How many people actually want to start a business? (lender, fees, insurance)
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How many people in America truly want to start a business? I know not everyone has the expertise, resources, or other means to do so, but how would you gauge the demand for entrepreneurship in the US?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Probably a lot more people would like to than are really capable of doing it. I often hear people that can't find a job being advised to start their own business. That's pretty hard to do without any money in the bank. I didn't really intend to do it, but when we decided to move here I had the money, and at the time a business was the faster way to go.
Many people that have never done it think it's easy, fun, and they will get rich. They don't realize that there are long hours, ups and downs, some weeks with a lot of money in the bank and others with none waiting for customer payments to come in. I managed to raise a family on my business for 16 years before the crash in 2008 when I had to get a job again. Having a nice check every other Friday, great paid benefits, 5 weeks vacation, and eventually a pension seems so nice now, but while I had the business I did enjoy it.
FWIW, read an article recently that showed the number of starts has dropped significantly over the past ten or so years. Unless you can find a niche market that requires minimal employees and doesn't deal with the public, there are a lot of hoops to jump through and fees and taxes to be paid.
FWIW, read an article recently that showed the number of starts has dropped significantly over the past ten or so years. Unless you can find a niche market that requires minimal employees and doesn't deal with the public, there are a lot of hoops to jump through and fees and taxes to be paid.
What would you say are some of the biggest "hoops" to jump through?
Almost everyone says they want to start their own business. How many people actually have the sklils and more importantly perseverence and are willing to put in the work probably less than 10% of people out there.
I recently left my job to focus on my business 100%. I'm working harder working for myself than I was working for someone else. I put more hours in. I'm less able to take vacations, sure I'm the boss but who's going to fill my orders while I'm away?
How many people in America truly want to start a business? I know not everyone has the expertise, resources, or other means to do so, but how would you gauge the demand for entrepreneurship in the US?
What would you say are some of the biggest "hoops" to jump through?
Typically, a business plan that will satisfy lenders, a CPA that knows the ins and outs of tax code, a rapport with any building departments and inspectors, enough savvy to know the competition and how a starting business can be deep sixed without the owner ever even realizing he has been sabotaged, familiarity with labor laws, ADA, an insurance company that won't overcharge or go crazy, reliable and honest suppliers, security and POS security, the list goes on and on. The costs just to open the doors are often enough to keep many ideas from working. Then there are the gatekeeper regulations in the established industries - health certification for workers in food service, professional association dues and regulations, mandatory oversight by various boards, authorized buying channels, franchisee rules, yada yada.
Many people that have never done it think it's easy, fun, and they will get rich. They don't realize that there are long hours, ups and downs, some weeks with a lot of money in the bank and others with none waiting for customer payments to come in. I managed to raise a family on my business for 16 years before the crash in 2008 when I had to get a job again. Having a nice check every other Friday, great paid benefits, 5 weeks vacation, and eventually a pension seems so nice now, but while I had the business I did enjoy it.
When I was working (W2), phasing my job out as I worked my business I remember co-workers always saying if they they wanted start a business. Guaranteed the next thing out of their mouths was like would be great, they would be swimming in money. They didn't have a clue how much stress and work it is, and wait until they bring in employees.
Probably a lot more people would like to than are really capable of doing it. I often hear people that can't find a job being advised to start their own business. That's pretty hard to do without any money in the bank. I didn't really intend to do it, but when we decided to move here I had the money, and at the time a business was the faster way to go.
Many people that have never done it think it's easy, fun, and they will get rich. They don't realize that there are long hours, ups and downs, some weeks with a lot of money in the bank and others with none waiting for customer payments to come in. I managed to raise a family on my business for 16 years before the crash in 2008 when I had to get a job again. Having a nice check every other Friday, great paid benefits, 5 weeks vacation, and eventually a pension seems so nice now, but while I had the business I did enjoy it.
Right! I see this quite a bit elsewhere in lifestyle subforums about "Start your own business", as if that's easy and doable without resources for your average broke 20-something. I guess if you're into spamming the Internet (affiliate marketing?) and selling e-books, then maybe that's doable...but for what in return?
I was 22 and working 15+ hour days running a restaurant and those turned into 20-hour days on payroll Thursday night/Friday morning...then wake up and be back in a handful of hours later. I definitely did not want to do that for a life-long living, either, and was ready to do other things in life when things didn't pick up after the '03 Iraq War started.
Getting paid and not being the last to get paid after all the outstretched hands get their cut is a much better way to live.
Oh, yeah...not having "friends" come of of the woodwork and entitled customers is great, too.
FWIW, my side job is as an independent contractor, but I can thankfully do that pretty much when I want to.
Probably a lot more people would like to than are really capable of doing it. I often hear people that can't find a job being advised to start their own business. That's pretty hard to do without any money in the bank. I didn't really intend to do it, but when we decided to move here I had the money, and at the time a business was the faster way to go.
Many people that have never done it think it's easy, fun, and they will get rich. They don't realize that there are long hours, ups and downs, some weeks with a lot of money in the bank and others with none waiting for customer payments to come in. I managed to raise a family on my business for 16 years before the crash in 2008 when I had to get a job again. Having a nice check every other Friday, great paid benefits, 5 weeks vacation, and eventually a pension seems so nice now, but while I had the business I did enjoy it.
This is totally true. I've been self-employed since 1990.
The number one requirement for self-employment is mentality, not intelligence. Namely, it's the ability to roll out of bed in the morning and start working without supervision. And doing it well.
Yet most people who try it, for whatever reason, don't have the innate self-discipline. They start easing into the day, take two-hour lunches, knock off early, you name it.
That ain't how it works. I mean, this week alone, I got up at 4:30 to put the finishing touches on a presentation, was at my desk at 7:30 four of the five days in the work week, returned e-mails at night, was billing clients on Sunday, and reaching out to people on Linked In. I had two lunch meetings, three presentations, and five different proposals, and dozens upon dozens of e-mails. And this was a relatively light week.
The second requirement for self-employment is courage. Either you're comfortable with uncertainty or you are not. The first day I went out on my own, I remember standing in the shower with water spraying onto my forehead thinking to myself, "My God, what have I done?" Yet, 25 years later, I make my monthly nut time after time with enough left over. Sometimes a lot left over. About the only time I didn't make my numbers was 2008-2009, which was horrible for everyone.
The third requirement is a continual willingness to learn. How does SEO work? How does this program work? How can I do this better?
So there you go. Courage, a Capacity for Hard Work, and Ability to Learn. Everything else is forgivable, but not having any of these is fatal.
Mind you, I love working for myself. I know that every dime I make, minus expenses, goes to myself rather than someone else. I know that if I have a client I don't like, I can tell him to jump in the lake (Try it. It feels great and, sometimes, they beg to come back). And while I do work long hours, I can knock off for my son's soccer game if I want. Or, if everything's taken care of, take a mental health day. It's really the way to live, as long as you do it the right way.
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