04/24/2002
NFIB/Wisconsin Leadership Council Chair Dan Kubly knows a lot about small business owners. He became one in 1974 when he purchased his first business -- a washer and dryer leasing company -- with an SBA loan secured with his home. He started the business with 250 machines and sold the company in 1996 with 4,000 units.But Kubly's main business these days is helping other potential small business owners. Kubly Enterprises does angel investing in small businesses, working with individuals interested in becoming small business owners. The business model is designed to provide initial funding to individuals, assume an equity interest in the small business, build value and sell the business in five to 10 years. Frequently the small businessperson involved is the ultimate buyer.
For example, Kubly Enterprises once invested in a locksmith and security business in the area. When the couple who owned the business reached their 60s and were ready to retire, their general manager, who had worked for the company 25 years, wanted to buy the business. However, he needed funding to close the deal. Kubly Enterprises provided the funds, recouped the investment in five years with interest and vested the general manager with 50 percent equity. Recently the business was sold to a national company and both Kubly Enterprises and the manager realized a significant return on investment.
With results like this, it's easy to see why Kubly Enterprises receives a large volume of business plans and potential investment opportunities monthly. But Kubly says the company only "pulls the trigger" on two or three per year, and tends to invest in existing brick-and-mortar businesses with experienced employees.
"We don't invest in business, we invest in people," he said.
Kubly also helps his fellow small-business owners through his work with NFIB. He'd attended most Leadership Council meetings for three years before becoming assistant chair in 1997. When the previous chair sold his business and left Wisconsin, State Director Bill Smith invited Kubly to take his place. Kubly agreed to a year term, which is now in its twenty-fourth month, Kubly jokes. Clearly, it's an arrangement that is satisfactory to the Leadership Council.
Quick Facts:
Name: Dan Kubly
Business: Kubly Enterprises, made up of two partners and one accountant
Joined NFIB: Early 1980s
Why did you join NFIB?
I became aware of them through their lobbying efforts. Through the size of their membership, I thought they represented small business better than more narrowly focused organizations.
There were other organizations, too, whose names I won't mention, that claimed to be supporters of small business, but seemed to be only interested in getting memberships and were actually more geared toward big business.
What has NFIB done to help the cause of small business?
In a lot of ways, it's intangible. I think the ballot is enormously important. Any member who doesn't take advantage is missing out on a great service.
NFIB gives me tremendous insight into issues that the government is considering. I don't get that in the Wall Street Journal or Forbes. I get that from NFIB.
Most important issue facing small business:
Unfunded mandates. Those are really tough, feel-good votes that always end up costing us money. It's hard to vote against apple pies, but forcing us to include contraceptives and mental health coverage is going to wreak havoc on small business. Health insurance costs are already going up 30 percent -- pile up a few mandates, it's 50 percent. They don't seem to understand that there are small businesses that will have to eliminate employee positions just to fund the increased health insurance premiums. The other alternative is to increase the costs to the employees for this benefit.
Why do you like being a small business owner?
The tremendous surge of satisfaction you get from achieving success from hard work.
I've always found it amusing when talking to people who don't own small businesses and they say they wish they had the freedom of being their own boss. They don't realize that I couldn't take a vacation with my family for seven years and was working 70-hour weeks. When I broke down the money I made and the hours I worked, I was making something like five dollars an hour. Especially in those early years, it's a lot of hard work.
