You’re tired of punching that time clock and saying, “Yes, Sir!” and “No, Ma’am!” You don’t want to wear a suit or a dress and heels anymore and have to pick up the load when someone else doesn’t do their job. You’re sick of never being able to make more money than everyone else around you and being married to the ‘grind’! You’re ready to go to work for yourself!

You start figuring out how much cash you have on hand and how much cash you can borrow and what type of business you want to set up and where. First you look at real estate, scan the paper for businesses that are up for sale, check with real estate agents on properties with great locations, even check other states and cities. Whew! Expensivvvvve won’t even begin to describe this.

Thought about a franchise? Yikes! This can turn into really big bucks out of your pocket and you have to spin a lot of burgers, tacos, and fries before you show a profit, plus pull a lot of the shifts yourself when your “minimum wage” employee fails to show.

You may already know what kind of business you want to open or buy. Suppose you start out by opening a business in a new location in a small, mall complex which brings you to the following: ZONING. What you do may not be approved for the area you want to do it in and if it is…you may have to wait for the board meeting to be approved to do it. HEALTH DEPARTMENT. You may need to be inspected and tested, (yes, you), and required to carry a license which has to be renewed each year – as in Health Department Certified. CITY BUSINESS LICENSE. Have to have one on your wall or else. FEDERAL ID. Have to have one of those too so you can pay taxxesssss! EQUIPMENT. To operate your business. You may need furniture, plus inventory. LEASE OR PURCHASE SHOP. Have to have some place to run your business from. UTILITIES. You need air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, plus lights, water, and plumbing that works. INSURANCE. Just in case someone falls down in your place or it burns to the ground 🙁 Way sad thought there! EMPLOYEES. You need to think about health insurance for them, their wages, workmen’s comp, their schedules, etc. ADVERTISING. People have to know where you are and what service you’re performing. VACATIONS. Will you ever get one????

Ouch!!! What a headache all of that creates. The stress level of just setting up a business is enough to send you to the bar for martinis, let alone trying to fund it and baby-sit it through it’s infancy until it begins to pay.

Oh, you what…you just wanted to play poker for a living!!! Well how simple is that one?

Here’s the deal. You don’t need a contract or a lease, you can move around as you please. You don’t need a suit or a dress and heels. You don’t even have to be social. You can come and go as often as you like, show up anytime of day and the game’s waiting for you. Security’s available so you don’t get robbed or mugged. You can even leave your money laying on the table while you leave for hours and it’s taken care of and held for you until you return.

The air conditioning always works, the television can be changed to your favorite sporting event, the cocktail servers come every few minutes to bring you beverages, a porter cleans your ashtray, a chip person brings your chips to you and you receive food comps – in most houses – which entitle you to free meals or a reduction in the cost of your meal. The center dealer runs the game and makes sure the bets, pot and game is in order and pushes you the pot if you the show the winning hand.

You don’t have to worry about insurance, licenses, advertising or perishable inventory. You can visit with everyone, get rooms rates for casino/poker play, and hopefully leave with pockets full of money…at least more than you came with…and how much does all of this cost????

The cost is paying “time” or the “rake”. The rake is a percentage taken out of every pot. The time is a specified amount taken – usually every half hour – from each player that has chips on the table.

Ever sit at a table and listen to players complain and moan about how much money it costs them a year in the “RAKE”. It’s the cost of doing business folks. Someone is furnishing you with everything you need to open a business and you don’t have to do anything but show up. Show up any time of day and your business address is open and up and running.

Let’s face it…if the ‘house’ doesn’t make money…you won’t have a place of business that stays open. You’ll soon find your little parcel of green, felt, real estate has been mowed under and a barricade of slot machines now sits where your little money maker used to be. So…Shut Up and Play!

See you there!!