My father was an immigrant from Europe.
He told me that when he was in Europe, he had visions of the United States as a country where money grew on trees and the streets flowed with milk and honey.
He believed that America was the ultimate land of opportunity.
He came here in 1926 at age eighteen.
When he arrived, he found his vision to be true.
My dad realized that if he worked as hard as he did in Europe he could amass riches.
In the 1920s, there were thousands of immigrants entering the United States and jobs were hard to find.
My dad could not find a job, so he decided to become an entrepreneur and he established his own business repairing and servicing automobiles.
He called his business the Diversey Motor Clinic, which opened on Diversey Avenue in Chicago.
Dad quickly developed a successful business and was servicing many of the vehicles for the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department.
He also worked on mobsters' cars, namely the infamous Al Capone, installing police radios.
The Great Depression began in 1929 with the collapse of the stock and financial markets.
My dad told me much about the Great Depression and how thousands of people lost their jobs and their homes.
Unemployment was high and businesses were failing and closing their doors.
There were vacant stores on almost every corner.
Many houses were unoccupied and several families were living together in the same house.
Jobs were almost impossible to find.
Does this scenario sound familiar? Despite the pain and suffering that was taking place, my father was not seriously affected.
He was not looking for a job because he was his own boss and in control of his own destiny.
He was in the business of providing a necessary service for a great city that needed their vehicles to be operational.
My dad's experiences during the depression taught me my first valuable lessons.
These lessons were:
The bike provided me with the ability to visit other areas of my neighborhood and learn new things.
I saw a lot of things that I wanted to buy.
however that would take money, and I had none.
I was too young to get a job, so at age nine I decided to start my own business.
My bike was old and was constantly breaking down, just like the bikes owned by most of the kids in the neighborhood.
Tires would go flat, the brakes wouldn't work and the handle bars and seats always needed adjustment.
I could see that here was an opportunity so I started a bike repair business.
I made a sign, fastened it to our fence and opened for business.
Before long I had a thriving business repairing bikes within a several mile radius of my home.
This bicycle business was my first entrepreneurial experience and started me on the path to developing many other business ventures.
He told me that when he was in Europe, he had visions of the United States as a country where money grew on trees and the streets flowed with milk and honey.
He believed that America was the ultimate land of opportunity.
He came here in 1926 at age eighteen.
When he arrived, he found his vision to be true.
My dad realized that if he worked as hard as he did in Europe he could amass riches.
In the 1920s, there were thousands of immigrants entering the United States and jobs were hard to find.
My dad could not find a job, so he decided to become an entrepreneur and he established his own business repairing and servicing automobiles.
He called his business the Diversey Motor Clinic, which opened on Diversey Avenue in Chicago.
Dad quickly developed a successful business and was servicing many of the vehicles for the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department.
He also worked on mobsters' cars, namely the infamous Al Capone, installing police radios.
The Great Depression began in 1929 with the collapse of the stock and financial markets.
My dad told me much about the Great Depression and how thousands of people lost their jobs and their homes.
Unemployment was high and businesses were failing and closing their doors.
There were vacant stores on almost every corner.
Many houses were unoccupied and several families were living together in the same house.
Jobs were almost impossible to find.
Does this scenario sound familiar? Despite the pain and suffering that was taking place, my father was not seriously affected.
He was not looking for a job because he was his own boss and in control of his own destiny.
He was in the business of providing a necessary service for a great city that needed their vehicles to be operational.
My dad's experiences during the depression taught me my first valuable lessons.
These lessons were:
- If you can't get a job, become an entrepreneur and start your own business.
- Be your own boss and control your own destiny.
- Be in a business that provides a necessary service.
The bike provided me with the ability to visit other areas of my neighborhood and learn new things.
I saw a lot of things that I wanted to buy.
however that would take money, and I had none.
I was too young to get a job, so at age nine I decided to start my own business.
My bike was old and was constantly breaking down, just like the bikes owned by most of the kids in the neighborhood.
Tires would go flat, the brakes wouldn't work and the handle bars and seats always needed adjustment.
I could see that here was an opportunity so I started a bike repair business.
I made a sign, fastened it to our fence and opened for business.
Before long I had a thriving business repairing bikes within a several mile radius of my home.
This bicycle business was my first entrepreneurial experience and started me on the path to developing many other business ventures.
SHARE
