Jealous of self employed peeps...

[rphan2]

So much great stuff in this thread...I have no issues with the hours putting in to start something. I'm definitely gonna read this thread a few times over,lol..

[rphan2]

Originally Posted by ///Mandy

I am a Mortgage Agent. I am self employed but work under a Mortgage company (I report to), if that makes any sense.
Try looking into this OP. It relates to a product everyone needs and you have the freedom of making your own hours and days to work.

Can you please elaborate? This sounds interesting. I am currently in banking, but not on the mortgage or lending side.

[Vanity]

Self-employed here too and I definitely do not work 40 hours a week... Or a 9-5....

I wake up everyday at 6:00am, work until 1:00pm, eat breakfast/lunch, take it easy for a few hours, then work more. I sleep around 1-2:00 am, and then start back up at 6:00 am again. The weekends are my down days, meaning I get to wake up around 10:00am. Then I enjoy some down time, usually Saturdays are free. But by Sunday I'm gearing up again for the new week.

However, if it's something you TRULY love and enjoy, I swear the hours don't matter. Being self-employed in your interest becomes apart of who you "are", less what you "do".

[bumere90]

you need cash to open up your own business and work experience
running a small business is something that I wouldn't do if I had a degree. and considering this economy I wouldn't take any risks

[///Mandy]

Originally Posted by rphan2

Can you please elaborate? This sounds interesting. I am currently in banking, but not on the mortgage or lending side.

Of course.
You need to pass your exam to get your licence. Once obtained, you pretty much build your own portfolio of clients. You submit mortgage applications to the banks to get the clients approved and financed. Once your deal funds and closes, you get paid.

As a Mortgage Agent you are working under a Broker (this person owns their own mortgage broker company). My goal is in a few years to go back and write my exam to become a mortgage broker so that I am running my own office and employees.

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by MediaArtist

Why do you dislike the 9-5? If it's because you are tired of being micromanaged, long hours, being under appreciated, and your passion is slowly ebbing away, then maybe you should find an exit strategy.

Just expect that your 9-5, at least in the beginning, will likely become a 5am - 9pm. Why? There's no secret to starting a successful business, no magical formula, it's about hard work. But if you are passionate about what you do, and you stick around long enough, it can be incredibly fulfilling.

In the beginning, don't take a huge line of credit if you don't have to, I've seen it cripple people. I self funded by taking contract work/jobs. If you cannot do that, then you may need to get a loan, but realize having a huge note over your head pretty much says you're all in, and cannot f*ck up. If you can take take that kind of pressure, then it is a potential option. Never HELOC your home to fund a business, I've seen it fail 10 out of 10 times. Unless you are selling the potential cure to cancer, then maybe, otherwise no.

If you have a lot of friends and family (especially rich ones), you can crowd fund from them at first. If you don't, then you could potentially do a KickStarter.

The best advertising, or marketing is through word of mouth. I got most of my first initial projects through people who knew me personally. After that, you have to be active in hunting them down, and be an excellent speaker (running a business does sometimes require direct client/vendor/buyer contact). You are your companies best spokesperson. If you're not a people person, or comfortable with speaking with people in general, take some speech or improv classes. If you can't speak comfortably in front of a potential customer about why they should give you money, you won't last long as a business owner.

Internet marketing, ads, social media, can also be effective to, but make sure you are buying units from the right ad supplier. FWIW, I never had great results from ad services like Facebook, Google, Burst, etc. I've always had more success doing my own research about my audience and directly advertising within those communities. Think "sniper rifle" instead of shotgun.

Remember, you're not special. Anything you have come up with, or are trying to market has been thought of by at least a dozen other entrepreneurs. While ideas are great, good execution equals success.

There's a reason the majority of people do 9-5 jobs, it's stable, comfortable, and people give you work to do. A business can often be unstable, uncomfortable, and you have to look for work/create something that people will pay you for.

Always stay grounded, and never get drunk off success, you're only one bad deal, or f*ck up from going down the tubes.

p.s - If you're young, and landed a big project/buyer/etc, I give you permission to use your first big score to buy a nice car, not a super car, think S5, not F430. After that, be frugal, except when it comes to investing into your business, but only if those investments have a reasonable chance of paying dividends.

Originally Posted by MP0WER

All this being said, there is something to be said for working an honest days work and leaving your work at the office when you go home. I often find myself wondering what kind of life could we have if we were to sell everything we have and move to Costa Rica, St. Lucia, etc....

We get truck deliveries throughout the day at my office and some times i have to unload them when everyone else is busy. The drivers often tell me how many stops they have left. It'll be 2pm and the driver will tell me he's only got 1 more stop and he's done for the day. That's gotta count for something, to know you completed your job for the day and did it well. Reward - go home and not worry about getting paid for the last project or realized you forgot to order some material or schedule an installation....

I look at people working throughout the day along with the people working for my company and have to remind myself that these people go home and just totally forget about work. The whole weekend goes by without a thought of work in their minds. I've always wondered what the big deal was about Friday and the weekend and realized it's because running your own business you don't stop thinking about work at night during the week or over the weekends.

I wish i ran my business from my yacht in the Gulf, but right now i'm too much of an integral part of the business. If i'm lucky, with some more growth and some more economic stability, maybe i can run it with some more PTO.

A good book to check out when thinking about starting your business is the E-Myth. It gets you focused on working ON your business rather than working IN your business. This is difficult for most people because most small business are started because someone is good a what they do and the then build a staff around what it is that they do well.

Great posts gentlemen.

The vast majority of people have no real clue what starting up a business involves...nevermind making it successful...or the gravity of the sacrifices that are necessary to sustain it.

As another poster already mentioned...if it was easy, everybody'd be doing it.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Great posts gentlemen.

The vast majority of people have no real clue what starting up a business involves...nevermind making it successful...or the gravity of the sacrifices that are necessary to sustain it.

As another poster already mentioned...if it was easy, everybody'd be doing it.

Great contribution often overlooked by most people starting a business.

The start up is easy. Maintaining it is the difficult part. Kind of like playing king of the mountain when a kid. It's much easier to get to the top than it is to stay there.

Driving customers through your doors year after year is difficult. Your cheese is always being moved and you must be dedicated (or blessed) enough to keep finding it.

[Torn]

21 here and I am currently self-employed. I also go to school. I might not work a 9-5 but hell i do work at least 70 hours a week. I work 7 days and have a hell of a hard time taking a day off; let alone an afternoon.

But at the end of the day, I love what I do. My friends call me a workaholic but I wouldnt have it any other way for now. Hopefully by the time I have my degree and masters, I can do something where I am not always working. Because even IF you aren't at your business, you are always thinking about it or getting some sort of call that will keep you beyond stressed.

Just never give up. Sure you might fail here and there, but that will ultimately lead you to building a thriving business and will help you succeed. Find something YOU find missing that nobody has done before and just go for it. Innovation is key, and it doesn't hurt for it to be an interest of yours

Best of luck brotha!

[rphan2]

Thanks so much for all the tips and advice. Deep down, I just know 9-5 isn't for me.

Torn: How are you self employed at 21? Did your family help you accomplish this?

[momentum]

i work very little, one -two hour a day solving problems and most of the time got nothing to do..... if you have some $$$(40k) and good credit, its a good start...

start buying cheap townhouses ($20-$40k) and then put section 8 (govt renter program in them( govt pays the hightest rent and they pay on time...) .... govt pays a 3 beds townhouse for $1200 a month. then you can sell it to another investor for a profit or just keep townhouses for yourself.

Townhouses sound like little pie, but as soon as you have ten townhouses you got a million $$$.... or rent $10000 a month easy.....

I started right after college part time. only after 3 years of working at an office (JOB), I got laid off - i started full time real estate investing and 4 years later bought the land and built my first commerical shopping center CASH.... real estate investors need NO license, just brain and balls.....

when economy is good i was making $500k a year and now only $250K..... its OK, i barely work... and I am a one man company.....no office, just a iphone will do.... last week i was on vacation in hawaii, had some off time, i found 2 houses on my iphone- sent email to my realtor and by the time i got back won one townhouse ($36k)... in two days, i sold the townhouse "as is" and made more then enough to pay for vacation....

[momentum]

Im about to build a conv. store in my shopping center and would need an SUV to buy smokes and misc. from SAM... cars are too small and truck has no secruity so a SUV will do, but I saw too many women driving X5, so i would need a mans SUV to carry the smokes, lol....

I would need to run the store for a year or so, then sell the business -not the building for a profit.... A friend of mine has store/gas and is making $35k profit a month.... my building is full, but i think one tenant will be leaving soon so i am getting ready for them. This way I will make money from the store and sale of the store and made a renter for the building.... the best part is if the new buyers( i got several buyers waiting) fail, i get the store back for free to build up and sell again....

[Augenbrauezug]

Originally Posted by momentum

Im about to build a conv. store in my shopping center and would need an SUV to buy smokes and misc. from SAM... cars are too small and truck has no secruity so a SUV will do, but I saw too many women driving X5, so i would need a mans SUV to carry the smokes, lol....

I would need to run the store for a year or so, then sell the business -not the building for a profit.... A friend of mine has store/gas and is making $35k profit a month.... my building is full, but i think one tenant will be leaving soon so i am getting ready for them. This way I will make money from the store and sale of the store and made a renter for the building.... the best part is if the new buyers( i got several buyers waiting) fail, i get the store back for free to build up and sell again....

I hope you've really looked into this. A good friend of mine owns a convenience store. Sales change drastically from year to year, last year he was doing great, now not so much. It also takes up a ton of his time and he's always stressed about it. He's got an excellent location, but it takes a lot out of him.

[len56]

Originally Posted by momentum

i work very little, one -two hour a day solving problems and most of the time got nothing to do..... if you have some $$$(40k) and good credit, its a good start...

start buying cheap townhouses ($20-$40k) and then put section 8 (govt renter program in them( govt pays the hightest rent and they pay on time...) .... govt pays a 3 beds townhouse for $1200 a month. then you can sell it to another investor for a profit or just keep townhouses for yourself.

Townhouses sound like little pie, but as soon as you have ten townhouses you got a million $$$.... or rent $10000 a month easy.....

I started right after college part time. only after 3 years of working at an office (JOB), I got laid off - i started full time real estate investing and 4 years later bought the land and built my first commerical shopping center CASH.... real estate investors need NO license, just brain and balls.....

when economy is good i was making $500k a year and now only $250K..... its OK, i barely work... and I am a one man company.....no office, just a iphone will do.... last week i was on vacation in hawaii, had some off time, i found 2 houses on my iphone- sent email to my realtor and by the time i got back won one townhouse ($36k)... in two days, i sold the townhouse "as is" and made more then enough to pay for vacation....

fucking sign me up

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by Augenbrauezug

I hope you've really looked into this. A good friend of mine owns a convenience store. Sales change drastically from year to year, last year he was doing great, now not so much. It also takes up a ton of his time and he's always stressed about it. He's got an excellent location, but it takes a lot out of him.

Convenience stores are good, if its in the hood. beer and cigs are the number one seller and its good if you got gas to go with that. I dont know what type of shopping center momentum has but shopping centers aren't good for convenience stores unless its like a small plaza type in the hood. But it's a good way to get a tenant in for 3 +years. A lot of foreigners are always looking to buy one up.

[momentum]

in a mid income area and its a small 8000 sqft.....there is also a taco truck in the parking lot paying $400 a month. tenant are spa, salon, pyschic, gameroom.... pyschic leaving soon....

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by momentum

in a mid income area and its a small 8000 sqft.....there is also a taco truck in the parking lot paying $400 a month. tenant are spa, salon, pyschic, gameroom.... pyschic leaving soon....

Sounds like a good location for a c-store then.

[fatgrandma]

I started a company with 2 friends. We all were working normal jobs and really enjoyed what we were doing, but just figured out we could do this on our own bill, no need to have a boss, when you could really be the boss.

So we made the step and started the company in one room (of one of us apartment). We had luck... paying clients from day one. But we wanted not to get drunk with money and decided to take only as little money for ourselves as we would really need - the rest stays in the company. So for the first 5 or 6 months me, my wife and our son were living for 400 Euro / Month. But it payed of, we got into some cooperations which brought big clients like Adidas or American Express. Now we are five people - us three and two half-time emploees (students) and are looking forward to move in our first "real" office in the next few weeks...

Oh, almost forgot: I work more then 9-5, F-M... but it's ok.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by momentum

i work very little, one -two hour a day solving problems and most of the time got nothing to do..... if you have some $$$(40k) and good credit, its a good start...

start buying cheap townhouses ($20-$40k) and then put section 8 (govt renter program in them( govt pays the hightest rent and they pay on time...) .... govt pays a 3 beds townhouse for $1200 a month. then you can sell it to another investor for a profit or just keep townhouses for yourself.

Townhouses sound like little pie, but as soon as you have ten townhouses you got a million $$$.... or rent $10000 a month easy.....

I started right after college part time. only after 3 years of working at an office (JOB), I got laid off - i started full time real estate investing and 4 years later bought the land and built my first commerical shopping center CASH.... real estate investors need NO license, just brain and balls.....

when economy is good i was making $500k a year and now only $250K..... its OK, i barely work... and I am a one man company.....no office, just a iphone will do.... last week i was on vacation in hawaii, had some off time, i found 2 houses on my iphone- sent email to my realtor and by the time i got back won one townhouse ($36k)... in two days, i sold the townhouse "as is" and made more then enough to pay for vacation....

where are townhouses $36k?

[spiike32]

Originally Posted by momentum

i work very little, one -two hour a day solving problems and most of the time got nothing to do..... if you have some $$$(40k) and good credit, its a good start...

start buying cheap townhouses ($20-$40k) and then put section 8 (govt renter program in them( govt pays the hightest rent and they pay on time...) .... govt pays a 3 beds townhouse for $1200 a month. then you can sell it to another investor for a profit or just keep townhouses for yourself.

Townhouses sound like little pie, but as soon as you have ten townhouses you got a million $$$.... or rent $10000 a month easy.....

I started right after college part time. only after 3 years of working at an office (JOB), I got laid off - i started full time real estate investing and 4 years later bought the land and built my first commerical shopping center CASH.... real estate investors need NO license, just brain and balls.....

when economy is good i was making $500k a year and now only $250K..... its OK, i barely work... and I am a one man company.....no office, just a iphone will do.... last week i was on vacation in hawaii, had some off time, i found 2 houses on my iphone- sent email to my realtor and by the time i got back won one townhouse ($36k)... in two days, i sold the townhouse "as is" and made more then enough to pay for vacation....

Can you explain how you're at $1m with 10 townhomes?

• $1200 a month x 12 = $14,400/ year
• 10 homes = $144,000/ year
• Simple tax example $144,000 * .65 1-tax rate = $93,300 after tax income not taking into account deductions.

So it will take 10.7 years if this is put straight into a saving account to generate $1M if you base this on rent alone. I don't dispute you've done well, but your post was just a little misleading. If the common person also took a $400k loan to fund the townhome purchases it will take about 5 years to break even.

I also work 9-5 in corporate finance, but I am also a parter for a mobile app company, partner with a UPS franchise, and president of a financial services and tax boutique. Someone said to turn your 9-5 into 5am - 9pm, and that is very true. You hear and see the success stories, but for every success story there are 10 failures or more.

[dtwyim]

IMO, if you want to be successful, you need
Special skill/ product
A lot of hard work
A bit of luck

[etc335i]

what kind of business do all you self employed have?

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by etc335i

what kind of business do all you self employed have?

A company that provides and installs floor covering.

Another perk of being self employed is the duty of firing people. Which i have the unfortunate task of doing next week.