Owning Your Own Business

[Isaiah]

I was self employed at 24 and I didn't like it. The money was good but the sacrifice was too much for me at the time. I still wanted to enjoy my life and found that the business was consuming too much of my time.

[Chim]

Originally posted by Isaiah
I was self employed at 24 and I didn't like it. The money was good but the sacrifice was too much for me at the time. I still wanted to enjoy my life and found that the business was consuming too much of my time.

people seem to associate running a business with financial and career freedom. really, you're now just serving another boss: your client. and if you screw up, it's your money and not somebody else's

with that said, it's great experience and does provide unlimited earning potential, if you're willing to stomach the sacrifices

[$lick_rYz]

Originally posted by Manhattan


Care to elaborate on what kind of business you run? What kinda doors has it opened? PM me if you'd like to get in to detail.

[Calgarydetail]

Starting a business is not for everyone. You always have to be at the top of your game, no sick days no time off. You need to be there 24 hours a day.
You have be willing to sell yourself and what you do. You cant have a bad day, it will cost you.

But having said that for those who can do it, its worth it.

There are alot of rewards in owing a business, if you can handle the stress then i would say go for it.
Just remeber the first year will be HELL, you will not have enough customers or money, but life (from what I have heard) will settle down and things will work out.

Also you need to be good at everything, not great but good. You need to know HR, selling, markting accounting. ect.



As for the perfect age, the younger the better. i say that becasuse there are often less respoblies when younger. At 19 i have school and a few bills.

Whem im 30 and have kids and a family there is more to worry about. I dont just have to worry about me i have to worry about feeding my family.
If you can do it younger I would as there is always room ito fix it if it dosent work plus there isnt that respobility to feed and cloth others.

[Lex350]

Originally posted by Calgarydetail
Starting a business is not for everyone. You always have to be at the top of your game, no sick days no time off. You need to be there 24 hours a day.
You have be willing to sell yourself and what you do. You cant have a bad day, it will cost you.

But having said that for those who can do it, its worth it.

There are alot of rewards in owing a business, if you can handle the stress then i would say go for it.
Just remeber the first year will be HELL, you will not have enough customers or money, but life (from what I have heard) will settle down and things will work out.

Also you need to be good at everything, not great but good. You need to know HR, selling, markting accounting. ect.



As for the perfect age, the younger the better. i say that becasuse there are often less respoblies when younger. At 19 i have school and a few bills.

Whem im 30 and have kids and a family there is more to worry about. I dont just have to worry about me i have to worry about feeding my family.
If you can do it younger I would as there is always room ito fix it if it dosent work plus there isnt that respobility to feed and cloth others.

I've found that I'm in a better frame of mind to have my own business as I'm older. Yes, you have more responsiblities but I am way more focused now than when I was 19. All I wanted to do back then was party and get laid....well..ok, I still like to do those things but having a family has made me become more driven than ever. There is something to work for other than just for myself.

[AsianCaucasian]

Originally posted by $lick_rYz

Well, when I was in first year uni (17 years old) I started an ESL tutoring school with my friends. We targeted international students who wanted to work on pronounciation and pratical english.

In my second year, I signed on with College Pro Painters, and own my own painting franchise, I am still doing that right now in my third year.

Thanks to my experience and the mentorship of one of my professors at the unversity, I am now getting into business development consulting and I'm considering it as my career.

If you have any questions, just PM me back.

[Schwa]

I wanted to add another downside, which another thread reminded me of. Getting loans!!

Banks don't seem to like people who are self employed and don't have a regular paystub. They'd rather lend money out to someone making 10/hr consistently than someone who might make a ton of money but inconsistently.

This has been, at least, my experience when I applied for a 10K line of credit. I had to fight real bad for it, but eventually I got it. Took a lot of convincing to my personal banker, who then had to convince her own higher ups to give me the credit line.

Having said this though, I highly recommend the lady at the U of C who works for Royal Bank!

[redline_13000]

Before starting your own business IMO its a MUST to have good, solid experience in that field/industry. I would say at least 2 or 3 years, learn from the owner/manager of a successful business similar to what your thinking of starting.

[De Dutch]

Originally posted by AsianCaucasian


I ran a tutoring business part time during my first year of university as well, it was for ESL students.

I also currently run an exterior painting franchise and I am now just getting started in business development consulting with the help of one of my business profs.

Collegepro? Is your gfs name Gloria?

[cressida_pimpin]

I was going to do College Pro. How much money did you make over the summer?