Running your own business Good or Bad
Discussion
Hi... Unlike some will assume, it's not automatically a route to riches & wealth beyond your wildest dreams! 
Although if I had a quid for everytime someone said "Oh, you work for yourself? You must be loaded then..." then I would be!
It's very much 'the buck stops here' and should be thought of as a way of life rather than a simple job. When there's work to be done & a deadline looming that's when you've got to pull the stops out from deep inside & just plough on (like I was still in the office till 0300 last night & will be again tonight.)
It's hard work, hard decisions and when things go badly, you have only yourself to blame. Conversely, when things go well, you get to reap the benefits of your own efforts.
For me, flexibility is a major bonus. If I want to take time off & go walk along the beach, I can. If I want to take a lie in, I can. Doesn't mean I do mind you otherwise you find it difficult to pay the bills but having that flexibility is great. Time off to sort out family stuff? just do it - no forms to fill in or grovelling to the boss. If you're a one-man band, it can be difficult persuading yourself to take holidays though.
No more dilbert-esque pointless meetings.
I may have made more money (and certainly would've had a better credit record) had I stayed in the rat race but I'm much happier doing it my way and when you get a good week of everything coming together it's a helluva buzz.
Do it.
Loads more general & specific advice surely to be had if you but ask. Cheers - PBF.
Although if I had a quid for everytime someone said "Oh, you work for yourself? You must be loaded then..." then I would be! It's very much 'the buck stops here' and should be thought of as a way of life rather than a simple job. When there's work to be done & a deadline looming that's when you've got to pull the stops out from deep inside & just plough on (like I was still in the office till 0300 last night & will be again tonight.)
It's hard work, hard decisions and when things go badly, you have only yourself to blame. Conversely, when things go well, you get to reap the benefits of your own efforts.
For me, flexibility is a major bonus. If I want to take time off & go walk along the beach, I can. If I want to take a lie in, I can. Doesn't mean I do mind you otherwise you find it difficult to pay the bills but having that flexibility is great. Time off to sort out family stuff? just do it - no forms to fill in or grovelling to the boss. If you're a one-man band, it can be difficult persuading yourself to take holidays though.
No more dilbert-esque pointless meetings.
I may have made more money (and certainly would've had a better credit record) had I stayed in the rat race but I'm much happier doing it my way and when you get a good week of everything coming together it's a helluva buzz.
Do it.
Loads more general & specific advice surely to be had if you but ask. Cheers - PBF.
vex said:
Motor Bike or Push Bike?
On a more general note, whats it like running your own business.
Last week, Crap - Can it go and get a proper job where someone can actually pay me to take this crap!
This Week, (Yes Already) - Great, Love it, Why would I want to go back to being employed!
Been there. Doing that!
Some days are truly crap. (Today was one of them.)
The only thing I will say is that you need to hire the right professionals to keep you on the right side of the Revenue. When the Revenue are happy you can get on with running your business. When they're not you are in a stressful world of shit.
And don't owe the Bank. Then the Bank runs your Company not you.
Wouldn't do anything else, though. I've been doing it for over ten years and by now am utterly unemployable...
Pot Bellied Fool said:
It's very much 'the buck stops here' and should be thought of as a way of life rather than a simple job. When there's work to be done & a deadline looming that's when you've got to pull the stops out from deep inside & just plough on (like I was still in the office till 0300 last night & will be again tonight.)
It's hard work, hard decisions and when things go badly, you have only yourself to blame. Conversely, when things go well, you get to reap the benefits of your own efforts.
For me, flexibility is a major bonus. If I want to take time off & go walk along the beach, I can. If I want to take a lie in, I can. Doesn't mean I do mind you otherwise you find it difficult to pay the bills but having that flexibility is great. Time off to sort out family stuff? just do it - no forms to fill in or grovelling to the boss. If you're a one-man band, it can be difficult persuading yourself to take holidays though.
Agree totally with all this. I can't see myself ever going back to wage slavery - I love the fact that I can work when I like and take time off at the drop of a hat if I need to. And it all fits in quite well with childcare, in some ways - if SBaby is off sick from nursery, then there's no hassle with the boss, I just work evenings until he's better. Besides which, if I put in a lot of hours, I get paid for a lot of hours. None of this working until midnight and only getting paid to 5.30 pm nonsense.
Sure, sometimes it's hard to escape - I'm a translator, and the temptation is always to go on booking in more and more work, because of course the more words I produce, the more money I earn. But with practice, you soon learn to set your limits and not overdo it. Although another positive side is if you're about to go off on hols or buy yourself an expensive toy or something, you can just put in a few extra hours over a series of days or weeks and earn the cash without blowing the household budget or having to compromise on other things.
So yes, I agree - do it! It's well worth the effort.
tinman0 said:
So just out of interest - to those of you who have posted - what do you all do?
as little as possible
apart from the 15 hour days that is.
One day, when I grow up, I want to be just like tinman0 and srebbe64 and do as little as possible!
In the mean time I'm a "partner" in a "software house".
We have our own Timesheets/Time&Attendance/Holidays/Absences/Sickness/(and soon Expenses) system (web-based) that we sell to businesses and government departments.
We also do bespoke web-based database applications - don't ask us to design your web-site - do ask us to build you a system to automate a business function. We're damn good at it.
Not as much money in it as there used to be - but I wouldn't do anything else...
slapmatt said:
Hi... Unlike some will assume, it's not automatically a route to riches & wealth beyond your wildest dreams!
How come you all drive Porsches and TVRs then? (those with taste at least).
Porsches and TVRs can be had for the price of a new Mondeo remember
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