Today is Veterans Day. The freedom to start and run a business intersects with this day. If it weren’t for our veterans, starting and running a business would be a dream that would be out of reach for most people. If you think I am overstating that case, ask anyone who was born in another country, has immigrated to the United States and started a business. They will tell you. Most of the world lives in a much different environment, where the haves and have nots are decided, not by who works the hardest and smartest, but who holds the political power.

It has been 25 years since I started my business and I want to reflect back on one particular veteran who had the greatest impact on my confidence to do so: my dad. My father and I share many characteristics. He started a business and so did I. He had two sons and so do I. I am his oldest son and I was born when he was 35 years old. My oldest son was born when I was 35 years old. Here is where we are different: he was a veteran of WWII. He was sent to the Pacific Theater and he saw what the extremes of power can do to people. He experienced people starving to death, left without shelter, food, or anyone to care for their needs. He understood that life could crumble around you if you did not protect it. He told of a man who approached him in Japan who wanted to swap his family’s silver Buddha for food. His Buddha had been positioned in his house so that anyone entering the house encountered his god. It was supposed to bring his family prosperity and happiness. He gave it up for one meal of army rations.

My father came home after the war and started working. At first he worked in a GE factory. After a few years, he went to work for his uncle who was a ceramic tile subcontractor and learned the trade. Some time after this, he decided to strike out on his own. I still remember his desk in the corner of our kitchen, stacked with estimates and phone numbers of people wanting him to work on their bathroom, kitchen, restaurant, factory floor… you name it. If it had a tile wall or floor, my dad was the expert. For most of the time I was growing up, I was his assistant during school breaks. What I learned about business from working beside my father was the best business education I could have received. I am grateful for the heritage he laid for me. Here are a few of the gleanings of that on-the-job education.

• Integrity in your work is the best piece of advertising you will ever do. If you do what you say you are going to do, people will ask you to do more. If you don’t, you will lose business.

• The little extras make a difference with customers. Give extra any time you can and it won’t go unnoticed.

• Scheme to be efficient because it is the best way to control your costs. If my dad told me to go get a tool out of our truck, I was expected to figure out what needed to be put back in the truck so that it could be returned to its place in the same trip. Time is money. Little bits of time become bigger chunks of time which eat away profits.

• Doubt your critics. Criticism by the right people should be heeded, but you need to evaluate where it is coming from. Many people who criticize you have an ulterior motive. They may be tearing you down to try to bolster themselves. Examine their motives before you make a change in the way you operate.

• Be honest, but be respectful. There are ways to say the right thing in a way that does not tear down the character of another person. It might take some work, but make it a practice in your business.

• Pay your debts. If you owe someone money, pay them. If you owe them a call, call them. If you owe them a job, hire them.

• Don’t take freedom for granted. Be grateful to the people who have given a piece of their lives to secure your freedom, where a person can decide to start a business and is allowed to do so.