Federal regulations and skyrocketing healthcare costs are biggest frustrations.
Member Profile: David Thomas, Integrity Foods
David Thomas, owner
of Integrity Foods, came to a fork in the road, professionally speaking, in
July 2003. He had been working for many years in the food industry in a variety
of capacities, including as a multiunit restaurant operator, in food distribution,
and as a food broker.
“After doing it for
someone else for 24 years, I felt it was time to do something on my own,” he
said. “I happened upon a book, ‘If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get
Out of the Boat,’ and it was life-changing. It made me realize if I ever was
going to experience the autonomy I was searching for as well as satisfying my
entrepreneurial spirit, I had to take the leap of faith, and I’m so glad I
did.”
While Integrity
Foods continues to grow, the nature of the business presents challenges.
“As a broker, we
are subcontracted out by a variety of manufacturers, so we are the middle man,”
Thomas said. “We have had some of these folks experience acquisitions, which at
times has caused us to lose the account. And, of course, recuperating the
revenue stream takes time.”
Thomas said one of
the main lessons he’s learned about being self-employed is that you must plan
both short-term and long-term for the future in order to provide for the
business and the families that it employs.
“I truly love being
self-employed, but it continues to be a strain on us to stay in compliance with
all of the federal regulations that continue to rain down on us,” he said. “I
would love to offer a better benefits package, as an example, but the mandates
by the stroke of a pen make it impossible to do so financially.”
Thomas said he
believes Georgia is friendly to the small business community, but mandates and
regulations at the federal level are burdensome.
“Healthcare costs
have skyrocketed and cover nothing,” he said. “I now pay personally
two-and-a-half times what I paid for me and my family 18 months ago. It
[Affordable Care Act] was never about controlling cost. It was about control,
and it’s not working.”
Thomas joined NFIB
because he wants to try and make a difference on issues like these.
“The reason more
folks don’t get involved is not that they don’t believe in the cause, but we
are all working to pay for all the stuff that they [lawmakers] want to force on
us as taxpayers,” he said. “If I can help make a difference, then being
involved in NFIB is worth it.”
