Finding Inspiration, African Cuisine, and a 20% Tax Break for Who?
Could Ditching Your Corporate Job Inspire You?
When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, thinking about your available options takes center stage.
When Marty Mann, a welder at GE’s Erie, PA, locomotive plant, lost his job after seven years of service due to a major layoff, he worried. Just like anyone would.
Mann also happened to be a skilled mechanic. Right before he hit rock bottom after his layoff, he made his own way forward...on his own terms.
“If you can’t get a job,” Mann said, “you’ve got to make a job.”
Mann’s younger brother, John, joined him in the new business venture.
Mann’s Cycle Works, based out of Erie, PA, was created by these entrepreneurial gentleman, who are the by-products of what’s now being the coined phrase: “necessity entrepreneurs.” Communities once powered by industries (that are now changing course) are full of individuals just like John and Marty Mann. Once the career landscape shifts, can you adapt? Will you adapt? How exactly will you adapt?
Will you be like John and Marty Mann?
Starting from scratch may not be ideal, but we all learn how to make it day by day—both in business and in life. The realities of work mean that when you lose your corporate job, you may seem at the bottom of the ladder again. Take heart. The options, the opportunities, and your own personal skills mean you can always re-invent yourself and start something new.
Making it Big: Nigerian Mafé Café Pleases Everyone
Moustapha Idrissa moved to Santa Fe in 2016. He had big ideas to receive a degree in dry land farming. But, with his pregnant wife and a son, he decided another plan would be what he was after. But...what?
Idrissa worked as an intern at a hydroponics farm and brought home as many vegetables as he could to make a traditional salad, like that of his homeland in Niger, in West Africa.
Food was something Idrissa knew well. So he decided to open up a food cart. In the early days, Idrissa sold his culinary creations, recipes he had been cooking since he was a child, to passersby at the Sunday Artisan Market. Tofu. Pumpkin and peanut stew. Ginger lemonade. Hibiscus tea. Chicken yassa.
Then, lines started to form. And the lines grew longer and longer.
This past spring, Idrissa earned a prominent spot on the Plaza and named his cart Mafé Café. He’s opened most days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and whenever there is a concert in the Plaza.
His African tacos, West African kebabs, marinated meat, and “salsa” are all tastes of his homeland Santa Fe residents can’t get enough of.
For all of his success here in the States, Idrissa is eager to return home to Niger to buy property and put all of his agriculture degrees into practice. Feeding his fellow countrymen and women while improving their lives is next up on the menu.
Say What...Who Will Get That 20% Tax Break?
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department issued a new outline of the types of companies and professionals who will be able to quality as “pass-through” entities and receive the 20 percent tax deduction.
Law firms, real estate trusts, family farms, and other companies have been waiting to see how the 20 percent tax break, included in the tax overhaul last year, could leave them either scrambling or feeling rather relieved.
The 184-page rule outlines everything. Authors and small banks will be able to “pass-through.” Dentists won’t.
According to the New York Times, “tax experts say it appears to be largely a victory for business groups” and will benefit the Americans earning $1 million plus.
How does this new ruling affect our President himself? Trump could save big. “The Trump Organization, which Mr. Trump has retained ownership of while in the White House, includes hundreds of pass-through entities.” These would be eligible for the hefty tax deduction.
While this new regulation does detail many of the questions American taxpayers and business owners had on their minds, some aspects of the regulation are still up for interpretation.
Time will tell as this new tax reform becomes implemented.