Astrocloud

Hi,

I do indeed work for myself. I have been doing this for about 7 months. I've got an insurance gig that pays commission only. I have had a lot of ups and downs in this business. (My last insurance gig practically bankrupted me). But things seem to be doing much better for me.

Now this is the first time in my life where I've actually worked for myself. I really do set my own hours -and if I don't want to deal with a customer then I really don't have to deal with a customer. (I consider it professional to deal with all customers unless they seem overly litigious).

Before I was an insurance agent -I was an engineer. I worked for a large telecomunications company -developing technology for the man and collecting my (previously large) paychecks every week. Now I only get a large paycheck if I am lucky... (There are people who work for my company that get very large paychecks).

So what is your background working for yourself? Did you struggle? How did you adapt from working for someone else to working for yourself?

AVoiceOfReason

I'm an attorney with my own office. I'm currently a sole practioner, although I have had other attorneys working for me in the past.

I came to be a solo after spending three years working for a man that had a larger office (five to eight lawyers on staff) and before that, I was a deputy prosecuting attorney. I made the jump from the private firm to an office sharing arrangement with another attorney. He was a big help in the transistion phase, as we shared his staff as well, and my bookkeeping system was put into place at that time.

I never struggled, really; no bank loans to stay afloat, no deep dipping into my pocket to pay the light bill and staff. I advanced my office a few thousand when I started, and paid it back shortly thereafter. I remember having to do it one other time in the first couple of years, but that was due to drawing out too much a few months before--it didn't really matter to me if I took the money from the business account, savings or from the brokerage account, because it was all my money anyway.

I like the freedom of being my own boss, although technically, I'm not--I have as many bosses as I have clients, but I'm free to fire my boss if I want to. I can schedule as few clients in a day as I want so I can be out of the office to play golf. I am long over the fear that the phone will never ring again and that I'll never get another client. It will, and I will.

And when you get that part of it whipped, being in business for yourself is very rewarding.

__________________
AVOR

A Voice Of Reason, not necessarily the ONLY one.

ratbastid

I worked for six years for a company that does e-commerce development. I basically was the driving force behind the company going frmo a two-man flyspeck to a 12-man force to be reckoned with in the industry. Then I got laid off. But I'm not bitter!

That was last February. On April 1 I officially incorporated my business doing basically the same thing--e-commerce development and web-based business automation software. It's AWESOME being my own man. Honest to god, if I want to take a two week vacation, I can do that. I completed the biggest job of my career a couple months ago, and have been living off that ever since. I've got another couple months pay out of that project. Meanwhile I'm trawling for new projects--no big urgency right now, but I've got a couple lines in the water.

Now, there's a downside. My first six months I didn't make anything like the kind of money I was used to. I had a pretty low "used to" as well--my last year with my old company, I was a corporate officer and so didn't get paid when payroll was tight. I really had to get to work, AND trust that I had what it took to make the thing work.

Mondak

I am on my second try and it seems that this time I remembered how to make money! 4 years ago I was making about $250k a year at a software company that I closed the biggest deals in their history (still to this day). Their average selling price was under $5000 and the sales I was making were all between $250k and $1.5M. Really changed the place. I had 6 bosses in 5 years there and finally they promoted a peer over me whom I used to share an office. I was never interested in management and like to sell. He couldn't sell, but he was good with the politics. He fired me 6 months later.

I started my company and had 4 employees and was doing okay. The company worked on a health insurance mandate called HIPAA that I was familiar with and provided related technology and training services. I could pay all the company expenses and all my employees, but I didn't take a paycheck for 2 years. My wife was working on her Masters and not making much and we came pretty close to me bankrupting us. I had to fire all my employees which was brutal. They would have taken a bullet for me and I knew it. They all came to me and told me they would work for free so I could pay myself, but I just couldn't take the responsibility. I felt beaten. I placed each one of them in jobs they are in still today that paid double what I was paying them which was already very good. My wife - who only really knew me as someone who was making money up until that point never once questioned me. She was supportive and constructive as all hell. If she had been on me, no way I would have come out in one piece.

I went back to corporate America with a 6 figure sales job with a bunch of people I hated (most of them hated me as well) and continued to eat dogfood the whole time spending very little. We were $40k in credit card debt and 1.5 years later, I paid that off, saved some money and gave it another shot. In January I hung the shingle again and I am doing great. I have closed some huge shit and better yet, I am having a blast. I am working on all kinds of projects and really have been able to stay very broad in nature. I suppose I am a professional problem solver in some ways. I really can't see having another employee until I have $500k in personal income I swear - the government makes it too hard to keep up with all the taxes and paperwork and the focus gets lost for me. It is punitive to hire people and offer gainful employment and it is getting worse. I need to completly outsource the employee / paperwork part to a bulletproof source that won't eff it up.

As far the thing you hinted at- it is tough when the folks who are working for you are cleaning up and you are just getting by. The thing that they will have trouble understanding and you should never waiver from is the concept of risk and return. You have taken the risk and continue to do so while that person has the ability to make a living. When it comes to a day when the company is for sale or they want a slice, don't let their "hard work" sway you from the fact that their hard work was rewarded when it was delivered. They never had any risk in the game.

Good luck everyone. Please PM me anytime and I will give you my email address. I would be happy to network with others like myself anytime and check in to see how everyone is doing.

__________________
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

DEI37

I envy those of you that can do this. I want to, but don't have the resources necessary to do it. I work hard, but it's never enough. I only want a little bigger piece of the pie. I know I deserve it...but I can't afford to go get it.

__________________
Generally speaking, if you were to get what you really deserve, you might be unpleasantly surprised.

Mondak

Well Said James Taggert. . .

__________________
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

JStrider

ooooo... I just finished reading atlas shrugged this summer
...

this summer i didnt get the internship I wanted so I called up my uncle who sells guns, and told him he would be selling guns on the internet by july 4th... and he was... it was a cool project... definently enjoyed setting my own schedule and hours... i think I could definently get used to doing that once I get out of school...

and if anyones wondering the website I made is www.talonarms.com
we've made 80,000+ hits and almost $40,000 in sales since we went live on july 4th...

__________________
-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto

Mondak

Thanks for picking that up. I was left hanging for a long time on that reference. Excelent Site JStrider. I hope you do well with it, but it is organized and clean.

As far as Astrocloud, AVoiceOfReason and ratbastid are concerned, how are things going these days? I had hoped that this thread by Astrocloud would have genereated some more discussions, but it sort of died on the vine.

Any thoughts? I'll throw one out there: I am still on the "I'm not hiring anyone" path. I had the chance to hire someone (a fellow tfper, friend and talented employee) for a contract that would be for 1000-2000 hours. It was fairly safe in that I would be able to guarentee about a year worth of hours and then still have him to bill on other things. I just did not want to interupt my peace of mind that I have developed in only having to be repsonsible for myself (plus wife and kid). Maybe I would have done it in this situation a few months from now sinc it was so safe, but I didn't have enough of a cash buffer to protect him and us if things went south. Instead I closed the contract and he started his own company to deliver it.

I suppose the good thing that can come out of it is we have a new person who is valid to post in this thread. I know he is a bit nervous about going out there on his own.

__________________
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

raeanna74

I have been operating my own home child care for the past 3 years. It takes planning to make the income even out between summer and school year. Otherwise I have few expenses involved. I already had a lot of baby supplies when I began. My daughter was 2 then. Since then I have mostly only paid for food for snacks and lunches. The key to being able to operate well is a contract. I have found it helpful in protecting myself from moochers who would have continued to bring their kid for me to watch and yet constantly told me "I can't pay you this week." It may sound harsh but I refuse to watch anyone's children if they miss two paydates. Once is reasonable so long as they pay up by the next paydate. Twice - I've yet to see anyone who would pay EVER if they end up missing two paydates. I also can rely on my contract to turn away a parent who's child is uncontrollable. I was amazed to run into this one time when the 5 yr old boy I was watching had a terrible temper and was destructive. When his mother was told of his behavior she simply said "Oh honey did you have a bad day." I only watched him for two weeks. It was all I could take. I have managed to keep one family for just over 3 years. I have become so close to their children that their family were quite impressed with how attached the baby was to me. The mother seems grateful that I have cared for them this long and have no plans of changing my career choice soon. She has recommended me to several other mothers. At this point I have 2 children that I've cared for for over 2 years, one for 1 1/2 years (her entire life), and one who was referred to me by a mother of children that I watched for about a year.

My best advertizement comes from word of mouth. Timing in advertising is crucial. A contract is a must. You gotta be a hard-head sometimes. You gotta know when to be flexible. Take time for yourself. I tend to be a workaholic if anything. If I don't stop to tend to my physical and emotional needs then I end up getting burned out very quickly.

__________________
"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Derwood

i've worked for myself on a much smaller scale. I was freelance designing in theatre for 5 years or so, but never filed as a self employed person because I always kept other gigs open that taxed me, saving me the headache and accounting fees. I never made squat doing what I did, but it was great fun. Now I'm a stay at home dad, but while my wife is on maternity leave, i've taken on a simple independant contractor job delivering papers every night. Again, doesn't pay much, but it's enough to cover expenses while she's home with the kids and doesn't put us any further into debt than we already are (her company's health care plan is terrible at best, and we have to foot 20% of all the medical bills associated with our daughter's birth)

__________________
"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

Astrocloud

Business is getting very good. I am in the middle of a very good month.

ratbastid

I'm getting by. Right now the horizon looks a little sparse, but it's only because I took some time off over the summer and wasn't prospecting. Things will come along, I'm very sure of it.

Martian

Define 'work for yourself'. I have part ownership in a business that's in the startup phase being run by myself and a few friends, but until we have enough cashflow we're all keeping our day jobs. It is providing some nice spending money on the side and will eventually pay the bills, it's just not quite there yet.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

BigBlueWrecking

I am a financial planner that works for a firm, but essentially I work for myself.

Martian

It's official, I now work for myself. I quit the day jb on taking a couple of smallish contracts to do the business full time.

Any advice for a newcomer? ratbastid, you seem to be in a very closely related field to mine, so I'd be interested in particular to hear what you might have to say.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

ratbastid

Congrats.

First, get a good accountant, because you don't want to have to deal with the tax ramifications on your own.

Second, start prospecting now. You've got to keep watering the tree. If you get too fascinated with the fruit, you won't have the tree for very long.

Martian

Thank you for the advice and the congrtulations.

This is obviously a big step for me. As to what I do, the business is IT consulting, essentially (the tag line is actually IT Concepts and Solutions). It's not solely mine, there are four of us involved at this point but I'm the only one supporting myself on the money we make as well as being the top dog, so to speak. The amount of work is a bit daunting, but the rewards ae entirely worth it.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

clavus

Third - give ratbastid a call if you need a good tech guy.

__________________
Ass, gas or grass. Nobody rides for free.

Mondak

Any updates? Things are going great for us. We just bought our house on the beach north of San Diego so we will have to budget pretty hard for a while. No crazy loans though - a fixed rate that we can afford. We don't have any debt though other than the house (no cars or credit cards or anything) so that is good.

I have been spending about 4 days a week working on my existing business and now I have been spending a day a week or so on a new company. What I have today is great. Customers are happy, money is steady and things are good. The thing is that the company is ME. I mean it is not something that I could sell. I own an income stream at best.

So the new company is a "real" company. I have a couple small investors and one really good partner this time. It is something that I would hope to sell off in 3-5 years but frankly, this thing should throw off loads of cash. So if I can't get the right multiplier, I would just keep it. It should be running Q1 2008.

As an aside, please only post if you work for yourself as the title of the thread indicates.

__________________
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

ratbastid

Heh... right!

I've got to watch what I say--I've got clients around here! Well... client anyway!