**Top Site** - Newbee

[MrInvestor]

Hi All,

My name is George. I am 27 years old and live in London. I work in property development and also hold reasonable holdings in shares and gold. In the last 5 years I have had a fair amount of success developing property in the UK - especially all things considered. Over the last 3 years, I have also made an average of about 30% interest in both my shares and gold combined.

I am reaching the point where I would like to work for myself, rather than earning my employer a great deal of money for my expertese, yet only receiving a salary just good enough to live off. My investments have served me well since I started seriously 3 years ago (roughly 30% interest pa), however I would like to set up my own business, to work for myself and reap the benefits.

The only issue is I have no idea where to start... Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[loanuniverse]

How about property development? You already have 5 years of experience in it? If you lack capital, get some of your friends and family lined up.

I think one should stick to what one knows best.


cash conversion cycle

[JPStonestreet]

This is a question I get asked a lot. In fact, I even asked it myself when I first struck out on my own. The experts all say to make a list of the things you like and the things your good at, then choose something that's on both lists. You'll be much happier and more likely to succeed if you do something you enjoy AND something you're good at.

In the book, "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, he suggests it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. I don't necessarily think you have to be an expert at something to start a business, but it helps to have a good understanding of it, and the better your understanding the more likely you are to foresee roadblocks and obstacles.

The natural progression for most successful entrepreneurs starts at a job getting paid to learn the ropes, and then leads to self-employment doing what you spent years learning. For me, that was web development. I spent years consulting for other companies before I started my own successful consulting company. Then I launched a website that related to my experiences as a consultant, which I later sold. I believe this natural progression is what led to my success. People who start a business that has little or nothing to do with their past experience have a very difficult uphill battle ahead of them.

My final piece of advice is to start your business on the side (meaning keep your job) if at all possible. This will also increase your chance of success by allowing you to continue paying your bills stress-free until you earn enough from your business to quit your job. People often over-estimate their revenue projections due to optimism and enthusiasm (I certainly did), then they make personal financial decisions based on faulty projections and that can be really detrimental to the business and your personal finances.

Being an entrepreneur is an awesome experience. Good luck!

[loanuniverse]

I do have one question, what do you mean by "property development"?

Does it mean something like buying existing properties and fixing them to list them for sale?

Does it mean land development as in getting the zoning and permits sorted out?

Or is it something else completely?