[macguy]

How many here are self employed?

I don't want to know what you do for a living, just do you find Florida to be as easy a place to make money as I do. It seems like everybody down here need services and if you are healthy and can work, money is easy to make year round. I have a friend who is handicapped and he has a pool cleaning business that has supported him and his family for years. I was in the lawn service business when I was only 16 and had four guys working for me. I was sitting in high school class making more money then the teacher.

I worked construction when it was very good in the early 70's till it came to a stop. Was in the bar business, I've owned two bars as well as two pool rooms. I made a lot of money in a real estate speciality I came up with, best year 2004 I made $300,000 just with the real estate gimmick. Point being, if you are smart and willing to work Florida "CAN" be an easy place to make money. Not punching a clock for x numbers of dollars an hour but in various business.

Just look at the immigrants. They come here with a rock in their pockets and in no time own used car lots, restaurants all kinds of business. Am I the only one who finds this to be the case? My nephew was renting from me for a few years, I didn't charge him much and he was working as a cook. We used to sit around and talk and I can be sort of a motivational speaker once you get me started. It is now about 12 years later and he is selling high end cars and parts, his company, making lots of money. I honestly believe if he hadn't spent time with me he may still be a cook.

Sitting around waiting for someone to throw you a bone can be a tough and frustrating way to live your life. For many clock punching and being told where to park your car is all they want put of life. For others though, Florida is not such a bad place. Just wanted to throw that out and see if other feel the same. No debate just curious.

[daniellefort]

I am self employed but not as a service to the community but rather medical transcribing at home. However, my biggest threat for my job which is recently starting to explode is the competition of clinics sending work over to India via transcribing through the internet. Now that internet is so huge, seems many medical facilitiies (not to mention many of the doctors in FL are from India.) are now dictating online through a secure server and transcribing work back to their country in India for the lower rates. I've already lost trascription for a huge rehab company because of that. They went on to India for the lower rates but i bet they won't get the service they had here.

[bale002]

I am also self-employed, internet-based, home-based, and my revenues have nothing to do with Florida.

I have the potential to increase my revenues if I have efficient access to the Miami financial market in downtown/Brickell.

Unfortunately I came to southeastern Florida at the height of the credit/real estate bubble, rendering living in Miami cost-ineffective. On top of that, because the transport system is also ineffective, there really is no reasonable, by my calculations, commutable distance to downtown Miami from a livable part of southeastern Florida: either you are there, or you are not.

In these past three years, I have almost tripled my revenues, but none of it has to do with the Miami economy. Any further increase in revenues I could achieve through the Miami market would be more than offset by the expense of living in the area. Therefore, it is not worth it.

Conclusion, then, in large part due to the credit/real estate bubble, from my perspective, southeastern Florida is not economically competitive.

I think I can improve my business further in the coming years, but unless the excesses of the credit/real estate bubble are not reversed, which means, according to my calculations, a further 30%-40% drop in housing costs (they have dropped a little so far in 2007), southeastern Florida will play no part, or only a marginal part, in this potential improvement.

The message I perceive from the ruling classes in Florida, at least southeastern Florida, is that they have no interest whatsoever in the expansion of small businesses.

This is not a complaint, but a simple cost/benefit analysis, and at the same time I realize that there are other perspectives, and depending on what type of business, there indeed may be room for growth in southeastern and other regions of Florida.

Good luck to all!

[carolac]

You are right. This is a good place. If you look in the Orlando Business Journal, many new businesses are starting. Seems people have difficulty with tenacity, customer service and quality. Hubby does residental and commercial renovations. With the changes in the laws just before and since the hurricanes, it's tougher--no longer can someone just go out with a saw and a paint brush--you have to be a corporation now, and a lot of competition fell by the way side having to pick up workers' comp and insurances, or they operate illegally. We also struggle to compete with the latin/illegal immigrant population and customers who don't pay or trickle pay invoices.

Daniellefort, I feel for you. I wondered how many types of services were being affected by that.

[backtofla]

yes, i agree. i think fla is def a state where you can start your own biz and make money

[Cameron Cayman]

macguy,

Thanks for your post; you are right on the money with it and I admit, I am somewhat jealous. I would love to have my own business, but just don't really know the "hows" or "whats".....it's like I just need a little push, but yeah, what you said about punching a clock, etc. is right on. Motivate us some more........

[tallrick]

I am involved in small business, but lately I have noticed two things. Demand is slowing, and operating costs have been growing more rapidly for us than our competitors in other parts of the south (Alabama, South Carolina). The biggest problem we face is a lack of qualified employees and a lack of morale, due to sky-high living costs in Florida. There is simply no way that a small company like ours can afford to pay a wage of 30-40.00 an hour which is the minimum amount to live a 1/2 way decent life in South Florida. Our sales associates work mostly on commission, and out techs are paid hourly. We have an ABUNDANCE of applicants every time we post for an opening, but few are as qualified as they indicate on their resume.

It is unlikely that any business based out of Florida will be able to compete on the world market anymore. As for local business I have found Floridians to be some of the cheapest, yet most troublesome customers anywhere. You would not believe how many customers try to get something for nothing. It's so bad that we never do purchase orders for local customers anymore.

[thebigr]

I am self-employed but the Hispanic population is slowly taking over, Cubans mostly and they will work for next to nothing. They give poor service but some companies just don't care, only worried about how cheaply they can get it done for. I still have one customer that refuses to use them as he had to many bad experiances with them.
There is a lot of money down here so if you want to make it you most definatly can.

[MrTudo]

Coin Dealer. It's a tough business and I've seen a lot of people come and go in the 16 years I've been on my own. Was the top retail guy at the worlds largest coin shop in Dallas Tx ( they did half a billion last year ) before going on my own. Before that I made it and lost it.

Many people and you can see a lot of them post here, would prefer to try dragging other people down in their own pit of failure, rather than learn from the winners and work really hard to become one.

Location by the way has no bearing on my business whatsoever, as long as it's in the US, I have a high speed net connection that's reliable, can send and receive fed ex.

[pslOldTimer]

I was pretty much self-employed for most of the 35 years I've been on Florida. There have been a few times when I signed on for a paycheck out of desperation when self-employment was less than successful. As a self-employed man, I have been a boat builder, fiberglass builder, real estate broker, free-lance computer programmer and owner of a retail store with repair and custom fabrication departments. As an employed person I have been a cost accountant, newspaper carrier, business manager of a boat yard, security guard, convenience store clerk, computer programmer and substitute teacher. As self-employed, I ran smack into the oil shortages of the '70's when doing fiberglass work (which is a petroleum-based product), ran smack into the high interest rates of the '80s as a real estate broker and health problems with my last venture. In every case I made excellent money until I didn't make excellent money. In a few cases I lost money when I stopped, but made money overall.

My wife is a professional home health provider who worked on salary for a few years early on, but started to make the big bucks when she switched to a sub-contract status, so she is also self-employed.

We are not wealthy but have wisely and conservatively invested our earnings and are enjoying a comfortable retirement. We could never have achieved this working for salaries. No bought we could have done the same thing elsewhere (millions already do), but it was especially easy in Florida and even easier in Port St. Lucie because of the enormous growth.

Growth has been very, very good to us, but now we're ready to relax and are getting out of the hustle-bustle to rural Okeechobee.