How many business owners do we have here? What's the cost to be a boss...

[gwb72tii]

discipline is not an issue if you have a passion for what you do, which is THE key IMHO. passion gets you up every morning, gets you into the office when its snowing, lets you work 60hr weeks without eeven thinking about it cause its what you do and you love it.
you can't make enough money at almost anything if you hate your job

that said be prepared to work long hard hours to be a success.
plus, lack of capital is one of the biggest reasons companies fail

[pureaudio]

Don't tell that to my Father in Law who is in the Pharmaceutical Industry as a Senior Logistics Manager and makes ass loads of money (hands over fists $$$) for Pfizer. His Quarterly Bonuses as well as write offs and Car Allowances make me sick! ;)

But as soon as he stops working that job then the money stops coming in, own a successful business and it can provide well after.

[pureaudio]

discipline is not an issue if you have a passion for what you do, which is THE key IMHO. passion gets you up every morning, gets you into the office when its snowing, lets you work 60hr weeks without eeven thinking about it cause its what you do and you love it.
you can't make enough money at almost anything if you hate your job

that said be prepared to work long hard hours to be a success.
plus, lack of capital is one of the biggest reasons companies fail

This right here, I've been within hours of having to call a client to turn down a bid because of lack of capitol before coming up with a crazy plan to make it work. Banks will not give you money nor will you get credit lines or a business credit card. You will be personally financing or guaranteeing the business for a minimum of 2 years.

Don't get jaded based on what people have said here but definitely don't go in with rose colored glasses. It is hard work and you have to do whatever it takes to make it work, nobody is looking out for you when your the boss.

[Charlie]

Valid points.

As fusion said, borrowing money is always a big no-no. I usually don't have a problem with that.

So, you wanna start/run a small business while avoiding lending?

You got a massive chunk of venture capital lined up?

-Charlie

[Mlarsen]

I own a business. Here are things you should know before opening a small business:

-Getting a business license is the easiest part of owning a business.
-When there is no money you don't get paid
-Taxes are a bitch
-Time off, what's that?

If your trying to start business from scratch good luck. I consider myself extremely lucky, I fell into a well established business.

[e30vert]

But as soon as he stops working that job then the money stops coming in, own a successful business and it can provide well after.

Depends

Phizer is publicly traded and as such has a stock symbol (PFE). During the course of normal employment employees in middle to upper positions are routinely granted stock options as well as stock purchase programs. This leads to the natural accumulation of shares of stock in the company that are typically purchased well below the current market price of the stock.
Depending on the length of tenure the number of shares accumulated can grow very large.
After leaving a company for whatever reason those shares are the employee's to keep and do with what they please. So even if one was to tell the company to go fuck itself (extreme example) then those shares are still owned and cannot be revoked from the employee.

That can mean a very substancial amount of money once those shares are sold. Friend retired from IBM with a shit ton of shares that he purchased during his work tenure. Since he was an employee hired in the early IBM days he stock purchased through the company at sub 20 dollars. Todays closing price of IBM = $189.98 Thats before any stock splits ( 2 for one or otherwise)

Tell him that once he left the company he stopped making money and he will laugh all the way to the bank! Every day IBM is up he makes money!!!

[Fusion]

So, you wanna start/run a small business while avoiding lending?

You got a massive chunk of venture capital lined up?

-Charlie

You don't necessarily need a big chunk of money. You need an idea and talent.
Capital will highly depend on what business you're venturing into. I was lucky I didn't need to rent space in the beginning and I've taught myself web programming since I was like 12, so customizing and online store was "free", just lots of time put into it.

[nrubenstein]

So, you wanna start/run a small business while avoiding lending?

You got a massive chunk of venture capital lined up?

-Charlie

Yeah. Leverage is a tool. Used well, it is hugely beneficial. Sure, all cash is nice, but it's not always logical to do it that way even when you can afford to. In certain businesses (especially real estate), operating on an all cash basis is actually often much riskier than taking debt.

Essentially, though, the chances that you can start a business without a substantial chunk of change to invest in it (and actually earn a living) are pretty low. The real question is whether or not you have a business plan that can actually support the risk and the cost of taking it on.

[HR2L]

But as soon as he stops working that job then the money stops coming in, own a successful business and it can provide well after.

Its called investments. Making the money you've earned work for you (Diverse Portfolio). You don't have to own your own business to be wealthy. /fact/ ;)

[Joe G]

I have personally had a few of my own "businesses". I use quotes because i was just a kid, but they each were very successful, one of which did so well that it caught the attention of a local paper and we (me and my partner) got an article written on us. Anyway, those were small time operations. But i certainly learned the value of customer service, and the need to be dedicated to what you do, and make sacrifices to grow you business and client base.

However, my Step-father has his own very successful real estate appraisal and investment advising business. He has 2 offices (long island and Manhattan) he has about 12 employees (6 appraisers all of whom make 6 figure salaries). He started the company 30 years ago by himself and has built up a very successful business. That being said, he still is in the office every day by 10am and stays there til about 7pm. Each morning before work and sometimes at night after he gets home he spends 2-3 hours going over appraisal reports, or comparable property sales. He puts in 11-12 hours a day, 5 days a week and at times that stretches to about 15 or so hours. These hours have built him a very well known and respected company and name in the industry. Being a business owner requires a lot of dedication, and determination. As well as people skills, and really no tolerance for incompetence from your employees as they reflect directly on you and your company.

That being said, my step-father has great job security, a very comfortable income, and does have the ability to take a day off or a week off once in a while for a vacation or whatever else he may want to do.

But make no mistake, 30 years is a long time and I know when he started there were about 5 years where he would typically spend the night in his office on the couch because he would be working so late that there would be no sense in driving home just to return in a couple hours.

[gwb72tii]

One last thought

Don't let anyone steal your dreams
Nay sayers are everywhere. 90% of luck is showing up and working hard

[Vtec?lol]

^truth!

I just want to let you all know that I really appreciate the advice and criticism. I must say this may be the most productive or helpful threads on r3v. I plan on taking all of this into account and revealing my plans once they go into effect.

Got involved with a few members of Houston's largest business cabinet. Free accountant, consulting, and a cheap lawyer contact was the result. I'm trying to get it man.

I will say this. Lots of people believe it takes wads of cash to start any sort of business. Not always true. I'm resting my entire business on a foundation of lenders. I plan on a five figure income the first year and being able to pay off all debts, then starting over as my productivity increases.

You all have no idea how much this all helps.

[nomansfriend]

Would have been nice for everyone to say what business they started. I need ideas.

[Vtec?lol]

Would have been nice for everyone to say what business they started. I need ideas.

Ideas from what everyone else does probably won't help as much as you might think.

Get a few different jobs and learn a few trades and figure out what's in demand and ho can you make another job/companies process cheaper and easier with your product or service.


or do what you love

[pureaudio]

Its called investments. Making the money you've earned work for you (Diverse Portfolio). You don't have to own your own business to be wealthy. /fact/ ;)

Except that one could easily argue that investing is kind of like being in business for your self and it doesn't matter where the money came from. Stating your dad's profession as an example is a moot point, someone could as easily become wealthy by investing the money they made at McDonalds. Would you say that flipping burgers at McDonalds makes you wealthy?

My statement meant that working a job, investments aside since they are separate, will cease to payout when that job ends unlike a successful business which will continue to post profits if done right even without the original owner at the helm.