Running a small business may mean even more long hours

Cathy Salaymeh used to participate in theater as a hobby. Now she does it as a small-business owner.

The 41-year-old Johnstown woman owns and runs the Union Colony Dinner Theatre, 802 9th St. in Greeley, with her husband, Raja. She said that she loves what she does, but that it takes a big commitment.

"For me, the theater is never closed," she said. "It's always at the top of your mind."

More work is the name of the game for small-business owners across the country. A Staples survey released in January of more than 300 small-business owners showed that 98 percent of them work during their time off, including nights, weekends and vacations. The survey also showed that 51 percent of the respondents reported that they dreamed about work.

Salaymeh said there is a reason small business owners work so much.

"Opening a small business is kind of like having a baby," she said. "Everybody thinks they're totally prepared to have a child, and then you have a baby and you're like, 'Oh my God, what do I do?' " she said.

For Cristi Ryan, who runs Gifts from the Heart in Greeley, family is the reason she runs her home-based business that specializes in gift baskets and other gifts.

"It's not just a home business, it's a family business," the 38-year-old mother of five said. "If I didn't have the support of my family, if my husband and kids weren't behind me, I don't think I could do this."

Ryan said she home-schools some of her children, and the business allows her to stay home with them. She also said the business provides part-time jobs for her children.

The business is not the family's primary means of support, and she never planned for it to be a full-time job, Ryan said. Despite that, keeping the business from taking over her life can sometimes be difficult. Ryan creates centerpieces, gift baskets and other thank-you gifts primarily for other businesses.

"I can tend to be a workaholic if I don't think about what's important to me before I start a job," she said.

Kathy Lee, 40, who ran the Pilates studio Body of Knowledge in Greeley before leaving the business to become a stay at home mom with her family in Fort Collins, said she had more success than she could handle.

"Because I was the sole business owner, it worked for me and it worked against me," she said.

Working for herself did give her some flexibility, but it came with a cost.

"If I chose to take time off, I had to close the business," she said.

Lee said she enjoyed her time running a small business in Greeley and would like to return to running a small business again someday, but she will be wiser when she does.

"If I were to return to the small business, I will have to have a staff," she said.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

David Thomas, a professor at the University of Northern Colorado's Monfort School of Business, said the work load isn't the only challenge small business owners face in a modern economy. He said technology, such as Web sites, often act as a double-edged sword. He said the Internet can be a great public relations tool for business, but it also can take a lot of time and resources making the Web work for them.

Thomas also said that many small businesses struggle to make advertising work for them.

Theater owner Salaymeh said finding the right kind of advertising is difficult for her business because each production appeals to a different type of person.

"I'd love to do billboards and newspaper and radio, but I just don't have the money," she said.

Gabby Leavitt, 25, has owned the Salvadore Deli, 800 9th St. in Greeley, with her husband Blake for the past two years. She said understanding the market was a challenge for them.

"We made a lot of assumptions," she said. "Greeley doesn't necessarily gravitate toward the newest thing."

Leavitt said Blake, a business student at UNC before they opened the deli, did a lot of market-research, but most of that research focused on similar-sized markets. She said it was difficult to understand a community's idiosyncrasies before they opened.

"It takes, like, a lot of personal market-research," she said.

Thomas said regulation also represents a change in the past 10 years that has made life more difficult for small business owners.

"I think if you talk to most small business people, they'll tell you the biggest change is the amount of paperwork and regulation that the government has put on the small business owner," said Thomas, who teaches classes about small business management at UNC.

Scott Bicknell, 40, who owns and runs an insurance agency on behalf of American Family Insurance, 1801 59th Ave., said the recent state of the economy also has made small business owners work harder.

"In the past year, it's been harder than it's been in my first nine years," said Bicknell, who has owned his business for 10 years.

He said the price of gas is a big factor. He said even if the state mandates drivers have auto insurance, or banks require home owners to insure their homes, that doesn't mean selling insurance is easy. He said when people feel the pinch of gas prices and a sluggish economy, they often run into trouble with their insurance payment.

"What happens is they either don't pay, or they wind up looking for the absolute cheapest insurance they can find," he said.

Bicknell said he doesn't share the gloomy economic forecasts of many, but he aid the adjustment from the boom times means he has to work harder.

"We had such a robust deal, we all forgot how to work," he said.

The payoff

Salaymeh, who has owned the Union Colony Dinner theater for four years, said despite the hard work and challenges, owning her own business is worth it. She said the best payoff comes when the theater does work with children.

"They come into the theater and you know this is their first experience of theater," she said.

Leavitt said she has enjoyed her experience owning and running the deli. She said she likes learning, likes the challenges and the sense of community she shares with her employees.

"Getting to see your vision come to fruition is something that's very special," she said.

In the two years since the deli opened, Leavitt said she has learned an important lesson about running a business.

"Everything costs twice as much as you think it will," she said. "And everything takes twice as long as you think it will."

Salaymeh said success as a small business owner comes down to a simple concept for her.

"The sole responsibility really does lie with you," she said. "Be committed to that."

Breakouts

What the numbers say

According to a Staples press release about its small business survey, 54 percent of the small business owners questioned said they planned to work harder in 2008 than they did in 2007. Other insights include:

» About 38 percent can't remember the last time they took a vacation.

» Given a choice, nearly 52 percent said they would accept comparable business results in 2008 if they could have twice as much free time.

» About 48 percent said they would work more hours if they could double their company's sales.

Small business resources

To reach the Colorado Small Business Center in Greeley, call (970) 352-3661 or www.coloradosbdc.com.