dada21's Journal: Be Your Own Boss?

I've received numerous e-mail regarding how I run my businesses and the secrets to my success. Since so many of the e-mails are along the same vein, I decided to blog my responses and follow up in private e-mails for those who hate blogs.

http://yourownboss.blogspot.com

heh

[GigsVT]

Reads a lot like my history, though I was a little older before it got more serious.

Back in 2nd grade the teacher had a token economy, so I exploited that for my own gain, selling pencils and erasers for the tokens I could cash in later for better things.

I too was selling candy, though in 7th grade. High margin indeed!

When I was 16 I had a car and a job at a grocery store working minimum wage, which was $4.25/hr then.

I had the computer skills that were going unexploited, so I decided to run a classified ad

Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[Marxist Hacker 42]

To your parents for buying you that first computer and letting you have a phone line at age 13 to run your own BBS. Many Americans who didn't have parents who were rich or parents who had the "immigrant edge" (it's amazing, but true- you can earn more money in America if you don't speak English well than if you do) and who had to actually *work* for everything they owned from age 12 on didn't have your special gifts that allowed you to be an entrapreneur. Most people are risk adverse for a reason- because

Re:Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[dada21]

Actually, my father and I fought over the computer -- he wanted me to buy a bike. :)

I appreciate everything my parents did for me in raising me, but it really wasn't anything they did that gave me the insight I needed. We fought often (I almost ended up in a military-style school because I refused to learn to handwrite when I could type 10 times faster in 5th grade). When my BBS was on the verge of becoming an ISP (one of Chicago's first) my father was the one who convinced me that the Internet was a pipe

Re:Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I have never seen anyone take a risk and fail except the lazy and stupid. If you take a calculated risk and work hard, you will succeed more than fail. ALL my failures are because I was either lazy or I was too greedy.

You've been damned lucky- the statistics say that 98% of small businesses will fail within the first 10 years, usually with disasterous effects for the owner and his family. Not everybody can be as lucky as you have- but I hope your luck continues. Mine hasn't. I worked VERY hard at every

Re:Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[dada21]

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe I can help -- I recently helped 2 friends go from bankrupt businesses to new markets that have grown their capital each to over a million over a few years.

98% of businesses that fail with 10 years is a statistic that surprises me -- if you're well prepared, you should be able to move forward and succeed. Too many people start businesses in hopes of getting out of debt, but that's the worst time to enter your own market. Many people start businesses in hopes of getting more t

Re:Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Too many people start businesses in hopes of getting out of debt, but that's the worst time to enter your own market

This has been my problem- the only time I have time to start my own business has been between other opportunities, and due to my own mistake of buying into the "work hard and you'll win" myth, I need about 4 years to be out of debt enough to actually attempt starting my own business again. More recently, my 2 year old being diagnosed with Cerebal Palsy means we can NEVER let insurance lapse

Re:Looks to me that you owe a huge debt

[Marxist Hacker 42]

ISP (one of Chicago's first)

I think I've just identified another secret to your success- I was messing around with BBSs around the same time (OK, a generation of computer equimpent earlier, I was operating at 300 baud) and *every* BBS number I could find was long distance from my house. I was in college before I could run my own- and never charged a penny for it.