[cardguy]

Until you have set up a business yourself - it is impossible to know how easy it is to make money.

Us 'regular Joes' who have always worked for other people cannot really comprehend how easy or difficult it is. It is like seeing a foreign country on TV and wondering what the exchange rate is over there.

Like if just set up a regular business tomorrow (a bar or a shop?) would I make pretty good money. Or would it be a stressful struggle from day one?

I am just curious.

Is it it still a land of plenty? Or is the marketplace so competitive and efficient now - that you will be eaten alive unless you have a really good proposition?

For those who went into business themselves - did you find it easier to make money than you imagined?

Or was it a lot more difficult?

[Cattle Rustler]

It's never easy at first.

It's a lot like game, the struggle is real when you start from the bottom.

You start feeling a bit "what now?" and only learn from there. As soon as you get the ropes things will become more easy. Eventually you will be like McQueen popping bottles and handling business like if it were a walk in the park.

I'm trying to start a blog and business (not related to the blog) and it's like learning to walk. On the other hand, my other business is doing well and I can talk to my clients with my eyes closed.

[Monty Brown]

The investment company I joined was a startup. I believe I was hired about four months into venture.

Making money was a lot easier for the company when they had a guy who was great at his job. He brought in atleast 10 partners. The owner of the company, whow as a bit of a nutcase, ran him out and he didn't see another sale until a month after I had left.

That guy left after christmas. I left in April. Thats nearly five months without a single sale.

It seems like common sense but seems to be very important that you hire good people when you first start out.

[Parlay44]

It's the responsibility that people fear. People like to work 9 to 5 and leave work related issues at work. I don't really blame them.

[Nomad77]

It's relatively easy to start a business in the US and make "some" money or earn a "living". What is hard is building a successful business: $1 million plus. To build a multi-million dollar business means you have to deal with employees or subcontracts and partners. Finding good people to do work and to work with is very difficult. Depending on the business, it can take years to build up a customer base or it can happen in a flash if you get very lucky. You will work twice or three times as hard to build a business as a regular job. The payoff comes down the line, years later, if the business every becomes successful.

[Chaos]

I think Cattle Rustler is spot on here.
This is something I need to do. But I always end up thinking my ideas are not good enough.
I got the balls to do it, but I suffer from lack of good ideas!

Escaping the life as a wage slave must be done.

[rdvirus]

(05-18-2014 06:27 PM)Parlay44 Wrote:  

It's the responsibility that people fear. People like to work 9 to 5 and leave work related issues at work. I don't really blame them.

100%. I've only gotten my feet wet running my own gig. Way less stress with a whole management structure above you taking care of all the bullshit though. Nice having a structure to your day as well with a 9-5.. for a while things were really good and I was working less then 40 hours a week. Lately i've had to put in a lot more hours to pull the same money. Honestly looking forward to getting back to the oil rigs and having some consistency. That being said, with enough time/money invested and the right moves running any small business can be pretty relaxed. Almost to a passive income point.

[Switch]

I think running a business is a lot harder than working a 9-5 job. It takes a very special breed to start a company that will eventually rake in 5mil plus in revenue each year. That is a lot of late nights that most people just aren't up for. Also, nowadays you need a truly great, creative idea to make it. It's much harder for somebody to say today, as opposed to 150+ years ago, "I'm going to work really hard and become rich." You have to be the right person in the right place at the right time.

But can anybody start a small business and make it successful? I'd say 50% of people who actually start small businesses have the capability to become successful. There are only so many people willing to take the risk to actually start one, though.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

It's not only hard work, but you face additional obstacles from the government itself. In a normal market, entrepreneurship is still risky or difficult, but not that much.

[Katatonic]

I'll give you a very brief, and black and white version of it. There are basically two ways to make money in business.

1. You can make money the dishonest way through force and/or deception, which is called 'political entrepreneurship'. Monopoly privilege is a prime example of the government limiting competition in certain industries through threats of force. Involuntary taxation, no bid contracts, theft, extortion, and most wars are all examples of political entrepreneurship as well.


2. Then there is the honest way, which is through willing participants conducting mutual exchanges of value for goods or services. In business you can sell products, services, or both. Honest business is about solving peoples problems. If you get good at doing that, then you will find success.


It is my opinion that you are doing yourself a disservice by not owning a blog Cardguy. It's a very simple and cheap business to start. A domain name and hosting are the only things you need, with the domain costing at most £10 per year and hosting £5 per month. Install a free Wordpress theme that you like and start posting.

You have a very good reputation on this forum and a link to a blog in your signature would mean instant traffic from some of the thousands of readers who frequent this place. Expand your presence in social media, get it indexed in the search engines and with a little SEO, you're in business.

Content curation and creation along the same lines as you post here would be perfect for a blog. Encourage your audience to get involved in the comments section. Set up Google AdSense, and post some affiliate links to books on Amazon that you review and watch money start trickling in immediately.

I know people who write about much less interesting shit than what you post about who bring in over £3,000 per month. The sky is the limit with interesting blogs. If you work your ass off you may become as profitable as a site like Viral Nova($400,000+ per month), and worst case scenario you may put a couple hundred extra quid in your pocket per month.

Starting and even succeeding in business is not that hard. Just take action and learn while you're building, and don't be afraid to fail. I have many more misses than hits, and although I doubt I'll ever even those numbers out(not that even I care to), the disparity between them is shrinking as I keep learning and developing an intuition for entrepreneurship. Someone said a quote that has stuck with me. "Perfection is the enemy of progress". Don't wait until the time is just right, because it'll never be just right.

[Kitsune]

Don't listen to the Tim Ferriss hippies that pervade a lot of the internet.

It's difficult.

That's not to say it's impossible, and it's always worth going for. But there are hurdles that you just won't foresee, clients/customers that are complete pains in the asses, the fact that in general everyone wants something for nothing. I've found the most difficult thing is the social one though - a lot of people will socially make your life difficult. "Why don't you get a real job?" "What makes you think you can run a business?" "Yeah, I've got a great idea but you can't just do these things"

You get all that sort of shit. Also, you get suppliers and bigger companies taking liberties with their schedules of payment. You get that one customer who needs help at 11.30 on a Sunday night, who after you do the job because you want to get to bed says THEY AREN'T PAYING. I'm not even talking about small business here, people take liberties at every single level.

Added to that, we're in a climate that is really anti-business. Sign this form, sign that form.. if you take on an employee, pay as much to the state as you do to the employee in employment tax. Oh, and if you have the nerve to actually make a profit, you're the devil. you should definitely give all your money to disadvantaged people and children in war torn countries.

But to go to the positives. A common comment is "If it were that easy, everyone would do it." And so all the negatives become positives once you've overcome them. The steeper the learning curve, the more you have to deal with, the less competition you'll have. There's also satisfaction you can't get from a job, like the fact that if you work late, the end result is that you make more money as opposed to someone else. There's control and responsibility and ultimately massive benefits to going your own way.

It isn't easy though.

[Heimdallr]

It's hard and easy at the same time.

The hard part is getting over your conditioning. Most of us have been conditioned since we were children to do what others tell us to do. Parents, teachers and other authority figures have conditioned us for a life of servitude.

It's easy because all you have to do is copy other successful people that have gone before you. There are blueprints for success all around.

Anybody that has worked landscaping could easily start a landscaping business.

I think what people find difficult is changing their habits. Instead of reading and doing research to run a successful business, most people would rather watch television, drink and socialize. Not that you can't still do those things, just that you have to change your priorities and focus on the former rather than the latter.

[cardguy]

@Katatonic - Thanks for the compliment. I always assumed there was no money in blogging?

Still - I don't think I will pursue it. I prefer a forum to a blog. I am like Sam from Cheers trying to get a conversation going. As opposed to Moses coming down the mountain with two stone tablets in hand, telling people what I have found out.

As for business in general. It helps to actually work in the private sector - that way you can get a feel for business. And spot opportunites that the business you are working for is overlooking.

I work for the gubmint. And one of the annoying things is that you don't get to daydream about how things could be run better or what opportunities could be developed. Since there is no commercial or profit motive in the running of a government department. The few times I worked in private sector jobs - I would always be coming up with ideas that would help the business (or a competitor) make more money.

I worked at Blockbusters once and spent the minutes explaining exactly why the company would be bankrupt in 5-8 years time.

He looked at me like I was an idiot.

7 years later and that shop became a laundromat.

[jamaicabound]

Its strange in some ways its harder than I ever expected and in ohter ways its easier than I would have ever thought.

Even with an established business problems arise but really the beginning is the hardest. I'm going to be touching on this fromthe perspective of ecommerce but really teh same for all industires in the grand scheme of things.

When first starting out you need to come up with an idea. Then just setting up a website okay what's my checkout process going to look like, looking for suppliers as well as merchant accounts, payment gateways, etc. Even working with a good design company there's a million small problems and issues which will arise which you can't plan for.

I think the beginning is one of the toughest part though there will always be challenges. Now that my business is established and making money though there's still problems and issues galore which always pop up and I hae to take care of I'm surprised at how much money I can make with such little time. HOnestly I make in a month some months what I make in a year at my day job.

I still have a day job in addition to my business. I definately work my ass off even at my day job and afterwork but I'm pretty amazed myself and my partner cna run a businss the size of ours parttime so in that sense I'm surprised how easy it is to make money.

Some people work on failed attempt after failed attempt before finding success while other people fall into it. I've had a number of businesses, I had a lawncare business, I've had sports handicapping websites and call lines, I've made beanbag toss games. I've had a number of businesss, many complete failures while others made some beer moeny but nothing big. This current business of mine is kinda something I just fell into and took off. My attitude is that nothing comes easy though, I "fell into" my current opportunity always because I'm always looking for a hustle and ways to make money. If you have this mindest your prepared when an opportunity presents itself.

[cardguy]

You know - there is still a gap in the market for business books that really delve deeply into the psychology and issues surrounding being an entrepreneur.

I have read a lot of books in this area - and have yet to see one which felt like the book I have being searching for.

[TopPanda]

It's difficult.

The best thing is to spot an opportunity, but even then you're not guaranteed any success.

Back in the 80's my mom worked for a start up that sold mobile phones. They could have become billionaires, but the two directors argued, split, and the business was no more.

[cardguy]

I sense with business the idea is not important.

1% inspiration.

99% execution.

That sort of thing.

I think a good entrepreneur can make an average idea into a successful business. And a bad entrepreneur can make a great idea into a bad business.

[Jackreacher]

It's what you make it. Business is like trying to find your own little hunting spot. Sometimes you have to compete for game, sometimes there is no game even if you thought there was, sometimes you have tools that make hunting so easy that if there are any it's like shooting fish in a barrel, sometimes it takes a long time before you get an opportunity to get something out of it so you have to hunker down and wait, it's usually more effective to hunt in teams though sometimes its not, sometimes it takes skill and sometimes it really doesn't. When you're not desperate for food, you can hunt what you like and do it how you like.

All of these factors you have to take into account, particularly your strengths and your shortcomings. For example, myself I am not a day in day out person I can't do the whole routine thing, nor do I like paperwork, so I find someone I can afford to do that. The more people(the right people for the task at hand) that I can hire to do all the different essential things required in a business the greater the level of success a business can have, as suddenly it's not only my own interest at stake in the business now there are 10-30 people who need it to work, 30 minds solving problems, working assiduously towards building the pyramid, your pyramid.

Now if you have to do it all by yourself, I can tell you from experience it's very rough. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to start a business outside of the US or the West with little money and on ones own, way too many things to do.

[monster]

It's like pickup. If it were easy everyone would be doing it.

[el mechanico]

Everyone warned me.

Guess what? Running the show is easier than navigating around retards that make the decisions. You fuck up? Wear it for life and learn. I've never learned as I'm too stubborn to fuck up and also my willingness to resort to the darkside to keep the ball rolling. Also my business has 0 debt and has never had any because I work to buy the stuff I need.

I have a bookeeper that does everything for me for 100 buck a month...Sales tax..IRS shit..I do not even open the letters they send.

Florida!

[germanico]

(05-19-2014 04:55 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

Guess what? Running the show is easier than navigating around retards that make the decisions. You fuck up? Wear it for life and learn.

[wi30]

I started my first business last fall (2013). I'm 23.

I'm far from making a living from it, but I absolutely love being a business owner. I am an entrepreneur at heart and I've always felt working for other people doesn't work for me. There are plenty of challenges faced by any owner, but I love solving problems. It gives me an additional reason to wake up in the morning.

The most crucial concept I've learned is that intermediary companies will do nothing but fuck you over. I have completely written off UPS and Western Union due to their horrid business practices and customer service. If there is one thing anyone who is reading this can learn, it's to expect and factor in random fees and sketchy practices from the companies that bridge the gap. Everyone is doing their best to fuck you and take your money. Make your channel as simple as possible and use additional companies as little as you can.

[Architekt]

I'd say its easier to make money yourself running a business than it is to actually pocket some cash after you whore yourself out at $20/hr. This is my opinion at least

[El Chinito loco]

I ran a business for a decade and now run my own. Let me just say it's not easy and if someone says it is, either they are the exception or a total liar. It's hard work, stressful, and requires discipline. I can manage the stress now easily but the amount of hard work and discipline I have to apply has never changed.

There are a lot of fuckwits who think they can run a business by just throwing cash around or having a "brilliant" idea but on the ground level there are hundreds of failures to maybe one success story. The reason why is that a lot of people lack the discipline to do basic things like manage people in a competent way, balance books, and not overestimate their own abilities or intelligence.

[berserk]

Making money as self employed is pretty easy if you don't have to pay half in taxes. It doesn't take all that much to make a liveable wage if you have any kind of skill. This is a truth the government desperately wants to keep from the masses.

Making money in a business that grows and employs other people is very difficult though.