Gosh, I remember when I first went out on my own, had big dreams – no way was I going to operate a one-man company for long, I fancied myself as an empire builder. Studying and passing the test to get my own license was first on my list. I remember speaking with one landlord after another, to finally find one that would trust be enough to lease me office space, then I recall chocking on the reality of being on my own (not everybody is fit to be self-employed) - and having to sign a multi-year occupancy space lease (putting me in debt tens of thousands of dollars), then the joy of buying or leasing a $7,500 copier, and because I had no intention of staying small, lobby furniture, customer water cooler, coffee service, customer interviewing table, chairs etc. external & internal signage, I bought several desks, cement fire-safe filing cabinets, a telephone instrument system, office plants, pictures, chairs, wall clock, staplers, pencils, paperclips and all the other office supplies I imagined, fax machine, computers, and swallowing hard to hire (NON commissioned salaried personnel) where I got to pay the employer's share of payroll taxes plus their payroll whether or not loans were closing, of course talking real fast to influence wholesalers to take a chance with an unknown (me) and accept business from me, several told me nope! It all was a ‘barrier to entry’ I didn’t truly appreciate until years later (and I saw the riff-raff it kept out) … it all ran me (and others back then) somewhere between $10,000 and $30,000 to "go out on my own" and start my own little company.

Unlike today, where many are working in their jammies with the attached bunny feet, unshaven for days on end, out of a furnished 2 bedroom apartment, dealing with the single largest financial transaction most Americas ever face, which was (rightfully) not allowed then – however, all that jammed a commitment inside my brain to be a good industry citizen (if for no other reason but to protect my investment). Sometimes 'principals' are effected by what you have committed to an endeavor.