A word FROM the wise?

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by javadog

Just wait until you get married, buy a house and have to take care of it, have a few kids and have to raise them, etc.

Well at that point I won't have much of a choice.

When I look around at the older people I work with I wonder why they still work here and than I realize they can't afford or risk making a big move.

That's why I need to figure it out right now.

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by NYNick

We aren't bringing in much money. All profit goes towards building the business so I understand. The people who originally opened one up have gown to 20+ customers in about 3-4 years and we work with them and always ask questions when we run into issues.




Red flag. If you don't know where your money is going in this small business it's a huge mistake. Huge. Money (and the handling thereof) does very strange things to friends, relatives and partners. Trust no one and get a knowledgeable handle on what and where the money comes from and goes. I would never let anyone handle the money from my small business. Never. Besides, you need to know on a daily and weekly basis exactly where the business stands.

Part time small businesses are handicapped right from the start. Nobody is fully committed. Either quit and do it full time, or sell out and do your own thing. The best way to learn is to jump in and do it. Good luck, young one.

Agreed. We have numbers from accounting and I will be getting more answers.

Thanks Nick.

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

How are you going to survive financially if you quit your day job?
I lived off of my line of credit for 4 years when I started my business.
I say keep doing what you are doing until the picture is clear. And yes it's a shame you needed partners for your start up.

I have money saved and I will still be buying and selling cars etc.

We didn't need to partner to open up the business but it helped.

One person can run the business but right now it's more of a "When I eat, my people eat" approach.

You can have all the money in the world but if you have no friends to enjoy it with than what's the point of even living? - And don't say Porsche's lol..

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by 95avblm3

Tabs is right on with these comments... and I think it boils down to patience... patience waiting for the right time to move, patience to spend the time building your resume (whether as an entrepreneur or engineer), patience building your business and your nest egg.

I feel like I didn’t learn this lesson until I was 30. To be clear, I don’t really have an entrepreneurial spirit per se but it took me until 30 to realize I needed to focus on becoming good at what I do and not worried about not having free time or being pigeon holed in a particular role. Once I started to learn that, doors started to open as I developed skill and found myself getting more word of mouth opportunities doing projects that are fulfilling. I too am a mechanical engineer and at 40, I am working toward being able to rely solely on freelance engineering work part time so that I can pursue other passions whether or not they are revenue generating.

So my advice is to not close doors. If your 9-5 is a good resume builder and not soul-sucking, keep at it while you continue to build your business. Don’t be afraid to work long hours now because I guarantee that in the long run, it will set you up for success in multiple avenues.

...and while YMMV, the knowledge you gain and people you meet and develop relationships with will make your life more fulfilling as you get older. I really don’t feel like I hit my stride until my 30s.

Good luck!

That makes sense, we have already met lots of great people through this auction business.

Thanks for insight.

[fastfredracing]

Just another data point. Partnerships always seem get complicated at some point or another.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Some good advice given above about jumping off the cliff into the abyss. It would be nice to know that your new gig can sustain your life and keep your bills paid .
Being self employed, and working 12-14 hours a day, and being broke is a drag. Prepare for it Put some rainy day money in the bank ( or under your mattress ) to get you through the lean times.

Your comment on "pay your house off" earlier in the thread is profound.

I heard a motivational speaker say buy a house that if you push the key into the front lock too hard it will punch out the back windows.

Spartan lifestyle even at 24 when most kids don't see the importance. You can weather a lot of crap that way.

[ItzaMe]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Just another data point. Partnerships always seem get complicated at some point or another.

I understand. There was some frustration already but we all sat down and worked through it and it helped our growth at the end of it.

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Your comment on "pay your house off" earlier in the thread is profound.

I heard a motivational speaker say buy a house that if you push the key into the front lock too hard it will punch out the back windows.

Spartan lifestyle even at 24 when most kids don't see the importance. You can weather a lot of crap that way.

I won't be paying off any house ever.

Only thing I will choose to pay off will be only for building credit. If I can't buy it out right I will not be buying it.

I'm not 100% I understood you correctly, but you are saying I should live pretty minimalistic right? With the motivational speaker reference.


edit: Google'd Spartan lifestyle meaning. I understand and agree. That's why people probably wouldn't guess I was an engineer living the way I currently do.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Some very good advice,

Have you thought about taking on short term freelance engineering contract work not working a full week or working say a 3-6 month contract. If there is enough work around you should be able to switch on/off your day job income to suit your business

I'm a freelance design engineer and this is my approach but I choose the interesting jobs before chasing the last dime. Last summer was spent at home building, now I'm working 12 hr days which don't feel that long as I'm enjoying work. This plus 2hr commute, having a family, weekends man cave building, holidays abroad leaves me no spare time, just how I like to live,

Also maybe think about ditching some of your other distractions (not including your girlfriend) while you concentrate on building your business and day job as/when required. Spreading yourself too thinly will just mean you'll be doing everything badly.

You're only 24, got a whole life of time ahead of you so as others have said you have time on your side.

[1979-930]

Originally Posted by tabs

You are getting into your massive heart attack years..so you might get your wish.

You ain't a spring chicken no more. Your body does not have the same tolerance nor resiliency to.handle stress as it once had. You have already worn those parts down through continual use. You now have to be aware of when you feel tired and back off a bit to recoup. If you don't one morning you will wake up and find that you are dead.

It is a very common mistake to think you can do what you did at 35 . You have already put those miles on your chassis. The guys who think they are still bullet proof are the ones whose engines seize up..

Possibly. Anything can happen.

But after my day at work I do cross fit. I have exercised 5-6 days a week since 15 years old.
I still have a 30" waist and my last doctors check up in September my BP was 117/69 and my resting heart rate was 56 BPM.
I'll work a 35 year old under the table.

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by javadog

Just wait until you get married, buy a house and have to take care of it, have a few kids and have to raise them, etc.

I know several guys who, after getting married, they quit their job to work on their business ventures, and had the wife support the family.
They seems to be very happy, and feel that marriage was the best financial and lifestyle move they ever made.

[sugarwood]

Itza,

You don't come off as an engineer. You seriously have an ME degree?

If your business is not making money, it's a crappy business. No offense.
Most people pursue stupid ideas since they have drank the KoolAid of "Be your own boss", without looking at the downside.
If your business sucks, you will enjoy a life of being constantly broke and stressed out.

Just because you're 24, you should not go do stupid things.
This is the time to build your career and net worth.
Not chasing bad ideas that don't make money.

You're a classic bottomfeeder.
You like buying cheap garbage just because it's cheap
(just like you posting about $3k rusted out carcasses that you have zero chance of ever fixing up)

Tell us more about this business that does not make money.
So, what, you're re-selling refunded and broken stuff no one wants? Who do you sell this overstock to?
Sounds like this business is just some extension of your bottomfeeding hoarding tendencies.
Re-selling cheap junk is a race to the bottom industry. You don't want to compete in a race to the bottom.

If I had to flip a coin, I say keep your day job.
Close up the business.
Enjoy the gym and car flipping in the evenings

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by ItzaMe

SIDE NOTE:

How do you busy people have time to work out, kick back a little in life?

I play volleyball and am in a basketball league once a week and its crazy to understand where people find time to do anything once they have a salary job.

Simple, they don't have 2 jobs.
Quit the side job.
Go run a marathon.

Salaried job means you have 5 hours a day to do whatever you want.
And weekends.

[cabmandone]

If you don't feel like you're giving your business the attention it deserves, go for it! I know from my own experience of doing multiple things that being distracted by other things I wasn't realizing the full potential of what I could do by focusing on one. Once I zeroed in on construction equipment and was able to give it my full attention, it took off. I was able to make secure more suppliers and was able to give my customers the attention needed to make the business grow.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by 1979-930

Possibly. Anything can happen.

But after my day at work I do cross fit. I have exercised 5-6 days a week since 15 years old.
I still have a 30" waist and my last doctors check up in September my BP was 117/69 and my resting heart rate was 56 BPM.
I'll work a 35 year old under the table.

THE NUMBERS LOOK GREAT...but stress is a silent killer...as you get older you have to keep it in mind that you are not a young rooster anymore..that you are not indestructible. It is when you forget or ignore that fact is when you get blindsided.

I have seen it lots of times.

Way back in 1982, I ran across a guy in his late 40's early 50's who owned an eye glass frame business, next to a spoon shop I frequented down in Laguna Nigel. He didn't look to happy and had just purchased a brand new corvette. I saw him having a drink in a bar restaurant a week or two later and thought ummm this guy is really depressed. Two weeks later I found out he had a HA and died, it really didn't surprise me that much. . It left me thinking that he bought the Vette because he thought it would make him happier, when he fulfilled his dream and it didn't make him happier he died.

[Rawknees'Turbo]

Originally Posted by 1979-930

Possibly. Anything can happen.

But after my day at work I do cross fit. I have exercised 5-6 days a week since 15 years old.
. . .

That doesn't explain yer Popeye-arm, though, Deez!

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by tabs

Way back in 1982, I ran across a guy had just purchased a brand new corvette. It left me thinking that he bought the Vette because he thought it would make him happier, when he fulfilled his dream and it didn't make him happier he died.

Maybe it was because there was no 1983 model, and his 1982 Vette only had 200hp in Automatic, and it was a huge letdown of a lifelong dream.
If only he waited until 1984 and the C4.

[KFC911]

At 24 I was starting out too...lived a "techie's dream", worked for peanuts for a few years...

An older guy had a saying back when I wuz a youngin'....

"I'll work days or I'll work nights....but I won't work daze AND nights..."

Life's a journey...make your own path imo. Are you an engineer or about making $?

I did the corporate gig for 25 years and "retired"...next chapter....turn the page.

Best of luck...go kick butt and follow your gut instincts...you will make some mistakes....have FUN doing what ya do...if not...fix it...jmho.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by ItzaMe

I understand. There was some frustration already but we all sat down and worked through it and it helped our growth at the end of it.



I won't be paying off any house ever.

Only thing I will choose to pay off will be only for building credit. If I can't buy it out right I will not be buying it.
....

Two camps here....

I've never REALLY leveraged credit....

Being debt free is "freedom".... was for me!

I haven't owed a cent in a couple of decades....how are YOU gonna get off your merry-go-round? Some can't or don't want too....

I had a blast along the way too....balance.

[DanielDudley]

You have a business, but someone else is in control of the money. Anything on paper ? Do you know what ship is the hardest to sail? A partnership. Sooner or later, people's opinions on what is fair will differ. Usually you won't know that if you aren't on top of the books.

Don't quit your day job until your night job pays so much you can't walk away from it.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by ItzaMe

That makes sense, we have already met lots of great people through this auction business.

Thanks for insight.

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

You have a business, but someone else is in control of the money. Anything on paper ? Do you know what ship is the hardest to sail? A partnership. Sooner or later, people's opinions on what is fair will differ. Usually you won't know that if you aren't on top of the books.

Don't quit your day job until your night job pays so much you can't walk away from it.

Take this advice and set up an operating agreement with your partnership. Outline exit strategies, who controls the money, etc.
Don't do what I did. Trust me in that friendships are not strong enough to weather business partnerships.
I love my partner like a brother, and we have still managed to stay good friends, but I would never partner with him, or anybody again on anything. We have different ideas of how to operate .
When it comes time to make big changes/decisions, the waters start getting mucky .