Small business environment

[Wonk]

My portfolio and business interests are going in completely opposite directions at the moment, which made me wonder how many other small business starters are out there and what conditions have been like for them.

I launched several crossfit(ish) micro-gyms in the last 18 months with an average monthly membership fee north of $200/mo and we have been drowning in new business ever since opening our doors--and we don't hard sell or negotiate on fees.  I wonder how much of it is due to running a good (and trendy) service in higher income neighborhoods and how much is due to fresh capital in the economy.  I keep hearing folks talk about how hard it is out there but that hasn't been my experience in the least.  We can barely keep up with demand and when we call it a day, we have a hard time getting a reservation at a nice restaurant--they're all full 'till 9pm.  Doesn't strike me as an economy starved for capital.

Can any other business owners chime in on their experience over the last 12-18 months? 

[iwealth]

Man Crossfit is hot right now. Bunch of guys I know are jumping on the bandwagon right now. That's the only experience I can chime in on.

Though I was talking recently to a Crossfit guy who works for a company that sells chemistry-related equipment B2B (it's a bit over my head) and he said the first quarter was absolutely dreadful and caught everyone off-guard.

[Pointedstick]

My experience has been that the upper-income part of the economy has been booming, while everybody else has been struggling to get by.

I sell 3D printer parts and my customers all tend to be nerdy folks with good engineering jobs. Business has been great. Customers in my market have a ton of cash they want to spend. But friends and family members who are not blessed with an entrepreneurial mindset and don't have a job in STEM, academia, or government are hurting. They haven't seen raises in years. They've been laid off several times recently. They struggle to keep up as rents rise and they're becoming priced out of the housing markets that are close to their jobs.

[MachineGhost]

Yes, the top 1% seem to live on the Titanic.

[snarky diatribe deleted]

[MediumTex]

Things do seem to be steadily getting better, but I think that letting the payroll tax cut expire on January 1 was a big mistake.  That took a few hundred up to a couple of thousand dollars out of the pockets of every single working person in the country.  That sort of thing can't help but show up in softer overall demand figures.

[Pointedstick]

Indeed.

Read the comments in this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/healt ... in-us.html

I've been glued to those all morning. It's really tragic. Kind of feels like we're in a transitional state, where the people who have figured out where we're going or were lucky enough to catch hold of it anyway are really prospering, while everyone who's stuck in old ways of thinking are getting trashed.

Unfortunately, as the comments show, it's too late for a lot of folks who could have saved themselves had they done things differently 25 years ago. You get these heartbreaking stories of people who are in their 50s or 60s and have no job, no money, and a ton of debt. My heart breaks for these people because they're in rotten situations that are very difficult to pull yourself out of, but part of me wants to grab them and ask, "Well what did you think was going to happen when you barely saved any money for your entire working life!?"

[MachineGhost]

Indeed.

Read the comments in this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/healt ... in-us.html

I've been glued to those all morning. It's really tragic. Kind of feels like we're in a transitional state, where the people who have figured out where we're going or were lucky enough to catch hold of it anyway are really prospering, while everyone who's stuck in old ways of thinking are getting trashed.

Unfortunately, as the comments show, it's too late for a lot of folks who could have saved themselves had they done things differently 25 years ago. You get these heartbreaking stories of people who are in their 50s or 60s and have no job, no money, and a ton of debt. My heart breaks for these people because they're in rotten situations that are very difficult to pull yourself out of, but part of me wants to grab them and ask, "Well what did you think was going to happen when you barely saved any money for your entire working life!?"

Lately, I find myself wondering what happened to all the people of my generation that had no formal education, training or hobby interest in computers.  If they didn't catch the bug when the Internet bubble kicked off in 1994, I cannot imagine what the hell they've been doing all this time.  It's just inconceivable that people would not adapt like this guy:

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