anybody own retail businesses/restaurants in here? (or any advice)

[NewSc2]

okay i've had it with school. i cannot see myself really doing any chemistry for the rest of my life, although my dad has a phd in chemistry and owns a small chemical research company. (although the stuff he does i won't learn in chemistry, it'll probably take me about 6 months of studying to understand his work fully)

what i REALLY want to do is own some kind of internet retail store, selling digital cameras or audio equipment. Is there any easy way to plug into this kinda stuff? Or do you have to start with a bunch of connections/capital. Besides that I really love cooking too, was a prep chef for a few months, and I'd like to own my own restaurant.

School is just so fricken useless and demeaning I really want to quit now, except I have to wait until my dad's business picks back up to get my first steady job, then I have to tinker along the side to get possibly the retail businesses up and working.

Anybody ever look into it/is established in the field?

Also please don't say how I need a college education to function in society. If I did well enough in high school to get into Cal*, I think i can function (although i don't know what hit me i go to UCI right now)

 

[SherEPunjab]

NewSc2:

You're correct when you say you do not need a college degree to function in society. For that matter, you do not need a high school degree either.

If you are young (19-21), take off a year from school, and get your feet wet in the wide world of business. Do, however get your bachelors degree at least. You don't need it to function, but you'll need it to fall back in case your business goes down/slows, and you need constant cash flow to pay the bills, feed the kids (future), pay the wifes c.c. bills (haha). Yeah, there were times and there still are times where if you're a really good programmer or something you don't need a degree. But, now, more than ever, you need to have a competitive edge if you wish to work for someone else, and, a business on your own will be very difficult to make a success on your first try, so you may have to work for someone else to gain experience. its up to you though.

 

[Dragnov]

You cook NewSc2?! Feed me!!!

You chose UCI over Ivy League schools? But then again, I chose UCI over UCLA.

I'm at the at the breaking point also. It's not the difficulty, nor the lack of slef-motivation... I just won't work hard for school. I find it worthless and all I try to do is pass the class w/ a C (often not achieving that also.) I'm not sure what I want to do... I don't really liek talking to counselors.... I wish I could take a year off form school but then I don't know about being readmitted later, and I wouldnt' want my parents to be working any longer as they plan on retiring as soon as Im done w/ school.

So if you every need a worker or even partner?

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK
You cook NewSc2?! Feed me!!!

You chose UCI over Ivy League schools? But then again, I chose UCI over UCLA.

I'm at the at the breaking point also. It's not the difficulty, nor the lack of slef-motivation... I just won't work hard for school. I find it worthless and all I try to do is pass the class w/ a C (often not achieving that also.) I'm not sure what I want to do... I don't really liek talking to counselors.... I wish I could take a year off form school but then I don't know about being readmitted later, and I wouldnt' want my parents to be working any longer as they plan on retiring as soon as Im done w/ school.

So if you every need a worker or even partner?

oh man, that's the exact same way i feel. i abhor my counselors like crazy! i'm in the same position as you are (said that twice).. my parents are getting old, and although they've been doing well lately i don't want to be a burden on them. I think the year off school wouldn't be hard, or at least become a part-time student.

i chose UCI over Cal... basically because both parents own businesses and I'd like to look into either one (mom importer, dad chemical stuff) during my time at school.

what year are you right now? where do you live? come by sometime - parkwest

SherEPunjab-Thanks for the insight. What I meant mostly was that I've done work in the business world right now, and there's nothing I really need to learn from UCI that can really add onto it more. I've been a sales rep at trade shows-displaying products to volume buyers, accountant/secretary/advertising, and i've dealt with importing a bit. I didn't really know anything to start out with, but you pick up the job quickly. Also, I see a lot of *other* majors in UCI (i.e. Philosophy, Art History) and while I wouldn't mind getting a BA in one of these fields, it seems really useless. If I want to manage a store/run some business later on, why would I need to know the details of the sculptors of the Lacoon group?

It's also kind of depressing to look around and see the level of people's intellect around classes. Sometimes I get discouraged simply because it seems like everybody in a class needs to study nonstop to get an A, while I can study for 3 hrs. before midterm/final to get a B. Why would I spend 10+ hrs./week just to stay on top of everything when I can attend 5 hrs. of class and do an average of 1 hr. (maybe) studying to pull off something almost as good.

 

[KahunaHube]

hey i go to UCI too.. that technical job fair was pretty depressing today....

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: KahunaHube
hey i go to UCI too.. that technical job fair was pretty depressing today....

i haven't been on campus since last friday

 

[Dragnov]

It's also kind of depressing to look around and see the level of people's intellect around classes. Sometimes I get discouraged simply because it seems like everybody in a class needs to study nonstop to get an A, while I can study for 3 hrs. before midterm/final to get a B. Why would I spend 10+ hrs./week just to stay on top of everything when I can attend 5 hrs. of class and do an average of 1 hr. (maybe) studying to pull off something almost as good.

Haha. Yeah I'm with you, although I dunno about being able to pull of the same grade as them. I rarely take notes because I find it dumb to write down everything the teacher says and looking over pages and pages of notes to study. I'll look over the material once and I'll be done with it. I do pretty well on tests... heck thats what got me into college w/ a sh1tty 3.2 high school GPA. Gotta love teh SAT and AP Tests.

YGPM.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK

It's also kind of depressing to look around and see the level of people's intellect around classes. Sometimes I get discouraged simply because it seems like everybody in a class needs to study nonstop to get an A, while I can study for 3 hrs. before midterm/final to get a B. Why would I spend 10+ hrs./week just to stay on top of everything when I can attend 5 hrs. of class and do an average of 1 hr. (maybe) studying to pull off something almost as good.

Haha. Yeah I'm with you, although I dunno about being able to pull of the same grade as them. I rarely take notes because I find it dumb to write down everything the teacher says and looking over pages and pages of notes to study. I'll look over the material once and I'll be done with it. I do pretty well on tests... heck thats what got me into college w/ a sh1tty 3.2 high school GPA. Gotta love teh SAT and AP Tests.

YGPM.

haha i do well on tests too but i did well in high school - 4.3 (ranked out of top 10% though.. somewhere like number 75).
APs actually also make me even lazier at UCI - I had 76 credits coming into UCI from AP... got rid of every breadth requirement with APs.

So nowadays I take 12 units every quarter, no more, sometimes less (11 units last quarter)

 

[Zebo]

I agree with all the sentiments about not needing formal education and the positive aspects of owning your own. BUT

Even a bad analytical chemist makes over 60K by 30. A bad business owner makes dick. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: Carbonyl
I agree with all the sentiments about not needing formal education and the positive aspects of owning your own. BUT

Even a bad analytical chemist makes over 60K by 30. A bad business owner makes dick. Just something to keep in mind.

although i haven't had much real experience, i've seen a lot of bad business owners out there, and they were just plain stupid. If you have any idea at all how to carry about a business (customer service, reasonable prices, good products) with consistent philosophies, the rate of failure for small business isn't that huge. (i hope)

no business owners out there? ?

 

[frizzlefry]

i went to UCI. i quit after a few years because i was making good money. If you stop now, it's really hard to go back. I've been wanting to complete my degree for some time now. Now I run my own business but I find it harder and harder as time goes on to go back. Best advice I can give you is try and just finish. Taking one year off may lead to 2 and so on. I was only going to take one year off, and it's now 4-5 years.

One of my good friends at my decission making time had told me that she didn't think I should leave. That I should just suck it up and finish. And she told me that it would be hard for me to go back. I didn't take her advice then and at times I wished I have. Not having a degree can screw up alot of things for you.

It's always good to have that to fall back on. I'm working on mine slowly but surely but my business occupies most of my time these days.

Anyways good luck.

BTW: you snow board or ski? Join the IRIS club. I'm still a member. IRIS website maybe'll see you at one of the meetings or event.

 

[0roo0roo]

internet store market for electronics is saturated.

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: frizzlefry
i went to UCI. i quit after a few years because i was making good money. If you stop now, it's really hard to go back. I've been wanting to complete my degree for some time now. Now I run my own business but I find it harder and harder as time goes on to go back. Best advice I can give you is try and just finish. Taking one year off may lead to 2 and so on. I was only going to take one year off, and it's now 4-5 years.

One of my good friends at my decission making time had told me that she didn't think I should leave. That I should just suck it up and finish. And she told me that it would be hard for me to go back. I didn't take her advice then and at times I wished I have. Not having a degree can screw up alot of things for you.

It's always good to have that to fall back on. I'm working on mine slowly but surely but my business occupies most of my time these days.

Anyways good luck.

BTW: you snow board or ski? Join the IRIS club. I'm still a member. IRIS website maybe'll see you at one of the meetings or event.

wow, advice from somebody who's taken the route i'm contemplating. I think one of my friends is in the club, he's talking about an all-Cal trip next month or something. YGPM btw

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
internet store market for electronics is saturated.

yeah, especially with computer parts, but i was thinking on other things, like digital cameras, jewelry, clothing, or audio equipment

 

[0roo0roo]

people don't like buying clothing over the net jewelry, unless your a big name i wouldn't trust u. cameras.. only people who now exactly what they want would buy one online. people like to hold em and try em at the store.

amazons successful cuz they sell stuff like cds/dvds/books which people don't care if they get to touch em in advance.

 

[Dragnov]

BTW: you snow board or ski? Join the IRIS club. I'm still a member. IRIS website maybe'll see you at one of the meetings or event.

Interesting. I snowboard (own my own) but still new to it and suck at it. Would I embarass myself in front of IRIS club?

 

[NewSc2]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
people don't like buying clothing over the net jewelry, unless your a big name i wouldn't trust u. cameras.. only people who now exactly what they want would buy one online. people like to hold em and try em at the store.

amazons successful cuz they sell stuff like cds/dvds/books which people don't care if they get to touch em in advance.

i sell off eBay, you'd be surprised who buys clothing and jewelry off of me. only problem is profit margin is so slim and if i choose to introduce more items, my prices would get so diluted and inundated it wouldn't be smart to do so.

FYI, i've sold $100 pairs of pants few times, and $100 collectable writing instruments fairly frequently. Not much to make anything more than a good allowance off of though.

 

[frizzlefry]

Originally posted by: Gr1mL0cK

BTW: you snow board or ski? Join the IRIS club. I'm still a member. IRIS website maybe'll see you at one of the meetings or event.

Interesting. I snowboard (own my own) but still new to it and suck at it. Would I embarass myself in front of IRIS club?

Eh. We've got some good ppl in the club. No one that really does crazy stuff though. We've got people that joined because they want to learn. So no worries. The staff members are all pretty good and are willing to teach and help you out. The All Cal is just a huge party. Kegs on the bus on the way there and back. But I probably won't be on the bus, as I'm planning on flying out there But try and come to one of the meetings. They'll be passing out flyers on campus and stuff.