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THANKS TO MY DADFOR WHAT HE

TAUGHT ME ABOUTSMALL BUSINESS

THE GOOD LIFEByMerra Lee Moffitt, AWMA, CMFC, CFP®

About this time of year I like to express my love andappreciation for my father who died in December 1987at the young age of 47. As a small dairy farmer in Oley,

he was surely considered self-employed. Farming has never been aneasy profession and by the 70s when I was growing up, small farmswere struggling. As the oldest of six kids on the farm I learned manylessons about running a small business.

Let’s thank and reflect how and whatmy dad taught me. Although the lessonsincluded a lot of hard work for a young girl,I started milking cows at age nine. Cowsneed to be milked twice a day, every day —whether it’s your birthday, Christmas, it’ssnowing or there’s a hurricane, that stillmeans every day. I learned to take care ofthe resources and tools that create yourincome. Those cows created the milk thatwas sold to support our family. Dad taughtme to care for others above myself.

There are things that you just can’tcontrol. When you grow the food for youranimals, you are subject to the weather. Soone year there could be a drought andanother year be a flood. Some years therewould be extra that could be sold togenerate cash; and some years there was ashortage. Then, he would have to go outand buy cow feed. I learned that in businessthere can be unexpected income andsometimes unexpected expenses.

Profitability can be hard to find. Feedprices go up, veterinary prices go up but theprice of milk, our main product, mostlystayed flat. Sometimes you just can’t raiseyour prices enough because the market-place won’t allow it. I grew up seeing mydad worry about money. I learned toalways set aside some cash for events thatyou can’t control.

Finding things to sell. Because there isnever enough cash whenever a big billcame along, like insurance, taxes, and mytuition bill when I went to college, my dadwould have to find something to sell. Oftenthat would be an extra load of hay, somesteers, and sometimes even one of the cowsthat didn’t produced enough milk. Thattaught me to be creative about financing.

Every day was a workday. Saturdays,Sundays, holidays, every day the animalsneed to be tended. I learned that sometimesthe business that you’re in requires a lot ofovertime. When you’re doing something youlove, it generally doesn’t even feel like work.

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THE GOOD LIFE(Continued from page 43)

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Outdoors in the sunshine. I believe myfather picked farming because he likedbeing outdoors. He also liked the freedomof deciding what to do next and not beingtold by someone else.

Growing your business. Even whentimes are good there can be a lot of restric-tions on growth. My dad had to go buy the‘rights’ to get more cows to produce moremilk. Each farm had what was called aquota, buying the government’s permissionfrom another farmer who was downsizing.That taught me that every business has rulesyou need to abide.

Whenever there is a pork shortage oneyear all the farmers were tempted to raise abig pen of pigs for the pork. Inevitably nextyear, the price of pork would go really low(since farmers all thought the same thing).Great for consumers who were buying atthe grocery store but not for the farmers. I learned to not only look at short-term sales,but also long-term trends.

Family is important. My dad was theyoungest of nine children. I have over 39 firstcousins mostly here in Pennsylvania. Wehelped each other with building, remodel-ing, childcare and numerous other projects.

Choose your business carefully. No onecould imagine having a bookstore or videostore these days. But a generation ago thesewould’ve been thriving businesses with lotsof hope.

In closing, this December, I’d like tothank my father for giving me the strengthto persevere when things were tough, theloyalty to help others in providing a trulyneeded service, and the wisdom toprepare for the things that might happenalong the way.

So thank your father when you see himnext. And thank him in your heart if he is nolonger here. Merra Lee Moffitt, CERTIFIED FINANCIALPLANNER™ Professional (CFP®), is a SeniorPartner, Wealth Strategist at Good Life FinancialGroup. She loves helping business owners growtheir financial independence via their businesses.She helps her clients keep work/family balancewhile they pursue lifetime financial success. She can be reached at, 610-488-7353 or by email at merralee.moffitt@lpl.com. Also check outwww.MerraLee.net . Oh, by the way we’ve grownand now have moved to 2395 Lancaster Pike,Reading, PA 19607.Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investmentadvice offered through Good Life Advisors LLC, a registered investmentadvisor. Good Life Advisors LLC and Good Life Financial Group are separateentities from LPL Financial.