The Reality of Business Ownership: Lessons from the Trenches
The Reality of Business Ownership: Lessons from the Trenches
By Austin Linney
You know, I don’t think it’s ever been discussed in a book or podcast—the moment you get woken up at 3:30 in the morning by the cops. They tell you that one of your brand-new trucks has been found crashed into a telephone pole, and they don’t know who was driving it. You have to explain to the cop that you own the company, but you don’t know who the driver is. Then you have to hunt down the VIN number to figure out who it was, and after 12 hours of silence, they finally respond—because they knew they had messed up. Of course, you let that person go. These are the things you don’t find in any book.
When people think about searching for a company to buy or start, they imagine excitement. They think about creating freedom, generating revenue, and all the potential benefits. But what they don’t think about is the never-ending cycle of payroll. The weight of supporting your employees, their businesses, and their families is always present. It’s like wearing a heavy coat that you never take off.
I think more people need to sit down and seriously ask themselves if they’re truly ready for the responsibility of carrying the weight of these families on their back. Because that’s real. Yes, you can create revenue, talk about marketing and sales, and all the other buzzwords, but the real gravity of the situation is the responsibility that never goes away. I know because even though I’m not typically an anxious person, I’ve had panic attacks during the hardest times. That’s real—the sleepless nights and the constant pressure.
When you’re in the trenches with your team, there’s no task beneath you. There’s nothing you’ll say “no” to because they’re watching you. They see everything you do. I can count many times when I’ve done what I call “James Bond work,” the things that no one sees before and after the clock. I get materials and trailers where they need to go so the team can start their job on time. But nobody sees that. I’ve worked until 8 p.m. loading trailers to make sure that when it’s clock-in time, the guys are ready to go. These are the things nobody talks about—nobody’s clapping, nobody cares. They don’t give a damn about the extra effort.
This is the real work you do—the miles you drive to ensure equipment gets where it needs to be. People have glorified this “passive owner” nonsense, but the truth is, this is real work. These are real responsibilities. It’s a treadmill that only gets faster as you scale. You’re burning through cash, trying to make it all work, hoping that your vendors pay you on time, hoping that your customers settle their invoices, and trying to stay ahead of every challenge. These are the things nobody talks about.
There are no books that can fully prepare you for this. You have to live through it to understand. This is what it’s like to be a real owner, in the trenches, doing the work.