Management in a small business

     I have been in business for some time now and I still use only indipendent contractors, but I am still a manager.  Even if you are still a one man show most businesses have to do some purchasing, marketing , and sales.  These tasks actually are much the same as someone who does sales for instance for a big company.  I still have to get new customers as does the sales person selling to customers whose orders have a few more zeros than mine.
     As my business grew there came a point when I needed others to help me and then I like it or not became a manager.  I actually found that I liked the management tasks but  if I could not hire someone to do sales or marketing the job fell to me if the company was to grow.  It is actually much easier to learn these tasks today with all the free education offered on the internet and through organizations like SCORE or joining local chambers of commerce.  I have found both of these organizations to offer great help for free or close to free.
     My oldest son will be a senior next year in college majoring in business and I have suggested to him that if he does not find a job right away he might consider starting up a small business.  My thought to him was if you bury yourself in a small part of a large company you will never learn about all the things that make a comapny big or small work like sales or marketing to name a few.  His reaction was not positive or negative but I said to him even if you made a profit of the minimum wage he would learn much more than if he had worked at McDonalds and even if the business folded he would be young and the experience would help him find a better job.
     Someday I hope to be big enough to hire an accountant for instance but for now the job remains mine.