J-O-B is not a dirty word

[rogercbryan]

J-O-B is not a dirty word

I’ve seen a ton of posts on here that look like this:

‘19yo wants to make money’
‘16yo wants to work from home’
‘I need a good opportunity’
‘I want to make money’
‘How do I make a ton of money?’

This post is written to all you 16-18yo’s who are trying to find an excuse to not go to college. It is also written to all you 22-25yo’s who are trying to find an excuse not to get that first ‘real’ job.

I also want to address a few sayings here: (They refers to an employer)

‘They don’t pay me what I’m worth’
‘They don’t respect me’
‘They don’t know what they are doing’

Having a job in your 20’s does not mean that you won’t have your own company in your 30’s. While I am a firm believer in the value of academic education I also believe in real world education. This is the type of education that comes from hands on experience and hard work.

Let’s say you want to start a restaurant. If you were to compare someone who has never worked in one to a person who took two years out of their life to learn the ropes from the inside, who do you think would be more successful when opening their own restaurant (all other things being equal).

This post has nothing to do with whether or not you should get a degree or if it’s better to get a job or start your own company. I’m simply trying to say that having a job is not a bad thing. Sitting at home trying to find someone willing to invest $500 in your next idea is. You have the ability to make money even if it isn’t everything you dreamed of. A little work now will make life a lot easier later.

If you someday want to own your own business then the best education you will get is working for a company in the same industry. You’ll learn more in 90 days of working there then you will from a year worth of reading books

[Gaulkin]

I have a job and im 19. I'm a contractor for an advertising firm in California and they pay me 40k a year. On top of that i get a lot of down time when theres no work. A job is great if you find the right job.

[JLeezer]

I agree with you Roger. I don't particularly like having a job right now, but I'm only 25, my wife is in nursing grad school, we own 2 duplexes and a business. The job is giving me experience and financial backing for future ventures/expansions. Without my job, I wouldn't have qualified for the two mortgages or be able to consider getting a 3rd duplex. Without my job, we'd be living in a very small apartment paying the same rent as we pay to live in our own 1300 sq ft unit. Unfortunately, unless you've won the lotto, have rich (and generous) parents/family, or are good enough to strike it rich on your first idea, having a job is a bit essential. I plan on being my own employer within the next year or two, unless something changes.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how happy I'll be once I am on my own. But having a job now sure does make life a whole lot easier.

[Hockey4Life]

Hell Yeah! Great post. You know what pisses me off the most? When you bring up the word job and you get jumped all over by idiots "oh so you wanna live the rest of your life as a corporate bug" or something like that.

Welcome to the real world people. You gotta have money to make money. Where are you gonna get the money, pull it out of your ass?

[Yiie]

Well said Roger!

I have a fulltime job and my I run my business on the side. Sure it's nothing fancy and I don't expect to become a millionaire out of my business, but I'm passionate about what I do and I have fun with it.

A lot of people are too focused on the monetary aspect of becoming an entrepreneur and forget what they are truly interested in. If you're good at your job, you can also make a killing in terms of money and have a great life.

[Gaulkin]

If you work for a huge public company, your stock option will be worth millions in 10 years assuming they don't go under.

[richkid]

great points! I currently work as a builders labourer, but the thing I like best about it is that I usually finish work by 3pm giving me the afternoon and night to work on my blogs and business ideas.

[Lambo]

been working for an oil company in the finance department for the last 16 months...and i think its time for a change......

[fwn122]

I agree, I have owned several buisnesses over the past few years but I still work two jobs because I need to be able to fall back on somthing when they don't work out.

[zharlene]

I'm currently in uni, and I was working at a company a year before I started studying again. I do believe that people should dream and try to live that dream, but I also do agree with you on this one Roger.

I think there's a huge difference between a 16 year old saying "I have everything planned and enough money to fund the project and we'll see how it goes" and a 16 year old who's asking stuff like "what can I do?" "how do I make money" and "anyone's got any idea for me?"

This is a young entrepreneur forum, this is not an unemployed people's forum. Reading through the many posts, I think many people don't really know the difference.

Last night, I had dinner with a friend and told her that I hadn't slept in days because I'm setting up my new business which requires a lot of preparations and research. She then told me that she wanted to start her own thing too, so she could make passive income.

I was so surprised because she's under the impression that entrepreneurs are people who make passive income. It's unfortunate that some people think that way.

The way I see it, while employees are working a 9-5 or an 8-4 day job, many entrepreneurs work from the time they get up until the time they have to go to bed.

[Aletheides]

"I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create." -William Blake

[rogercbryan]

"I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create." -William Blake

“The creation of a system requires the tools to build the foundation” – Roger Bryan

“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.” - John D. Rockefeller

Tools Needed:
Experience- Hands on real world experience

Education- Either from the classroom, from books, or real world experience

Credit- Most people are not born with credit they must earn it either from the purchase or a car, a home, or other sort of loans. This can not be done with out income and income for most comes from a job.

Money- Unless your parents are there to support your endeavors you will undoubtedly need money to start your business. There are two ways you can do this:
1- Earn it: You will need a job to do that
2- Borrow it: You will need credit or a decent reputation to do that, again a job can go along way toward helping you to borrow money.

Discipline- This often over looked building block is to me one of the most important aspects of anyones professional career. Without discipline you will have trouble managing your money, managing your employees, and in a sense all aspects of being in business for yourself.

Just because you could only work 10 hours a week and still make money that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work 60 so that you can make a lot more. Only discipline teaches you that. I hate to say it but in today’s US Society discipline is in short supply especially with our youths….. Great now I sound like an old fart complaining about ‘kids these days’.

[JLeezer]

Nice post Roger.

[ginginca]

For some .. a job is perfect. For others they are natural entrepreneurs.

Here's an example: Reed Floren started making money online at age 12. Today (about 10 years later) he is semi-retired.

Certainly in his case he would not achieved such great success through an employer.

Ian del Carmen is another great example. He just turned 30 this year, and has only been an internet marketer for a couple of years. But again ... his success has been tremendous in such a short time. He has truly built an empire also.

Gin

[nmacneil]

Zharlene you make a lot of good points. I encounter young people all the time who ask me what the best idea would be to start a business or how they can get involved in things that I have got involved in. Then there are other young people who have a business plan that they've been working on and they would like some feedback. I'm always more receptive to the latter example. Then there are people like your friend who think entrepreneurship is about making extra cash on the side or "passive income." These people seem lazy to me. As an entrepreneur I'm working 16 hour days to grow my business to where I want it to be.

With that said, if you are young and passionate about your idea then I don't think you should let anything or anyone get in the way of turning that idea into a business. You should do a lot of planning first and lay out a road map of how you will get your business to the place you want it to be. It will take hard work but it is worth it in the end.

To respond to Roger, you raise a lot of good points. The young people in these forums who are asking around for ideas and ways to make money are not showing true entrepreneurial qualities to me. It seems they're just looking to make money without having to do much. On the other hand, there are many young people who are true entrepreneurs and getting a job may not be in their best interest. You make entrepreneurship sound like it's not a 'real' job. I started my first company when I was 18 years old and continued with it through university while I got a double degree and worked some occasional part time jobs to fund the business. I would be making more money right now if I got what you call a 'real' job but then I would be one of 69% of people who are not happy with their jobs. Also, every day I'm learning so much and these valuable lessons are only attained by going through the start-up phase on your own. When you're young is a great time to start a business because you can take more risks than when you are married, have a family, have a mortgage, etc.

My recommendation to young entrepreneurs is to get a mentor- they will ask you the tough questions and hold you accountable. Also, create a road map of what you want to achieve and how you want to get there. Every day make sure you are using your time to bring yourself one step closer to where you want to be.
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Natalie MacNeil, Taking On the World in 4 Inch Heels, nataliemacneil.blogspot.com