I ran a small business. Trump changed all that.
With so much economic instability, it's just not worth it.
I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve spent the past 40 years starting, running, and selling successful businesses. Many of them have been wildly profitable, some broke even, others not so much. And for the past 15 years, I have been a broker-owner of a small real estate company in Michigan.
What this lifetime of experience has taught me is this: Success or failure in business depends a lot on the conditions you are working in. You can put your heart and soul into a venture, but if you’re swimming upstream, it can only take you so far. You need a baseline of stability if you’re going to find success.
That’s why I was so distraught to see Donald Trump re-elected as president. As a real estate company, we’re impacted massively by the conditions in the housing market. And, thanks to Trump, those conditions are only getting worse. They are in the worst shape since I started doing this work.
Interest rates remain high, people aren’t moving mostly due to economic reasons, and opportunities for buyers and sellers are drying up everywhere. Seniors, who normally provide homes to the market, are holding on to them due to the uncertainty about the Medicare and Social Security changes threatened by the Trump administration. They can't be certain what they will be able to afford.
That all affects my bottom line. I’m not an oligarch and we aren’t a mega-corporation like Trump’s cronies are. We’re a mom-and-pop shop with a small staff, and we worry about just keeping the lights on. That’s something that Trump, with his inherited millions, constant bankruptcies, corporate slush funds, and crypto scams has never once had to think about.
So when he returned to office, I had a decision to make: Ride out the storm with Trump’s historically bad economy and bombastic daily decisions? Or close up shop before the losses piled up? With an extremely heavy heart, I made the decision to let my staff go and close our business after 15 years of service to our community.
I’ve been retirement-eligible for some time, and the option to take Social Security was already there. But before now, I opted not to take it. Donald Trump changed all that.
Something you should know about entrepreneurs is this: We don’t give up easily. We know—probably better than most people—that you have to keep at it, over and over again, if you want something to succeed. You have to fail lots of times before you finally succeed.
Another thing that’s true about entrepreneurs is that we always bounce back. And I know that I will too. Just not with the current instability of the Trump administration that is set on blowing up our economy, our communities, and our livelihoods.
Jackie is a serial entrepreneur in Michigan. She is a participant in the Home of the Brave campaign. We are withholding her last name at her request.
There will be a vast amount of stories like this. This administration is destroying the fertile environment for small businesses that has flourished over the years. Now, with tariffs, a probable recession and fear of not being able to get goods at reasonable prices, small businesses will fail and/or not start. The number of people employed by small businesses far outweighs those working in corporations. What will these workers be expected to do? Do the field jobs that were previously done by the immigrants who have been deported? These policies do not make sense if one is thinking about the labor force and middle class. It makes me wonder about the actual intent of this administration.
Heartbreaking and infuriating. Good luck!