[Undertow]

Towing can be a rough and highly territorial business. You better know your local market and all of the other towing companies very well before jumping in.

[amanda hor$t]

[amanda hor$t]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

How many successful business do you see without employees?

real estate agents, fortune tellers / spiritual consultants, freelance hookers, and i know a guy who sells lingerie on ebay from his mom's basement

[ENGINE er]

haha can you call selling lingerie from your moms basement successful?

the most successful agents are brokers that have other agents working for them.

[MisterSkiMask]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

haha can you call selling lingerie from your moms basement successful?

the most successful agents are brokers that have other agents working for them.

[Hisam135i]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

How many successful business do you see without employees? A mistake i see over and over is the "nobody can do it better than me" mentality. It ruins businesses and lives.

Read: The E-Myth, it will change your perspective.

+100, sure at first you may need to do the work yourself, but if you want your business to grow you have to shift gears from being the worker to being the teacher and showing others how to do the simple things so you can focus on what really maters; the big deals. AKA in this guys case getting more tow trucks and more employees

[persian54]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

haha can you call selling lingerie from your moms basement successful?

the most successful agents are brokers that have other agents working for them.

One's time is only worth so much.

You can only do what you can in 24 hours time.... but have 10 people working your business for you and you can get much more work done.

One isn't able to do everything on his/her own; trusted employees are a necessity for any business's success

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

How many successful business do you see without employees? A mistake i see over and over is the "nobody can do it better than me" mentality. It ruins businesses and lives.

Read: The E-Myth, it will change your perspective.

This x1000

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

How many successful business do you see without employees? A mistake i see over and over is the "nobody can do it better than me" mentality. It ruins businesses and lives.

Read: The E-Myth, it will change your perspective.

Depends on the business model. I am self employed IT consultant, I had employees thru the 90's and for the last 12 years am solo. I only do projects I want to do, work about 50 hours a week including running the business, IE payroll taxes bills etc.. I do ok, less than when i had 4 people working for me but I work way less and spend way less, back then it was always 60+ hours per week and had some real asshats work for me sometimes(subcontracted gigs) always having to kiss someones ass because somebody thought because they were a so called expert they could pontificate to the client. Life is better now and have way more life.

[ToothDoc]

Go ahead do it... but you have to work hard. You have to work harder than your competition. NO matter what you do, if you are better, cheaper, and faster, you'll win over customers and business. Over time, you will have to change over to using people (employees) to make money for you.

Having said that, are you sure you are ready to give up everything for the sake of your business? I mean, work 70+ hours a week and give up social live and fancy food, drink, cars, vacations? If you aren't, don't do it. I started my own business at 29. Worked, worked and worked. Lost 1/2 my hair, got 10-20 points higher BP, lost my youth. But now, at 39 I'm doing fine. My gamble was to sacrifice TEN years of my life so I could enjoy the rest of my life. Will you sacrifice 10 years of the PRIME of your life for it? My back hurts, my eyes are tired, I'm old, but now I enjoy life... Only you know if it is worth it. TEN years is a LONG time and IMO, I was lucky.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Depends on the business model. I am self employed IT consultant, I had employees thru the 90's and for the last 12 years am solo. I only do projects I want to do, work about 50 hours a week including running the business, IE payroll taxes bills etc.. I do ok, less than when i had 4 people working for me but I work way less and spend way less, back then it was always 60+ hours per week and had some real asshats work for me sometimes(subcontracted gigs) always having to kiss someones ass because somebody thought because they were a so called expert they could pontificate to the client. Life is better now and have way more life.

To become wealthy, one typically has to leverage money or people.


To the OP.

What you're talking about doing is owning a job. Until you have multiple trucks, drivers and employees etc, you're basically a freelance guy with a truck. Not a damn thing wrong with that either. If you can make a good living from it, squirrel some away for the future, have only your customers to answer to..... sounds like a pretty good life.

If you eventually want to work 30 to 40 hours a week, while building wealth; read the E-myth and save every dime you make so you can get more trucks, drivers, etc...

I started out selling and moved in to owning the business. With the economy crapping out i had to continue to sell to keep things going. Lately I seem to be on the verge of having enough producers to allow me to work on my business and less in it. God willing that will be a great day. I really enjoy fine tuning the systems, processes, incentives that could add even a half of a percent to the bottom line. With people producing enough to pay the bills, my highest and best use will be to find ways to pump up the net profit percentage. Just thinking about putting things into the system that can add even one percent to the bottom line gets me excited. We're talking about working ON the business for 5 - 10 more hours a week than IN the business; possibly creating an additional $45k to $50k a year. That's why business owners kill for 1% of net profit.

Eventually, with processes and systems in place that continually capture those extra percentage points most business let slip by, you're creating enough extra profit for you to cut an extra 5 to 10 hours a week out of your work life. Which is great because you'll need that time to figure out how your going to leverage your newly found profit to make you more money.

[amanda hor$t]

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

Having said that, are you sure you are ready to give up everything for the sake of your business? I mean, work 70+ hours a week and give up social live and fancy food, drink, cars, vacations? If you aren't, don't do it. I started my own business at 29. Worked, worked and worked. Lost 1/2 my hair, got 10-20 points higher BP, lost my youth. But now, at 39 I'm doing fine. My gamble was to sacrifice TEN years of my life so I could enjoy the rest of my life. Will you sacrifice 10 years of the PRIME of your life for it? My back hurts, my eyes are tired, I'm old, but now I enjoy life... Only you know if it is worth it. TEN years is a LONG time and IMO, I was lucky.

totally agree. my last "real" job was in '03, when i left i was pulling ~130k in what seemed (outwardly) like a great career. i've endured a financial/emotional roller coaster, burned several bridges, nonstop criticism from conformists (office space people), moved several times, was all alone several times, when you slip they all jump when you rise they don't recognize it... on and on.

things finally gained momentum about a year ago, and even then, the adjustment was rough. when i started, it was about making the big bucks. through the years, the journey changed me also: now it's about enough money and spreading a philosophy.

i'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. you only live once: better to try and fail than live wondering. you can take everything else, you'll never take my will.

[ENGINE er]

Mpower, I can hear the passion for your business in what you write. I don't know what you do but would love to do business with you!

OP, you sound young and full of vigor. Leverage it! Get out and start making mistakes while you have little to lose, and surround yourself with people much smarter and more successful than you are.

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by MP0WER

To become wealthy, one typically has to leverage money or people.


To the OP.

What you're talking about doing is owning a job. Until you have multiple trucks, drivers and employees etc, you're basically a freelance guy with a truck. Not a damn thing wrong with that either. If you can make a good living from it, squirrel some away for the future, have only your customers to answer to..... sounds like a pretty good life.

If you eventually want to work 30 to 40 hours a week, while building wealth; read the E-myth and save every dime you make so you can get more trucks, drivers, etc...

I started out selling and moved in to owning the business. With the economy crapping out i had to continue to sell to keep things going. Lately I seem to be on the verge of having enough producers to allow me to work on my business and less in it. God willing that will be a great day. I really enjoy fine tuning the systems, processes, incentives that could add even a half of a percent to the bottom line. With people producing enough to pay the bills, my highest and best use will be to find ways to pump up the net profit percentage. Just thinking about putting things into the system that can add even one percent to the bottom line gets me excited. We're talking about working ON the business for 5 - 10 more hours a week than IN the business; possibly creating an additional $45k to $50k a year. That's why business owners kill for 1% of net profit.

Eventually, with processes and systems in place that continually capture those extra percentage points most business let slip by, you're creating enough extra profit for you to cut an extra 5 to 10 hours a week out of your work life. Which is great because you'll need that time to figure out how your going to leverage your newly found profit to make you more money.

Great post....especially the bolded, first line.



At the end of the day it all comes down to how much you're willing to risk. If you are not prepared to lose your investment and have a back up plan to deal with it, you should not open your own business. There are very, very few people that can shift careers as abruptly as you are contemplating that hit home runs right off the bat. Like Mpower mentioned, if you're just looking to buy yourself a job, then have at it.

There are many eventualities that could jeopardize your success that are out of your control in this scenario. You discussed buying a used truck. What happens if you blow the engine 2 months in? Do you have the additional capital to get yourself back up and running within days? How do you survive a month or two (or more) of negative cash flow? Good luck with your decision.

[ipso_facto]

Is this the E-Myth book that you are referring to ?

E-myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/088730728...30728010813279

[kingofthedemo]

I own my own business (27 yo, male), and my father does as well. First of all, you should be aware that the vast majority of new, small businesses in the USA fail in their first year- or at best do not make a profit, or even break even. It is not easy, and job stability is not as secure as being an employee when the business is new. However, in my opinion, it' s the best thing possible if you can pull it off, especially if it's something you are interested in and personally enjoy. I know this is a bit short, and vague but you get the idea...

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by ENGINE er

Mpower, I can hear the passion for your business in what you write. I don't know what you do but would love to do business with you!

OP, you sound young and full of vigor. Leverage it! Get out and start making mistakes while you have little to lose, and surround yourself with people much smarter and more successful than you are.

Thanks! I'm in the floor covering industry. We do mostly commercial work but also have a residential showroom. We do things like buildout renovations when companies renew or expand their lease space. We do some new construction work as well. Headed into new territory this week. We just bought a building to work out of. Now we can pay ourselves rent rather than someone else. (well, the bank for now....)

Originally Posted by ipso_facto

Is this the E-Myth book that you are referring to ?

E-myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/088730728...30728010813279

yes.

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

I own my own business (27 yo, male), and my father does as well. First of all, you should be aware that the vast majority of new, small businesses in the USA fail in their first year- or at best do not make a profit, or even break even. It is not easy, and job stability is not as secure as being an employee when the business is new. However, in my opinion, it' s the best thing possible if you can pull it off, especially if it's something you are interested in and personally enjoy. I know this is a bit short, and vague but you get the idea...

Most businesses show a loss the first couple of years. I showed a loss for the first 3 or 4 years. But i still paid myself. Those statistics about business failures and no profit years are true in spirit, but don't share the whole truth.

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

Go ahead do it... but you have to work hard. You have to work harder than your competition. NO matter what you do, if you are better, cheaper, and faster, you'll win over customers and business. Over time, you will have to change over to using people (employees) to make money for you.

Having said that, are you sure you are ready to give up everything for the sake of your business? I mean, work 70+ hours a week and give up social live and fancy food, drink, cars, vacations? If you aren't, don't do it. I started my own business at 29. Worked, worked and worked. Lost 1/2 my hair, got 10-20 points higher BP, lost my youth. But now, at 39 I'm doing fine. My gamble was to sacrifice TEN years of my life so I could enjoy the rest of my life. Will you sacrifice 10 years of the PRIME of your life for it? My back hurts, my eyes are tired, I'm old, but now I enjoy life... Only you know if it is worth it. TEN years is a LONG time and IMO, I was lucky.

I'm going on my third year. I'm 36 I work 7 days week, 15 hrs a day. My back hurts, my eyesight is getting worse , Cancelled my gym membership from inactivity. I can't remember the last time I had a chance to sit down and enjoy a nice dinner, Don't get me started about the wife and kids. But I can't let it fail because I put too much money in it. Money that is not mine. So bring on the 10 years or more because I'm in it to win it..

[Comet]

While it sounds like a good idea, my advice is figure out how much you can realistically make.
If it is less than what you currently make, then stick to your job.

If you can pull off doing your job in the day and the tow truck thing at night, then do that until you've got yourself up on your feet.

Also, know that there is probably competition in the area already, and they won't be too keen on new blood.

[6spdg37s]

im gonna pass on it for now...figure out another venture.. as far as the territorial thing though its controlled by the PD's