A lot of people who come out to the nursery often think that having my own Nursery must "be the life!"  They have these grand notions of hanging out in the nice weather and clipping bushes.  That is not actually the reality of it and over the past 5 years I have learned this realization because I used to be one of those folks who thought this also.  Most often my week now consists of things like water pipes breaking when it is 15 degrees outside, gutting the old bathroom in our farmhouse and putting in a new one, or making a stock pick up trip 75 miles away. 
5 years ago I spent my days in corporate world cubicle dreaming of the day I could have my own farm.  My wife, whose grandparents had farms knew the reality of farming was not a grand notion and was very hard work.  She would make me aware of this every time I brought it up.  When I finally decided that corporate world was just not for me any longer, my wife suggested the Nursery business.  This sounded like a good idea because it seemed more realistic for what I was looking for.  I decided to take classes at NC State University and work at the NC State Horticulture lab to get experience.  That was the best move I had ever made.  I went to visit Nursery businesses and they really did look like they were the way to go and I wanted in!  Again - looking at something from the outside does not always show what it is really like.  To be an owner I needed land, stock, equipment, and money.  I didn't have much money because my wife had been having major medical issues but we decided it was now or never and put everything we had into buying what we could and borrowing the rest.  When we bought the property - we had to start it all from scratch.  Clear fields, haul in gravel, build a water pump from the pond, put in sprinkler systems, dig drainage ditches, clean out the old house for an office, clean out the barns for storage, and pot plants.  This was a huge amount of work!  I couldn't afford to hire help so my family has helped me when ever they could. 
Now when I think back to the grand notions of what I thought a Nursery business was 5 years ago I know that it was not what I thought it was but I am so glad I did it anyway.  I would not have it any other way.  I am so tired when I come home at night that I don't make it much past dinner before I'm asleep on the couch but there is nothing like that feeling of - "I did it myself".  This is the life!