BUSINESS PULSE : SMALL BUSINESS IN ORANGE COUNTY : Butchers, Bakers, Microchip Makers : Lone Wolves Enjoy Status but Stress Hunts Them

By MARIA L. La GANGA

May 19, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Something has happened in the 33 years since William H. Whyte Jr. wrote “The Organization Man” and everyone wanted to work for a corporate giant like IBM.

Whyte’s paean to big business celebrated the millions of Americans who donned gray suits and “left home, spiritually as well as physically, to take the vows of organization.” Their middle management values, he wrote, would “set the American temper” for years to come.

Somehow, in the intervening decades, those values seem to have lost their luster. In recent years, small-business owners and entrepreneurs have upstaged Whyte’s exemplary executives as symbols of achievement in their own right.

We’ve evolved from a view that big is beautiful to a belief that small means satisfaction, innovation, independence. And we have so romanticized the rewards of small business that we have often ignored the sacrifices of those people who have turned their backs on security and struck out on their own.

Endless Workweeks

People like Peter Sloan, a lover of literature who found creative fulfillment by building a stationery business in Costa Mesa. Or Julie M. Caddy of Irvine, who endures endless workweeks and frequent harassment as she chalks up credits as an independent film producer. Or William C. Dennis, whose Laguna Hills print shop provided him with two heart attacks on the road to prosperity.

But even a heart attack can be an acceptable trade-off for true contentment. “I’ve had a lot of benefits along the way,” Dennis said. “I haven’t had to listen to anybody telling me how to do something, someone in Toledo, Ohio.” Or Tustin, for that matter.

Satisfaction, in fact, is widespread among Orange County’s small-business operators. A hefty 97% of the 522 small-business owners who participated in a recent poll conducted for the Times Orange County Edition by Mark Baldassare & Associates said they are pleased with their current business and careers. A majority of 53% found their current state of affairs “very” satisfying.

Rewarded by Independence

And the sense of freedom and pride felt by Dennis are sentiments that stoke the fires of small enterprise throughout Orange County: 81% of all participants in the Times Small Business Survey identified independence as a key reward of owning their own operations; 75% said building a business was a basic motivator.

But the world of small business is not all roses and romance. To some skeptics, it represents a modern incarnation of the sweatshop environment that many of our forebears struggled to escape. Even to its devotees, small business often means long hours, lots of headaches and little remuneration for owners, and meager benefits, minimum wages and limited advancement for workers.

So what makes this new breed of businessmen and businesswomen able to endure so much for rewards so ephemeral?

Studies by the National Federation of Independent Business have found that small-business owners tend to be “Adrenalin addicts,” said Terry Hill, spokesman for the group. “They have that feeling of control over their destiny that they don’t get working for someone else.”

They’re also optimists, said Ralph Sabin, a partner and emerging business specialist at the international accounting firm of Ernst & Whinney. “Otherwise, they’d never go it alone,” he said. “They view the world as how they want it to be and fervently believe they can force circumstances to be as they perceive them. They may even be a little bit naive, but that’s what allows them to take on the risks of having their own business.”

For the classic entrepreneur, the motivation to build a business is a creative urge more powerful than the lust for money. Of the participants in the Times Small Business Survey, only 57% identified financial rewards as a key motivator.

“It is a desire to build something, to fill a need in the marketplace,” said Arthur Perrone, vice chairman of the Geneva Cos. in Newport Beach, a national mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in private, mid-sized businesses. “It’s the pride of having the best product that makes entrepreneurs tick.”

Studies Put on Hold

Peter Sloan, president and co-owner of South Coast Stationers in Costa Mesa, was working on a master’s degree in English literature when he started his business. His plan had been to teach, not sell, to immerse himself in books, not balance sheets. But he had five children to put through college, and his studies were put on permanent hold.

Twenty years have passed, and South Coast has abandoned its original 900-square-foot warehouse for new 25,000-square-foot quarters and increased its staff from two to 50. And through the years, Sloan and his partner, Glen Christensen, have crafted the kind of business for which they always wanted to work: One where workers are lifelong friends. Where employees and management spend their spare time together mountain climbing, skiing and camping. Where there’s the time and money to give to and work for local charities.

“Being from a literary background, I see a business as a form of canvas,” Sloan said. “It’s a form of artwork, a chance to be creative. You can make it up pretty much any way you want to.”

But there’s a price to be paid: A full 60% of surveyed small-business owners said they work more than 45 hours every week; 15% work more than 60 hours per week, leaving them with precious little leisure time or energy.

Four in 10 survey respondents said they have experienced health or stress problems because of their work. A third have run into financial troubles, and a quarter have had problems with their families or marriages because of commitments to the business.

Julie M. Caddy, president and owner of JMC Video & Film Production in Irvine, acknowledges that her workweek typically stretches to 60 hours, often over 7 days. She talks about the weeks on location without a day to herself, and the pride she’s felt in watching her company grow and gain a reputation for quality.

But she’s reluctant to discuss the toll it takes. “Um, it definitely puts a hamper on your personal life,” she said, delicately skirting the issue, pausing, then turning the conversation back to profits and prestige.

“For anything good you have to make some sacrifices,” she finally said of the life that has left her alone and, at times, vulnerable. “It’s hard being in the business world. I’m single. People hit on you. It’s hard to wear the tie and blue suit when you’re a female.”

William C. Dennis is less coy. But at age 62 and with two heart attacks behind him, he knows that small business can bring big hassles. He is president and owner of Dennis Printers Inc. in Laguna Hills, a company started by his father and grandfather the year before Dennis’ birth. Other than a brief stint as a box boy when he was 12, Dennis has worked for the family firm his entire life. His son, Larry, now runs the day-to-day operations.

Dennis Printing was originally in Santa Ana on a site that a local charity wanted to acquire so it could expand its operations. That was in late 1977. Months went by. The charitable organization kept vacillating. The stress kept building. In early 1978, Dennis said, the group decided that it wanted the site--immediately. Heart attack No. 1 struck. “A year later, I had my next one, 2 months before we moved the business,” Dennis said. “As the doctor said, it was specifically stress-related. It had to do with our work.”

But would Dennis have done it differently? Would he have fled small business for a secure office somewhere in a cozy corporate complex? Traded in his entrepreneur’s spurs for the organization man’s three-piece pinstripes?

Like 97% of the small-business owners polled by The Times, Dennis’ answer is a resounding “No.”

By thinking small, he said, “You’re the master of your own destiny. You do it yourself, or you ask only one person. And the worst he could say is, ‘Oh, Dad, that’s a terrible idea.’ ”

Times staff writer John O’Dell contributed to this report.

MAJORITY SATISFIED

Satisfaction

“Overall, how satisfied are you with your current business and career?”

Not at All: 3%

Somewhat: 44%

Very: 53%

Very Somewhat Not at All By Number of Employees 1 to 5 37% 56% 7% 6 to 10 50 47 3 11 to 25 54 43 3 26 to 50 62 36 2 By Industry Retail 50 50 -- Construction 54 46 -- Services 48 47 5 FIRE * 74 24 2 Manufacturing 53 40 7 Other 51 49 --

* Finance, Insurance, Real Estate

Hours Worked

“Approximately how many hours per week do you work at your job?”

35-45: 20%

Less than 35: 5%

60 Plus: 15%

46-60 Hours: 60%

Future Options

“At this point in your career, which of these options would you prefer?”

Work for Big Company: 3%

Start New Business: 12%

Remain at Current Business: 85%