It's the classic Trump small loan of a million dollars scenario. Sure not many are as lucky as Trump was. But even t hese examples of blue collar success have a bunch of luck in them.
Not everyone can start a machine shop with their dad, or own or even operate a taco restaurant. You need to be at the right place, the right moment, have the right amount of money and or the right equipment, interests and skills. And only then your sense of opportunity and effort will take you places.
For the common person it's a lottery just to be allowed to play the game.
> You need to be at the right place, the right moment, have the right amount of money and or the right equipment, interests and skills. And only then your sense of opportunity and effort will take you places.
If you flip that around, you get "Anyone, anywhere, any time, with any amount of money and any (or no) equipment, interests or skills should be able to be start and own a successful business." Does that really sound like a reasonable expectation?
For the common person it's a lottery just to be allowed to work at Taco Bell and do what the Taco Bell handbook tells you? And then, once you become a manager to save your pennies until you have a down payment on your own store?
This was just the result of a quick Google search so perhaps the numbers aren't accurate, but this website suggests that you need a net worth of 1.5 million to open a Taco Bell franchise.
I think that would be out of reach for many if not most Taco Bell managers. Presumably it would be even harder in parts of the United States with higher costs of living.
The vast majority of America cannot get 1.5 million dollars in funding to start a Taco Bell franchise. In fact, very few people would be able to get a 1.5 million dollar loan to start a Taco Bell franchise.
VC is not the norm. It is very much the exception.
How many people do you think working the counter FT at Taco Smell can save enough money to afford their own franchise location?
> The cost of opening a new Taco Bell restaurant is between $1.2 million and $2.6 million. Taco Bell also charges a $45,000 franchise fee, an ongoing royalty fee equal to 5.5% of gross sales, and a marketing fee equal to 4.25% of gross sales.
I expect about 0% of people to go from the bottom level position at Taco Bell directly to owning one. But I'm sure you're smart enough to have known that. So why did you feel it would be useful to frame the scenario in such a disingenuous way?
I am 100% dialing it back in good-faith to explain why I just framed it as you put it.
1. I read tinco's comment to state (paraphrasing): "it is difficult to start a business, and for the common person it is a game of chance." Which, I absolutely agree with when I measure it against my life experiences/knowledge.
2. You replied with two questions, also paraphrasing: "It's a lottery to work at Taco Bell?", and, "And assuming you do work at Taco Bell, that you would become a manager who could save up to own their own store?"
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Given that scope of the conversation, I assumed you were positing that someone could seriously start working at a Taco Bell, start saving their money, and then some day afford their own franchise location.
The first question of 2 is an absolute possibility, ie: it is not a lottery to work at Taco Bell and it would be silly to assume otherwise. That may have confused me leading into the second question, asked rhetorically, as something that you deemed possible. This is to say, "A person could absolutely work at Taco Bell, and they could also save to own their own some day."
The "Gimme a break man" in reply to someone saying something that I deem 100% rational (#1) with two rhetorical questions that seem to paint the situations that they posit as rational possibilities confuses the crap out of me.
Simply put: You submitted two arguments, seemingly painted as possible realities, in an adversarial way to something I saw as a rational and relevant statement. I fired back thinking you thought that was possible because there's not much context to figure otherwise.
If I confused your comment I apologize.
Quick Edit: When I posted this reply I saw another person, harimau777, answering similar to myself with another credible source (also with a much higher caliber quality of language - I'm goof sometimes). What I'm trying to say is I'm not the only one who took your statements this way.
Well that's at least impressive. Was it a good investment for him to have spent his saved pennies on a Taco Bell franchise? If it hadn't worked out, could he do it again on another restaurant? I still feel he was lucky to have been able to save so much, you'd need to save like $400 every month for like 10 years, on a small salary. But you're right there was likely a very large amount of self determination at play.
Not everyone can start a machine shop with their dad, or own or even operate a taco restaurant. You need to be at the right place, the right moment, have the right amount of money and or the right equipment, interests and skills. And only then your sense of opportunity and effort will take you places.
For the common person it's a lottery just to be allowed to play the game.