of fiscal responsibility, but puts his wealth to work where he sees it is needed!