I wanna buy a gas station!

[Endrik]

for centuries immigrants have gone to America and try to make it... pretty much everyone's ancestors were immigrants in US.... they all have survived the battle of who makes it and who does not... it keeps on going... new blood is coming in and they are doing something right because they have buisnesses everywhere... but also a lot of them fail too... anyway Americans are hard working people.... people in wealthy European countries are pretty lazy... they do the least amount of work as possible... a lot of people in poor 3 world countries work the hardest and they work in horrible conditions because they don't have any other choice... when they have the opportunity to got to America then have the change to make it in the states because they are working harder than hard working Americans

[VinceV]

Long Beach, California.

That's right Big Dutch Boy!!!:ROTF::ROTF:

[mm2002]

My observation has been that a lot of "Americans" think that opening their own business means instant wealth. The get their SBA, go buy a new car, a new house, and try to live the "image" of a business owner. Very few of them are willing to put in the hours, live on a smaller budget, or otherwise sacrifice during the time it usually takes for a business to become profitable (5 years MINIMUM!). If you do start your own business, any profits need to be re-invested in the business for a good while, not used for buying all the stuff you ever wanted! As a general rule, the immigrants and their families who move here to start a business generally don't mind living on a "shoestring" while their business grows. Most Americans just aren't willing to do that.

I've been self employed for 9 years now, and trust me, it's no walk in the park.

[yard dawg]

My observation has been that a lot of "Americans" think that opening their own business means instant wealth. The get their SBA, go buy a new car, a new house, and try to live the "image" of a business owner. Very few of them are willing to put in the hours, live on a smaller budget, or otherwise sacrifice during the time it usually takes for a business to become profitable (5 years MINIMUM!). If you do start your own business, any profits need to be re-invested in the business for a good while, not used for buying all the stuff you ever wanted! As a general rule, the immigrants and their families who move here to start a business generally don't mind living on a "shoestring" while their business grows. Most Americans just aren't willing to do that.

I've been self employed for 9 years now, and trust me, it's no walk in the park.

Dude good points about americans wanting to look rich but the hotel story is the facts. These immigrants get a free pass and natural born citizens get nothing. SOmeone said if we didnt offer these incentives to them to come here legally then wouldnt they come illegally? Answer.. 99% OF THEM WOULDNT COME IF IT WASNT FOR THE FREEBIES THE GOVT GIVES OUT. They come for free healthcare and welfare. They come for basically no risk business opportunities. If we stop all the freebies they wont come and americans will have a fighting chance again. Screw the immigrants 1st crap. American citizens 1st then maybe if there is anything left over let the immigrants work for it. Stop the friggin handouts. We dont need the immigrants. I can cut my own grass and clean my own house.

[mm2002]

Dude good points about americans wanting to look rich but the hotel story is the facts.

I agree, and I know Jeri's story is fact. The problem is in the many who have screwed it up for the few. The "few", meaning the Americans who do, or would do it right. I know Jeri personally, and trust me, she's a member of the "few". Unfortunately, the "many" have made it very difficult for her to make it happen.

[åron]

If you get rejected for financing, you don't have enough history, collateral or capital to put down. Having a well detailed business plan in a professional format is most important. Just because you get rejected doesn't mean it's not a good idea. You just need to do due diligence, and show the bank how you are going to make a profit. Anything less isn't good enough.

[Spivonious]

Geez, what's with all the immigrant hating? Bottom line is that they are more willing to live in poverty while their business gets off the ground. "Americans" are generally lazy and want to work their 40 hours a week and lounge about on the weekends. If the immigrants get a break on a small business loan, then good for them. It just means more businesses which means more competition. While immigrants may not be American citizens, they are still American to me.

99% OF THEM WOULDNT COME IF IT WASNT FOR THE FREEBIES THE GOVT GIVES OUT. They come for free healthcare and welfare

Are we still talking about business owners? I'm positive that if you own a business you don't qualify for welfare/medicare.

[mm2002]

Geez, what's with all the immigrant hating? Bottom line is that they are more willing to live in poverty while their business gets off the ground. "Americans" are generally lazy and want to work their 40 hours a week and lounge about on the weekends. If the immigrants get a break on a small business loan, then good for them. It just means more businesses which means more competition. While immigrants may not be American citizens, they are still American to me.


Are we still talking about business owners? I'm positive that if you own a business you don't qualify for welfare/medicare.

Amen brother. I will also note, there are more Americans sucking off the welfare system than there are immigrants.
And about the "immigrant" thing. 99% of US citizens are immigrants, so let's get off that. If you aren't an American Indian, you're an immigrant. I'm 1/4 Cherokee, so I guess I'm 75% immigrant.

[QuantumRider]

Amen brother. I will also note, there are more Americans sucking off the welfare system than there are immigrants.
And about the "immigrant" thing. 99% of US citizens are immigrants, so let's get off that. If you aren't an American Indian, you're an immigrant. I'm 1/4 Cherokee, so I guess I'm 75% immigrant.

Although I wasn't aware of the favored treatment given to immigrants until I read Jeri's post, maybe the anti-immigrant people can take solace in the fact that if these immigrant business owners have kids who are born in the US, they, as American citizens, would not be given the favoritism afforded to their parents.

My dad immigrated to the US in the 60's from a small island nation in Asia, but I am an American, born in Chicago. Nobody in my family has ever been on welfare, we always paid taxes (over 50% of gross income for my dad and my sister, a little less for me when I lived in the US), we're upstanding members of society and all that. Like others have posted, I think that most legal immigrants come to the US seeking better opportunities than are available in whatever part of the world they come from, and not to suck off the goverment's tit.

As to not needing immigrants to "cut your grass" and to "clean your house", I'm assuming that these immigrants aren't the ones applying for loans and starting up businesses, who the original poster's rant was about.

[dg]

+1 to everything Mark said. I've seen lots of people crash & burn by overextending themselves & acting "successful" before they ever even got their feet under themselves. You've got to be ready for a grind.

As for immigrants, here's a story for you. In '76, my mom convinced our church to sponsor a Vietnamese family. Basically, we got them out of a refugee camp (Ft. Chafee, Ark., iirc) and put them up in a tiny apartment. It was a husband (Luc), wife (Nga), her younger brother (about 17), and a newborn daughter. They had gotten out by stealing an NVA plane along with their cousin (a pilot) & his family. Luc took a job as a janitor, then eventually got his trucker's license & drove a route for a chemical company. He worked both jobs and went to community college at night. He made straight A's, finished up at a better college, then got his masters in Electrical Engineering, all while continuing to work a full-time job.

I don't know if he ever got any sleep, but whenever I saw him he had a big smile on his face and was usually having a laugh about something. When I'm having a shitty day & start feeling sorry for myself, a quick way to get over it is to think about Luc & his family.

Anyway, he ended up with a great career and a nice house, put two daughters through college (both were 4.0 students and are now MDs). The only handout they got was for the church to vouch for them to get them out of the camp, some help with their rent for the first few months, and a couple of job leads. My guess is that he & his daughters have paid more taxes & helped stimulate our economy more than most of the people pissing & moaning about immigrants have. They didn't take anybody's place. It's not a zero-sum game.

[mm2002]

Yep to the above two posts. I'm glad to see that at least some of us see the real deal, and aren't blinded by what the general public wants to believe, or what the media likes to portray. Ya know, all this "PC" bullshit is going to be our demise if we don't get a handle on it.

[Norton]

Immigrants are ok if it's small amounts. But when it comes to big amounts, it just screws up the economy.It's like that for any country. And if there are some easy conditions for immigrants to start businesses, it should be contemporary for them to hire native citizens.