Owner talks about the struggles and successes of small business in Colorado.
Name: LeeAnn Unfred
Business: Castle Creek Bed and Breakfast
Employees: 0
Location: Grand Junction, Colorado
How did you become a small business owner?
My husband, Ron, and I had both worked our whole careers at the post office—he was a clerk, I was a carrier—and we purchased this piece of property, deciding we needed to do something after we finished our careers there. My grandmother and my aunt had run a boardinghouse in a town near here, and I think seeing what they did sparked my interest in this industry. So the B&B is our retirement job. We started construction on the building in 2001, we got our permit in 2004, and we’ve been in the business for 11 years.
What do you like most about running your own business?
The self-assurance. Working for someone else, your time isn’t your own. Of course running your own business is hard, but it is so nice to be taking care of yourself and making your own decisions. I work on customer service, on taking care of guests, a pretty wide variety of things that I wouldn’t have been able to attend to before. I’m really pleased with what we’re doing here.
What kind of business climate does Colorado have?
Like anywhere, there are a lot of rules and regulations. Even just to get the business started, the city regulations were outrageous. And the EPA standards are quite strict; you have to get a permit to build anywhere. But for the most part, I think Colorado’s pretty friendly to small businesses. Grand Junction in particular is doing a really great job of starting to understand us more, and so a lot more small businesses have been opening up in the area. They’ve been very good to us.
Why did you get involved with NFIB?
We quickly found out that we’re too small to have any kind of voice in anything. It’s just the two of us running Castle Creek, and it takes all of our time to run the business. And that’s why NFIB is so good for us—it understands us and fits our lifestyle. We’ve had several of what I call NFIB town hall meetings, where all the small businesses in the area come together and talk about what’s affecting us. We often realize we have the same problems, and so we are able to understand each other and what everyone goes through, so we don’t feel like we’re alone out there. NFIB really helps me recognize what we’re looking at for the future.
What advice do you have for other small business owners?
It’s hard. But any kind of entrepreneurship is hard. Just know it takes a hundred percent effort, and you have to have a passion for what you’re doing.
