ForumsStarting a Business

MY Last Offering To You.... If You Have $2.00 To Invest ..Invest $1.00 And Save $1.00......
Watch Out For The+ FALSE POSITIVE..+ This I Think Is A BIG Downfall To Most New Business Owners. They see a small gain and go crazy thinking that they have all this cash WRONG!!!! My Wife & I worked close to 4 years with out drawing a pay check out of the business, just an occasional $300.00 for Groceries to live on. Our Money came from savings that we brought with us to live on from a past life to cary us over for 5- 7 years.
Just look at Oil prices when we bought the business we paid $1.05 per gal. Now we pay $3.00 per gal. Well
we can't increase our rates that much because no one will pay it and yet we need to be competitive . We all hurt and we can not raise our rates because no one will pay it This is what I'm saying invest 1 and save 1 to cary you over the BAD times..... Just when you think all is good + LOOKOUT+ ~ Tommy Joe

Is how you make it important? Yes, if making your life more comfortable is also one of your goals!

This would factor in because if you started or bought a business that is capital intensive and/or heavily regulated and competitive you could find out that the business became the worst high-pressure job you ever had.

Any industry or market that is growing fast is probably also a highly competitive one (and may become increasingly so). Unless you have a lot of money behind you it is better to think tactically than strategically about entering such a market.

I tell clients and people that I talk with about starting or buying a business to be methodical in how they approach either one. Don't jump ship, leave your job and pin all your hopes on something (the start-up or business you buy) trusting that all will be well. Sometimes they aren't.

I've been successful in several businesses (from writing, publishing, manufacturing to business services) but have also had flops. That's normal experience for someone who's been an entrepreneur for 26 years. Often you learn more from your failures than you do the successes. Odd but true.

Here's how to learn from those things that don't work out:

1. Take the elements of the things you have tried in the past that you spent time and money in exploring as business opportunities but that did not work out (and do this also for your current job).
2. On a sheet of paper draw a line down the middle of it. On the left at the top of the page write "Bad" and on the right top write "Good".
3. For each thing list out the bad and the good; the bad will constitute the determinants of why it did not work out for you or why it did not make you happy or fill you with any passion. The good are the positive elements that helped offset the bad but did not carry enough weight to make it work for you.
4. Once you have done that look at what you've written. Take a new sheet of paper and transfer all the good things to that page. This becomes a profile of the things that were positive that you need to look for in a business or opportunity that may ignite your passion.
5. Now with your "Good" profile in front of you, take the market or industry that interests you, think about how you can utilize those good aspects in a business of your own serving that specific market or industry. Make notes about the different businesses that you can start or buy that have those good aspects to them. Those should be your focus.
6. Once you've done that calculate what I call your Personal Economic Burden (all your monthly personal expenses that you need to pay to live: mortgage, rent, insurance, food, utilities, car payments, etc.). Total that up and add 20% to it (10% for miscellaneous and at least 10% for savings). Take that total amount multiply by 12 and divide by 365. That is the daily amount your business must generate for you to be "comfortable". We'll call that the "Comfort Number". That's not making you rich but if you achieve it; it will give you a solid foundation to build on so that you can make even more money.
7. When you have that daily number and with it in mind, review your notes from number 5 above and research to determine if you feel that business can generate what you need to meet your Comfo
   
   
   Dennis Lowery
   
   
   Adducent, Inc.