08/10/2026
Your boss called today.
They’ve decided to rewrite your job description.
Starting immediately, you will be responsible for sales, customer service, marketing, advertising, social media, bookkeeping, purchasing, inventory, merchandising, cleaning, maintenance, hiring, firing, training, scheduling, payroll, taxes, insurance, deliveries, event planning, quality control, and complaint resolution.
You will also be expected to fix toilets, troubleshoot credit-card machines, reset Wi-Fi, unclog sinks, assemble furniture, hang signs, repair broken displays, and figure out why something that worked yesterday suddenly doesn’t work today.
You are now the IT department, the janitor, the maintenance person and HR. You are accounting, marketing and the trash guy.
Your hours are simple: You arrive first. You leave last. Weekends are required. Holidays are required. Nights, yup, required.
Days off exist, but you’ll spend them answering messages, checking sales, placing orders, and wondering what’s happening without you.
Vacation is allowed but You take the business with you. Your phone stays on. Always.
If someone calls out, you cover.
If two people call out, you figure it out.
If someone quits, you figure it out.
“Figure it out” is now part of your job description.
You will solve problems you’ve never seen before, often immediately.
Oh yeah, No training will be provided. You will learn as you go. Mistakes will be expensive.
You are also responsible for making sure everyone else gets paid.
Employees, vendors, landlord, utilities, insurance, taxes, etc.
Your paycheck is optional, Sometimes last,
sometimes not at all. This does not reduce your workload.
You will become an expert in things you never planned to know: like building codes and algorithms.
Your personal life will adjust accordingly. You will miss dinners, weekends, events, holidays, vacations, and evenings around the campfires.
You will say, “I can’t. I have to work.”
Eventually, fewer people will ask.
The business will live in your head.
First thought in the morning.
Last thought at night.
At 2:13 a.m., you’ll remember something you forgot to order.
Add it to tomorrow’s list.
You will make many lists.
You will never finish them.
Cross one off, three more appear.
Performance reviews happen daily.
By customers. In person. Online. Sometimes from someone who spent seven minutes inside your business.
Your body will work constantly.
Standing, lifting, loading, unloading, setting up, tearing down, cleaning, walking miles without ever leaving the building.
Your mind will work harder.
Stay confident while doubting everything.
Stay positive when sales are slow.
Decide when there is no right answer.
Encourage others when you are exhausted.
Reassure everyone that it will be okay.
And sometimes, convince yourself.
There will be days you want to quit. Then something will happen. A customer will say they love your shop. Someone will travel just to visit. A regular will walk in and you already know their order.
Someone will say: “this is the best thing I’ve ever had!”
And you’ll remember.
You built this.
The lights.
The displays.
The products.
The reputation.
The customers.
The business that didn’t exist until you made it exist.
Finally, You are responsible for carrying the worry, risk, exhaustion, and invisible work that makes it all look effortless.
Compensation - uncertain.
Hours - unreasonable.
Stress - constant.
Sacrifice - required.
Recognition - inconsistent.
Job Title: Small Business Owner
Department: All of them.
Reports To: Everyone.
Hours: Yes.
