which way to go to start a business

**gongxia649** · 11-11-2007 10:47 PM

a little about myself.
I work in the IT industry, 28 years old. Making 100k. I believe I won't be able to work in the IT industry when I reach 40. Company will be hiring young people instead, I guess. I will like to start my own business but I'm not really familiar in this area as my experiece is none. I will like to know is it a good idea to run my own business? How could I start a business (ideas) and what difficult situations I will be facing?. Thanks.

**akula** · 11-11-2007 11:15 PM

Originally Posted by gongxia649

a little about myself.
I work in the IT industry, 28 years old. Making 100k. I believe I won't be able to work in the IT industry when I reach 40. Company will be hiring young people instead, I guess. I will like to start my own business but I'm not really familiar in this area as my experiece is none. I will like to know is it a good idea to run my own business? How could I start a business (ideas) and what difficult situations I will be facing?. Thanks.

no, it's not a good idea to "run your own business"
what the quoted phrase means is that "I'm gonna be working long hours for minimum pay and invest everything I've got into something more riskier than the pinkest of the pinkest penny stocks". people start businesses for lifestyle reasons. if you wanna make money, get an MBA and go into banking. that's a kind of investment that's pretty much guaranteed to pay off.

**Finandom** · 11-12-2007 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by gongxia649

a little about myself.
I work in the IT industry, 28 years old. Making 100k. I believe I won't be able to work in the IT industry when I reach 40. Company will be hiring young people instead, I guess. I will like to start my own business but I'm not really familiar in this area as my experiece is none. I will like to know is it a good idea to run my own business? How could I start a business (ideas) and what difficult situations I will be facing?. Thanks.

Yes, running our own businesses is always a good idea. However, this depends on people. If you want to find out more, you can read my articles about What it takes to start a part time business

To start your own business, first you can consider to start a business around your passion, hobby and your expertise(IT). Then think how you can make money from it and start writing down your business plan. Just draft out a business plan that you can understand.

You will be facing both external and internal difficulties. External will be such as cashflow management, communication, marketing and etc. Internal will be your desire to keep going, how you handle failure and etc.

Maybe you can tell us more about what is your first idea to start your own business. Sometime your first answer will be the best for you.

**ryanmitton** · 11-12-2007 10:40 AM

start a hot dog stand. you'll figure it out.

**consumertreehouse** · 11-12-2007 12:22 PM

This is what I did. I found something that interests me and did a ton of reasearch to find out how I can have a successful online business that is just a little bit different than the rest.
I found that empty space on the internet and filled it with my online business, knowing that my online business is just a little different than the rest and that will make it stand out from the others that are similar.
If you start your own business it has to be something that interests you or you will lose interest very quick.
Good Luck

**ltressel** · 11-13-2007 12:12 PM

I'm not sure what you do specifically as an IT. If you have a range of expertise as an IT I suggest looking into consulting.

Any business one opens, has plenty of challenges. There are a few characteristics that people should be able to acquire or already have. Running your own business requires you to have people skills. You also need to have some type of tolerance for risk.

Knowing that when you start your business you will be on your own, you must have discipline, problem solving skills, and creativity.

All in all, Akula has a point on why people open their businesses. Prime reason is the lifestyle. Define that for yourself and you can pinpoint the level of business risk you want to take.

LT

**BusinessAdviser** · 11-13-2007 04:18 PM

Very interesting what the first two responses to your initial post were:

No, it's not a good idea to "run your own business."
Yes, running our own businesses is always a good idea.

How do you make sense of these?! The truth is, neither could be more wrong. You need to identify the pros and cons of a startup, the risks involved, your expectations, opportunities out there, and go from there. Additionally, my best advice if you choose to do so is to recognize your weaknesses. For example, you might know IT inside and out, but where you lack a business sense, it would be advisable to fill that weakness with someone who excels in the area. That is exactly what we have done with my startup publishing company. My business partner and I, both of whom either have or will soon have degrees in Economics, Finance, and International Business, Masters' in business, and law degrees, recognized that there were aspects of our business that we were incapable of sufficiently doing, so we hired another to fill in that gap. Best decision we could have made. Good luck, and feel free to holler if you have any questions.

**BusinessAdviser** · 11-13-2007 04:26 PM

Oh, I must respond to the statement:

"no, it's not a good idea to "run your own business"
what the quoted phrase means is that "I'm gonna be working long hours for minimum pay and invest everything I've got into something more riskier than the pinkest of the pinkest penny stocks". people start businesses for lifestyle reasons. if you wanna make money, get an MBA and go into banking.

As someone lucky enough to have both started a company and received an MBA from a top-tier business school, there is more money to be made in starting a business. The hours are there in investment banking, just as they are with a startup. The question comes down to your preferred risk. Startups have a higher risk, but also a higher reward. However, the risk of a successful startup is not "more riskier than the pinkest of the pinkest penny stocks." (If nothing else, it could be "more risky" or "riskier," but I would argue that the use of "more riskier" should say a lot about the intelligence of the comment posted.) If you have done your research, are honest about the product, the industry, your capabilities, etc., there is very little risk - likely the same amount of risk that exists in other lines of work.

Please do a little research, or even just use common sense, when posting. It helps no one to fill the forums with unintelligent rants based solely on (uneducated) personal experiences.

**mellom** · 11-13-2007 05:44 PM

Dayum - 100k already? Did I read that right?

If that's the case you definitely have time on your side to think things out. I work in IT myself - Web Development to be specific. I ditched the 9-5 life three months ago and so far it's been great.

Basically I do what I did in the corporate world, only I sell my services to clients for a premium. If this is something that interests you, I would recommend trying to moonlight in your position. Find some part-time clients that are flexible. When you start building your contacts then you can explore more opportunities and bolt your day job.

Of course, take your time with this. Be smart. Especially if you're making 100k now... that's nothing to shake a stick at.

**Senorita** · 11-17-2007 01:34 AM

Hello everybody,

Even i too agree that running your own business is a good idea.Want to start or expand your own internet business. Home based business opportunities are businesses that you can set up and start right away with ease from your own home.

Nowadays there are many business opportunities that you can start from your home right away.

Each home business will require work on your behalf but the rewards and opportunities are worth it.who are ready to take their businesses online, but don’t have the resources or know-how to get started. Just check out for "Online Business Resource" & get start with your own online business.

**BusinessAdviser** · 11-17-2007 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Senorita

Hello everybody,

Even i too agree that running your own business is a good idea.Want to start or expand your own internet business. Home based business opportunities are businesses that you can set up and start right away with ease from your own home.

Nowadays there are many business opportunities that you can start from your home right away.

Each home business will require work on your behalf but the rewards and opportunities are worth it.who are ready to take their businesses online, but don’t have the resources or know-how to get started. Just check out for "Online Business Resource" & get start with your own online business.

Thanks for the plug.

**gongxia649** · 11-18-2007 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by woody08

100k a year is a nice wage ,
what exaclty do you do in it ,?

I'm an engineer. I do design, testing, documentation, programming, presentation, etc.

**neemtree** · 11-18-2007 12:49 AM

I would recommend an MBA as well, but only if its from a top ten B-school. If you're in the US, wait until the recession hits (you know its coming), and then head to school to ride it out.

**BusinessAdviser** · 11-18-2007 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by neemtree

I would recommend an MBA as well, but only if its from a top ten B-school. If you're in the US, wait until the recession hits (you know its coming), and then head to school to ride it out.

I think there's an advantage to an MBA that's NOT from a top ten school, but if you're solely going to be able to add the education to your background, I agree.

**consumertreehouse** · 11-18-2007 03:54 PM

My advice is as follows. Find something that really interests you, if its IT then go with that. If you try to start a business with a product or service that doesn't really interest you much then it will fail because it won't have your attention. You need to be 100% behind your product or service, or you will lose all interest and it will go under.

It sounds like you have a great background in computers, I would stick with that. As an owner of your own business you will be facing long hours and you will be doing something for your business on a daily basis, vacations are out for a while, at least until you can afford an employee or two to cover for you while you are gone.

I am fortunate to own my own online business, which provides the public a service and one in which I do not sell anything which needs to be shipped, etc.... Owning this type of business allows me time to travel and have a social life, but I continue to work on my site on daily basis.

Good Luck with whatever you decide to do.