What about winning tattslotto? Or buying FMG at $1.00?
Walking your own path...shift from a "job" to business
- Thread starter MsAli
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What about winning tattslotto? Or buying FMG at $1.00?
I said the first 2 things in my first post on this thread without reading a book ever on this stuff.
Proves one thing again, fastest way to make money is to write a book.
It's simple really.
If you have no problem not knowing if and when your going to be paid next, and have at least 6 mths expenses covered, you can look at starting your own business.
Otherwise you better enjoy your cushy jobs and stop whinging about the drama.
I don't recall any dead people having any regrets.
This seems the common belief of PAYG earners...until they join the small business stats.
Geoff, if you are experienced and competent in IT you would've probably made the same amount over those years for the same effort.
Amen.
disclaimer: Spoken from someone who has only had one payg job for less than 1 yr and is happy living with the concept of "No produce/do anything, no get paid anything".
If you have no problem not knowing if and when your going to be paid next, and have at least 6 mths expenses covered, you can look at starting your own business.
Otherwise you better enjoy your cushy jobs and stop whinging about the drama.
I don't recall any dead people having any regrets.
This seems the common belief of PAYG earners...until they join the small business stats.
Geoff, if you are experienced and competent in IT you would've probably made the same amount over those years for the same effort.
Amen.
disclaimer: Spoken from someone who has only had one payg job for less than 1 yr and is happy living with the concept of "No produce/do anything, no get paid anything".
Probably not.
Not unless all the money I earnt was saved and I didn't spend a cent.
And I was experienced and competent.
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i think it can be a bit hard to tell sometimes, because of the fringe benefits you can have in running a business. So, my take home pay was lower, but the business paid for things that I would have to if I didnt have the business
Not sure how you would try to develop property, but for me it isn't a punt, rather run as a business with certainty around profit margins. Certainly not like buying an IP and hoping the market increases in value.
Yes, great book. However, I think that creating passive income streams is much harder than is presented by Tim Ferriss. Has anyone had any real experience of Virtual assistants?
We've had a couple of good VA's and a couple of really crap ones. Same goes with Real Life Assistants too though. Learning on that one.
Hubby original started our business as it was his "dream". Didn't quite listen to the wifey reminding him of very hard slog, long hours, minimal payoff for the first few years etc. We're lucky in that we've been able to do many things we otherwise wouldn't, but the monetary rewards have been minimal. Hard for hubby who went from IT contractor to SE. Funnily enough he's ready to get out - over the politics, random hours, and general crapfight - he's still great at IT and looking to get back into it, but is now happy enough to let me run the company myself. I'm happy to put in the stupid long hours to build up to a "business" rather than a self employment role, something hubby never wanted.
I'll work my rear off no matter what/who I work for - I love a challenge and enjoy working with a purpose. So working in my own business suits me - I used to get the craps putting in hard work and seeing others **** it against the wall.
Hardest part for us has been adjusting from needing to put in "facetime" and having productivity judged in hours present to being rewards based purely on productivity. There's still guilt felt when we're out mountain biking or running during the day - even though the hours are put in at night and early morning (or these days everyso often not needed at all). Have already convinced hubby that he can go do a few months IT contracting as a break, but then we're buggering off overseas to learn a language for 3 months.
We'll still be working in that time, but don't need to stay domestic.
Hubby original started our business as it was his "dream". Didn't quite listen to the wifey reminding him of very hard slog, long hours, minimal payoff for the first few years etc. We're lucky in that we've been able to do many things we otherwise wouldn't, but the monetary rewards have been minimal. Hard for hubby who went from IT contractor to SE. Funnily enough he's ready to get out - over the politics, random hours, and general crapfight - he's still great at IT and looking to get back into it, but is now happy enough to let me run the company myself. I'm happy to put in the stupid long hours to build up to a "business" rather than a self employment role, something hubby never wanted.
I'll work my rear off no matter what/who I work for - I love a challenge and enjoy working with a purpose. So working in my own business suits me - I used to get the craps putting in hard work and seeing others **** it against the wall.
Hardest part for us has been adjusting from needing to put in "facetime" and having productivity judged in hours present to being rewards based purely on productivity. There's still guilt felt when we're out mountain biking or running during the day - even though the hours are put in at night and early morning (or these days everyso often not needed at all). Have already convinced hubby that he can go do a few months IT contracting as a break, but then we're buggering off overseas to learn a language for 3 months.
We'll still be working in that time, but don't need to stay domestic.Haha. Didn't listen to me either.
I'd work with him again any time. But there's not much chance of me being able to get back into it any time soon. When the other shop goes I'll have time to look but I don't like the chances.
All the best with whatever way you go.
And sorry about Wrex.
Agreed. Though I'd add if you're under 30 and have had a cushy "high" paying job (noted the word as what's high for some might not be for others) for over 4 years and can't afford to retire comfortably on 100k+ passive income, you'd better check your investment strategy/expenses.
Agreed. All the more stranger then that people would be scared to lose.
Agreed. But also the belief of people from a big business families and self-made people who can retire before 28.
Good perspective.
Not at all. I, like my mentors, only like businesses to be honest. To the extent the business involves a land bank component and it goes up in value, that's a bonus.
Thats how we do business too. Plan to turn around a development in 18-24 months with 35%+ profit margin on costs at the current market when we start the project. Any market growth is a bonus, not a requirement to make money.
my 2c
there are many many rewards to having your own business but far far more cons, it obviously depends on what type of business you have, having an amway is a business, being a consultant where you go out and contract yourself is a business, buying a business and having it fully managed is also a business, being a scientology member is a business......probably
however, from what you are talking about, in going to start out your own business where you are the main person involved, selling a product or intellectual property or offering a tangible service, is a lot of work.
however, can be very very rewarding,
a payg job at times can be very monotonous, repetitve, even degrading and humiliating, but has massive perks that you will lose when you go out alone. Things that I dearly missed are:
Paid sick leave
annual Leave
Getting paid
Leaving your job at 5pm
Weekends
Forgetting about work once you knock off for the day
Health
Family
Friends
promotions
job security
not having to deal with idiots (in terms of employees)
a steady income
an income
paid entertainment, expenses, dinners, events etc. etc.
getting paid to do nothing
and the list goes on...........
there are many many rewards to having your own business but far far more cons, it obviously depends on what type of business you have, having an amway is a business, being a consultant where you go out and contract yourself is a business, buying a business and having it fully managed is also a business, being a scientology member is a business......probably
however, from what you are talking about, in going to start out your own business where you are the main person involved, selling a product or intellectual property or offering a tangible service, is a lot of work.
however, can be very very rewarding,
a payg job at times can be very monotonous, repetitve, even degrading and humiliating, but has massive perks that you will lose when you go out alone. Things that I dearly missed are:
Paid sick leave
annual Leave
Getting paid
Leaving your job at 5pm
Weekends
Forgetting about work once you knock off for the day
Health
Family
Friends
promotions
job security
not having to deal with idiots (in terms of employees)
a steady income
an income
paid entertainment, expenses, dinners, events etc. etc.
getting paid to do nothing
and the list goes on...........
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Haha. Didn't listen to me either.
I'd work with him again any time. But there's not much chance of me being able to get back into it any time soon. When the other shop goes I'll have time to look but I don't like the chances.
All the best with whatever way you go.
And sorry about Wrex.
Thanks Geoff. He's actually looking at taking up a few contracts now - he realised we're still a few years off "payoff" and likes his toys.
As someone else said business is hard -
you need to:
- be ready to be humiliated at every turn
- be able to network like a demon
- play politics better than those in the lodge
- not like your sleep
- be ready to be humiliated/embarrassed at any moment
- be willing to put your soul on the line
- like overtime in a big way
- able to deal with massive amounts of stress
- be able to tell those closest to you to bugger off
- be able to cope with people thinking you do "nothing" or it's "easy" to do what you do
- deal with friends, family, acquaintances all wanting to call/go for a coffee/long lunch/ride/run etc through the day because "you work for yourself and don't have a boss to restrict your office hours"
- have an incredibly strong relationship - and be prepared that it may all turn sour
And overall have a solid exit point in mind - if it's not succeeding by xyz point - walk away/close it down. Have seen too many businesses that people throw more and more at when the death point was clear long before they wanted to admit it.
I've never understood people who are in business and say:
Get ready to have no sleep!
Get ready to do heaps of overtime!
and the like...
I have been in business for close to 10 years running two different business with what I consider good success. I've had my "days" where I've had to put in a bit extra and i've had a few bad phone calls late at night but it was never like "OMG TIME TO DO TEH BIG HOURS!" ???
The business does tend to always be on my mind and I do find myself checking emails too frequently when I should be relaxing at night but thats just how I am. I also find it hard to relate to my friends who are employee's and have what I now consider to be petty work problems like their boss forgot to pay them some allowance or how they are being hard done by etc.
I've always found the biggest problem to be employee's and their slowly dumping of $hit on you the more you get to know them. And also like I said, the lack of ability to just dart out the door for a 2 week holiday.
Get ready to have no sleep!
Get ready to do heaps of overtime!
and the like...
I have been in business for close to 10 years running two different business with what I consider good success. I've had my "days" where I've had to put in a bit extra and i've had a few bad phone calls late at night but it was never like "OMG TIME TO DO TEH BIG HOURS!" ???
The business does tend to always be on my mind and I do find myself checking emails too frequently when I should be relaxing at night but thats just how I am. I also find it hard to relate to my friends who are employee's and have what I now consider to be petty work problems like their boss forgot to pay them some allowance or how they are being hard done by etc.
I've always found the biggest problem to be employee's and their slowly dumping of $hit on you the more you get to know them. And also like I said, the lack of ability to just dart out the door for a 2 week holiday.
1. Humiliated or embarrassed - unless you're a natural at selling and really putting out there what you want and going and asking for it - you tend to end up embarrassed. Also those who see themselves as "above" or better than you (some suppliers, some clients) who will always try to extract that extra bit. Also depending on the business area you're in it's not uncommon to have competitors trying to dig around and find any dirt they can. Yes you expect it in business, but it's a big change for someone coming from PAYG
2. Expect the unexpected (as much as you can plan for) and be aware that any negotiations or plans will not survive first point of contact.
3. This comes is especially true if you're based from home or in an easily accessible office. We've had to tell hubby's relatives frequently to not call during business hours, that we're not available for coffee, and same goes for a few friends (much as I hate to say it the stay at home mums are the worst). There's also with our business that a lot of people/friends expect "freebies" and there are times when they can be quite insistent and it's hard to tell them no (but you do anyway) and still be nice about it.
THIS is the post i was about to make! 2nd that sentiment.
I am also in the contemplation phase of a business idea and REALLY appreciate these insights. FYIW I just finished reading Emyth Revisited and it was great to conceptualise how to start a business with an exit plan in mind and how to avoid doing decades of 18hr days and how to plan to outsource each little job inside the business from the bottom up over time. I want to start but I have no intention of screwing my family up over it so it has to be considered, planned and yes there will be hours sacrificed but there must be balance.
I anticipated this as being the biggest problem, and so selected a business that doesn't involve employing any people.
Remove HR out of the scene and life is OK. I can't remember the last time I had an argument with myself, or tried to rip myself off. I'm very confident that I won't slip and try and sue myself.
I find Banks to be the best business partners. Pay the interest bill and they leave you alone to get on with things.
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