Who here owns a small business? How old are you and what is the biz?
In hindsight was it worth it or should you have stuck to the 9-5?
Who here owns a small business? How old are you and what is the biz?
In hindsight was it worth it or should you have stuck to the 9-5?
Yes dood. I am 37 and I won't tell you the biz. Approx. gross around $350K - Net closer to $200. Pay myself $140k.
It was a lot of hard work and still is. You give up some things but you gain others. I have been incredibly lucky, I think, to have been successful. Not sure I'll do this forever.
If you're asking whether it is worth it, you might not be ready. But you might... What are you thinking?
Seems unlikely if you can't even give the category your business is in. In fact it wouldn't matter at all if you told me the exact line of business so thinking this is a nice fat troll.
Dood Bro wrote:
Yes dood. I am 37 and I won't tell you the biz. Approx. gross around $350K - Net closer to $200. Pay myself $140k.
It was a lot of hard work and still is. You give up some things but you gain others. I have been incredibly lucky, I think, to have been successful. Not sure I'll do this forever.
If you're asking whether it is worth it, you might not be ready. But you might... What are you thinking?
Yes, present. Partner in a small manufacturing operation. I'm in my late 30s.
I've never really worked a 9-5, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks, How did you get into it? Did you need to personally raise a lot of capital? What do you make?
the German inquisition wrote:
Yes, present. Partner in a small manufacturing operation. I'm in my late 30s.
I've never really worked a 9-5, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I quit a big company to start my own...it's been good. Tripled my salary and and I am now much more proud of my work.
Details please! What did you quit? What is your business?
agoo wrote:
I quit a big company to start my own...it's been good. Tripled my salary and and I am now much more proud of my work.
wannabiz wrote:
Seems unlikely if you can't even give the category your business is in. In fact it wouldn't matter at all if you told me the exact line of business so thinking this is a nice fat troll.
Think whatever you want, bro. I may be a troll, but I am not fat. I am nice, though.
If it means that much to you, I am working in the distribution of plastic resins. Looking to get bought in the next 5 years for the client base. Real money is in the pellet manufacturing, but those machines are expensive. Depending on payout from acquisition, might "retire" or might look into manufacturing.
What type of small business are you considering?
Got bored about half way through that. Arrrg is it just easier to start a super boring biz? Because less competition as less people are interested?
Dood Bro wrote:
Think whatever you want, bro. I may be a troll, but I am not fat. I am nice, though.
If it means that much to you, I am working in the distribution of plastic resins. Looking to get bought in the next 5 years for the client base. Real money is in the pellet manufacturing, but those machines are expensive. Depending on payout from acquisition, might "retire" or might look into manufacturing.
What type of small business are you considering?
wannabiz wrote:
Got bored about half way through that. Arrrg is it just easier to start a super boring biz? Because less competition as less people are interested?
Dood Bro wrote:Think whatever you want, bro. I may be a troll, but I am not fat. I am nice, though.
If it means that much to you, I am working in the distribution of plastic resins. Looking to get bought in the next 5 years for the client base. Real money is in the pellet manufacturing, but those machines are expensive. Depending on payout from acquisition, might "retire" or might look into manufacturing.
What type of small business are you considering?
Are you being serious?
Of course! Distribution of plastic resins? Definitely not something that inspires me to work 12 hour days.
Dood Bro wrote:
Are you being serious?
I'm 30 and own an EHS consulting firm. In hindsight it was worth it, but I still mostly work 9-5 (actually 7-3).
If you're serious and have questions, I'd be happy to talk about it, but if you got bored reading what the other poster wrote, business probably isn't for you.
wannabiz wrote:
Of course! Distribution of plastic resins? Definitely not something that inspires me to work 12 hour days.
Dood Bro wrote:Are you being serious?
Good luck to you, son. I wish you all the best.
Thanks for the response - actually had a ton of questions. And no - that wasn't me who responded rudely above. I guess you open yourself up to imitators if you don't register your name! Not sure why this would be a thread worth hijacking!So here goes:1 - What is "EHS"?2 - When did you launch?3 - What path led you to your own biz? Did you work in the industry for a while first or go straight to launch?4 - Did you self fund?Definitely have more questions but that should get me started!
No Way wrote:
I'm 30 and own an EHS consulting firm. In hindsight it was worth it, but I still mostly work 9-5 (actually 7-3).
If you're serious and have questions, I'd be happy to talk about it, but if you got bored reading what the other poster wrote, business probably isn't for you.
Last couple posts weren't me - prankster using my name.
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Good luck to you, son. I wish you all the best.[/quote]
wannabiz wrote:
Thanks for the response - actually had a ton of questions.
And no - that wasn't me who responded rudely above. I guess you open yourself up to imitators if you don't register your name! Not sure why this would be a thread worth hijacking!
So here goes:
1 - What is "EHS"?
2 - When did you launch?
3 - What path led you to your own biz? Did you work in the industry for a while first or go straight to launch?
4 - Did you self fund?
1- Environmental, Health, and Safety. We help companies and institutions with compliance and management issues.
2- In 2012
3- I started working for a small consulting firm in 2008, right out of college. In 2012 one of the owner's wife had a bad accident and had to be taken care of so he sold his share of the company to the other owner. The other owner decided to retire and basically liquidated the company. This all happened in a period of about 6 weeks. Most folks moved on to other consulting firms or to industry, but I didn't really want to work for a big company and I couldn't find a job with another small firm.
I had a good relationship with one client and asked whether they'd continue to use me if I started my own company. The said they would, and I was pretty sure I could get a few more of the company's clients. I formed an S-Corp, bought insurance, and went for it. I was 25, didn't have a ton of responsibility, and had options to work for other companies if it didn't work out.
4- Completely self funded. The only real startup costs were incorporation and insurance. It was slow moving at first, most companies will only pay net 30, meaning you don't get paid for a project until 30 days after the work is done. I barely scraped by for a while until business became more regular and I was making a few thousand a week. Eventually I leased an office, hired a few folks, and luckily enough it's all worked out so far.
Too much to go through, but you better listen to this.
Start your business before you have kids. You want to be stable once the family comes along.
DiscoGary wrote:
Too much to go through, but you better listen to this.
Start your business before you have kids. You want to be stable once the family comes along.
Excellent advice. The biggest reason I felt comfortable taking the plunge is that I was only really responsible for myself.
I wasn't able to pay myself for months and it was even longer until I was doing so regularly. Most businesses don't make money for the first year or longer.
wannabiz wrote:
Thanks,
How did you get into it? Did you need to personally raise a lot of capital? What do you make?
the German inquisition wrote:Yes, present. Partner in a small manufacturing operation. I'm in my late 30s.
I've never really worked a 9-5, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
So, i used to work as an outside salesperson. I was approached by the owner during a sales call. He's not ready to retire, but he's eyeing it 10 years down the road. He brought me on as an employee for a few months to make sure I was a good fit, then we worked out a deal.
As far as financing the purchase, my deal required a modest down payment, but is seller financed.
I don't take home any more, for now, then what I did in outside sales. Any of the profit distributions I get go towards paying off the financing.
I'm a 50/50 partner in a small business. I'm 37, been at it for 11 years. We do niche, high-tech, engineering consulting, and contract R&D type stuff.
Was it worth it, totally depends.
Financially, not at first (probably about 50% to 75% what I would have made as an employee elsewhere the first few years) but I make more today than I ever thought I would. But the money doesn't really matter to me (we don't have expensive taste). For reference, my income last year was about 3X the value of my house.
I work way too hard. But I'm the type of person who is always working. I'd be doing something else anyway. But I'd probably spend more time for myself and with my family if I didn't own the business. The hard work doesn't really bother me, but it's an issue. My wife basically had to quit her job because I wasn't able to help out at home ever. But she likes it better not having to work anyway.
It's difficult/challenging/complicated work. The bigger the company gets (right now about 20 people) the bigger the problems. Now I have 20 people counting on me to make the company successful. The technical (i.e., real work) stuff is simple. Running the business takes a lot of devotion and focus.
It's lonely at the top. Everyone at work is friendly, but they aren't my friends. I'd like to think they are, but at the end of the day they are probably just nice because I'm the boss. You're constantly having to tell someone no and it's hard not to feel bad about it. This wears on me more than anything.
Dealing with other partners can be tough. In my case this is the number one source of stress in my life and it will probably be the end of the business some day. Often I have to navigate this really carefully. Being 50/50 is tough. I wouldn't recommend that.
In my case I'd do it again, but I'd do it a lot differently. No time to elaborate. Back to work.