“Pawn Stars” personality Rick Harrison has created something pretty special when it comes to the show. It’s got a bit of everything – history, negotiation and lots of cool antiques and other odd items. That’s why Harrison often defends the small business so much.
In an interview with Town Hall, the “Pawn Stars” star explains the obstacles small business owners have to jump through in order to be successful.
“For any business: regulation, regulation, regulation,” Harrison says. “Everything is insane. It’s the amount of BS just piled on top of a bigger amount of BS you try and get through to try and stay in business, including the amount of tax forms. Most people don’t realize the amount of tax forms the small business guy has to go through.”
He went on to add:
“There’s a gazillion different business license fees,” he says. “And just keeping up with all the regulations—it just doesn’t stop.”
The TV personality has a lot of experience in the business. More than three decades, actually. So he knows a thing or two about owning and operating a business. This also includes learning how to make it successful – as he’s done, with help from The History Channel.
However, the family man and pawn shop owner understands the plight of small business owners and truly empathizes with them. He also certainly disagrees with the red tape these businesses have to deal with.
“Pawn Stars” is Top-Rated
“Pawn Stars” began filming back in 2009 and has since captivated the nation. It quickly became the top-rated History Channel show. Harrison said the profession is kind of a combination of everything – and that makes it great for every generation.
“I think the thing is, it’s a little bit of everything. It’s a history show, it’s Pimp My Ride, it’s American Chopper, it’s sort of like a game show because everyone wants to know if they win in the end. They always want to know, “Is it real? Is it fake?” There are a lot of different things going on in the show, and it attracts a really broad range of people,” Harrison says.
The pawnbroker also said that learning is a major – and important – part of the show.
“My producer calls it laugh-and-learn-TV,” Harrison says. “For years, everyone has joked around at my pawn shop: ‘If you bring that back to Rick, he’s going to give you a history lesson,’ but I really believe people prefer to watch a normal guy just talking to them to learn history — or just to learn anything, for that matter — instead of a professor talking down to them. When you were a kid, it was lot easier to learn from your dad than it was from your teacher, you know?”
