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You're still working from a series of false premises and an attitude which is counter productive to your stated goal of being in business for yourself.
When I read through your posts #1 and #6, you delineate several glaring shortcomings:
1) You've stated the concept that hard work ... as taught you by your college background ... has worn thin already in your short working years as an expendable employee.
If you're ever going to go into business, you've got to recognize and accept that you'll need to work significantly harder than ever, much harder than you ever did as an employee. Particularly with some of the businesses you've mentioned ... long hours and hard work are the cornerstone of possible rewards.
My hardwork is NOT wearing thin. I have never had a problem in this department, I am very dedicated and motivated. You are making unwarranted presumptions.
2) You've stated you have no assets (due to circumstances from others), but have worked for successful companies using your degrees.
You've got to understand that going into a business earnings mentality with any chance of financial success requires an attitude of financial sacrifice, thrift, and savings. You've got to be ready, willing, and able to live below your means. If you haven't been able to do that with your compensation already, you've got to change your whole lifestyle paradigm to one of thrift and savings. If you think it's not easy to live on your current income which is apparently below your expectations or requirements, what do you think will happen when you don't have a steady paycheck/income from your own business?
No one said it would be easy, and I never thought it would be. Not having much to sacrafice financially is a disadvantage, a major one. But I'm also at a point in my life where a huge advantage is that I CAN adapt my lifestyle. I don't have a family relying on me, and I don't have debts to pay off, I'm extremely flexible, and I have family that will support me if things were to fall through.
3) For someone who claims degrees, which suggests some independent thinking ability, you don't appear to have availed yourself of the college resources of business practices.
There's lots of places to learn about the business of business. Everywhere from business incubators, to community college classes, to business/management classes at a college. You cannot get this information for free, it's going to take time and effort upon your part which I'm not impressed at this point that you are willing to expend. Even if you go the apprenticeship route with an existing business, it will still cost you in many ways to glean the knowledge you seek. It's neither a trivial or easy path. Perhaps you have some associates or others you know who have gone into business for themselves, and are now making a living at it. Sit down with them and ask about what it takes to be there with overhead expenses, taxation, capital investment, labor costs, physical plant/storefront ... there's so many places where you must be an expert or hire one to be successful that it's a very daunting prospect. Some folks will pick it up, some won't ... some succeed in spite of their ignorance ... and many "smart and technically proficient people" don't.
Business is about SELLING a product or service at a profit. That's why I'm conflicted when you say that you're good technically, but don't like to sell. I've tried to point this out to you ... you can write the best software, design the best product, have the best food at your restaurant, know somebody who can offer a recording contract to a new talent, etc etc etc ... but if you can't SELL your product or services, then they will not succeed in the marketplace. People don't beat a path to a better mousetrap without being sold on the benefits of that mousetrap. I would have inferred that you learned that concept in getting a marketing degree, but apparently ... not.
You couldn't be more incorrect. You're again making assumptions about my personality based on words on a screen? Someone like yourself who claims to be this business-start up expert wouldn't make that mistake. Although I have nothing to prove to you, I have been very successful in sales, I've done well everywhere I've gone. I've been promoted twice, and I've broken sales records at one company.
What further conflicts me with your comments is that you have such wide ranges of possible businesses to be involved in. They're all so diverse it suggests no passion in any of them .. except that you want to be in business and see something about those ventures that attracts you. Do you think that without any background in these businesses you can be a success given all the competition to any and all of those businesses?
You are wrong. One can have many passions, as I do. But what I'm most passionate is starting my own business.
So I'd ask again, what do you think being in business for yourself is going to accomplish? Wealth? Fame? Easy job requirements? Lots of time off for recreation? A "job well done" satisfaction of some sort? Feeding your ego? Adoring employees (who you see as disposable tools to your succes)? What drives you?
Starting the business and achieving any business success IS the accomplishment for me. That's enough. There's no subconscious need or justification involved, it's the PASSION for starting something from scratch and being successful at it. Wealth, ability to retire, ability to create a positive work environment, all of these things go toward the overall accomplishment. You've got a serious chip on your shoulder man.
You've simply got to answer this question honestly for yourself before you can go forward with any business. You will not get the direction and focus of what your potential business is about until you know why you're doing it, nor can you effectively train for it until you know why you're doing it.
I already know why.
And finally, you need to ask yourself what is the price you're willing to pay personally to try to achieve success in your chosen business. What is the cost you are willing to pay? economically, socially, professionally? What will you do to achieve business success?
I don't have much to lose, whatever is there in those areas I can give up. Part of my motivation IS the risk. I'm attracted to doing things that take me out of my comfort zone, adapting, reacting, overcoming. That's what I get most out of life.
Absent honest answers to those questions ... nobody can give you a roadmap of training/instruction of how to be in business. You're still only a candidate for being an employee until you can grasp what it is you're all about.
Again, I was simply looking for any direction. Books, resources, events, contacts. You assume I'm posting on a thread that I'm doing nothing other for research. I am taking classes, and am attending events/shows/seminars. But I'm rigorous in my research and analyzing, so I will always continue to dig for information.
There's some good information from your response that I will take and use, but consider your assistance like me taking a bite out of a burger, and throwing the rest of it out when I pass the next trash can on the street.
Good luck in your ventures, whatever they are.
I don't need luck. Luck is for people who won't accept that their own fate is in their hands. Luck is where hard work and preparation meets opportunity. That's what I'm doing now, and the opportunity will come, and when it does, I will be ready.
I agree that you'll find notable exceptions to the concept of practical knowledge of the business you are in being of value to the success of the business. OK cool, you AGREED with me. Despite you previously making a general statement that one needs to have a background in said field to start a business in that field.
I, too, know of people who have zero technical knowledge in the IT biz but have hired talent who knew the technical side and have marketed it to their benefit. And others who didn't know squat about the car repair business but bought an existing shop with a compentent manager, service writer, parts people, and techs and have been successful "fixing cars" where they had an established business and local demand. And there's a heck of a lot of people who buy "franchise" businesses where the model and operations are closely directed by the franchisor ... with people from many diverse backgrounds coming into the business: restaurants, fast food, janitorial, entertainment (movie theater, arcades), pet shops, coffee shops, delivery/courier services, motels .... OK, I already knew this but this adds more support to your statement above. By the way for clarification purposes, the yoga guy did not buy a franchise. Your response should have ended here but lets continue, shall we?
They all had earned their discretionary investment monies in other businesses and understood staffing, management, overhead/expense, location, taxes, insurance, industry compliance requirements, sales and marketing, time management, purchasing, inventory control, manufacturing processes, office management/receivables/collections/accounts payable concerns, licensing (where required), zoning/public safety issues (fire dept compliance, etc), maintenance. They all knew that they had to work hard, with long hours, to insure their success in another new-to-them venture. They all knew and understood the concepts of "relationship selling" at the front side of the house and understood how to market their business and services. No need to state the obvious, you must be the person who loves to type, ok that's understandable. By definition a successful business owner will have successful habits or traits that led to his success, no need to state the obvious. lets continue
Most all of them were successful, but then again, many were not, especially in more recent economic times. Restaurants, especially, were seeing a high failure rate.
Now, I don't know about your "friend of a friend" ... but I'll bet that their business acumen and the ability to sell the services of a yoga studio and retain clients didn't happen just because they determined a market niche/need which they decided they could fulfill. Yes he is a "friend of friend", What else do you want to know about him? His name? Maybe his location of business? You are starting to sound doubtful.Why?
Add to all the other skills of business which I've mentioned so far, and you've got interior design concerns and facilities layout and decor. Most signficantly, I'll bet they didn't open the doors and operate the retail discretionary service business (let alone acquire a location without a lease or ownership investment, secured by their personal guarantee, or without posting a security deposit for the business utilities) with personal zero credit, no assets, no investment capital, and a handshake with a low-cost investor who wasn't worried about securing their investment, or a good working relationship with a business insurance agent against their personal liability for injuries or other claims that could be anticipated in the performance of their business. We won't even expolore WC or UI insurance for the employees, State/Fed employer ID, or defined benefits for employees, certifications, and other personnel issues. Your a typing commando, again this is stuff I already knew. You must love typing. Again, a successful business owner will have the succeeded in researching and conquering the above details. Yoga man was a successful business owner, You see where this is going?
Nor will we explore building/facilities maintenance, upkeep, or janitorial services and those affiliated costs for HVAC and building systems or plumbing. I'd even bet that they incorporated the business to gain the protection of a corporate shell rather than leaving themselves totally exposed as sole proprietors to claims against them, which means they have a more than passing acquaintance with a business savvy lawyer. Not only must you love typing, you also probably have a lot of time on your hands. See second sentence from comment above.
See where I'm going with this? There's so many facets to deciding a market need/niche to fill (which suggests some familiarity with the business activity, doesn't it?), so many factors to fulfilling that need, and they all represent risk and capital investment issues ... which takes somebody with investment capital and a willingness to work for their goals. Duh!!! Can I call you Captain Obvious? Do you think you are the only one that knows this information?
Unless you can come forward with a success story about a "friend of a friend" who had no capital, no credit, no business experience, and no hospitality or service business expertise, didn't want to work hard ... I'd say that your disagreement with my premises for the OP doesn't hold water .... The odds of being a success from a profound level of ignorance about doing a business is pretty slim. Listen. I made one comment about how someone I know started a successful business without any prior background in that particular field. This was my only disagreement with what you said in another post. I never disagreed with you on "no capital, no credit, no business experience, didn't want to work hard . . . " Of course you need capital to start a business etc, either your own or someone else's capital. Yoga man did have capital. This is not my argument though. My only argument was that it is not necessary to have a background in a particular field to start a business in that field. Don't believe me just look at my previous post.
Further, I can cite a much larger sample base of businesses that didn't make it if you want to play that game .... What game? 1.) I don't have enough hours in the day to play games 2.) If I were to play games I would do it in real life, not over the internet with a stranger
You sound incompetent at replying to a simple post, next time carefully read what your replying to before you go on a tirade bring up points that I never disagreed with you.
Ok if you are the "been successful" producer you claim to be at everything you've done ... how is it you haven't got any assets at this point? How is it that you haven't stood out from the crowd and made yourself a valuable asset to the business? If your own business is such a important goal for you, then why haven't you made it a priority re your personal finances, which you acknowledge are a needed item?
"hard work + long hours = financial success has long wore off its illusion"
your own words describing your attitude about work
"I'm slowly realizing that no matter where I work, no matter how hard, I won't ever get where I want to be because my company will always hold me back. I am expendable."
No less than you'll be in your own business
"Thanks in advance for any advice or help you can provide."
[color="blue"]You can get all defensive as you want about what it takes to be in business, and as offended as you want to be about my comments in this thread. No skin off my back ... I don't know you ... but I do know the business of business. And not because I'm any "expert", or hold myself out to be one to you.
The difference here is that I've already made just about all the mistakes one could possibly make and I was fortunate to learn from others who were kind enough to guide me because they had a vested interest in seeing my success and happiness.
As I learned the needed personal attitudes and paradigms for business success, I became more successful in many ways, not just financially or materially.
Many folks on this forum could give you a "cookbook" with written instructions on how to go about a specific business or business in general. They can "hold your hand" if need be, too. What to do, how to do it, when to do it, who to employ, right down to which agency to contact and how for your licenses, who your suppliers need to be and the names of the contacts, etc. etc. etc. To a great extent, this is what a lot of good franchise operations do. [COLOR]
But what you've done in these threads is raise so many conflicted issues/red flags for me that what I'm seeing as the obstacle to your potential is your attitude.
You've got to get real at some point or another about what it takes to be successful in business for yourself.
Most of the businesses you've mentioned so far of interest are direct sales, relationship selling situations. You claim to be a good salesperson, but you say you don't like doing that ... and you probably don't even recognize yourself what it is you do that makes your sales work successful.
I challenged you to try to understand your paradigm and your relationship to what makes for a successful business owner. What it takes for you to survive, especially before a business is a financial success. Your reaction was denial.
For example, you whine about being "disposable" as an empolyee. OK, let's take the flip side of that issue: How will you react as the business owner when it's a matter of finances to let a non-essential employee go? Or even a valuable employee when it's a choice between you drawing a desperately needed income and deriving a ROI or seeing all your present (and perhaps, for some unknown time into the future) cash flow go to the employee? Are you willing to work for your employees?
Again, you can get as mad at me as you want to be ... and these issues won't go away, especially when you've got investors or borrowed money in your venture.
The simple reality is that the toughest employer you'll ever work for is yourself. Until you're ready to see, accept, and live this concept, you'll have very slim chances of success ... the training ground for you as a good business owner is to have a great track record as an employee yourself.
I'm done.
There's a lot of very successful posters on this forum, who have had a similarly good business ownership track record as mine ... probably even much better than me for many of them.
We didn't travel the same business or career paths, but we achieved similar results ... and that's where I'm trying to lead you. It's all about your attitude and what price you're personally willing to pay for what you perceive as success, your personal paradigm. But until you know where you're going, then any roadmap will get you someplace ....
I took what little advice you offered and I'll use it. As I said, the rest was you just trying to discourage. You made assumptions about me and reworded my questions. Liking sales and wanting to quit and work for yourself are not mutually exclusive. Somehow you took me not wanting to work for a company the rest of my life as "I don't like my sales job". Reading comprehension can't be a skill for everyone.
By the way, I'm not angry, I don't care enough about you to get angry. Posts like yours are to be expected. Fortunately I'm skilled in the reading comprehension realm that you lack and I can weed out your important useful information from your self-serving egotistical negative response. I've run into plenty of people like you most of my life, there's always people who will tell you "no you can't" but in the end, when I want it bad enough, I get it done and I achieve what I wanted to do.
Thanks for the info. Learn to save your negative attitude for others who are not as understanding as I am.
I'm a young professional, I have a bachelor's degree in both Marketing AND Management Information Systems. I've worked for 3 companies in 3 years, all pretty big, all pretty successful, been successful while there, but with the way the economy is and how companies are finding new ways to take advantage of the work force, I haven't been able to find a "home". The promises made to recent college grads of hard work + long hours = financial success has long wore off its illusion. I'm slowly realizing that no matter where I work, no matter how hard, I won't ever get where I want to be because my company will always hold me back. I am expendable.
I've had aspirations to start my own business. I want to do the research and learn as much as I can, so I can start turning my ideas into reality. I just don't want to make unnecessary mistakes along the way (but I'm sure failure is necessary to learn from and is inevitable). I'm looking for advice on how to take on a path necessary to become knowledgeable, meet other entrepreneurs, and learn what I need to do to get a business development process starting. I can write a business plan, anaylize markets, and I have excellent sales skills, and I have a strong technical background. I have no money to invest or begin with, so any help applying for investments or loans would be appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance for any advice or help you can provide.
1) Think of something you can sell (a product or service) which you can AND will become passionate about (if you aren't already). Remember this business of yours will become your life to be successful... you had better be passionate about it.
2) Develop a business plan around your idea.
3) Do a rational and pragmatic reality check on all parts of the business plan - have people you trust review it and provide their own reality checks.
4) While doing 1-3 above start saving money - however you can. You need to have "something" in the bank. If you work for others only 40 hours per week and cannot find creative ways to save money - then you certainly cannot work the necessary 50-80 hours per week for yourself trying to turn an idea profitable and save money. It just won't happen. You need to be financially disciplined to be successful as an entrepreneur; that's just a fact.
5) While doing 1-4 above - become friends with some successful entrepreneurs. In my experience you want to become friends with the ones who have been in it for a very long time - because they have been there/done everything and have survived many economic cycles. Young entrepreneurs are great; but you need nuggets of wisdom when getting started, wisdom gained through experience. You also want to speak to others who have no insecurities regarding their own success and current businesses, and who are likely to provide real advice vs thinking of you as a potential competitor (or something to that effect) or vs those who might just put up a facade of success when speaking with you. Seasoned entrepreneurs are the best for all of this.
I'm a young professional, I have a bachelor's degree in both Marketing AND Management Information Systems. I've worked for 3 companies in 3 years, all pretty big, all pretty successful, been successful while there, but with the way the economy is and how companies are finding new ways to take advantage of the work force, I haven't been able to find a "home". The promises made to recent college grads of hard work + long hours = financial success has long wore off its illusion. I'm slowly realizing that no matter where I work, no matter how hard, I won't ever get where I want to be because my company will always hold me back. I am expendable.
I've had aspirations to start my own business. I want to do the research and learn as much as I can, so I can start turning my ideas into reality. I just don't want to make unnecessary mistakes along the way (but I'm sure failure is necessary to learn from and is inevitable). I'm looking for advice on how to take on a path necessary to become knowledgeable, meet other entrepreneurs, and learn what I need to do to get a business development process starting. I can write a business plan, anaylize markets, and I have excellent sales skills, and I have a strong technical background. I have no money to invest or begin with, so any help applying for investments or loans would be appreciated as well.
Thanks in advance for any advice or help you can provide.
1. Don't pay cash for a business, get a loan...I don't care if you have $3 million in the bank and the business you want to purchase is $1 million, don't pay cash use OPM (other people's money), but make sure you have money in the bank.
2. There are many hidden expenses in a business that most people don't know about unless they have owned a business.
3. I personally don't believe experience in the field is required, but it helps.
4. Honestly, success will boil down to whether or not you are a fast learner, whether or not you have good common sense, whether or not you can effectively manage employees and budgets, and whether or not you have the correct mindset.
5. Many employees think "if I owned my own business I could take time off whenever I want and have so much more freedom", "I will be making more money" etc. These are completely FALSE beliefs and anyone with this mindset will fail, I would bet anything on this. You need to understand that owning a business will require you to work in most cases everyday of the week, especially during the first year. If you get everything organized and running smoothly, maybe by the second year, you can move more toward an "office" position, but in the beginning you will be working on the floor most of the time. You will be the first person to show up and the last person to leave. At the end of the day, your business will still be on your mind, it's like a curse, but if you run it properly it can be a great feeling.
6. I have learned most of what I know about business ownership from my parents. When my mother moved to America, she bought her first business, a small cafe in a mall without ever working in the restaurant industry before. She bought the cafe for $30,000 and in 3 years was earning $100,000 after expenses. The fourth year she sold it for $250,000. She managed to do this because she worked her "butt" off everyday, cut expenses wherever she could (lights, inventory, scheduling), she kept profits in the business and didn't spend it on herself, and she simply had good common sense. We have since owned 4 businesses (retail, restaurant, night club, hotel), which have all been extremely successful.
I would go slow and build up your savings first. Seek information from older experienced individuals that have operated successful businesses for a long time through many economic cycles. I would strongly recommend that you avoid debt at all cost. You will make mistakes, we all do... but when you do not have debt payments, those mistakes are much easier to deal with. Good luck and I wouldn't do it unless you can enjoy it.
I would go slow and build up your savings first. Seek information from older experienced individuals that have operated successful businesses for a long time through many economic cycles. I would strongly recommend that you avoid debt at all cost. You will make mistakes, we all do... but when you do not have debt payments, those mistakes are much easier to deal with. Good luck and I wouldn't do it unless you can enjoy it.
I agree you need to build up savings first.
However, I have to emphasize, do not pay cash, get a LOAN. If you pay cash for a business, it usually eats up your entire savings, but you don't owe anything so there is less risk (that's your argument I'm assuming).
You might not owe anything, but now the bulk of your money is tied to this business. What if the business fails? What if you start loosing a few thousand dollars every month? You won't be able to sell it and you won't have funds to continue paying for your business and living expenses, meanwhile you are still loosing money each month. You will be SOL!
If you get a loan and put 20% down, you will still have money in the bank during slow seasons. There are ALMOST always a month or couple months where a business will loose money during the year. There will also be many maintenance and unforeseen problems. We had our ordering system break down during a power outage, it's going to cost $7,000 to fix. Our heating system needs to be replaced, it's going to cost $40,000 to $50,000. Our only other option would be to fix it every time it breaks, which is quite often and will quickly add up. You need to have available funds during these times.
It would take more than a lifetime for the average person to save enough money to pay cash for a business and still have a lot left over (unless you're talking about a VERY small business).
cdubs, you do need a thick skin to be successful- many folks on here have given great advice and thier time- its YOUR interpretaion of advice/info given thats a fulcrum of success- i wouldnt look at folks on here as naysayers or throwing cold water your way-business can be very cold and lonesome road
take any and all advice and use it to your advantage-if you start tripping over your interpretaion of "naysayers" then you may not be ready to start a business- you say "thank you" for your time and advice, use what info you can to your advantage and move on-if you personalize, fester over opinions-you wont get past "go"
once you get defensive-you are consumed and thrown off your game
if i were your age again- id have started several so called "businesses" but id be starting light , low expense and test the waters-'you gotta be different' would be my motto, also, dont get hung up on how valuable you are because of degrees etc-dont be afraid to get your hands dirty, and have a sore back.
i'll give you one example- (i gave this to a friend a couple years ago and it worked) i would deliver papers in the a.m for a few hours for a local newspaper- not so much for the money or a good job- but more so to keep a tab, on which house/residence, needs a new sealed driveway, a garage painted, or steps repaired- you could easily create a brochure tailored to what the residence is in need of
you could be the only "step repair specialist" in the area (plenty of painters in the yellow pages, but not many "step repair specialists"
also you could tailor a brochure for driveway sealing and repair, and garage painter
delivering papers you could keep on placing your brochures in the papers or place them in the residence door
this sounds soooooo simple- but it would work, because you have to sell yourself if anyone calls (free estimates
yes i know this may not be a route you want to take with your degree and all-but use it for an analogy, its all insight
use that analogy to evaluate any small independent business in your area- write in feedback to the owners- how they can improve thier specific business(from the eye of a consumer)
for example- if you go into one independent hardware store and they have a "how to" video display
in front of products to be used (in my area " how to winterize your home and save $$ on heating your home)
then you go into 3 other hardware stores and they have no video displays-then you can send a brochure of how you can set them up
you can use the competitive marketplace to fill any voids you recognize-then market to them.
dont get caught up in the specifics for the examples i used-just the premise- a different approach
also if i were your age, id be getting into fundraisers, preferrebly local- this gives you great business contacts on a benevolent premise-then sell yourself when the opportunity is there.
also, id get into either online or print business advertising/profiling or reviews-put yourself in a position to meet the movers and shakers, even radio advertising, then knock on doors- meet the business owners on how they can improve sales-then sell yourself if the opportunity arises.
However, I have to emphasize, do not pay cash, get a LOAN. If you pay cash for a business, it usually eats up your entire savings, but you don't owe anything so there is less risk (that's your argument I'm assuming).
You might not owe anything, but now the bulk of your money is tied to this business. What if the business fails? What if you start loosing a few thousand dollars every month? You won't be able to sell it and you won't have funds to continue paying for your business and living expenses, meanwhile you are still loosing money each month. You will be SOL!
If you get a loan and put 20% down, you will still have money in the bank during slow seasons. There are ALMOST always a month or couple months where a business will loose money during the year. There will also be many maintenance and unforeseen problems. We had our ordering system break down during a power outage, it's going to cost $7,000 to fix. Our heating system needs to be replaced, it's going to cost $40,000 to $50,000. Our only other option would be to fix it every time it breaks, which is quite often and will quickly add up. You need to have available funds during these times.
It would take more than a lifetime for the average person to save enough money to pay cash for a business and still have a lot left over (unless you're talking about a VERY small business).
You nailed it... Loans increase your risk. Building up cash reserves to handle emergencies and starting small is my advice. You can cash flow a business if it is a good business with a good profit margin. Yes many businesses will have slow periods, you have to plan for this, not borrow your way out of it.
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