Small business

He’s survived an assassination, bounced back from bankruptcy and – so far, at least – avoided all attempts to jail him. But Donald Trump’s most audacious feat is yet before him: to persuade Americans to pay more for their goods as their beloved businesses struggle – and then be grateful to him at the polls.  While tariffs threaten to raise prices across the board for consumers, small businesses with lower margins than their larger competitors are struggling. “Whether or not you support tariffs, or whether or not you think certain offices should be cut, I think overall, any kind of economic turbulence is uniquely burdensome for small businesses,” says Molly Day, the National Small Business Association’s vice president of public affairs.

After serving in World War Two and many years working in the dental supply business (sans a high school diploma), my grandfather made a decision as a husband and father of five young children: he went into business for himself. It takes guts to start your own enterprise, especially when it means leaving the relative safety and security of steady employment. My grandfather worked long hours. He recruited his children to help with all manner of odd jobs, such as cleaning the warehouse. With no retirement package to speak of, he might have worked into old age, except for a clever merger with another small business aimed at attracting the attention of a UK-based company that in time bought him out. I suppose you could say the global capitalist system worked for my grandfather…sort of.