Opinions on Life/Self-Employment Sought!

[Ferrino]

I've refrained from posting this for a while as I'm a little thin-skinned, but I'm in need of some inspiration/ideas, so I'm prepared to toughen up!

Here's the skinny version: mid-30s PhD-level scientist, currently working in pharma/biotech in SoCal, making decent money/benefits, but not particularly enjoying the prospect of doing this for another 35+ years (actually, dreading it). It's not a stable/great industry to work in and there are very few opportunities in my area of expertise, since it's so highly specialized (and one of the first roles to be outsourced - we just lost half our group to layoffs).

Wife is fed up of SoCal and wants to move family back to home state of Michigan, to be closer to her family, including two very healthy and actively involved grandparents to our children (outskirts of Ann Arbor). With the equity we have in our SoCal home, we could just about buy a house in cash in that region. With the reduced cost of living, I am therefore exploring the possibility of self-employment out there.

I don't see any real prospects of doing what I currently do on a self-employment basis and, frankly, I just want to do something different. I am trying to identify in-demand services that I could develop from home and return a modest income (I have a vision of a detached garage/office/workshop). Given my skills, this would probably be something tech/internet/e-commerce based. If there was a link to something car-based, that would be very appealing to me too. I guess I'm looking for some starting points and suggestions on what I might look into, please.

There's a local guy I know who used to run a lab at one of the research institutes here and now runs an e-business selling vintage car memorabilia - I think that's my role model right there (albeit in a cheaper part of the country)!

Please assume:
I have no problem whatsoever abandoning my area of research training and expertise.
I am under no illusion that anything related to self-employment will be easy.
I am under no illusion that anything related to self-employment will happen overnight.
I have no problem moving to a cold-weather state for my family.

Thanks!

[Rot 911]

I will let others offer opinions on employment options. I just want to say that if you have never grown up in a severe cold weather state, you will find it an eye opening experience. That would be the deal breaker for me.

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

I will let others offer opinions on employment options. I just want to say that if you have never grown up in a severe cold weather state, you will find it an eye opening experience. That would be the deal breaker for me.

I just added another assumption to my post to deal with that - thanks!

[berettafan]

IMO any self employment plans that don't utilize your current skillset are almost guaranteed to fail.

To fail like that in a beautiful area is one thing...but to fail like that in Michigan?

no thanks.

[Seahawk]

There are ways to make this work. Mike Holloway (formerly the Lubemaster) would be an excellent source of intel. I hired him via his LLC to help me with some technical marketing work. He is building an interesting network.

I always ask this: Does your wife work? Does she want to work? I based a number of career decision on my wife's career and family. I found that to be the most important criteria.

Good luck!

[nota]

get a teaching job in your skill area and part time your startup

or startup now in your current location on a part time basis
while keeping the job until the startup gets going or fails

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by nota

get a teaching job in your skill area and part time your startup

or startup now in your current location on a part time basis
while keeping the job until the startup gets going or fails

there you go.

[dad911]

I've been self employed my whole life, other than part-time jobs in HS & college.

Rewarding but stressful.

If you are going to do it, do it now while you and the kids are young.

If the grandparents are near retirement, are they staying in Michigan?

edit: Good ideas nota.

[TheMentat]

I think you'd be crazy not to!

Given what you've described about your current employment, and your ability to significantly reduce your "cash burn rate" with the move, you will have some breathing room to make a few mistakes along the way. Life is too short to be wasted as a slave to the man...

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I always ask this: Does your wife work? Does she want to work? I based a number of career decision on my wife's career and family. I found that to be the most important criteria.

She doesn't - we have 3 small kids and she plans to return to work when the youngest is a little older, which is maybe 2-3 years from now.

Originally Posted by berettafan

To fail like that in a beautiful area is one thing...but to fail like that in Michigan?

We're clearly not planning to go there based on weather and scenery. I think you need to consider the family support network that exists for us out there and the stage we're at in our lives - I'm certainly not out surfing/hiking every day with 3 little ones and no family here. And the sunshine can only do so much when you're stuck in an open-plan cubicle from 9-6 every day. Right now my passion outside family and work is car restoration and I am dreaming of a nice detached workshop/garage with plenty of space. I am also ready to embrace activities like hunting and I don't think you can overestimate how much my kids enjoy their time with grandparents.

[stomachmonkey]

My step dad always used to tell me, "no one ever got rich working for someone else".

Not 100% true but generally yeah.

You should be able to do at least just as well on your own if not better.

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by dad911

If the grandparents are near retirement, are they staying in Michigan?

One is retired, the other is probably 3-4 years out. They have no plans to leave Michigan for retirement - their other child just started a family too and he is next-door in Ohio.

[Crowbob]

At age 35 a loving family with active and caring grandparents are two good reasons in support of taking the plung for major change. Back in the day, when the harness was hitched to me, change was not an option. I opted for a better harness, learned to pace myself and rode it out to an early exit.

I'd reconsider the Ann Arbor part, though.

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

She doesn't - we have 3 small kids and she plans to return to work when the youngest is a little older, which is maybe 2-3 years from now.


We're clearly not planning to go there based on weather and scenery. I think you need to consider the family support network that exists for us out there and the stage we're at in our lives - I'm certainly not out surfing/hiking every day with 3 little ones and no family here. And the sunshine can only do so much when you're stuck in an open-plan cubicle from 9-6 every day. Right now my passion outside family and work is car restoration and I am dreaming of a nice detached workshop/garage with plenty of space. I am also ready to embrace activities like hunting and I don't think you can overestimate how much my kids enjoy their time with grandparents.

we have a lot in common. I just built a detached garage and I hunt every chance I get. two kids and I enjoy tinkering with cars/trucks. i'm self employed BUT it's the profession I've been in since I got out of school and my wife is a teacher.

NO WAY I would walk away from a good paying job with a family counting on me when I have zero legitimate plan for the future. sometimes being a husband/father means sucking it up. start this phantom business NOW and put the money away while you're still gainfully employed and get out of Ca earlier maybe.

[legion]

What I'm hearing:

-The decision to move and to where has been decided.
-You need some sort of fall back as you spin up the self-employed.
-Based on the location, it seems like academia might be a viable solution.
-Talk to Mr. Halloway. I'm sure there are other members here who can help as well.

[Rodsrsr]

Going from So Cal to the mid-west is a tough gig. I was born in Chicago and lived there until about 12 years old so I've been exposed to extreme cold. After living in So Cal for 30 years I had an opportunity to live mortgage free in a property I inherited in Wisconsin. I'll just say that I only lasted 3 years. Its not just cold, its cold for the majority of the year with limited sun. The people were great, but due to the lack of cultural diversity as compared to the coastal cities, you may not find the food as appealing as to what you're used to. There will also be limited employment/business opportunities, and you might end up spending the majority of the year pursuing indoor activities due to the harsh weather. I ended up coming back to Cal. Although many of these differences I got used to, at the end of the day it was the weather. The mortgage free home that took me three years to completely renovate was not enough to compensate for the climate disparity, but you may be different. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Baz]

Mr. Ferrino:

I can tell by the way you structured your post you are a person who has an organized mind.

As such, you have a gift that will serve you well in business, no matter what you do.

I am currently self-employed and because I love what I do, I don't consider this work. This is what I think you are after....and a very attractive objective for sure....good for you!

You mentioned a friend who sells vintage automobile memorabilia on the Internet. And that he is a role model. So to that end, I would suggest considering an online sales venture yourself. Just one example would be eBay....which I have always considered to be a opportunity like none other to gain access to the world market. If I wasn't already happy doing what I do and was looking for an alternative revenue source, I would jump into eBay in a nano second. Actually I have sold product there quite a few years ago and did very well but when my green industry business picked up I re-focused 100% to it...but I'll never forget how easy it was to trade on eBay - provided you go about it in the right way. Which I think you're capable of, based on your post.

Throwing out one more thought....a good friend of mine for many years whom I have always respected for his intelligence and work ethic retired a few years back. He was an irrigation contractor and owned his own business (and sold life insurance on the side). So he moved into a condo in Daytona Beach and became a shuttle driver for people needing rides to and from the local airports. He used his own vehicle and had his own LLC. This was part time for him and while it brought in revenue, it wasn't like really working ya know....just driving people around, more or less. I'm not surprised he ended up doing this as he was very industrious. In fact he also ran the Boston Marathon for many years and even wrote a small pamphlet called "How I beat Emphysema"...so he is/was MY role model because I admire all he has accomplished.

Anyway....long story short.....don't let anyone throw you off track. With even the weather part. You know many folks spend their winters in Florida anyway so that's always an option at some point.

There's always a way to accomplish your goals...you just have to keep going.

Good luck!

[Charles Freeborn]

As a 35 year veteran of self employment here are some things I can say with authority.

Write a business plan. Put it all on paper - every nickel. Health insurance, home office utilities, taxes (including local business) - everything. Do it in spreadsheet format and constantly re-visit and update as hard data is available. The math is pretty simple - your cost of living divided by the number of weeks you plan to work divided by the number of hours you plan to work. There's your hourly.

In a 40 hour work week you'll be lucky to get 30 hours of billable time in. The rest gets chewed up with admin, errands, interruptions, etc etc. This is the time suck that most first timers in self employment don't get. I'm pissing away time right now...

It's ALL about building a network and being known as reliable, personable and cost-effective. Strike one and you'er out. Period.

If you can find a branch of your current skill set that you can find a niche in you'll already have some built in network to explore. Maybe it's tech support or sales - you never know where it could lead.

Have a clear description of what goods or services you're offering. No wishy washy " well I think I can do that for you..." You must exude confidence.

I have never gotten work through advertising - it's always been referral from existing happy customers. Social media as an effective advertising platform is a myth. It's all tire kickers.

Whatever you estimate it will cost to do a project - even getting yourself set up and running, double the cost and triple the time - that's what it will come out at.

[Crowbob]

The Michigan climate is daunting, expensive, uncomfortable and sometimes harrowing. But it's only for half the year.

People who freely volunteer to sit on a block of ice in front of black hole on a frozen lake will also tell you there's tons to do in a Michigan winter. Be polite to them. They are ill.

Others will tout the absurd idea that the benefits of ramming around on a snow-machine a couple months a year is quite worth the time, effort and doctor's bills to live in such an insulting climate year round.

But the pace is slower. The people friendlier. The values deeper. The seasons have more meaning and the challenges are more organic.

Easier it ain't.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

I've refrained from posting this for a while as I'm a little thin-skinned, but I'm in need of some inspiration/ideas, so I'm prepared to toughen up!

Here's the skinny version: mid-30s PhD-level scientist, currently working in pharma/biotech in SoCal, making decent money/benefits, but not particularly enjoying the prospect of doing this for another 35+ years (actually, dreading it). It's not a stable/great industry to work in and there are very few opportunities in my area of expertise, since it's so highly specialized (and one of the first roles to be outsourced - we just lost half our group to layoffs).

Wife is fed up of SoCal and wants to move family back to home state of Michigan, to be closer to her family, including two very healthy and actively involved grandparents to our children (outskirts of Ann Arbor). With the equity we have in our SoCal home, we could just about buy a house in cash in that region. With the reduced cost of living, I am therefore exploring the possibility of self-employment out there.

I don't see any real prospects of doing what I currently do on a self-employment basis and, frankly, I just want to do something different. I am trying to identify in-demand services that I could develop from home and return a modest income (I have a vision of a detached garage/office/workshop). Given my skills, this would probably be something tech/internet/e-commerce based. If there was a link to something car-based, that would be very appealing to me too. I guess I'm looking for some starting points and suggestions on what I might look into, please.

That could have described me 35 years ago. I walked away from engineering and never looked back. I can't help you with specific job ideas, but I suggest you follow your passions. What do you like doing?
Beware of turning a hobby into a job unless you have a backup hobby. You need to get away from the daily grind even if you love it.