wegg® showcase: Jamie Shah , President, Chem-Impex International

When my dad quit, my mom, who was working at a book-binding factory, surprised him and said, “I have news for you, too: we’re pregnant with our first child!” In that moment, he thought, “Do I go back to my old job with my tail between my legs or do I find a way to make things work?” So he opened the telephone book and went down the list calling people, asking, “Do you need any chemicals?” Eventually, Pabst Brewing Company said, “Yeah, we need some chemicals.” And he said, “Great! I’ve got you.” Forty years later, that cold-call hustle has turned into a company that supports some of the largest pharma organizations in the world. It all started by asking people what they needed and figuring out how we can best serve them.

When I joined my family’s business, I had no idea what I’d signed up for. I had a degree in finance. I worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. I worked at Google. I got my MBA, I worked in VC. I thought, “I can work in a small business, how hard could it be?” I was floored by how hard it is to run a small- to medium-sized family business. A big part of our upbringing was being in the business, but I didn’t know what my dad did at work every day. So I took classes, I did research, and now I’m a professor at The University of Chicago teaching about family business at the MBA level. It’s a constant game of problem-solving. I love that sense of creativity. Building a business is one of the ultimate ways to be creative in your everyday.

Now I ask my father, “How did you do this when you had nothing?”  He always says, “I did it because I had nothing. I started this business because there was no other option and I needed to be successful.”

About 20% of our business is international. That ebbs and flows. Sometimes there are government incentives to manufacture abroad. Other times, economic reasons bring customers on shore. Science happens everywhere, so wherever science is happening, that’s where we are.

Customs rules and regulations are always changing, so that’s a challenge. Some countries have regulations that make it difficult for us to sell at a reasonable price. For example, for products sold in India, the customer has to pay two times the amount if they are ordering from a US source. It ends up being prohibitively expensive for customers.

People often worry that if they start their own business, they’ll be alone or they’ll fail. But what’s the worst that can happen? Entrepreneurship is still work; it’s still real experience. Most employers view it as a strength, not a setback. And if you try it and don’t love it, you can always return to a more traditional role.

For me, though, the freedom and autonomy of building something with people I love has been the greatest reward. Once you know that about yourself, it’s hard to imagine going back. Entrepreneurship isn’t solitary, it’s a community. And in our case, it’s a family story that continues to evolve.