cliaz Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? 6. Do you have family work for/with you? 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? No. 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? Can't answer that without knowing more about your business and your intentions 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? AA 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? 401K, but that is totally up to you, again, can't really tell you much more without knowing more 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? Define massive? 6. Do you have family work for/with you? F*ck no, that would be a HUGH mistake. 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? F*ck no, and don't think I could ever go back to working for someone else. 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? F*ck yeah. But you get out of it what you put into it, and when it's your baby, plan on working your ass of to get the thing off the ground. Long hours away from the family, stress, anxiety, etc. Also, plan on spending less time watching midget porn and chicks pooping on glass tables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? Probably about 45K and then started turning pretty decent profits by year 3. 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? I didn't. 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? I didn't. I used credit cards and savings 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? SEP IRA, but since the company has grown and we now have employees, we offer a full retirement package 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? I set up quarterly tax payments but as far as tax breaks, I wouldn't say they were massive. I seem to remember a self-employment tax. 6. Do you have family work for/with you? No. 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? No 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? What do you think? Hell yeah but be prepared to give 100% of your time the first 4 or 5 years. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? yes 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? n/a 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? was taught 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? sep-ira and regular ira 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? no, but you can write off alot of stuff 6. Do you have family work for/with you? never 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? like stated before, no and could never again! 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? yes and no....you keep all the gains, but no one to blame when its tough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? yes, but my take home was lots smaller than the year before 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? n/a 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? not sure I understand ... the programs I used were Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? you can rollover your 401(k) into a rollover IRA and/or into a SEP IRA ... go hire a very very good tax guy, and let him walk though the details that are applicable to your situation 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? not sure what "massive" means, but as noted above, you can write off tons of expenses 6. Do you have family work for/with you?yes, and would again in the right situation 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? every now and then, but usually only if I don't have enough sleep! 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? yes and no...as noted above, if times are good...times are GOOD...and, if they're not, they are really not ... and, there is no one to blame but yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTed46 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Curious, what businesses are you guys running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? Yes, in 57 years we only had one that wasn't profitable. 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? Yes, we have hugh policies, but you have to in construction. 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? Not sure, my grandfather started the business. 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? Back in the day we had a profit sharing program, but because of the liability involved we have done away with that and gone to a 401K that we match 25% of what ever the employees put in. 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? That was 57 years ago, I have no idea. 6. Do you have family work for/with you? My father, uncle, brother, and cousin. For the most part it has worked out pretty well, though there have been a few tense Sunday dinners. 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? Sometimes, I think it would be nice to not have to think about tomorrow, and leave work at the office, and while I could more salary wise working for someone else, I've really come to enjoy the distributions at the end of the year. 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? Yes and No. While sh*t flows down hill, it is your ass on the line, and it is your capital that is at risk. It is very hard to leave the work at the office. On the other hand, you never have to ask someone for a day off, and if you show up late for work nobody gives you any funny looks. Edited June 27, 2006 by Perchoutofwater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Yes and No. While sh*t flows down hill, it is your ass on the line, and it is your capital that is at risk. It is very hard to leave the work at the office. On the other hand, you never have to ask someone for a day off, and if you show up late for work nobody gives you any funny looks. Well put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 Curious, what businesses are you guys running? A Used C0ck rings and candy store. I'm gonna call it "Sweet c0ck" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 one other thing.....spend the few hundred bucks and rent a small office somewhere. just to get out of the house. had a home office for awhile and there were times that i didnt leave the house for days!! can get stir crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 one other thing.....spend the few hundred bucks and rent a small office somewhere. just to get out of the house. had a home office for awhile and there were times that i didnt leave the house for days!! can get stir crazy. I had a home office my first year and speaking firsthand....there are numerous distractions. Thinking back, my profits may have been higher had it not been for Bob Barker, Playstation, and movie channels. I'd spend all day screwing around then have to stay up all night to get things done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? Not even 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? Nope 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? ...HTML editor 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? Do it personally 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? Not even 6. Do you have family work for/with you? Not even 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? Oh no, Not ever. No. No. No. 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? Everyone should be so lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 EDIT: When I say programs, I mean like small business assocaition programs, government programs, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? 6. Do you have family work for/with you? 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? 1. Yes I was turning a profit from the get-go. I had nearly no overhead. I was a consultant with no merchandise but my time and effort. 2. I had the option of paying for insurance for myself but I recall I went for awhile with no coverage. 3. None, I was semi-forced into consulting after losing my job quite unexpectedly. The original owner of the firm I got fired from found out I was let go and swiftly contacted me to consult for him. 4. Just set up some mutual fund accounts for myself. 5. Depends on how you define "massive", how much you spend on business expenses, etc. 6. No, but if I were consulting right now, I wouldn't have a problem having family do basic tasks. I wouldn't, however, get much money and/or control involved. 7. Now that I'm back working for a company, I do miss many aspects of working for myself. There's obviously a ton of security in working for a company, but then again, if you bust your ass for a couple years working for yourself, you can build up your own security. But as Perch and twiley indicated, it does take some time, and even then, it's hard to break away at some points. 8. See above. Yeah, it ruled. I got to set my own meeting times ("sure, how about 1pm?"), oftentimes work in shorts/t-shirt (when just previewing properties) or shorts/polo (during summer and going in to city offices) or at worst, business casual. Of course, there'd be some times when I'd have to go a little dressier if appearing in front of city councils. But... one other thing.....spend the few hundred bucks and rent a small office somewhere. just to get out of the house. had a home office for awhile and there were times that i didnt leave the house for days!! can get stir crazy. I had a home office my first year and speaking firsthand....there are numerous distractions. Thinking back, my profits may have been higher had it not been for Bob Barker, Playstation, and movie channels. I'd spend all day screwing around then have to stay up all night to get things done. I totally agree... this is one of the reasons I had to go back to working for a company. Working from home is tough. I had a buddy who also worked for himself in a similar capacity, and he would literally get up, shower, eat breakfast, get in his car and drive around the block before parking back in his garage and going to his home office to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 NOTE: I got my first office within a week after my wife came in my home office and asked me if I thought she should make brownies. And I love my wife!!! And her brownies. But, if I'm gonna work, I gotta be able to actually work! At the time it seemed like a big decision, but it was one of the best things I've done for this business... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 1 thing- SE taxes, quarterly ES paymnets sting. Small biz owners get hit hard with SE, even with all the write-offs. I would take a long look at setting up an LLC, something like a partnership with you and the misses- you- 95%, she 5%- just for looks & to be officially a partnership. It works out pretty nicely, and you can avoid SE taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Curious, what businesses are you guys running? We import, re-sell and service high-end German Manufacturing Equipment throughout all of North America. We have 7 employees, 4 of which are based on the East Coast, and the other 3 are service techs based in various spots in the Midwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Curious, what businesses are you guys running? I was a due diligence and entitlements processing consultant for an architect and real estate developers. Essentially, I dealt with all the BS with the jurisdiction in which a developer wanted to build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 1 thing- SE taxes, quarterly ES paymnets sting. Small biz owners get hit hard with SE, even with all the write-offs. I would take a long look at setting up an LLC, something like a partnership with you and the misses- you- 95%, she 5%- just for looks & to be officially a partnership. It works out pretty nicely, and you can avoid SE taxes. Good info here. SE taxes were tough. We're an LLC now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexgaddis Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? NA 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? NA 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? NA 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? NA 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? NA 6. Do you have family work for/with you? NA 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? NO 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? NA I am not a small business owner but wanted to help out anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Curious, what businesses are you guys running? Advertising and Commerical Printing. What I do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonkis Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 NOTE: I got my first office within a week after my wife came in my home office and asked me if I thought she should make brownies. And I love my wife!!! And her brownies. But, if I'm gonna work, I gotta be able to actually work! At the time it seemed like a big decision, but it was one of the best things I've done for this business... Well, did you say yes to the brownies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Linguist Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 and really I should say independant business owners but... Questions: 1. Were you profitable the 1st year? a little, but most of the profit went into equipment and software 2. Even if you have no physical merchandise (my would be virtual) do you still have to carrier large amounts of insurance? enough to cover equipment/software and all the ad books, reference and other stuff. Plus, clients and vendors come in and out all the time, so i need to be covered just in case 3. What kind of programs did you use to help you start up? My wife working and making twice what i made before i started 4. How to you manage your retirement? IRAs? Can you set up a 401k? IRAs, Mutual funds and REIT trusts 5. Do you get massive tax breaks your first year? Nope, quarterlys and self employment tax do add up 6. Do you have family work for/with you? Nope, harder to fire if they screw up 7. Do you wish you worked for someone else instead of yourself? I hope never, ever again will i have to work for the man 8. Is it really good to be your own boss? Yes. It's worth all the hard work and effort to get going Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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