[evander]

Anyone here ever do it? Did you succeed your first time out or did you have to have a go at it again? Where did you get the startup capital? What was the toughest thing about getting it off the ground? Did you go alone or with a partner? Did you do it for love or to be your own boss or both? Any stories of information on starting your own business would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

 

[the_journeyman]

My buddy started his own. Borrowed the initial money, did a LOT of work in the building, has a nice place going, a few regular customers and such. It's a pet store w/ an in-house groomer. He said he made more in the tax return than profits from the store. His wife runs that store & he works for a local bike dealer.

JM

 

[YZFRob]

Trying to here also. Seems banks only want to give small business loans out to people who already run a small business.

 

[evander]

How small is a small business loan? And are you running into this opposition with a business plan with a five year outlook? I’m working my business plan to include projections for each of the first five years and ten year.

 

[Guest]

I found that the government will give you money to start a business. I don't remember the place i found the info, but it's real (like that crazy guy says on TV with the suit with the question marks on it). I had the pamphlets for it but i lost them and never tried it cause my father already owns a contracting business. Don't use that ripoff dude on the tube to try. Do a search for government grants or something.

 

[KRG_Designs]

evan PM me and I can let you know what I had to do to start mine up. Its been going for three years now and expanding. Its not making me rich but comfortable. I don't mind sharing what I've learned its just a lot to post. Hopefully I can help

 

[YZFRob]

Well actually its my brother that is doing this, I'll just be running it since he's locked into his current job for the next 3 yrs. Basically my guess is he's looking for about 35K to start. Basically just for the equipment, signs, getting a building and doing it up for use and some inventory.

 

[Gruneun]

My wife and I both do some side-work that's related to our day jobs (software and graphic design). Neither of us take enough work to make it the day job, but we turn down more than we take. Our friends who have successfully started their own businesses as primary occupations did it with some stable clients to subsist on while most new starters had their initial dry periods. The most successful people I've met did something they really enjoyed, so it wasn't hard for them to sink their entire life into it.

My only recommendation is to buy some good books and put together a long-term business plan. Banks like to see an organized person that's willing to do an extensive amount of research and set some reasonable long-term goals (double your expenses and halve your projected earnings :bawling.

 

[ChrisW]

I own a landscaping business which i opened one year ago when i was 19. i started out on a limb with no money, no customers. I had a few options.... 1) buy all equipment with a credit card and get charged high interest rates or 2) sell my brand new atv (which i still owe on) for about 4k. I sold the atv for $3800. Now the reason i could sell something that i still owed money on was because polaris finances their atv's with what is called a star card. It is basically the exact same thing as a credit card but for polaris products only. So technically i did own the atv. With $3800 cash in my pocket i started looking for people who were maybe getting too old to run their landscaping business and were selling their equipment. I lucked out and got 2 38 inch walk behind mowers (retail about 5k). These mowers never die, and one is brand new, so pretty good deal. Also i got an 85 F-150 (I've moved up to a new truck since then), with 14 foot trailer hitch and plenty of extras.

One word of advise. DO NOT OPEN A BUSINESS WITH A PARTENER IN MIND!! My partener and i split up before the start of our first season! Do not expect a partener to work as hard as you plan on. Why split your money with someone who isnt up to par with you? Or split your money with anybody at all? Oh yeah, you guys will disagree about everything too.

The hardest thing about starting up would have to be getting enough money for the legal part (INSURANCE, sales tax downpayment, etc.) and find enough accounts to make it worth while. I passed out about 10,000 flyers to high income and middle class homes in my area, and only got 20 of them to set up accounts with me :flame:. A little discouraging huh? DONT GIVE UP!! word of mouth and meeting new people is the best advertisement money CANT buy. One of my customers was very impressed with the work that i did with her house week after week. She had a sister who worked at a bank and she set me up with 60 accounts. All foreclosed homes, which means cut, weed wack wam bam thank you mam, pay up.

This year I have enough money for advertising, and people are calling everyday for estimates.

And for your last question. I started my own business because all my jobs growing up i never felt secure, knowing that i could get laid off or fired at any day. if i was 40 years old, what would i do then? Owning your own business is an incredible peace of mind. Evander, if you work hard you will be succesful.

 

[F4Flyer]

I've been thinking about starting a business for years. I can work hard and am pretty passionate about things I do. I'm also great with people BUT I can't think of what to do :frown:

That's the bad part- I can't think of business ideas that make sense and can be started with a low investment.

 

[KRG_Designs]

Hey Evan PM me with your number and I'll contact you tonight and go over some basics about getting started.

 

[evander]

Sorry KRG, I was spending time with the wife. I log on here early in the day or late at night. You have a PM.

Chris, first thing I was told about a partnership is NEVER do a 50% 50% split. Always make one have more ownership than the other even if it's 51% 49%.

Gruneun, thanks for the “long term plan” advice. I’m working on a business plan detailing each of the first five years and a projected ten year evaluation.

Thanks all for the advice and encouragement keep the insight coming.

Evan