Small Business Week is from October 20th to 26th and for those that are entrepreneurs, their business is a big part of their lives.
Take the owners of Edo Japan and Quesada in Drumheller, Parin and Shreya Patel, who have been in business in the valley for over two years now. Parin shares that the magnitude of work involved in owning a business, let alone two, is quite large. “Drumheller is very unique in its own sense, being a tourist town. The hours of operation for an owner fluctuates a lot. In summer, honestly speaking, it is very difficult for every business owner, I believe. In winter, things slow down. It doesn’t change anything, we have a lot to do. You are recovering from the summer, get everything back in place, so that you are ready for the next year. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
As for being a small business owner in Drumheller, Parin and his family truly appreciates the small town life. “Before moving to Drumheller we were a bit unsure. We had never been in a small town and were unsure of what it was going to be (like). We are very happy to be here and we are happy to be part of the community. The community has given us a lot. In fact, we had the New Years Baby this year and a lot of people have come to the restaurant to ask about our new baby. We don’t even know who the people are. That is something very incredible here.”
One of the difficult things to do as a small business owner is to balance family life and work life. Parin has struggled with this as well. “The business is also your family. It is very hard to have a balance between both. I’m unable to keep that balance because it takes a lot of effort to work in the business. I would like to meet someone who can teach me how to balance between both.”
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