Sunday, January 29, 2012

Who Cares


Running a small business sucks. It seems like no one cares about small businesses, even your friends sometimes. I know everyone has stuff in their lives, but I am growing increasingly annoyed that I will post something to FB or Twitter asking for people to share it or help... they do nothing then I see a post about how they need more cows for their stupid online game. My business is no game, it is my life but yet they gets tons of people replying.

Then if your seen as important you can sneeze and be all over press and be on the tonight show. I see articles on the news that are just dumb and frustrating that these people are being helped by mass media. I am building jobs in the USA and all I hear are the voices in my head, but if Masterlock says they are going to bring production back they get a presidential nod WTF they brought back 100 jobs that is nothing for a big business! They still make everything in China, but because they said they were going to make stuff here everyone thinks they are... People wake up and stop drinking the Kool-Aid

For the last month or so I have been thinking of starting a charity to help support other small businesses, but I am becoming increasingly disinterested because it seems that no one would care. No one would want to support something that actually helped, but they will go to Starbucks buy crappy coffee from a massive corporation and buy a bracelet so they can give money to JP Morgan Chase so JP Morgan can bend more people over a barrel until they are run out of business or their homes.

I know no one is going to read this or care, but it makes me feel better. I have tried to keep the happy face for the last 4 years as we lost our house, our savings, our lifestyle and now our friends. It seems now that I no longer make over $100K and don't have the fancy car or the big house people come up with lame excuses on why they do not want to go out, meet or do anything. We went out for New Years, our friends did not show up and could not even say why. We are the same people we used to be, I thrive on socialization so this has been slowly killing me.  We can work our own schedule so we can go out for lunch, for dinner or whatever but it seems that we are just not that interesting anymore.

I keep holding out hope that we will make it, that we will have the life we used to but then if we get big and are a success people will just be groupies wanting something from us because we are popular.  What a Pain, I want real friends and real people, the kind of people who actually care and would help you if you need it.  I do anything for people all of the time, and get screwed for it.  I let someone borrow the truck they hit something, mess it up, leave crap all over, drain the tank and don’t even care.  It seems like to be successful you have to screw everyone, to have people respect you they have to fear you…  Not my style.

Sadly I grew up in Oregon, many people I went to school with are still around, people I worked with are around but yet we have no real friends anymore.  We are looking forward to moving out of state to Santa Fe NM, at least there will be sun.  Nothing ties us to Oregon anymore, no friends my brother is in Seattle and the parents are looking at traveling again.  What a sad state of affairs at only 32 years old.


That’s my story and I am sticking to it, don’t throw me a pity party it is just the way it is.

-Ryan


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Dear President Obama


Dear President Obama,

In 2008 my husband invented a product which we've been struggling to sell ever since.  The invention came out of ingenuity and desperation as Ryan was a Real Estate Broker at the time and the market as you know tanked. 

Since founding our company we've refused to send production overseas in hopes that some day we'll be able to grow locally and hire other American's in the future.  Our decision for what it's worth, has cost us our home, thousands of dollars of debt and to add insult to injury we were hit by the IRS with a $10,000 audit for taxes they claim we underpaid in 2007.  We will never be able to repay this or get back into the black unless our business revenue increases rapidly.

The reason I'm writing you is that this evening I came across an article quoting you as patting Master Lock's back for 'insourcing'.  I was so disheartened that all of our genuine efforts and sacrifices have been overshadowed once more by a company that uses its wealth to use you for their marketing ploy.  While they are indeed bringing some industry back to the United States, it pales in comparison to the 1,000's of American families they hurt when they decided to move their manufacturing to China and Mexico to save a buck.  It feels like they are using this revitalized movement to rebuild American industry as a way to regain market share and are using you as their mouth piece.

We may never be as large as Master Lock and if it means trampling on others to get ahead we don't want to be. We just want an opportunity to let the world know we exist.  Tax cuts don't help us because we barely make enough money to keep the lights on and borrowing money is just putting us further and further into debt.  Even though I know that we have a good product that is continuing to grow a solid customer base, we can't even begin to approach retailers like Lowes and Home Depot because without marketing dollars to let the world we exist our little $65 rock on would get laughed off their shelves.

I realize you have mountain of issues to deal with and that in the grand scheme of things our small company is merely a single spec of sugar in your coffee, but on behalf of the 100's of 1000's of US manufacturers trying to stay competitive and keep their head above water I hope that at the very least you will recognize us for a change.  I understand that companies like Master Lock have lobbied to garner the support of your administration but please remember that they are a self serving business and we little guys need a voice too.

I'm not expecting a response to this letter, but I am hopeful that at the very least my words have not fallen on deaf ears. Thank you for you time.

Sincerely,

Melanie Belshee

RocLok Hide a Key, Inc.