Location: economics

About the same time I came to the point of choosing to start my own business the U.S. economy went down the crapper faster than things that go down crappers fast, small Lego's maybe? I don't know much about economics. I got through high school consumer economics remembering nothing, mission accomplished. I avoided anything math or economics related in college. Needless to say, I would not be an expert on how the economy works or why we're in such a bad situation now. Here is what I have been able to determine from my periodic dose of Good Morning America.

1. Nobody has any money. 'Bout bloody time we figured that out.
2. The people we thought had money really don't have money, just a bunch of stuff no one knows how to actually pay for.
3. I never knew what Wall Street was doing. Come to find out, Wall Street doesn't know what Wall Street is doing.
4. Old people can't retire anymore. Wal-Mart only has so many greeter positions.
5. CEO's are having to sell some of their homes in the Caribbean to Arab investors.
6. Good luck trying to buy a house.
7. If you bought a house, good luck keeping it.
8. Hyundai will let you return your new car if you lose your job. What?
9. Everybody is losing their job (and returning Hyundai's I guess) . I don't want to lose my job. Don't have a Hyundai.
10. Gas prices are down?
11. You want a loan? Cute.
12. Oh, sorry, you're a auto maker and you want a loan. No prob.
13. "Small businesses are the backbone of our economy."
14. Why is our economy slouching so badly?

Now here is what I have learned from these things. It is not a good time for me to get a big loan. It is not a good time to stretch yourself too much financially. The days of being rewarded for poor financial practice are coming to an end. Though some help may be coming to the small business sector, we're still not sure what it's going to be. I was fortunate enough to get my home before everything fell apart. For these reasons I have chosen to begin my business from a shop located at my home for now. The circumstances surrounding the current economic situation are such that I cannot justify the risks of financial imprudence. In all of our prosperity in the last couple decades I think we lost a lot of use for people working from their own resources. Maybe that will change. I'd like to see that change. Jinji Cycles is committed to ideas of self support, hard work, and financial responsibility. If that means operating from my home for a period, then so be it. I refuse to simply be another in the statistics of those who took more than they should and failed. The time for greater risk will come, but a continued diligence in the estimation of those risks is critical for continued success.