IT'S BEEN A LONG ROAD

It's a beautiful morning here in Houston. The temperature hovers around 55 degrees, and the sun is shining brightly. I'm enjoying all of this through the glass windows of a newly-acquired office warehouse, where I sit waiting on the AT&T guys to come install a DSL line.

So much has happened in the past few months.

I'd known since October that "Gary" had put the store up for sale (at his wife's urging), but he was asking for way more money than he knew he'd get because he didn't actually want to sell. I wasn't worried - I know the store and the business in general is his passion, and he certainly didn't want out.

The bombshell hit in late January, when he told me that he was finally having to get serious about selling the business, and in fact had two potential buyers lined up. To say that I was shocked would be a tremendous understatement. I knew that he really really didn't want to sell, but was under intense pressure from his wife to do so. She has never been supportive of the store, and in fact has been a hindrance at every turn. If Gary needed to help out with a Saturday delivery, for example, she would suddenly come up with some kind of emergency to try and prevent him from helping out with his own business. Her actions have been ridiculous for years, but lately she's been borderline P/A.

So during this conversation, he offered my sisters and me the opportunity to purchase the store for a fairly low price. That way, he could stay on as a consultant and shareholder, and not feel like he was giving up the business he'd started from the ground floor. The twins and I had several meetings - trying to come up with funding, a company name, division of duties, and so on - and for awhile we were pretty excited about it. But the more I thought about going into business with family, the more depressed I got. I love my sisters, but I was terrified of what our relationship would become in the future.

Eventually I decided that it was just not worth it to risk family harmony for the sake of business. Plus, in the interest of full disclosure, I harbored some resentment that my sisters were going to have equal say with me in what felt like MY store. I'd been there for almost a year (today's my 11-month anniversary, actually), while they don't know anything about the store at all. The fact that they were investing money in the store would mean they got instant power, and part of me had a hard time dealing with that. I think that's because I've been dealing with the "twin thing" all my life - I've put up with years of being excluded, and I sure didn't need that from my business partners.

That being said, the decision not to purchase the store was not at all an easy one. Allowing Gary to sell it to another buyer meant the end of the road for me - as store manager and friend to the owner, I've enjoyed a certain amount of freedom in running the place. Under new management, all that would change. I was intensely sad at the upcoming end of the road, and worst of all - I still had to break the news to Gary.

I called and asked him to meet me at Starbucks the next day so that we could talk. We chitchatted a bit, then when I finally built up the courage, I finally told him that we weren't going to be able to take over the store after all. It was awful. I couldn't stop crying. I felt like I was letting everyone down. Even worse, I felt intense guilt over letting his dream die. He kept telling me not to feel guilty, and not to worry because he'd be fine. While I appreciated the kind words, I know him well enough to see that he was very disappointed.

After leaving Starbucks, I went back to the store and locked up for the night. I flipped the sign to Closed, and couldn't help thinking how poetic that action was. I called my sisters to tell them my decision, and started sobbing into the phone so hard that they could barely understand me. To their great credit, they were both very understanding and agreed with my decision.

I finally calmed down and drove home, but walking into the house and seeing my husband's sympathetic face made me break down again. I went to bed and cried for hours that night.

The next morning, I went downstairs to help get everyone off to work and school. As I was standing in the kitchen, I looked around and realized that I was about to be right back where I'd started the previous year - kids and husband all heading off to work and school, and me stuck at home. It was Thursday morning, and Gary had told me that the new buyers were very eager and would probably want to take over the following Monday. That meant I just had two workdays left, so I went in to open the store for the day, trying desperately to care. Here I was manager of a successful business - and a fun place to work - but it just didn't matter anymore.

Gary took me to lunch that day so we could discuss "closure" on the store - how we were going to have a sale to make more money for the store before it changed hands; how we were going to wrap up eBay listings; how we were going to take inventory; etc. We had received a new piece of equipment the previous day, so I asked him if he wanted to go back to the store and install it. He did, so we headed back, both of us a little melancholy.

I'll never forget this next part: Gary bent over the computer to hook up the new barcode scanner, then sat up and looked slowly around the store. Then he spun around, stared me straight in the eye, and asked with some desperation, "What can I do to keep this place? How can I make that happen?"

"How about you buy in, and we'll be full partners and run this place together?"

He then gave me a ridiculously low purchase price, which helped make the decision even easier.

The next couple of weeks were a complete blur, and I must say, I've learned more since mid-February than I could have picked up in a year of business school. I single-handedly renegotiated our lease for the next two years, saving us in excess of $1000 a month. I've been added to bank accounts and am the proud owner of my first-ever company credit card. I've signed official documents in front of a notary. I've written a HUGE check (okay, I've done that before, but never to buy a business!). Next Tuesday we have a meeting with our accountant. I have never had my own accountant before, and golly, do I feel important. LOL

I've even negotiated a better deal on our new office warehouse. Which brings me back to where I am, still waiting on AT&T to show up. But y'all, I'm a small business owner! I am so happy with the way things have worked out. Wish me luck - and here's hoping 2008 will continue to be happy and prosperous for everyone.