I'm ready. I'm ready to MAKE a CHANGE! Ever since I graduated from high school, I've been working in the medical field and I'm tired of it. I'm bored. I want something new.

Starting my own business is the route I want to go. I already have my business idea and equipment needed to start it.

Things I want to specifically change:

1. Have to report to someone --> Be my own boss
2. Work out of an office --> Work from home
3. Doing it for the pay check --> Doing something I love
4. Work 9-5 --> Make my own hours
5. Make just enough to make a living --> Possibly make way more

Those are just to name a few and they're all possible for my type of business idea which is videography.

Is there anyone here who started their own business and have been successful? Please share. I'd love to hear your story. Inspire me some more

I ran a management company for entertainers for 5 years.  I stopped before I went broke.  Then I ran a production company for another 5 until I was way past broke.  Now I have a part-time deal where I do custom research (following news items of interest to the client and creating summaries and reading lists), speech writing and revision, and make power-point presentations for business/convention meetings (because I'm a union member I can also run those presentations in union houses, which most convention centers and hotels are, and that can be important to many of the people I've worked for.)  It's only part time, but it kicks me a nice sum (not enough to live off, but as a supplement to stage-work it adds about $20K to my overall income stream^*), and its' a good contract to the other work I do.  (Except the ego-tripping part, that's the same either way, as CEOs and big corporate VPs have ego enough to match any rock star.)

That seems to be the deal.  Most people who go that route are successful on their third try, not the first or second.  It's a steep learning curve.

1. Have to report to someone --> Be my own boss
Clients can be (and more often then not - are) far more demanding and needy than most bosses are.

2. Work out of an office --> Work from home
I kept an office for the first two, it helped not only for professional image stuff, but also for maintaining the discipline needed to really pull it off.  I do my left-job from home where I keep and office, but also I can can track the stuff on a laptop, and now from my phone, so that has cut some of the tethers.  But, at that, it eats up a lot of space at home (tax deductible if you work it right), and if you are with someone they may well resent all the time you spend at home ignoring them.

3. Doing it for the pay check --> Doing something I love
Nothing will change how much you love doing something like being forced to do it.

4. Work 9-5 --> Make my own hours
Because no-one I know who works for themselves puts in anything close to 40 hours a week.  80 is much closer to the norm.  It can take a long time of 24/7 living the business before you'll have the leisure to have any leisure.

5. Make just enough to make a living --> Possibly make way more
It takes money to make money.  If you are the least bit successful you will need (among other things) a very good accountant and a very good business lawyer, and a good insurance carrier.  None of those three things come cheep, and all are necessary.   

Make sure you have enough money to start with, a solid business plan (one put together by someone with MBA training) will help you determine what that amount it.  The prime reason that most business ventures fail is under-capitalization.


* - I'm a huge believer in streams of income, a portfolio of jobs if you will.  The 'all the eggs in one basket' deal is just too risky anymore, and it really limits your freedom.  The stage-work offers me the freedom to refuse the research/presentations that I don't want to do (or don't believe in), and my left-job provides me the freedom/leisure so that I don't have to do the non-theater work that my union is involved in, like dentist conventions.

Quote from: JenJen2011 on February 06, 2012, 03:10:44 PM
I'm ready. I'm ready to MAKE a CHANGE! Ever since I graduated from high school, I've been working in the medical field and I'm tired of it. I'm bored. I want something new.

Starting my own business is the route I want to go. I already have my business idea and equipment needed to start it.

Things I want to specifically change:

1. Have to report to someone --> Be my own boss
2. Work out of an office --> Work from home
3. Doing it for the pay check --> Doing something I love
4. Work 9-5 --> Make my own hours
5. Make just enough to make a living --> Possibly make way more

Those are just to name a few and they're all possible for my type of business idea which is videography.

Is there anyone here who started their own business and have been successful? Please share. I'd love to hear your story. Inspire me some more

I owned a business for about 5 years 25 years ago. I repaired/restored cars as my career and LOVED it. I HATED running a business. I sold it for a profit after 5 years and worked for the people I sold it to. I made more money, worked less hours and was a LOT happier!

1) If you are being paid money, who ever is paying you is still your boss. The general public is a crappy boss to have.

2) Working a business from home is a BAD idea. You can't leave it at the office. People call and come to your home etc. Maybe if you're doing ebay type reselling it would work out? I tried doing car repair thing at home for a while, it was horrible. It might be OK to do some of your work from home but you need to rent a place away from your home to interact with customers.

3) You can do what you love easier working for someone else. THEY handle the BS like paying the bills, dealing with clients etc. Unless what you love is running a business. What you love will get drowned out by the noise the business makes in your head. Subcontracting is an option too but then you're stuck with paying more taxes.

4) You will wish for 9-5 hours after about a year. I worked 8-7 6 days a week. Sometimes even later + the time I spent at home working on the books.

5) The best year it grossed $300,000 (back in 1985ish time frame) and I ended up with about $25,000 after everything else was paid. First two years I just broke even and was happy. I was making 30K before and the year after I sold it I was making $35,000 from the people I sold it to. Looking back over my SS records that was a big dip in my lifetime earnings, those 5 years. I did sell it for ~$40,000 lump sum (which paid off most of my house) but I lost more than this over the 5 years in lower income + worked more.

Maybe if I had stuck it out in 10+ years it would have turned around? But the bottom line is, I wanted to fix and restore cars, not deal with the general public, deal with employees and run a business. I was stressed and started to have high blood pressure etc etc. Very few "single employee" businesses ever make it so you are going to have to deal with people. Being the boss can really suck.

Hate to be so negative but owning a business sounds a lot more fun than it usually is. You can't look at someone who has been in business for 20 years to "see how it is" either. It's HARD work but for some people they love it. The reasons you stated don't sound like the right ones to me.

Very few "single employee" businesses ever make it\
True that.  Outside of special area consultants (technically, and on the books, that's what I'm classified as) it's hard, as Stephe noted to run the business and do the work at the same time.  And, as she also wisely noted, bringing on even one, part-time employee is an entirely new can of worms involving more payments (taxes, social security, unemployment, workers comp - just for 4 off the top of my head) and a lot of federal and state (and perhaps local) laws.  And the ever problematic 'how can you afford to pay enough to attract and retain good workers.'  And the equally problematic how do you fire ->-bleeped-<--ups without them suing you for wrongful termination and/or having to pay their unemployment claims?

Also, if you are not doing white collar work, it's hard to do from home.  You run into zoning issues, state health codes, ADA - all sorts of stuff.  So, in most urban/suburban areas it would be pretty much illegal for Stephe to do that kind of work from her backyard garage as it would involve chemicals and stuff considered hazardous, along with the zoning deal. 

Add to that liability.  (here is where you need a lawyer and an insurance agent)  If Stephe redid a car, and it was involved in an accident, she would probably have some sort of liability exposure.  (and just the cost of having to go to court to fight it and find out that you don't have responsibility can be huge.  If you are liable, how much do they get from you?  Your house?  So you need to form a Corp/ or LLC, to protect your personal assets from lawsuits.

I don't want to discourage you.  Far from it.  I know several people who have done very well for themselves that way.  And a bunch more who do what I do and have a part time side deal that makes them pretty good 'extra' money.  But for all of us it took a lot of hard work, and lot of (very expensive) lessons along the way.  Indeed, I'm sure that there are many of the non-American readers who marvel at how easy it is to open a business in the US, where it's all but impossible to do in a lot of places.  But business is - if nothing else - extremely realistic, and you should go into it eyes wide open.

I ran an electronics assembly business out of my house for three years. Same as everyone else said, 80 hours a week and when I looked back I was earning between $2.50- $4.00 an hour. I could have done better, if I had $300,000 for automated equipment. I wish you the best, these posts all sound negative, but that's how the unvarnished truth sounds. Good luck, hugs, Devlyn

Wow. A lot to digest. Thanks for the input everyone.

Well, if any of you missed it. I want to start my own videography business. I've been creating my own videos for the past 5 years as a hobby. So, I asked myself, why not turn my hobby into a business? It looks like that's going to be easier said than done.

Let's see. Equipment. I have an HD video camera, tripod, professional editing software and I own a dance/green screen studio that I can rent out to people or use to record videos for those who want effects. I'm thinking of adding photography to that as well. My strong point are music videos but I can also record birthdays, events, etc or take clips already recorded and edit them for people. There are many ways I can go.

So far I've researched on how to register the business, copyright issues, contracts, rates, etc. I'll continue doing my research. I know it won't be easy but I'm willing to take the challenge. If you have anything else to add, please share.

I run a  tutoring center.   I teach teachers how to pass their certification exams.  I've done a little in life coaching as well.  I also published a test prep book and I'm working on my second book now.


The major thing you need btw is a very good website and I was lucky my husband is a web designer by hobby so he made mine.  I rent an office to share and that might be something you could look into.  I do basically run it out of my home.  But the office is a much better alternative.   I pay $400 a month to use it several nights a week.  The day owner of the office runs a web development company herself.    So you might not want to meet people in your home.  Look for offices that want to share space.   The rent is much cheaper and it looks more professional. 

I have a major bit of advice when you are doing the business.   DO NOT TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT YOU ARE THE OWNER.  If you do it is much more difficult to get paid and makes it difficult to deal with people.    So I always pretend there's a company and I have a fake secretary persona who will email the clients if they need to pay.

I  agree with Bev that over %50 of the work will be running the business.   However I disagree that you'll work more hours.  It depends on how much money you want to make.  I made about $40,000 cash last year and worked only 2-3 days a week  for about 3 hours each of those days.    I probably could make a lot more money if I worked harder and more but I can't handle the stress.  That's why I started my own business in the first place. 

Quote from: mixie on February 07, 2012, 07:54:44 AMI run a  tutoring center.   I teach teachers how to pass their certification exams.  I've done a little in life coaching as well.  I also published a test prep book and I'm working on my second book now.

Cool.

QuoteThe major thing you need btw is a very good website and I was lucky my husband is a web designer by hobby so he made mine.

I'm very good with computers and I've actually created 3 sites on my own in the past so I shouldn't have a problem with that unless I want to create something out of my league. This is something I've thought about but not a priority, at least at this time.

QuoteI rent an office to share and that might be something you could look into.  I do basically run it out of my home.  But the office is a much better alternative.   I pay $400 a month to use it several nights a week.  The day owner of the office runs a web development company herself.    So you might not want to meet people in your home.  Look for offices that want to share space.   The rent is much cheaper and it looks more professional.

I agree. Thanks! For starters though, I'll be using an office in my home.

QuoteI have a major bit of advice when you are doing the business.   DO NOT TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT YOU ARE THE OWNER.  If you do it is much more difficult to get paid and makes it difficult to deal with people.    So I always pretend there's a company and I have a fake secretary persona who will email the clients if they need to pay.

Why is it more difficult? Just curious.

QuoteI  agree with Bev that over %50 of the work will be running the business.   However I disagree that you'll work more hours.  It depends on how much money you want to make.  I made about $40,000 cash last year and worked only 2-3 days a week  for about 3 hours each of those days.    I probably could make a lot more money if I worked harder and more but I can't handle the stress.  That's why I started my own business in the first place.

Yeah, it depends on how much you want to make and what type of business you're running. I will be spending hours and hours recording and editing, not to mention running the business.

Thanks Mixie for your input!

If you can build a website that has a database it is very helpful.   When people contact you it stores and generates emails.  People can pay you online.  I use a paypal account to let people pay online.  This way the money is already paid.  And when they register I have all their information.  I am very unorganized.

It sounds like you are going to be a service based business.  So this is why I'd not recommend you telling people you are the owner.   I'm kind of out of it today but I'll try to share with you the problem.


In the beginning a lot of the clients you get are going to be referrals.   And of course when people call you up and you've worked with someone else, the conversation will probably be a friend trying to help another friend out.   Ex  "Her rates are really reasonable and she does great work."   But then when the friend calls you he'll be saying   "Yeah Joe referred me."   And it starts to get awkward.  If they know that it's all being done by you they are less likely to be willing to pay a higher amount of money and will feel that they can negotiate because "it's just you."

You also want to get in the habit of itemizing what you are including in the package.


So say you have a list of "Videography,  editing and administrative work."    In a normal company the cost of all these jobs would be offset by the overall fee.   So the photographer would receive a cut, the company would get the rest and use a portion to pay for admininstrative work, advertising and editing and overhead.

When they think it's just you,  basically they ignore all the realities of the cost in your business and act like it's just you.

So for example if I was tutoring one on one as a person,   my rate would be 25-30 an hour.  Now I can't do it less than $100 an hour for the first hour and then $45 for the second hour.  The prep and materials needed for the student are part of the cost.   My rent is part of the cost.  Etc.

It's also not worth it to me to meet a single person for $25-30 an hour because when I teach a class I have 10 students for $75 the 2 hour class.   So think of the difference.  I can meet with you for two hours  and you'll pay me $60 bucks or I can teach 10 students for the same two hours and make $750?   Totally not worth my time.

It's little things like this you start to deal with as you grow.    And if you start off in the beginning and everyone knows it's your company then they will try to get you to negotiate on the price.  You'll also get sob stories.    People making excuses not to pay because what are you going to do?  Sue them?   A company will give it a bit more clout behind you,  especially if they know there's someone else doing the work.

So think of it this way.  If you did a film job for $1500   and I knew you'd have to pay an editor as well,  that person would be getting a cut of that.   If the company is getting $1500 I realize 3-4 people are getting paid with that money.  Suddenly you are only making $400 or so.   But if I know it's just you  I could think "damn $1500 is a lot of money for one person,  let me try to negotiate."

I'm very tired and not explaining myself well.  But hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Yes I was going to add that too.   Bev's post above sums up my blathering rambles after her.  Sorry guys.


But yes that's another thing I was trying to point out when I was saying I charge $100 an hour for one on one tutoring which I do from my home over the phone.  I'm sitting in pajamas.   But $100 an hour is chump change to what I'd be making if I was teaching a class.  When people tell me they can't afford the fees and ask me to reduce them  I refer them to amateur tutors who will meet them at the library and charge $25-30 an hour.  My services are worth more and if they can't afford the fees then they can't afford me.

By having the backend "office"  I have a fake secretary.   So if they want to negotiate I'll tell them to send an email to  Miriam Johnson at the office to see what she can do for them.    Miriam is a total beyotch,  let me just tell you.   I can be sweet and nice and supportive.  Miriam is the mean old drill captain.   

Thanks Mixie and Bev for all the helpful information!

I'll be using an office in my home.

Is your home zoned for use like that?  Doing white collar stuff from home is no biggie, but as soon as you have customers showing up all - for any reason - all that changes.  For one, is you home ADA compliant?  If not - and there are people who pretty much make a living at it - you could get sued for not being ADA compliant, even though you don't have a single customer who would require it.  One club I work at was forced to buy a huge, complex, and needless to say very expensive, lift/platform to accommodate wheelchairs, in the four years it's been there, it hasn't been used once.

What's your liability exposure?  You're making a video at there in your 'studio' and someone trips over a cable (and as a stagehand I can pretty much guarantee you that if there is a cable out - no matter how small - someone is going to trip over it), who pays for the damaged equipment/damaged human?

And the lawyer is not just in case you get sued, but more to make sure that all the i's are dotted, and the t's are crossed.  You've looked into the registration of the business, and the DBA statements.  How about the sales tax permits?  Will you have to charge sales tax?  What about health/environmental regulations?  A good friend who moved from being an amateur photographer to a professional one got in trouble because his home darkroom (all perfectly legal so long as it wasn't commercial) didn't have proper warnings posted for the toxic chemicals that darkrooms use.  He also had to install a rather pricey ventilation/filter system too as I recall.

The lawyer will also insure (if they are good) that your contracts are rock-solid and iron clad, and that you're web site/advertising ain't writing a check that your ass can't cash.  If Mixie even as much as vaguely implies that with her help you will pass the test, she's got a huge exposure when someone doesn't.  Or if you get hired for that particular slice of hell known as filming weddings, what kind of contract do you have in case (and it happens often) that the wedding is canceled?

If you are filming in public, on streets or parks or the like - will you need permits to do it?  (Bet you do).

There is a bottom line point that money changes everything.  As soon as any money - even a dollar - changes hands, you're in a whole new set of conditions and circumstances.

Red Adair was right.  I work for one of my union brothers who also owns a C-10 contracting business.  He often loses a job when he quotes them a price, only to wind up making more money as the cheerer labor screwed it up and now he/we have to go in and not only do the original job at full price, but undo what the the cheap people did (also at full price.)



Here is a great little bit.  Written by Ira Glass it's talkign about art but you can think of all sorts of other things that it's also true about, like running a business.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take awhile. It's normal to take awhile. You've just gotta fight your way through."

Wow Tekla. You know your stuff. You have given me a lot to think about. Thanks!

I will be getting this ball rolling, slowly but surely.

just been around a lot of it and paid attention

While it's good to be prepared,  tekla I think you are dramatizing it a bit.   I'm not in any trouble at all when I suggest that I will try to prepare you for the exam.   It's one thing to be careful and quite another thing to go off the deep end over worrying about things that are never going to happen.

One thing I will say though is that in the beginning I did give a few refunds to people just to get rid of them.  I also have a terms and conditions on my website.  You might want to make sure you do that.

Plenty of people run businesses out of their homes that don't involve people actually coming to your house.  If someone trips and falls in your house your homeowner's insurance is going to cover it anyway.

Hi Jen,

I am a medical doctor. I used to work for several years as a clinician but I really got enough of dealing with ill people (you may feel the same) and then I realized that the only one who makes the money in the medical industry is the pharmacy. As I made some good connections I started my own pharmaceutical business I am so happy I did. The beginning was a horror movie as I had so many loans from the banks... You must know that the first two years are investments and no profit. That is where most of the people just give in. After the first two years you will start making some profit. I guess that in a few years I will be making millions. But follow your dreams and never give in. The start will be very difficult but once you have customers you will do fine. You have two options in life. One is to have a stressless life working for somebody but to have very little money and the second is to work for yourself with a lot of stress and to make money. For every gain in life you must to give a sacrifice so it is the same for the money.

Quote from: tekla on February 07, 2012, 02:18:51 PM
I'll be using an office in my home.

Is your home zoned for use like that?  Doing white collar stuff from home is no biggie, but as soon as you have customers showing up all - for any reason - all that changes.  For one, is you home ADA compliant?  If not - and there are people who pretty much make a living at it - you could get sued for not being ADA compliant, even though you don't have a single customer who would require it.  One club I work at was forced to buy a huge, complex, and needless to say very expensive, lift/platform to accommodate wheelchairs, in the four years it's been there, it hasn't been used once.

A lot of rural counties don't require your property be zoned for a business or any type of separation between your residence/business so long as you live in an unincorporated part of the county and not a city.  As for being ADA complaint, it's not necessary for a small private business as long as the owner providers reasonable accommodations.  Plenty of local governments have been sued for failing to provide wheelchair accessible ramps.  They were found not to be in violation because they had reasonably accommodated the individuals by meeting them in other buildings that were handicap accessible.