PR for People Monthly AUGUST 2015 | Page 35

Peter Metzger had not wanted to run his own business. He had a long-tenured and successful career as a senior IT manager at Merrill Lynch in New York, working his way up to department manager, overseeing order clearance for the stock exchanges. His last assignment, a large, highly politicized project, caused major employee fallout, at which point Peter watched in dismay as his friends of many years lost their jobs.

“We should have started our own business,” Peter remarked to a buddy, “because this situation sucks.” So the two of them started researching a wide variety of businesses, finally hiring a consultant who helped them focus on a “yuppi deli.” Peter’s buddy was a silent partner, and Peter apprenticed for two years to learn the business before they bought their own deli.

During this time, he saw the good, the bad and the ugly: the business was successful from day one, but in retrospect, Peter said “If I had known what was involved, I never would have bought this business; so much to know, so many opportunities to screw up. I loved [most of] my customers. Ninety-five percent of them were terrific, 4 percent were very difficult, and 1 percent shouldn’t have been allowed to live.”

Peter opined, “The difference between a Merrill Lynch and a deli is, at Merrill, if someone’s trying to get you, you’ll never know it. Here at the deli, they come at you with a knife.”

After eight years, Peter was starting to get tired, so he sold the deli business and went home, yet again, to try retirement. He flunked, yet again, after nine months, but fortuitously picked up a job as head of sales for a photography business – his hobby had always been photography – which he held for another 10 years before retiring for good.

Sally Haver retired in 2013 after a long career with the The Ayers Group, div. of Kelly Services as a Senior Business Development Executive. Since retiring, she has found that there are many people who are working during their post-retirement years, and not necessarily because they have to work. Some retirees are interested in pursuing a lifetime dream, and others find tremendous fulfillment simply by undertaking a new challenge.

The Accidental Entrepreneur

By Sally Haver