By MICHAEL VOLPE
Brian Ferrie, a senior at Ramapo College is about to get smacked with the harsh reality of the state of small businesses in the country. After he graduates from the business school at Ramapo this spring and undergoes a bit of training, Ferrie will be replacing his parents as the main leader of business operations in their family owned small business, “Fresh Cut Lawn Service.” While he has been groomed for this role his entire life, the current state of affairs in the country and an upcoming era of new administrations and ways of practice, to say Ferrie has some concerns would be an understatement.
“The world is collapsing around us which makes it difficult to have confidence in stepping right into running a business. My parents say they feel bad for my brother and I because they believe we are inheriting a business atmosphere that is far more difficult to be competitive in when compared to when the business was started,” explained Ferrie on his impending transition.
The 2016 Presidential election was one of the most culture shifting, mind boggling periods of time in the history of our nation. The rhetoric spewed about business, finance, and people at all angles impacted not only Americans, but also our allies and prospective future allies. Among the Americans being forgotten and left behind during this crucial transition in history, small business owners are one of the main bearers of this nations many burdens and issues to correct. With this being said, it is important to understand that the entire approach to getting people back to work and allowing small business to flourish once again is about to change in just about every single way possibly imaginable.
With all of the rhetoric and promises about small business being recklessly thrown into the news cycle by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the actual severity of this issue was lost in translation. According to Forbes, 50% of the working population works in small business, making the outsourcing of jobs and stalemating status of small business detrimental to our economy as a whole. Understanding this while simultaneously recognizing that whatever grasp of small business one had under Obama is about to be relatively useless under the new Trump administration, Ferrie’s mind races when the ambiguity of the future comes to mind. While the future is uncertain, President-elect, Donald Trump’s campaign promise to repeal Obamacare made Ferrie hopeful in the sense of his business. He explained how Obamacare has damaged Fresh Cut financially since its implementation.
second extremely important point raised throughout the course of the political season, college debt and job availability for graduates is leaving hard-working, educated folks out of work and out of hope. Tuition rates continue to rise, people still cannot find jobs, and the economy is discouraging people from starting small businesses. All of these factors limit job creation and provoke anxiety in the minds of college students.
Starting as a little kid, Ferrie would help cut lawns and landscape with his father and the workers whenever he had spare time. Not only did this teach him the value of money at a young age, but it also nurtured a great passion for the company that has been such a major part of his life for so long. Aside from that, the long hours of work that have already been put in has engrained the mentality of success in his mind, regardless of the hard times.
“I’ve spent too many summers breaking my back trying to help preserve the reputation of this company to let it fail once I take over. Tough times are something to be mindful of, but everybody has them. The good businessmen take the tough times on the chin and learn from it.”
When surveyed, 18 out of 20 students from Ramapo College answered that they would not feel confident starting a small business in this country 5 years after graduation. In the same survey, 17 out of 20 students believe that the already slow economy is actually going to get worse in the coming years. This fear is not unwarranted, for high business taxes and the constant outsourcing of work overseas has created an environment difficult to thrive in. In addition to this, the media perpetuated so many harsh narratives about both candidates that no matter who won the election, a demonized, universally unfit person was all students saw in the candidates. This promotes an America that has lost its direction which directly works against the spirit our country needs in order to have small businesses excel.
Brittany Rodriguez, Ferrie’s girlfriend of 7 years, has seen first-hand how much this company means to him, but also recognizes the potential challenges that lay ahead as they plan their lives together. Rodriguez explained that the company has become a part of her as well through his dedication and years of work.
“When we were little kids in school he would wear a different Fresh Cut t-shirt to school every day which we all thought was funny until I got to know him and his family better. He was like, really proud, and for a good reason. I’m definitely proud of him and the company,” said Rodriguez.
“I also get scared about the future because his plan is to run the company after school, and while I’m always going to support him, he’s young and this is a tough world,” somberly explained Rodriguez.
When they started their lawn service company over a decade ago, John and Shawn Ferrie were much more confident in the long term stability of the economy, making the grooming of their son for future owner much less nerve wrecking reality. John Ferry build an originally very small company into a strong, successful company with a great reputation and some major lawn contracts that keep business running smoothly. With that being said, he has a solid understanding of the times and why they scare prospective business owners, especially his own son.
“I think the aspect that makes his transition from school to helping lead a business is the uncertainty. Everything in this world right now is a question mark – the economy, the new President, the future. It makes it a lot harder to see the glass as half full rather than half empty when you get out of school already so far behind financially from debt and the spirit of our people is as low as it is,” explained Mr Ferrie.
Fresh Cut Landscaping’s Facebook
Studying business management at Ramapo College, Ferrie hopes to apply the skills he has been taught throughout his schooling when he makes the nerve wrecking transition from student to business leader. Leaving school with debt and a lot of weight on his shoulders, Ferrie is confident he will make good on his promise to his hardworking, loving family to take Fresh Cut Landscaping to new and exciting places.
“I know that no matter what, I’m going to honor them and the company they started,” said Ferrie.
It is crazy to think that even though 50% of people are small business owners, only 2 out of 20 college students surveyed said they would ever feel comfortable starting up their own business. We have nothing less to blame than Obamacare and have no choice but to put our hope in Trump to make the necessary changes for people like Ferrie.