PowderKeg leads to self-discovery

No. 1: I don’t like roller coasters anymore. Oh, I used to – my mother and I started riding them when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so to speak.

In fact, she says I first rode the Orient Express at Kansas City’s Worlds of Fun at age 3 – after she convinced them that I would love it. And I did.

I never met a roller coaster that I didn’t love – until last week, when I decided it would be fun to try out Silver Dollar City’s new PowderKeg launch roller coaster. Don’t get me wrong: It’s a beautiful and thrilling ride, and judging from what others said after the ride, ‘fraidy-cats like me are in the minority. I’d wanted to try the PowderKeg since I found out about it in late December as I was putting together our January Architects & Engineers issue. Local firm H Design Group submitted PowderKeg as its project for that issue based on its work in helping to transform Buzz Saw Falls into PowderKeg. I had to contact H Design Group’s Michelle Beach to find out just what a “launch coaster” is.

She explained that unlike traditional roller coasters, launch coasters don’t use lift hills and gravity to pick up speed.

Instead, they use a hydraulic piston to achieve very fast speed in a very short time. And boy, does the PowderKeg ever fit the bill: it goes from zero to 53 miles an hour in three seconds.

I think it was that quick start that led to realization No. 2: I’m probably not ever going to be very good at taking risks. That’s something I’ve always tried to avoid, but I think part of me always hoped to move beyond my aversion and become daring. For instance, while a traditional roller coaster can provide a wild ride, it’s pretty simple to figure out what to expect.

When the car climbs a big hill, making that chugging “chink, chink, chink” sound on the way up, you know that once you reach the top, there’s going to be a big drop followed by twists, turns and loops. You have time to think about it, to anticipate it and to come to an understanding that there’s about to be a thrill.

Not so with the launch coaster.

Boom! (And I do mean boom! Not for nothing is it named the PowderKeg, and if you’re daring, then I dare you to check it out sometime.)

From the time it starts moving, it moves fast. There’s no time to think about it.

I’ve determined that one of the reasons I so enjoy being a business reporter is that I can write about the risks other people take without taking any myself – because whatever else business ownership may be, it comes with a great deal of risk.

While I’m sure that some business owners had plenty of money to get started, far more common locally are stories of starting out on a shoestring, working nearly round-the-clock to get the company running and cutting back only after the business is able to sustain itself. But from what I can tell, entrepreneurs never really let go. Sure, they might take more time off, or they might come in after 8 a.m. and leave before 5 p.m., but they still stay involved and informed in what’s happening with their businesses. I certainly don’t blame them … that would be very risky, and as we’ve already established, I’m not too big on risk.

It’s not that I don’t have entrepreneurial aspirations. I do. I just don’t have the guts to take the leap – yet. I think I’ll be more ready once my kids are grown. Also, I just don’t know exactly what type of business I want to own. I like restaurants, so that’s one option, and one that probably would make sense to potential lenders.

My other choices probably wouldn’t. For example, I’d love to own a Laundromat, because I love the way they smell. I don’t know anything about them, and I’m pretty sure any lender would not care one way or the other about my olfactory preferences. Then, too, I’ve often wished I could run one of those shops where everything costs a dollar. However, my motivation comes from my desire to know just where they find the stuff they sell and how they sell it so cheaply, and I don’t think a business should be launched simply as a means to satisfy curiosity.

This week’s Inside Business, Largest Local Companies, is one of my favorites. News coverage is determined by whether a company or entity is included on any of SBJ’s weekly lists, published in the 2005 Book of Lists. What I find most appealing is that we’re able to cover things and people we might not include otherwise. Some lists are determined by employee numbers and some by the percentages of the types of work provided and some by the numbers of a certain type of transaction, such as the appraisal companies list.

The end result is that we talk to entities of all sizes and in many different industries. It’s off our usual path of focusing on particular industries in Inside Business, and that’s why I love it.

I think it’s interesting to find out why some businesses operate the way they do, why their owners think the companies are growing, or why people decide to take a deep breath and take a leap into business ownership. I hope you like it, too.

Maria Hoover is SBJ Inside Business editor.