Evening STW.

I have a very simple question for those of you who currently or previously own/owned and run/ran your own business.

– How did you start? Did you jump or was it careful planning?

I know everybody will be different, but I am really interested to hear about all the different experiences people on here have had.

Thanks

Pushed by dint of redundancy. Would probably never have done it otherwise.
Too be honest it suits me pretty well – was a bit hairy for a couple of years but ultimately gave me control over what I did, and allowed me to be available on a semi-casual basis.

Kind of started – 11 years ago ? – still here in much the same guise. But its pretty small beer compared to some I’m sure. Did get some advice from local business gateways and local bank, but really just played it by ear and asked for help when needed it.

Jumped. After 8 months working for IBM, realised that the corporate life wasn’t for me, so I quit, and went to the bank manager with a cobbled-together business plan.

I found that plan again recently, pretty much none of it ever happened 😀

I ran headlong from the corporate world into starting something I thought would solve all of my woes and discontent. No loans or financial commitment needed. It never really took off and I shut it down after about 9 years, 5 of which were spent keeping it ticking over while I was getting the right help to resolve what I was running from.

Started doing work in the evenings for friends & relatives whilst working full-time for another company (doing the same thing on a different scale, so they didn’t object). It grew by word of mouth and eventually there was too much to manage unless I jumped and did it full time. A couple of years later it has continued to grow by word of mouth and networking so with a couple of big jobs lined up we are about to expand. No business plan or loans but registered with HMRC early on and set up a separate bank account.

I started my business just over four years ago in a very difficult business environment. My advantage was that I knew the business very well and had effectively ran the previous business I worked at, despite not owning it. The owner got into a mess so I jumped before the inevitable happened.

It wasn’t easy but I stuck with it and when the market started to improve late 2013, I could see light at the end of the tunnel. Now we’re very busy and thriving, but I think back and am very proud that I didn’t borrow, was never overdrawn and always paid people on time.

Chance discussion with someone at my then-employer plus breakdown of a long-term relationship and I just thought “why not?”. Was earning just over minimum wage for a very highly-skilled r&d job (Gas chromatography, HPLC, LC/MS/MS, that kind of thing) and had nothing tying me to the city I was living in. Sold my only possession (a 1985 Kawasaki GPZ600R) to pay for the required basic training courses, took the plunge, never looked back. 10 years later I’m still in the industry but back as a PAYE wage slave. There are pros and cons of being self-employed, but on starting a family the security of a steady income (albeit a fair amount less than I could potentially earn as a contractor) and company pension meant the pros just weren’t worth it.

I now run the family business.
It was started by my folks and my grandfather, 35 years ago.
We are well established, Mum and Dad have retired, so, a long way down the road you may be embarking on.
Still, the buck stops with me, everyone else ( we now have 8 employees) goes home, and leaves work there.
If you are the owner you don’t. It’s always there in the back of your mind. Obviously, I do get benefits of being the boss.

I never really had a proper job but did plan for a couple of months and had a loan from the bank. I then sold that business and used the money to set another one up. I also had another business as well that I set up. Like a previous comment these are/were small with low costs and only part time cash employees. You can go weeks/months with no income then loads come it at once, and I know some people couldn’t deal with the uncertainty. It works for me and I doubt that I now will ever get a ‘proper’ job.

Redundancy forced my hand and gave me a couple of months grace to get started. It was also the process of watching a company gradually grind people down until they were no use and then get rid of them that convinced me I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore.

Too frustrated working for clueless directors charging a lot for an average product. Found a client in my own time which would pay me the equivalent of a months wage and quit… never looked back – if you’re self motivated and like learning you’ll do well.

Very carefully planned re finances, like for 3 years, then got the hell out of corporate bullshit world I was in and started running. That was 5 years ago, set up as a freelance engineer / land surveyor.

Last 5 year has seen 6 to 7 quiet weeks.

Never looked back.

Redundancy- OH was still working (was since made redundant too) so his wage and selling some stuff helped prop the business up while it got established. I got advice from our local small enterprise group. It’s loads more satisfying working for yourself than the man.

Jumped..
About 18 months ago.
Work in telecoms so it has phases of being mad busy, dispersed with quiet times..
I’m just learning the cycles, but so far?
So good.
Apart from the last work supplier going pop and owing me a fair few quid… 😐

Left a well paid comfortable job, remortgaged house, sold car and frivolous possessions. I was younger and more impetuous. 3 of us grafted hard, super hard, didn’t really pay ourselves much for 3 years – grew to 190 people. It was great, exhilarating, scary and awesome. A combination of blind ignorance, youthful exuberance and sheer doggedness. We had 1 client on day 1 and utter belief it would fly. It became less fun at 100 plus people who utterly rely on you and were mainly friends – most proud of the 7 weddings and 16 kids we generated from one office 😉 sleepless nights, paper rock scissors to call the bank and borrow 7 figures one day (I lost) learnt a lot. Properly cried day we sold it although to be fair the return was amazing. Still regret selling.
Would not do it now, did a few more after that and life is different now.

I went from being a service engineer to a self employed gardener. Started off doing a couple of hours after work some days and working weekends to build up a decent enough customer base to cover the bills. Gave up the full time job and just cracked on building the business.
It’s not easy but it is rewarding when it’s all for you, I now get work via recommendations from people I’ve never even met.
Sounds a bit cliche but networking is a real big thing even for me, I found a good designer and a tree surgeon, just need a landscaper to complete the loop.

Thank you for all the messages guys.. It’s really interesting to hear all the different experiences!

Where are you based, windyg? My BIL is a landscaper, learned his trade building/landscaping Kingsbarns and Castle Stuart links courses, now self employed.

I’m in Norfolk

Hmmmm… I think Fife to Norfolk and back every day might be a bit much for him.

Here was my business plan : save enough money to cover myself for all out goings for 3 months. If at the end of month 2 I hadn’t made any money I would look for a job. Luckily that didn’t happen.

Jumped in due to redundancy too. Can’t imagine going back to that employed life now

I m self employed too. Managed to save up a bit of cash to start with. Work from home so save a fortune in commuting! Don’t earn as much yet as I used to but don’t need to as expenses are almost non existent. Claim percentage of home costs through business too.

Work life balance is great. I do all the picking up and dropping off of our son. So only work 7 hours a day. The flexibility is great!

Take the leap

handyman153 – Member

– How did you start? Did you jump or was it careful planning?…

Jumped after careful planning. Nothing went to plan. 🙂

Learned that what was important in business was effectiveness rather than perfect efficiency, and having a direction was more important than a plan. Also you are now on a 24/7 schedule when building a business, but it’s not work if you like what you’re doing.

If you go in with the mindset that you’ll want out of the business in a few years time, say 5, you’ll run it in a manner that makes it more saleable, ie keep all income on the books, no cash under the table etc. If your accountant comes up with a great wheeze to minimise your tax and you don’t understand it, remember you’ll be the one facing the audit team. (That saved my ass a couple of times)

Pay your staff over the odds. It needn’t be much, but the value of motivated staff is something that the bean counters don’t understand. Groom someone to do the management job – it gives you time to grow the business .

Most importantly, borrow no money that is not for immediately productive purposes. Keep a modest lifestyle, pay cash for your personal toys.

And above all remember the banks are bastards. The loans guy you deal with will be nice and helpful, but all he’s done is baited the hook. There’s a ruthless swine ready to be switched in to deal with your account the moment you run into cash shortages – which will happen when your business is growing – and that’s when the line gets reeled in and most businesses go broke.

But beware, there’s no going back. After a few years you become unemployable because you’ll never tolerate f*wit bosses again. 🙂

Kind of nudged into it. Was asked to set up the business. Wasn’t happy where I was. Still same industry.

Had no savings, wife had just given birth to our first child but i thought, what the hec, go for it.

Just completed are second year. It’s been tough and will continue to be so but, no regrets and some light at the end of the tunnel.

Good move Padawan 😉

Just did it. You should too if your current job isn’t rewarding. I’m a Landscaper. I get to design and build the garden, have full control over every decision made, and can see the results at the end of the project. Its ace and i love it!

I started a company with me and a good mate who’d been working for someone else. Lesson one – don’t work with your friends 😉 A lesson I failed to learn when I did it again a few years later! The first company grew to about 20 and – having spent the last 10 years just wanting to run my own gig – I found out I was rubbish at it! Loved the bit working with customers, hated everything else.

Went back to PAYE for a bit, really wasn’t for me so convinced the large consultancy I worked for to pay me off and used the cash to live on until I had enough work. 5 years on, still going. Just me, will never employ anyone again but loads of people I know/trust who take work I don’t have time to do and offer it me back.

Big thing for me was to hold out for lots of smaller projects, not just be a contractor. It’s hard to do when you have a scale of 1 and sometimes it’s feast or famine (mostly feast currently but turning down work always hurts). I’d rather work 150 days a year for 5 clients, than 200 for 1.

Never borrowed anything, got a decent accountant who looks after us. My wife helps a lot and strangely that relationship survived working together better than friends!

I;m basically unemployable now. If I can’t work for myself, I’m in deep trouble! I don;t worry about it tho, something always turns up.

Oh and to your first point OP, we planned one company very carefully and executed that plan from day 1. Disaster 😉 Everything else that could be called a plan is really stuff in the ‘right place/right time’ bucket.

As others, via taking a redundancy package offered and then using contacts I’d made at my old work to secure extra funding to turn a hobby/part-time income earner I already had into a full-time business. After the inital emotional rollercoaster of a long term job ending, has been well worth it. One side that took some adjusting too was being home based – rest of family getting used to me being about most of the time, working every day till late and filling the place with all the stuff I use and sell. Learnt to be more disciplined about having a distinct separate working area and pattern. I like to think I wish I’d escaped the regular job years ago, but with others to support, bills to pay, the regular decent pay, pension contribution, paid holidays, nice workmates and a relatively satisfying job etc made it easy to stay and I probably would have done if the large scale redundancy didn’t come up and forced my hand. On balance though I’m glad I got the opportunity.

Pushed into it by redundancy. I started under an umbrella company but switched to limited after a few months. Took ages to get the business bank accounts set up though.
Working well for me but that’s because essentially I’m still doing the same job – software developer – but now as a contractor rather than permanent employee

Like many of the other posters redundancy was a key factor in me starting up my own business.

I did a fair bit of planning and financial planning but once a business goes ‘live’ the main focus becomes keeping it alive.

It isn’t always easy; I ride my bike less than I would like and haven’t had any proper time off since 2014 but working to standards I set gives my customers, and me, a great deal of satisfaction in a job well done.

If you are going to work for yourself be prepared to work stupidly long hours as there is no safety net and you have to take on responsibility for everything. It isn’t unusual for me to work a 14 hr day and then have to spend several hours in the evening sorting out paperwork.

Wasn’t made redundant, but had a ‘here’s what you could’ve won’ moment having been at threat. Payout was statutory minimum and wouldn’t have covered a month’s mortgage. Decided I didn’t want to be essentially disposable, have no savings and not enough salary to save. Found a contract and jacked in the job, set up ltd, been at it 6 months now and no plans to go back.

Basically, after working 1 month I was more secure financially than if I’d been made redundant, so the risk factor was pretty minimal. First contract ended after 3 months, went straight into the second. Now working away Mon-Thurs, but when you reap the rewards of putting the hours in, rather than simply getting a pat on the head from management it is much more bearable. The other plus is that generally, I’m kept busy, people don’t hire contractors to sit idle, so the days fly by.

Kind of made it up as I went along. Did a bit of planning whilst still in employment then went for it. At 24 I was fine getting along on lots of hard work for not much money and now 11 years on I’ve got a couple of employees and things are pretty bright. Can’t imagine working for someone else now.

Handed in my notice and keen to do something starting in September.

I don’t know what yet!

Frankenstein – Member
Handed in my notice and keen to do something starting in September.

I don’t know what yet!

Basically you are now self-employed. Start now.

Your job no longer matters, so only do enough to avoid a more sudden termination. As far as they’re concerned you’re already dead. You must look after yourself first.

Did the same as the OP back in October, had deliberated for years before an issue with the directors of the parent company put my health and happiness of family at risk and said enough is enough. 5 months in, business has no debts, got all my overheads for 2016 covered (insurance etc) and am now starting to pay myself the same as I was on as an employee.

Am totally excited by the new adventure, sad to see the business I had built up over 15 years collapse by the mismanagement by the owners, but am totally excited by the new challenge and my worries for 5 years before jumping where totally unfounded.

Have confidence in yourself and go for it. If it’s crap after the first 4 weeks, look for another job as an employee.

Just read this….lol

But beware, there’s no going back. After a few years you become unemployable because you’ll never tolerate f*wit bosses again.

yep and now he has become what he despised 😀

I went self employed after getting fed up working for a idiot who had no respect for anyone. Seeing 34 other people come and go in the 5 1/2 years I was there was a warning sign, only a couple got sacked the rest walked out.

I’m a Driving Instructor and Started qualifying whilst in my last job. Got my provisional licence and jumped ship, initially franchising to a local school then going on my own. The first 12-18 months were quiet but now it’s ridiculously busy.

At the start of the year, I decided to cut my hours back a bit as 3 x 12 hour, 2 x 8 hour and a 6 hour day per week were killing me. Doesn’t sound much, but after doing 6 hours my concentration started going so it wasn’t fair to the students as I couldn’t be bothered telling them time and time again what they were doing wrong.

I now average 6 teaching hours 3 days a week and 3 teaching hours 2 days a week.

I’m also a Bikeability instructor which I do 1 day per week. At the moment, I’m turning more students away than I’m taking on as I’m definatly not going back to those long hours again.

I will never be a millionaire doing this but I can ( more or less ) set my own hours, holidays, and decide which areas I want to cover and basically do what I want.

Yeah, and I’m unemployable as well 😀