OK, let's just say we have very,
very different perspectives then.
I've had my own business for about 30 years of my working life. I've worked for several small companies, with less than 20 employees, and most of my clients were and are small businesses. Some are conventional, some are start-ups with a more entrepreneurial profiles. There are two basic realities.
First, my favorite comment from friends who had "real jobs" is, "...you're so lucky, you can decide for yourself when you want to work". My joke was, yeah, I can pick the 14 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week I'm at work. It's awesome. Most of that time is spent juggling tasks that are all equally crucial to the survival of the company. Websites (including Facebook) fall pretty low on the scale of that measure.
Second, and this didn't even occur to me until I worked for another company, is if you don't make money you don't get paid. (My first paycheck during my training for a new position, I told the guy, "...wait. I didn't even make any money this week, and yet here's a check?"). This may seem like a strange comment to someone who's worked on salary, especially for a larger company (which I've done as well), but as a small business owner it becomes hard-wired into your everyday life pretty quickly. When you sell that bike on the floor, you can pay your employees, your rent, and then maybe yourself with what's left over. When you don't, you can't.
By the way, not to go too far afield here, but before you reckon that these guys make a crap-ton of money on selling you your Empulse, last I was told (by an active dealer) they make about $800 to $1000 on the sale of an Empulse. Do the math. Every day that bike sits on the showroom floor your profit goes down. Every day Polaris doesn't answer your phone calls, you lose money. When a guy can't meet payroll, you think it might get him angry?
Another little side-point is you're not seeing a corporate "voice" filtered through a Marketing Department, even with a company with 20-50 employees. You're likely hearing the voice of the guy who owns the company, pays the rent, makes the coffee, and talks to customers.
Funny, I just saw one of the Brammo management's Facebook photos of their fabulous trip to the Isle of Man to watch the Victory team race. You know what went through my mind? While this dealer who trusted Brammo to deliver on an agreement that cost him several tens of thousands of dollars is sitting there trying to meet his payroll, these chuckleheads are enjoying a pint on the Isle of Man on the company's (read: investor's) tab. I'm not being a jerk, it's simply my perspective coming from my personal experience.
Sorry for the lengthy post... but hell. I'm a writer. It's what I do.
