Also returned from a long time away....what Ive been up to.

[livinitup0]

I havent posted on 2p2 for a few months so I thought Id give MMB a shout. First off thank you to every one here that was around and giving me ideas and support on my startup a few months ago.....

Background: 2 months ago I started on a venture to open my own company from home to do whats called "skiptracing" or locating people remotely for creditors and other interested parties.

Since then I have sucessfully landed an opportunity with a large company for an open ended contract where I have been getting far more buisness than I can keep up with.
I am 5 days away from giving a 30 day notice to my day job.

Im pretty confident I will do quite well on my own, but as a compromise with my wife I have decided to also take on a part time job for 3-4 hours a day away from the house( Job suggestions welcome [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ) ...and honestly this will make my transition from quitting my day job much easier.

Anyways thanks to everyone in MMB for kicking my in the behind to get started. The next year is looking bright indeed.

(All questons or comments welcomed)

Thanks,
Richard

[spex x]

Congrats on your success! IMO, the hardest thing in starting your own business is just getting started. Its so scary, especially for spouses. Good for you.

[livinitup0]

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Congrats on your success! IMO, the hardest thing in starting your own business is just getting started. Its so scary, especially for spouses. Good for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Scary?....Im absolutely petrified. So is my wife.
I went to work after posting this and had "the talk" with my boss....nothing is final yet and I didnt put anything in writing. It was a pretty bad and emotional meeting....in the collections industry 6 years makes you a seasoned veteran and its unheard of for someone to leave the industry after that long. Ive been with them since I was 19 and my office is really all I know...I was broke and living in moms basement before I found this place. They basically helped and made me grow up.

Making this choice now to leave has literally been the hardest decision Ive ever had to make in my life.

I was also told that if the higher ups heard about the buisness then Id be fired via "conflict of interest". He then made his case for me to stay and supposedly there are talks now with administrators about offering me an incentive to stay and to drop the buisness all together.

A few days ago I was 100% sure as to where I would be in a few months. Ive had my eye on the prize and focused on the buisness startup 100% for 2 months...My buisness is 90% finalized and is already ready to start making money, but now Im second guessing everything Im doing as to if it is right or not. I need to make the decision now as to whether to take the plunge....like today... imediately. I was actually sent home from work about an hour ago and told that when I return tomorrow to have a black and white answer for them.

MMB this is a cry for help!! Please... anyone thats made the leap please give me some insight that may make this decision more clear today.

Thank you

[BradleyT]

Being your own boss > working for "the man" by a factor of 100. The goal beyond that is to get people to do what you do but pay them 1/5th of what you make for that service.

It does require focus though. Some days I kind of forget to do much work and then on Friday I say to myself, "Man I didn't get any [censored] done this week" and obviously my income for the week reflects that.


About your part-time job - I'd probably skip that completely if it's some low paying scrub job. The $40 you make in a day for 4 hours of work could probably be better spent building aspects of your business.

[livinitup0]

[ QUOTE ]
Being your own boss > working for "the man" by a factor of 100. The goal beyond that is to get people to do what you do but pay them 1/5th of what you make for that service.

It does require focus though. Some days I kind of forget to do much work and then on Friday I say to myself, "Man I didn't get any [censored] done this week" and obviously my income for the week reflects that.


About your part-time job - I'd probably skip that completely if it's some low paying scrub job. The $40 you make in a day for 4 hours of work could probably be better spent building aspects of your business.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was along those same thoughts before I had the meeting today....my boss is just a very good manipulator I guess.

Can you describe your plunge into self-employment? Was it as scary for you as it is for me right now?

[spex x]

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Scary?....Im absolutely petrified. So is my wife.

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It is completely normal. What is the biggest downside of this decision? If you can live with that, then you are golden. Fear is what keeps people in the same place for their whole lives, never realizing their true potential. Embrace it.

[ QUOTE ]

MMB this is a cry for help!! Please... anyone thats made the leap please give me some insight that may make this decision more clear today.

Thank you

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason that your boss can offer you special incentives is that he can afford to and still make money off your labor. The fact is that for every $10 you generate in revenue, your boss gets to put $4 or so in his pocket. You go into business for yourself in order to keep the whole $10, plus you get to charge other people 40% for the privilege of working for you. Thats a good deal and its a smart move. Its a hard decision. But you know what you are doing, you have years of experience, and you are already on the road to success in a growth industry. Don't let the fear stop you from getting where you want to go!

Who dares wins.

[BradleyT]

[ QUOTE ]
Can you describe your plunge into self-employment? Was it as scary for you as it is for me right now?

[/ QUOTE ]

Getting let go from my last job was the major deciding factor for me. Reading Rich Dad/Poor Dad was a real motivator to me (there's a long thread in Finance & Investing with opposing sides on the book). But 85% of what I do now is what I was doing for "the man" (which is making websites). Except now I'm my own client. There's just an initial period of lower income which comes with any brand new websites or almost any brand new business. To overcome that I have money saved up as well as business credit.

[livinitup0]

My bosses boss just called me and in a very proper, professional way said that we needed to sit down and talk tomorrow.....he did no elaborate. Hopefully before tomorrow I can deduce what is going to happen from some other people.

Im either getting fired or being offered more money to give up on my buisness....or maybe something that will include both (probably not).... Id say its 50/50 right now. Tomorrow should be fun.

Please discuss...

[K-Slay]

I don't think you have anything to fear. But you do have a decision to make, and you're scared you won't make the right one. You're (we're) still young and making a mistake now isn't going to be the end all be all. You haven't mentioned kids, so I'll assume there are none. You don't have a huge family responsibility and I think the risk of going into business on your own is best taken right now. That being said, its your decision. Have comfidence in your decision capabilities and go with what you think, no one else should be able to influence your choice.

[elus2]

I decided to stop the 9-5 at the beginning of this month. I've taken the last 26 days off getting ready for a move and setting up my business plan to run an IT services company for small businesses (10 to 50 workstations). I have no income coming in right now but lots of meetings lined up with prospective clients over the next month. I'll be offering basic IT support services like data backups, software upgrades, fixed asset inventory tracking, helpdesk support and technology purchasing.

I can live with no substantial income coming in for at least 12 months but hopefully I'll be much busier soon. I'm also fairly confident that I can pick up database programming gigs when business is still slow. I want to steer away from this type and focus on selling services that I can scale well and/or automate in order to get higher value for my time since programming gigs get paid on a per hour basis.

I'm excited, scared and overwhelmed at times but since I'm at that point in my life where I'm relatively free of responsibilities (no kids and no mortgage) I'll probably never get a better chance to avoid the drudgery of working 9-5 forever [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].