Since this blog is basically about making money through starting your own business I wanted to bring everyone's attention to this online competition:
http://www.johncow.com/cowpetition/#comment-19078
John Cow's blog is very interesting and good to follow if you are looking at making money online. I definitely recommend adding an RSS feed to it.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
How I chose what type of business to start
My guess is that for many other entrepreneurs this process is normally the other way around. First, they have a business idea, and then they decide to start it. But for me, after deciding that I wanted to start a business, I had to look at what kind of business would suit me best. I wanted to find a business that met all of my criteria for why I wanted to start a business in the first place, but also one that I would enjoy and that would be financially successful.
My wife and I were getting ready to have our first child, and some friends of ours had just had theirs a few months earlier. In the town we lived in, there was no baby store and our search began there. We researched what we would need to do to start a store, and even requested information on several baby store franchises.
One request for franchise information led us to a franchise broker. This would prove to be very fortunate for all of us. He had us write down what our main motivations for starting a business were, what our interests were, and what our strengths were. This exercise reminded us that we wanted a flexible schedule, and that a baby store, being a retail operation, would not provide this. Next, the broker gave us 10 different options for businesses that he believed would be an excellent fit for us. We narrowed this down to two that we were interested in and requested UFOC's (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) for both.
After this, we did our due diligence research on both companies. We called current franchisees, went and worked with other franchisees in our area, and then went to a discovery day with the main office for the franchise.
We then sat down and wrote out the pluses and minuses to each. Our list of pluses for the business we chose:
My wife and I were getting ready to have our first child, and some friends of ours had just had theirs a few months earlier. In the town we lived in, there was no baby store and our search began there. We researched what we would need to do to start a store, and even requested information on several baby store franchises.
One request for franchise information led us to a franchise broker. This would prove to be very fortunate for all of us. He had us write down what our main motivations for starting a business were, what our interests were, and what our strengths were. This exercise reminded us that we wanted a flexible schedule, and that a baby store, being a retail operation, would not provide this. Next, the broker gave us 10 different options for businesses that he believed would be an excellent fit for us. We narrowed this down to two that we were interested in and requested UFOC's (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) for both.
After this, we did our due diligence research on both companies. We called current franchisees, went and worked with other franchisees in our area, and then went to a discovery day with the main office for the franchise.
We then sat down and wrote out the pluses and minuses to each. Our list of pluses for the business we chose:
- Good cash flow from day one
- Low overhead and startup capital requirements (approx $125,000)
- Flexible working hours
- An excellent support system from the lead franchisor and other franchisees (if you are going to pay into a franchise system at the very least you should feel you are getting something for your money)
- A market that was largely under-served in our area
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Beginning - Why start your own biz
Why start your own business?
To preface this, I do believe that starting your own business is not for everyone. To undertake a task like this a person needs to have the following traits:
First, I wanted to be my own boss. I definitely was not a slave to the man for a long period of time, but in the 5 years that I worked for someone else I knew this was not for me. I have always been drawn to situations where if I put in extra effort I would gain from it. I like knowing my decisions will be the main factor in determining if I succeed or if I fail.
Second, I wanted to have a flexible work schedule. I don't mind working long hours as long as I work them when I want to. I also was getting ready to have my first kid and I wanted to be able to spend as much time with him as possible.
And lastly, I just wanted to see if I was up to the challenge. This might be something that ties me to my caveman ancestors, but I wanted to know if I could provide for myself through my own efforts. For those of you that have never done anything like this, there is something really satisfying knowing that you can wake up in the morning and go and do something that will make money without relying on anyone else.
Entrepreneur-In-Training
To preface this, I do believe that starting your own business is not for everyone. To undertake a task like this a person needs to have the following traits:
- Self-motivated: Nobody else is there to do this for you.
- Ability to handle risk: You must be comfortable that you do not know how much your next paycheck will be (or if there will be one)
- Think for yourself: Again, no one else is there to do this for you. As a business owner you will be bombarded by outside information. You need to be able to filter out what will truly benefit you and your business.
- Listen to the advice of others: This may seem to be counter to the previous trait, but you need to have an "inner circle" of trusted advisors that you can turn to for help with difficult decisions and situations.
First, I wanted to be my own boss. I definitely was not a slave to the man for a long period of time, but in the 5 years that I worked for someone else I knew this was not for me. I have always been drawn to situations where if I put in extra effort I would gain from it. I like knowing my decisions will be the main factor in determining if I succeed or if I fail.
Second, I wanted to have a flexible work schedule. I don't mind working long hours as long as I work them when I want to. I also was getting ready to have my first kid and I wanted to be able to spend as much time with him as possible.
And lastly, I just wanted to see if I was up to the challenge. This might be something that ties me to my caveman ancestors, but I wanted to know if I could provide for myself through my own efforts. For those of you that have never done anything like this, there is something really satisfying knowing that you can wake up in the morning and go and do something that will make money without relying on anyone else.
Entrepreneur-In-Training
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Welcome (i.e. What I am trying to do here)
Since this is my first post to this blog I thought it would be appropriate to give a little background to who I am, what this blog will be about, and what I am trying to accomplish through writing here.
The "Are You Rich Enough?" Blog will mainly focus on my experiences starting and running my own business. When I started this business (two years ago) I thought it would be a neat idea to write a book about this experience. I figured a book like that could be helpful to someone else starting or thinking about starting their first business.
I intend to use this blog to organize my thoughts (really just to help me remember them) in case I do write this book in the future.
Now, some ground rules:
1. I plan to be as open and honest as possible about my experiences running my business. But, at this point I do not plan on posting peoples' names, or my business' name. I have already been sued once (a different business I own) and I would like to not have that happen again if I can help it.
2. While my first couple of post will provide some background information, after that I expect my posts to generally be based on what is currently happening with my business. But, I will jump back when I remember something important from a past event that I want to note.
3. I will get off track from time to time, that is just the way I think anyway. If you don't like it you should read a different blog. Here is a suggestion:
LINK
4. Any thoughts or comments are always appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Hopefully some of my insights will help you in your business and in life.
Entrepreneur-In-Training
The "Are You Rich Enough?" Blog will mainly focus on my experiences starting and running my own business. When I started this business (two years ago) I thought it would be a neat idea to write a book about this experience. I figured a book like that could be helpful to someone else starting or thinking about starting their first business.
I intend to use this blog to organize my thoughts (really just to help me remember them) in case I do write this book in the future.
Now, some ground rules:
1. I plan to be as open and honest as possible about my experiences running my business. But, at this point I do not plan on posting peoples' names, or my business' name. I have already been sued once (a different business I own) and I would like to not have that happen again if I can help it.
2. While my first couple of post will provide some background information, after that I expect my posts to generally be based on what is currently happening with my business. But, I will jump back when I remember something important from a past event that I want to note.
3. I will get off track from time to time, that is just the way I think anyway. If you don't like it you should read a different blog. Here is a suggestion:
LINK
4. Any thoughts or comments are always appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Hopefully some of my insights will help you in your business and in life.
Entrepreneur-In-Training
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)