Small business owners, get in here!

[Plainview]

I worked for a small recycled plastic (business to business) trader for 15 years. Also started up various closed loop recycling programs around the country
When it became apparent that the owners were enriching themselves instead of paying my vendors, commission checks were bouncing and they were "borrowing" my 401k contributions(got that all back) I left and took some of my clients with me.
5 years ago I started my own LLC and its been great. My business works with tax free items(wholesale scrap) so I don't have to worry about that and just file state and fed estimated income taxes every 4 months. While I don't make as much as I used to(approx 75-80%), I am able to make my own hours, no commuting, can take care of the kids, pay my vendors when I say I am, not lose a client because ther payment bounced and not go beg and plead the boss for a vacation.
The only set back is that I have become kind of fat because my home 'office" is so close to the kitchen!

Videodrome you should start your own freight forwarder co. I use freight forwarders all the time since I really don't have time, now how or patience to hunt down an actual truck. I use CH Robinson and National Traffic now. Im sure you could do pretty well at this.

Plainview , I highly recommend you at least try. There is no harm in actually getting an LLC except maybe yearly state taxes on keeping it current. Start with somehting that is serviced based (little overheard) like home PC repair , concert ticket sales, elderly transport, mobile dog washing, sitting, walking etc

I have an LLC already that I use for graphic design. It's easy, as you said, to start up.

 

[Intellivision]

I've looked at McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, they're cash cows, and I know a lot about fast food, but the liquid assets you need are far outside my budget.

Franchising is a stacked business too. If it's a place that has lots of locations, what head office can do is threaten you that they will open another location close by.

So what that does is pressure you to buy that spot as they will give you first dibs. That's why so many restaurant owners have more than one location.

 

[Videodrome]

Videodrome you should start your own freight forwarder co. I use freight forwarders all the time since I really don't have time, now how or patience to hunt down an actual truck. I use CH Robinson and National Traffic now. Im sure you could do pretty well at this.

Join the dark side and be a freight broker?

I dunno, I don't have business startup money at the moment and getting by as regular employee.

Transportation is going through weird changes to from the DOT with a mandatory Electronic Logbook everyone is complaining about.

 

[Registered User 1]

[USERGROUP=2]Registered[/USERGROUP]

Anybody here own a small business? If you do, did you start it from ground up? I’m seriously thinking of becoming my own boss and buying a small business. I haven’t decided in what industry yet, but there’s a lot out there. I have a vast array of interests and it can go in any direction. It’s all in the preliminary stages, meaning, I’m thinking about it, reading, getting feedback, talking to other small business owners.

I didn't buy my own business, nor did I created it. But I did make it something much larger than it is. I worked for it, bought into it, and then bought out. I was 16 to the day that I was officially hired.

I've just opened my newest salon, and if things go well, I want to start planning my fifth salon within the month.

It sounds great being your own boss, but the more people that depend on you, the more f***ed the idea of being a 'boss' is.

As soon as you go on holiday, people call in sick, people key each other's cars, they insult and offend each other, they can't figure out how to organise their own work s***, they show up late, they come to work drunk... and you have to deal with it on the opposite side of the world.

You hire managers, and you find out that you're paying them an extra $10k a year to literally steal from you (if I could remove cash transactions from my salons I would). And these are people that I have literally trained for 8 years.

Obviously, you're not going to open a salon but... Give up your holidays if you become a business owner. The people you think you could trust, will do f***y stuff.

Blergh. If I could impart any wisdom from my time being the boss... Make sure you are the boss. YOU DONT GET HOLIDAYS... or to sleep in on a monday.

For years.

You need to watch every transaction, even whilst gone.

(Some of my staff told our clients that the EFTPOS machine was down for three days in a row...that was my first holiday, $2k a day went missing, the day I left....)

 

[Registered User 1]

At the same time, working for yourself, knowing that your doing something for your own business, it elevates you.

I always put so much effort into training other people, but once it was my own businesses, I literally couldn't wait until someone called the phone for an appointment.

It felt like joy and pride were spewing out of my chest, in the best way possible, and my clients on the phone asked me what changed me!



Do it!... But be aware.

 

[Dmega007]

Well, working in music lemme tell ya that Advertising is more important that you think. You hate ads til you need them lol. Social media is important if you don't know how to properly use it. Small business, as in local, good social media skills can go a long way!