TheSamba.com :: View topic - Who Has Started their Own Business and what to expect?

Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:13 am

A friend of mine and i are in the works on a small business as well. Start up cost are a major factor. We may need to get a VA small business loan to get the ball rolling. We have been in the market research and planning stages for the past 9 to 10 years. I am ritiring from the service next year and we should be ready to go by then. Look at the demand for your product/service in your area. Study the competition and figure out why they are good/bad and improve on it. Ask similar businesses questions that may help you out. Re-invest all profits after you cover the expenses. Look at your short and long term goals and figure out what it takes to get there. Try not to get too much of your money into it if you can get investors or grants. Don't cheat on your taxes or pay under the table. Good luck.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:14 am

notchback wrote: Don't smoke the profits.

Ah, shit.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:21 am

420GOAT wrote: looking for advice and stories.

Don't do it.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:19 am

without giving too much i ve been here for three years, we make lots of repro stuff for vw, the co, was founded on rubber and plastic but certain parts and vehicles overlooked, i have the guy who makes our stuff in house and the molds for us on my side and i want to start repopping a couple items at first. starup money is a grand or so to pay for the molds and inserts and ill try to stay here for a while, but ive seen how it is done and in my opinon i am smarter and more resourseful than my boss. he started with one rubber seal and i think i can do it too. but in a niche market for bays. soon ill have a product and ready to sell.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:22 am

420GOAT wrote: without giving too much i ve been here for three years, we make lots of repro stuff for vw, the co, was founded on rubber and plastic but certain parts and vehicles overlooked, i have the guy who makes our stuff in house and the molds for us on my side and i want to start repopping a couple items at first. starup money is a grand or so to pay for the molds and inserts and ill try to stay here for a while, but ive seen how it is done and in my opinon i am smarter and more resourseful than my boss. he started with one rubber seal and i think i can do it too. but in a niche market for bays. soon ill have a product and ready to sell.

:shock:

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:26 am

Icy wrote: 420GOAT wrote: without giving too much i ve been here for three years, we make lots of repro stuff for vw, the co, was founded on rubber and plastic but certain parts and vehicles overlooked, i have the guy who makes our stuff in house and the molds for us on my side and i want to start repopping a couple items at first. starup money is a grand or so to pay for the molds and inserts and ill try to stay here for a while, but ive seen how it is done and in my opinon i am smarter and more resourseful than my boss. he started with one rubber seal and i think i can do it too. but in a niche market for bays. soon ill have a product and ready to sell.

:shock:
DONT BE SHOCKED BE HAPPY IM TRYING TO PROVIDE PARTS THE BIG BUYS DEEM , NOT WORTH IT, BUT WITH SUCH A LOW OVERHEAD ILL KICK THEIR ASS.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:30 am

My employees always think the same thing. They usually quit right in the middle of a project to go out and do their own business usually taking my tools and materials with them. After 6 months they come back pleading for their old jobs. I never rehire them.

Keep your job and let your boss know that you are doing it on the side. If it is a small company and your boss is the founder, he will probably be happy to help you. If it is a big company and your boss is a paper pusher, just do it on the side and dont tell anyone.

Good luck.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:41 pm

If I had it to do over again I don't think I would start a business. I'm not complaining, the money's been good, and there's a lot of good things that come with it, but as you get older the matching 401k and the medical and dental plans and all the other things that don't seem important when you're in your 20's or 30's are suddenly very big deals, and it takes a lot of money and planning to even begin to try to duplicate those things when you're self-employed.

I was talking to a banker the other day, and he quit the FDIC to become part-owner of the bank where he works. He has pretty big piece of a small bank, he's making good money, he seems to have it dicked. I mean, you look at him, and you think he's in a great position.

He sat down and showed me how much he would be making and how good his retirement and benefits and all would be right now if he had just stayed with the Government, and how close to retirement he would be, and by the time he got done, it really was a coin toss whether he made the right move.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:48 pm

The whole idea is to be in the right business where you can make an income that provides it's owners a way to be financially sound. If you want average, just go to work for someone else, and let them have the rewards.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:46 pm

Bart Dunn wrote: The grass is always greener on the other side, until you find out it's artificial turf. That's the way the FULL saying goes.

I heard it different,

The grass is always greener............Then you go over there and realize there is a septic tank over there , and there is as much $hit over there as back where you came from. :wink:

Seriously , people always tell me man it must be nice to not have a boss............. :lol: :roll: I tell them I have about 10 bosses at a time. Every customer is the BOSS. :wink:

Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:53 pm

420GOAT wrote: without giving too much i ve been here for three years, we make lots of repro stuff for vw, the co, was founded on rubber and plastic but certain parts and vehicles overlooked, i have the guy who makes our stuff in house and the molds for us on my side and i want to start repopping a couple items at first. starup money is a grand or so to pay for the molds and inserts and ill try to stay here for a while, but ive seen how it is done and in my opinon i am smarter and more resourseful than my boss. he started with one rubber seal and i think i can do it too. but in a niche market for bays. soon ill have a product and ready to sell.

:lol: oh your one of those guys, I had one of my guys quit a while back, and one of my steady clients that he did all the work for vanished too, how weird :roll: said they were going to go with granite instead of formica, for appartments, yeah right. Long story short they both came back to me beging me to me to take them back, I told the guy who used to work for me to fuck off, and took the work back at an increased rate. I think you will be in for a big suprise at what it takes to run a business if you try to go on your own, and if you are going to make the parts at the place you work at with their utilties, and they find out, you are going to be in for an even bigger suprise :evil:

Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:19 pm

The most important thing is having a lot of capital to back you up, you'll need it.

Secondly, don't let people tick up your services. They pay half (or at minimum enough to cover costs) then the remainder on delivery, until they have proven themselves to be trustworthy. Cashflow is the second most important, probably on equal importance with a heap of capital really.

When things are good, they're good, but when they're bad you lay awake at night thinking about how you're going to pay for shit.

Keep overheads to a minimum, don't go ticking up a bunch of equipment that will stretch you financially.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:25 pm

I started my own business 7 years ago while working a full time good-paying professional job 9-5. Did my business "on the side" until 2 years ago when my wife and I actually opened a store where she would stay every day from 9-6. I still worked my 9-5, except my business was also open from 9-6 and I would skip out and work at various points throughout the day for my own company until about 6 months ago when I finally left my 9-5 job.

Six months into running my business full time I find I am a completely different person. Running your own business is in some ways like having children. You either change from the experience or you completely fail because of your unwillingness to change.

Running a business is NOTHING like what I thought it would be. If you ever want to make really good money you might as well forget about what your good at, because you will have to relinquish that work to someone who will NEVER do it as good as you can and you will get to spend all of your time pandering to whiny customers and dealing with childish employees who are shiftless and do not ever deserve the paper that their checks are printed on.

The upside is that the experience has forced me to grow in areas that I never would have otherwise. All in all it is like a one way door to me. Once you go through, you simply cannot go back. I could never go back to punching a stupid clock ever again. At the same time, I miss the selfish indulgence of being able to "walk out the door and forget it all."

Unless you are ready to come to terms with these things OR be an utter failure--do NOT attempt to start a business!

Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:45 pm

start it on the side. You will reach a point where you KNOW you are losing $ by having to work your "real" job. When you know that's the case, you are ready to fly on your own.

It's not all it's cracked up to be, and finding good help is brutal. The Gov't costs and insurance will eat you alive.

John
Aircooled.Net Inc.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:04 pm

I owned/ran a construction business for two years. I hated every freakin' second of it. I considered Sunday a mellow day because I only worked four to six hours. The other six days I put in a minimum of twelve hours. I was so frazzled that I became a different person, moving from one crisis to the next, phone always ringing, bills always coming in, employees always asking for raises. And the paperwork..... oh, my GOD the paperwork.

Aside from that it was great.

Now I do small jobs/projects all by myself under the table. I couldn't be happier.

.

Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:34 pm

Quote: Running a business is NOTHING like what I thought it would be. If you ever want to make really good money you might as well forget about what your good at, because you will have to relinquish that work to someone who will NEVER do it as good as you can and you will get to spend all of your time pandering to whiny customers and dealing with childish employees who are shiftless and do not ever deserve the paper that their checks are printed on.

:lol: :lol: Boy, that is a true statement.

Wed Jun 11, 2008 9:26 am

joe h. wrote: Quote: Running a business is NOTHING like what I thought it would be. If you ever want to make really good money you might as well forget about what your good at, because you will have to relinquish that work to someone who will NEVER do it as good as you can and you will get to spend all of your time pandering to whiny customers and dealing with childish employees who are shiftless and do not ever deserve the paper that their checks are printed on.

:lol: :lol: Boy, that is a true statement.
no im not going to use the facilities here....nor am i stealing any ideas or clients....i pitched the idea a year ago and i found it is not prifitable for a big outfit. for me a couple extra hundred here and there will be great. my boss always spouts free enterprise and another said " you should make that"....i laughed at the idea but then......why not? i know who to call, ive researched a bit on who would buy it, and i want to do it. if i could have been the first to slang herb... i would, but now everyone does and it not too profitable for the risk involved. i dont sell drugs nor do i intend to, beacause there is no money in it. i onced asked my uncle who has a art canvas company, what is good...he said if he could do it again he'd do something with cars. i dont think if i left id want to come back but it would be cool to walk in and sell them the shit at a cost that makes up for the lack in pay i get.

Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:26 pm

420GOAT wrote: joe h. wrote: Quote: Running a business is NOTHING like what I thought it would be. If you ever want to make really good money you might as well forget about what your good at, because you will have to relinquish that work to someone who will NEVER do it as good as you can and you will get to spend all of your time pandering to whiny customers and dealing with childish employees who are shiftless and do not ever deserve the paper that their checks are printed on.

:lol: :lol: Boy, that is a true statement.
no im not going to use the facilities here....nor am i stealing any ideas or clients....i pitched the idea a year ago and i found it is not prifitable for a big outfit. for me a couple extra hundred here and there will be great. my boss always spouts free enterprise and another said " you should make that"....i laughed at the idea but then......why not? i know who to call, ive researched a bit on who would buy it, and i want to do it. if i could have been the first to slang herb... i would, but now everyone does and it not too profitable for the risk involved. i dont sell drugs nor do i intend to, beacause there is no money in it. i onced asked my uncle who has a art canvas company, what is good...he said if he could do it again he'd do something with cars. i dont think if i left id want to come back but it would be cool to walk in and sell them the shit at a cost that makes up for the lack in pay i get.

For a "couple hundred bucks here and there", it probably will be easier to just mow some lawns.

Wed Jun 11, 2008 12:56 pm

probably.^^^

Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:23 pm

Keep it simple. 8) Simple is more better! :wink: