Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 11:14:29 GMT -5
milee, Ryan, @wxyz, deantrip, Sum Dum Gai, swamp, AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP... I *think* you all own businesses. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of people - hopefully other posters can tag the people I missed. I would love to hear some of your stories on when/why/how you started your own businesses, whether they succeeded or failed (or are as yet unknown). I think it would be interesting to those of us who have only played with the idea. Some random questions to get us rolling... 1) When did you start your business? How old were you? 2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) 3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? 4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? 5) What was your start up investment? 6) Would you do it all again?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Nov 6, 2014 11:44:16 GMT -5
milee, Ryan, @wxyz, deantrip, Sum Dum Gai, swamp, AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP... I *think* you all own businesses. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of people - hopefully other posters can tag the people I missed. I would love to hear some of your stories on when/why/how you started your own businesses, whether they succeeded or failed (or are as yet unknown). I think it would be interesting to those of us who have only played with the idea. Some random questions to get us rolling... 1) When did you start your business? How old were you? 27.2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) Hated working for someone else and wanted to be my own boss. Thought it would be easy. We bought a gas station franchise (Texaco) and since almost every family had a car, everyone would need to buy gas. Easy, right?3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? My brother and I went into the business together. The fact that the hours I had to work was destroying my marriage is one of the reasons we sold it, oh - that and the fact my brother was stealing from the business. I was putting in 12-14 hour days repairing cars and pumping gas and couldn't figure out why we were in the red with all the cash we were bringing in.4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? No. We had to let employees go because we weren't "making enough". I was working crazy hours and didn't really know anything about keeping books, depositing payroll taxes (this was in the days before automated payroll services) etc or else I would have figured out my brother was skimming money much sooner.5) What was your start up investment? We each put in $25K. This was a lot of money in the late 60's. 6) Would you do it all again? Nope. Brother claimed he was making the payroll tax deposits. He didn't for over a year. He never told me where that money went. Since I was the one who got a W-2 job after we sold the business (break even) it was my wages which were garnished for the back taxes. At the end of the day I paid over $20K to the Federal and State government. With what I can only guess he stole from the operating receipts I would say he owed me over $40K. This was the only time in my life my wife had to work to put food on the table and I hated that I couldn't support my family. I never got paid back, it ruined our relationship, and he is the only family member whose funeral I didn't attend. I've never started up a business. My father did. Responses as he would have made them are in black bold above. When we helped him move after Mom died we found some old advertising keychains from the business and more of the story (we always knew a little as kids) came out.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 11:49:18 GMT -5
I had to work was destroying my marriage is one of the reasons we sold it, oh - that and the fact my brother was stealing from the business. I was putting in 12-14 hour days repairing cars and pumping gas and couldn't figure out why we were in the red with all the cash we were bringing in.Yikes! That must have made for some awkward Thanksgiving dinners Thanks for answering on his behalf.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Nov 6, 2014 12:14:56 GMT -5
Captain, that is so sad. Unfortunately, my company has a tenant that is going though the same thing right now.
DH has his own business. He has started an insurance agency with two different companies from "scratch" ie. he did not buy an agency with policies that would renew and provide income, he sold every policy in his book of business.
1) When did you start your business? How old were you? We were married a few years so about 31.
2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?). DH was looking for employment opportunities. DH was in the "CBO Network" ie. he worked for a series of agencies that provided things like Adult Basic education, ESL, GED completion and Employment Referals. He also worked in HR for a large local employer and as a Computer Sales person for School Software and as a Grade School Teacher in a Spanish Emershion? School. Someone one of his former bosses knew was looking for Spanish Speaking Agents for the 1st company DH owned an agency with.
3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? Yes when DH opened his 1st Agency we had 1 and one on the way. DH has always worked lots of hours. Our 2 career family has worked b/c Grandma and Grandpa have picked up the slack since day one. I had no idea what I was getting into when Grandma started to babysit but, When my kids were little We paid her the "going rate" for in-home daycare which I think was $200/wj for my 2 kids. She fed them, kept clothes at her house, washed the clothes, bathed the kids and sent us home with dinner for DH and I. Later when the kids started school my FIL provided transportation. We have contributed in various ways to their transportation ie. gas $$, DH paid $5,000 for one car etc etc. When they were in middle school my MIL and FIL would go to our house, feed them, cut our grass walk the dog and just make sure there was nothing we would not approve of going on. MIL can not sit still so while she was at my house she would do my laundry and mop my floors. I think MIL much preferred cleaning to caring for my BIL's kids, but she stopped watching my kids after school b/c one of my BIL's got divorced and he needed them to provide day care for his grae school aged kids. I don't think he pays her much if anything. Now my inlaws just provide Doggie Daycare for us - which means they go to DH's office and pick up the dog, MIL cleans the office periodically and I pick up the dog from MIL's house in evening. I usually don't have to walk the dog at all when I come home.
4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? We never immagined that DH would be so successful in this business. DH is very independent and is very goal oriented/competitive. 5) What was your start up investment? We had to show that we had finances. We were able to use a Home equity line of credit and my 401K and my employemnt to show we had the funds to live on while he built his business. Now they require you to have $50,000 in the bank, so we would actually have to draw on the LOC and put the $$ in the bank. You are not buying the business...you are showing you will not fail or quit b/c you do not have $$ to live on.
6) Would you do it all again? Yes, but it may be a differnt flavor - DH is a captive agent and we would probably go independent. We flirt with me starting an agency all the time. I was waiting for Obamacare to really get a foothold...we are concerend about preexisting conditons.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Nov 6, 2014 12:19:20 GMT -5
milee, Ryan, @wxyz, deantrip, Sum Dum Gai, swamp, AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP... I *think* you all own businesses. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of people - hopefully other posters can tag the people I missed. I would love to hear some of your stories on when/why/how you started your own businesses, whether they succeeded or failed (or are as yet unknown). I think it would be interesting to those of us who have only played with the idea. Some random questions to get us rolling... 1) When did you start your business? How old were you? 27.2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) Hated working for someone else and wanted to be my own boss. Thought it would be easy. We bought a gas station franchise (Texaco) and since almost every family had a car, everyone would need to buy gas. Easy, right?3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? My brother and I went into the business together. The fact that the hours I had to work was destroying my marriage is one of the reasons we sold it, oh - that and the fact my brother was stealing from the business. I was putting in 12-14 hour days repairing cars and pumping gas and couldn't figure out why we were in the red with all the cash we were bringing in.4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? No. We had to let employees go because we weren't "making enough". I was working crazy hours and didn't really know anything about keeping books, depositing payroll taxes (this was in the days before automated payroll services) etc or else I would have figured out my brother was skimming money much sooner.5) What was your start up investment? We each put in $25K. This was a lot of money in the late 60's. 6) Would you do it all again? Nope. Brother claimed he was making the payroll tax deposits. He didn't for over a year. He never told me where that money went. Since I was the one who got a W-2 job after we sold the business (break even) it was my wages which were garnished for the back taxes. At the end of the day I paid over $20K to the Federal and State government. With what I can only guess he stole from the operating receipts I would say he owed me over $40K. This was the only time in my life my wife had to work to put food on the table and I hated that I couldn't support my family. I never got paid back, it ruined our relationship, and he is the only family member whose funeral I didn't attend. I've never started up a business. My father did. Responses as he would have made them are in black bold above. When we helped him move after Mom died we found some old advertising keychains from the business and more of the story (we always knew a little as kids) came out. This sort of reminds me of how my grandfather went into business for himself. Although his story involved a possible (probable) murder, a will burning and the entire town chipping in money so Granddaddy could buy the building and equipment needed to open his shop.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Nov 6, 2014 12:26:38 GMT -5
I've never started up a business. My father did. Responses as he would have made them are in black bold above. When we helped him move after Mom died we found some old advertising keychains from the business and more of the story (we always knew a little as kids) came out. Wow. Did your uncle ever apologise or take responsibilty for his actions to your dad? Since I was a little kid when all this went down I can't say for certain. Like I've said many times, my mom got the pick of the litter. The fact that he didn't go to this brother's funeral speaks volumns. So I'm pretty confident in guessing, no.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 12:52:33 GMT -5
This sort of reminds me of how my grandfather went into business for himself. Although his story involved a possible (probable) murder, a will burning and the entire town chipping in money so Granddaddy could buy the building and equipment needed to open his shop.
Details?!?
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Nov 6, 2014 13:15:03 GMT -5
Disclaimer: I am not a business owner. But my mom was (till she died) and FIL is. All the below responses are about my mom's business. She was a CPA, at the time she died she was a partner in a CPA firm of 6. But she was the one who started it and then brought on other partners.
Not sure about answer no 6. Mom passed away 2 years ago. She was very happy and involved in her work till the very end. So my guess is she would have said yes.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Nov 6, 2014 13:18:06 GMT -5
1) When did you start your business? How old were you?
I started in 2005, so I was 27 at the time.
2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?)
The catalyst is that I had just purchased a house and felt uncomfortable with the higher payments. That led me to looking for side-business opportunities and it eventually led me to doing e-commerce. I still work full-time and I have always not minded my work. Now I like the business because I don't have to rely on any income to any great extent. My online business gives me lots of money to invest, save for college, pay for vacations, etc.
3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business?
I didn't have any family/partners initially, but I had some intention to have my dad help out initially. Eventually, he took over all the "work" of shipping out products. I basically did all the work on the business at night after my wife went to bed. Sometimes I worked a little more, sometimes a lot less.
4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close?
They have exceeded my expectations....way way way exceeded.
5) What was your start up investment?
Since my business is all e-commerce, it's not that capital intensive. I basically spent around $750 total to get things totally up/running before I had any money coming in. After that, everything has basically come out of cash flow with the exception of my first large shipment from overseas.
6) Would you do it all again?
I would do it again and online business is about all I'd recommend because of the lower risk. I've continued to work full-time so all the online income has been gravy essentially. I do "give away" a large portion of the income to my dad, but that was kinda the plan to begin with. His business really tanked for the 10 years prior to that and was nearing retirement. I could make more money on my own and do like 30% of the business, but this way we all work more and he takes on more day to day stuff.
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Nov 6, 2014 13:20:58 GMT -5
Is Ryan actually davebo> The longtime poster? The stories sound eerily similar.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Nov 6, 2014 13:22:58 GMT -5
Is Ryan actually davebo> The longtime poster? The stories sound eerily similar. Yeah, I mentioned that elsewhere. I have 2 first names, except one is my last name
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Nov 6, 2014 13:23:44 GMT -5
Is Ryan actually davebo> The longtime poster? The stories sound eerily similar. Yeah, I mentioned that elsewhere. I have 2 first names, except one is my last name HA!! Nice to see you back again.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 13:29:03 GMT -5
Davebo... that's the poster I meant to tag in the OP, not deantrip. Whoops.
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Regis
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Post by Regis on Nov 6, 2014 13:34:01 GMT -5
1) When did you start your business? How old were you? I started my business in 2001. I was 37 at the time.
2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) Had always wanted to try it as my dad owned his own custom home-building company. I'm sure I would have regretted it later in life if I had not pursued it. The business was land surveying and civil engineering. Every company that I had worked at previously had focused on the engineering side and had surveying almost as a "necessary evil". I wanted to focus on the surveying side.
3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? Was married (and still am - to the same person) with three kids. They were 10, 8 and 6 at the time. Balance was tough sometimes but we tried very hard to follow the motto of "working to live, not living to work". It didn't always work. There were many times I ate dinner alone after the rest of my family had already finished theirs earlier in the evening.
I picked the time to start the company because all three of the kids were in school full days and my wife (then a SAHM) could have gone back to work if the business was a disaster. The biggest reason I think it didn't fail was the advanced planning that went into it. While I got no loans to start the company, I had a very detailed business plan with all kinds of projections into the future so I knew what the company was supposed to look like at any point.
4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? The business exceeded my expectations as I left a well-established company and had 0 client base when I ventured out. I didn't realize how strong my relationships were with others in the industry. I'm not saying it was easy but having good, solid relationships with others in the engineering/construction industries certainly made it easier. We used a model that made us a bit distinct from others providing the same services and it served us very well. I was pursued by three different companies with interest in buying mine. I guess the third time was charm - it was just an opportunity for financial independence that I couldn't pass up. We set up the agreement so I'd get paid over 39 months, which helped reduce my tax burden. I'm using the same business model here at my current employer and it's still working great. If anyone's interested, I'll share that model - after I retire in 10 years or so - but don't want to share it with our competitors (and there probably aren't any on this board).
5) What was your start up investment? About $75k for computers, office furniture and (mostly) the field equipment required to efficiently complete the work we did.
6) Would you do it all again? If it was 2001 and I was 37 - sure. But I had a life-changing moment with the death of my nephew (and godson) that has affected me since. My priorities and values are completely different. I certainly value my free time with friends and family more at this point in my life. And the game has changed some regarding the ability to get work with the clients we wanted to work with. I think it would be much harder now.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 14:08:25 GMT -5
But I had a life-changing moment with the death of my nephew (and godson) that has affected me since.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Nov 6, 2014 14:25:19 GMT -5
This sort of reminds me of how my grandfather went into business for himself. Although his story involved a possible (probable) murder, a will burning and the entire town chipping in money so Granddaddy could buy the building and equipment needed to open his shop.
Details?!? So my grandfather was one of like 11 sons. So there was 15-18 years between Granddaddy and his oldest brothers. Sometime after WWII when the brothers had come home, Grandaddy stopped working for the Farm landowner (Grandma's dad, yep he married the rich boss's daughter) and went to work for his much older brother (We will call him Bill) as the shop foreman of his Mechanic Shop. Youngest brother (we will call him Dodo) came along to work in the shop as well. The reason that Grandaddy left the farm to work in the town shop is 1) the guy currently running it was an idiot and 2) that he was to inherit the shop from Bill when Bill was done with it. So Bill gets married to a new B&*#-y wife. No one in the family liked her including Grandaddy and Uncle Dodo. She made everyone's life a living hell. So uncle Bill went to the small town lawyer and had a will drawn up to make sure the shop passed to Grandaddy because his wife didn't need a mechanic shop to run. Small town lawyer did not retain a copy of the will. (Moron) A couple of years later Uncle Bill starts getting mysteriously sick and passes away from some unknown illness despite having a clean bill of health previously. Honestly, it could have been something like pancreatic cancer. But most people think the wife did it. What we do know is that she burned all the copies of the will, so she inherited everything, including the shop. As soon as she could, she fired Granddaddy and Uncle Dodo. Granddaddy had one in college, one in high school and one in primary school and a stay at home wife. Uncle Dodo had two children in primary school. So, what happen was people in town who had been getting good and loyal service from my Grandfather gave him seed money, some of it was big chunks, some of it was only $50 or $100. He was able to buy the equipment he needed, get a down payment on a building, and get enough stock to get a shop up and running. Then he hired Uncle Dodo. Then everyone brought their cars to Granddaddy to be serviced. Then he hired all the other mechanics that worked at the other place. Then he paid everyone back. ETA: Forgot to add, the other shop folded in less than a year after Granddad opened his shop.
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kittensaver
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We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
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Post by kittensaver on Nov 6, 2014 16:17:30 GMT -5
1) When did you start your business? How old were you? DH was 31. We had been married 2 years2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) DH has a very entrepreneurial spirit and disliked working for large corporations. In his last position before he made the jump, it was a company that was dying a slow death, he was young and ambitious and as they let "higher ups" go, he took on more and more responsibility - but without the pay to go with it. At the end, he was a 30 year old Controller with tons of responsibility making the wages of a staff accountant. He basically "shut the doors and turned off the lights." At that point, he had nothing to lose and was tired of accounting anyway, so he opened up his own computer consulting business. He already had a few clients "on the side," so it wasn't a huge leap. I think it took him 2 months TOPS to surpass ($$) what had been his paycheck. 3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? We were both ambitious DINKS (ah, those were the days ). I think that helped a lot. I was climbing the ladder in an HR career and going to grad school at night (for the second time). Because I was also working and studying long hours, I didn't feel left alone or burdened with caring for a home and/or family alone. We were both in the same "space" career-wise.4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? Business life was actually pretty good until the economic crash of 2008. Like many other small businesses, he *really* felt the crunch. His niche has always been The Small Office: businesses that are too large to handle their computers alone, but too small to have a full-time (or even part-time) tech. In the downturn, one of his clients committed suicide; a few others (aging doctors, dentists, lawyers who were nearing retirement anyway) simply closed up shop. Two other businesses were sold and he was not taken along with the new owner. Never in his life did he EVER have to "go after" work, it always came to him, mostly by referral. These days he is actively out networking at Chambers of Commerce and other business groups scouting around for leads. 30 years ago, his skill set was unusual and in high demand; today, everyone and his brother (and 15 year old cousin) knows their way around a computer. But he is doing okay - he is still not working at a pre-2008 level, but he IS bringing in enough to support the life we've created. My income has also increased over the years, so we are and will be fine.5) What was your start up investment? -0- Well, he did have a pretty big chuck of severance pay for sticking around to close the doors of that last employer, but it turned out that we didn't need it to live - - his consulting work took off immediately 6) Would you do it all again? Yes - having a spouse that likes their work is priceless. I don't think I could stand to live with someone who is miserable day in and day out with the way they collected a paycheck.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Nov 6, 2014 16:24:34 GMT -5
Wow, kittensaver, that's a pretty cool story. I really admire those that can just strike out on their own. And replacing income in 2 months? Wow. CarolinaKat - WOW. Just wow.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 6, 2014 17:56:52 GMT -5
1989. Right after DD was born. I sold my house in Michigan, pocketed the about 100k profit, moved the florida, rented a house, leased the 1st floor under a doctors office and started a physical therapy clinic. With referrals from that doctor. His "payment" was as medical director, so he basically looked a a few charts and got paid very nicely for it. We made a profit of 6k our first year. There were no salaries and I answered the phone while my ex did home health care in the mornings and treated patients in the afternoon. The following year we did a deal with another doctor as in we rented space from him, at above market rate of course, and turned a very nice profit. It went on from there. By the time we sold, we owned 17 clinics, maybe 19, I don't remember anymore. Sold in 1997 for 5 million dollars. After taxes, around 3 million profit. The first year was the worst, of course. I did the clinic laundry at home while ex billed from the computer on a card table in our living room. I could have lost everything including all the cash from the house. But we worked our asses off and got a few breaks and the rest was gravy.
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milee
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Post by milee on Nov 6, 2014 20:53:05 GMT -5
1) When did you start your business? How old were you? 2002, 31.
2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? We'd been talking about starting a business for many years partly because we wanted to be able to move from Phoenix back to SW Florida where I grew up. SW Florida isn't a great area for highly paid executive jobs, so owning a business was a way to live there and still make decent money. I didn't mind being an employee as long as I was part of management and in fact my favorite job ever was as an employee of a Big Six firm doing financial consulting for businesses.
3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? DH and I had been married for 12 years. Our oldest son was 2 and the first few years starting the business were really tough. There was very little time for any personal life. I kept my full time job as Director of Accounting for a publicly traded company (we had divisions in several states and one overseas, requiring some travel) because we needed the health insurance and the income to pay our expenses while the business was in startup mode. We didn't want to commit the money to a commercial lease until we knew if we could land our target customers, so we had certain parts manufactured for us and then hand assembled the rest in our living room and den. Our $100,000 in raw parts inventory was stored in the dining room. My typical day was wake at 6 AM, get DS fed and ready for preschool, take DS to preschool and go to work. Work at day job until 5, pick up DS. Spend 5-7 playing with DS, making and eating dinner, etc. 7 PM put DS to bed and start hand assembly of product. Assemble product, ship, do accounting, order materials from China until about 1 or 2 AM, then go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. Money was tight because we agreed that we'd put in our available savings and risk the house (total of several hundred thousand $ investment) but not retirement funds. So if we got to the point where it didn't cash flow and the savings/HELOC were depleted, then we'd regretfully walk away, sell the house and start over. But buying inventory for manufacturing and waiting to be paid takes a lot of free cash flow. There were times when I rationed the shampoo and Christmas was really lean (that sounds more dramatic than it was because 2 year olds are happy to play with the boxes at that age - I was probably the one most sad about that.) We did that for about 2 years. On paper, we were profitable in year 2, but the cash flow wasn't steady or reliable until closer to the end of year 2. After about 2 years, the business was rolling along nicely and generating enough income that I didn't have to work the fulltime job outside the business. Things got easier then. And we gradually added things to make life easier. Rented commercial space. Scoured bankruptcy auctions for manufacturing equipment and started doing more of our own automated manufacturing in house. Hired employees. Got some sleep and some balance.
4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? It's surpassed my expectations in terms of earnings and what it's worth as a saleable going concern. Now that it's running it doesn't require that much time to keep going, although there are still crunch times or times when problems crop up. We own a commercial building and a full line of automated production equipment. There's a very small loan on the building but that's the only debt we carry. The business almost runs itself now partly because we have a great team of employees who have loyally stuck with us and are great at what they do. I'm very glad we put in the time and sacrifice to get the business going when DS #1 was little and didn't know or care that we couldn't afford shampoo or anything but Goodwill clothes for him. Neither son remembers any of that and they get the benefit of having parents that not only have a good income but a very flexible schedule so we can do activities and travel.
5) What was your start up investment? The investment varied over time. The investment for the first six months wasn't too much (maybe $50k) because we weren't selling much and didn't need much inventory, weren't waiting on people to pay us for what they bought. Ironically, the worst cash crunch was throughout year 2 after sales really started picking up. When you're new, it's a real booger to have to buy inventory up front and then also wait on the back end for customers to pay you for what they bought. To add insult to injury, you're an accrual basis taxpayer, so as far as the IRS is concerned you "made" a profit and need to pay taxes on it right now TYVM even if you haven't collected any cash. I think in year two at the worst peak we had around $300k invested in the business. But there was probably $75k in inventory and maybe $75k in A/R plus maybe $20k in taxes payable so that $300k was really $170k of short term financing of operations and $130k of startup costs that hadn't yet been paid back. Thank God we were so cautious and avoided leasing space or any other committed expenses since those would have easily been enough to push us over the pre-set limits we'd determined we were willing and able to invest before pulling the plug. As it was, the $300k was tough and if we weren't seeing the sales figures where they were and could see the projections working out, we might not have made it.
6) Would you do it all again? For a company with this type of probable payout? Yes. For something that wasn't expected to pay off this well? No. Until you run one, it's almost impossible to understand just how much work goes into getting a business going and keeping it going until it's self sustaining. Worth doing for the right payout, a huge waste of time and drain on emotions if the payout isn't there.
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Firebird
Senior Associate
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Post by Firebird on Nov 7, 2014 11:25:42 GMT -5
Our oldest son was 2 and the first few years starting the business were really tough.It took me awhile to get past this line ALL THE RESPECTS for starting this business with a toddler running around, I can't even put the picture together in my mind. I really like reading these stories. Thanks for sharing, everyone!
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swamp
Community Leader
THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Nov 7, 2014 12:17:43 GMT -5
1) When did you start your business? How old were you? first one, I was made partner when I was 31. This one, 44.
2) What made you decide to go for it? What was your main reason(s) for wanting to be a business owner instead of an employee? (Also, if you feel like saying, what is your business?) first one: didn't want to stay in public service forever, wanted to learn something besides criminal law. was offered partnership with no buy in, I'd be crazy to say no.
Second one: Was kind of pushed into it. Was unhappy where I was for several years, but didn't want to spend the money to set up a new business. Partner knew it. Best push I ever had.
3) Did you have a partner/family at the time? How did you balance your personal life while you were starting the business? First one, no. Second one, yes. It's actually better because no commute.
4) Has the business met your expectations? Surpassed them? Nowhere close? Surpassed expectations, but talk to me next year, lol.
5) What was your start up investment? @$20k
6) Would you do it all again? Yes.
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Angel!
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Politics Admin
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Post by Angel! on Nov 7, 2014 12:42:45 GMT -5
All these business stories were successes. Aren't like 50% of new businesses failures? Do YMers have an above average success rate? Sounds possible because I imagine we tend to think through the financial aspects more.
I would still love to hear some of the failures & lessons learned.
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Firebird
Senior Associate
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Post by Firebird on Nov 7, 2014 13:28:25 GMT -5
All these business stories were successes. Aren't like 50% of new businesses failures? Do YMers have an above average success rate? Sounds possible because I imagine we tend to think through the financial aspects more. I would still love to hear some of the failures & lessons learned. Ditto. But this is YM where EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!! EVERYTHING IS COOL WHEN YOU OWN YOUR OWN TEAM!
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giramomma
Distinguished Associate
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Post by giramomma on Nov 7, 2014 13:52:09 GMT -5
All these business stories were successes. Aren't like 50% of new businesses failures? Do YMers have an above average success rate? Sounds possible because I imagine we tend to think through the financial aspects more. I would still love to hear some of the failures & lessons learned. Well, here's a lesson learned. I have gotten very complacent with my teaching gig. I've been nearly over or at capacity for 3-4 school years before this year. All my students have been gotten word of mouth. I knew I would be down in students a little bit this year. Not what I expected. Now I am scrambling to do marketing and drum up new business. I'm calling this the rebuilding year. But, it really sucks to have to spend more money, when we shouldn't be unnecessarily spending money at this point. Plus the marketing stuff is time consuming. And I don't like handling my teaching business while I'm at my day job. I feel a little dirty.
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Regis
Well-Known Member
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Post by Regis on Nov 7, 2014 14:29:48 GMT -5
All these business stories were successes. Aren't like 50% of new businesses failures? Do YMers have an above average success rate? Sounds possible because I imagine we tend to think through the financial aspects more. I would still love to hear some of the failures & lessons learned. Lesson learned is that the right number of owners for a small company is one. The company I sold to is about 20 people and has five owners. It's hard to get anything done because there are too many differing ideas and opinions. So I'd say if you're looking to start your own company and can handle all the ownership responsibilities, don't bring on partners unless you absolutely have to. Or maybe I'm a control freak - I don't know.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Nov 7, 2014 14:37:44 GMT -5
I failed at my sales job. I still would have been a W2 employee for my company, but to do it right you are running your own business. I'll detail the depth of my failure this weekend.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Nov 7, 2014 15:01:29 GMT -5
I failed at my sales job. I still would have been a W2 employee for my company, but to do it right you are running your own business. I'll detail the depth of my failure this weekend. I'm sorry to hear that.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Nov 7, 2014 16:28:13 GMT -5
I failed at my sales job. I still would have been a W2 employee for my company, but to do it right you are running your own business. I'll detail the depth of my failure this weekend. oh Rae! I'm sorry to hear this. How serious is this for you family? Thank you--we're good though. I'm still employed and back in operations with the same company. Bit of a pay cut but its more a blow to my ego than anything else.
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Firebird
Senior Associate
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Post by Firebird on Nov 7, 2014 16:29:53 GMT -5
Thank you--we're good though. I'm still employed and back in operations with the same company. Bit of a pay cut but its more a blow to my ego than anything else. *hugs raeoflyte*
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