Have you ever started a business?

?

  • Yes, it is/was successful

  • Yes, it failed

  • No


Results are only viewable after voting.

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
If so, did it fail?

I started a business in 2008. Unfortunately it failed because I didnt follow the business plan. The bottom line was I supposed to be conservative but got greedy. Greed is not your friend people!
emot_mad2.gif


Lost $100,000+
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How about you?
 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
I, on the other hand, am living the American dream.
Twelve year old successful company. I survived 9-11, Bush and the Great Recession.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
You bet. ConsoliBYTE QuickBooks integration for shopping carts. Going strong a few years now, and only getting better!

Starting your own business is hard. It takes an enormous amount of time, effort, and discipline to really get going and make it worth it's while.

Wow you are a super lurker! I agree that starting and especially running the business is hard. The biggest part is having the discipline to follow a business plan. Its very tempting to stray.

If you dont mind me asking, how do you generate leads?
 

consolibyte

Member
Nov 3, 2009
103
0
71
Wow you are a super lurker! I agree that starting and especially running the business is hard. The biggest part is having the discipline to follow a business plan. Its very tempting to stray.

If you dont mind me asking, how do you generate leads?


We do a lot of QuickBooks open-source PHP programming work and a lot of word-of-mouth and cooperation/joint marketing with the shopping carts we work with.

Marketing is our weak point. We need to do more of it.
 

ThePresence

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
27,727
16
81
I freelanced for a long time, and did okay for most of it. Does that count?

I am currently a part-owner of a company, but it was started as a group.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
I freelanced for a long time, and did okay for most of it. Does that count?

I am currently a part-owner of a company, but it was started as a group.

Well if youve made or are making money from it, it counts! :D

Everyone likes to talk about the negatives of partnerships, but if it makes sense to you and everyone else - why not?
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Sort of. I did some freelance programming and InstallShield setup work for people I knew in between my old employer being sold and my current employer hiring me.

That's not at all the same as trying to find new customers though.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
Sort of. I did some freelance programming and InstallShield setup work for people I knew in between my old employer being sold and my current employer hiring me.

That's not at all the same as trying to find new customers though.

Interesting. Ive always liked the conveniece of InstallShield. Ill bet you could get business by advertising on CL if you were interested.
 

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,973
6,338
136
5.5 years now. But I had 18 years experience working for others and an excellent customer following. I could do this in my sleep for the most part.
 

zanejohnson

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2002
7,054
17
81
5 years, sucessful in the fact that i still do it.. i made alot more money at times, however i put WAY more hours into it..

nowdays i just have a small, yet strong customer base, way less work, and ok income... enough to support myself easily at least...
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
5 years, sucessful in the fact that i still do it.. i made alot more money at times, however i put WAY more hours into it..

nowdays i just have a small, yet strong customer base, way less work, and ok income... enough to support myself easily at least...

Its always nice to read success stories. Thank you for your input. Out of curiousity, what kind of business is it?
 

freegeeks

Diamond Member
May 7, 2001
5,460
1
81
I'm a freelance consultant mostly in networking (IP/MPLS stuff). Going strong for 3,5 years now.
 

ThePresence

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
27,727
16
81
Well if youve made or are making money from it, it counts! :D

Everyone likes to talk about the negatives of partnerships, but if it makes sense to you and everyone else - why not?

Groups do have a big downside. Which is why it's not a group any longer. Just me and a partner.
 

Iron Woode

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 10, 1999
31,330
12,840
136
I am starting my own PC repair business.

I am still working on my website. It will be up soon.
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,036
21
81
Yep. Lasted about 6 months. I just couldn't stay focused enough to do what I needed to do, plus $900 burned up pretty quick. I should have gone with the original business idea I had (getting a vehicle and just making it mobile, rather than setting up a shop) but my ex talked me out of it. It most likely would have succeeded otherwise.
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,103
2,718
126
Yep. Lasted about 6 months. I just couldn't stay focused enough to do what I needed to do, plus $900 burned up pretty quick. I should have gone with the original business idea I had (getting a vehicle and just making it mobile, rather than setting up a shop) but my ex talked me out of it. It most likely would have succeeded otherwise.

I would gladly trade my six figure loss for your three figure loss. Unfortunately the business plan was capital intensive and there was no other way to do it.

According to the plan I was hoping to make about $3000 per month in a relatively conservative way. It can still be done to this day, but I dont have that kind of capital now. Far from it. Hopefully later this year, God willing, I *may* have at least $50k to work with again. It was hard taking that loss however and recovering has been equally hard considering last year my medical expenses ran close to $200,000.00. :eek:

Instead of making $3k per month, I went for something closer to $15k per month on just $100k. Suffice it to say, that was a bad idea. Of course hindsight is 20/20.
 

JS80

Lifer
Oct 24, 2005
26,271
7
81
I was selling $25k a month on eBay, 1/3 cost of sale, 1/3 ebay+paypal fees, rest misc. Net income 4%, ~$1k/mo, split among 2 people. Quit after a year.