I often wonder why I do some much for this business when it doesn’t always make economic sense.
Not every business is a profit hungry capitalist empire. Many small business owners are in business because they are really committed to and passionate about what they do.
Pure capitalism demands that you make logical decisions about revenue and profit margins and only enter a line of business or stay in it when it makes enough money. But many small business owners got into business not because they wanted to make a lot of money (although making money is nice) but because they felt a need to provide a product or service that they felt people really need.
Often, when this is the case, small business owners do a lot more for their business, in terms of time and money, than the typical business might.
Take our business for example. We started making replacement parts for Revere Ware, well, because we wanted them, and were frustrated that we couldn’t get them. Without new parts, our perfectly good 60 year old cookware was useless. We blindly hoped that there were many others out there that felt the same way we did.
And there are. We’ve not sure how much we’ve contributed to the rise in popularity of vintage Revere Ware, as evidenced by the increasingly growing numbers of Revere Ware cookware for sale on eBay since we started selling our replacement parts, but we’d like to think we’ve helped people get more pleasure and years more use out of their Revere Ware.
But small business isn’t always about good sense or dollars and cents; sometimes it is about becoming a positive force in that which you feel passionate about. Small business owners who are passionate about their business will often go much farther than other business owners to provide a good product and service for others interested in what their business is about.
To that end, we’ve spent a lot of time doing things like, organizing all the Revere Ware for sale on eBay so you can easily find what you need, painstakingly searching for and scanning vintage instructions and other materials so we can to help you better understand your cookware, providing DIY how-to guides to help you fix your broken cookware, collecting historical materials, recipes, and such, continuing to add more parts to our catalog because people are asking for them, and spending hours answering questions that often have nothing to do with making a sale.
Economically, this business might not make sense. With day jobs, small children, and a house under construction, making the time to answer questions or deal with negative feedback on Amazon.com is not always easy. Our time might be better spent elsewhere.
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