Does anyone regret taking the risk to start a business?

[Dare2Dream]

I have had a large number of side businesses in the past (selling collectibles, trading options, mining bitcoin, selling on amazon/ebay, etc).    No regrets.

Most of them lost money in the end but they were some of the best times of my life (So far).  There is nothing better in life than waking up and being excited for the day because you are doing something you love. 

[oldtoyota]

Most business owners regret it at some point.

What is the most important thing to succeed?

You have to make sales.

You do not need

A logo
A van
A website
Business cards
Etc

To make that happen.

You do have to make real connections with an offer people need to do well.

[A Fella from Stella]

The mistake I see my friends make when they start their businesses is that they do things other than get customers. Until you have a customer it doesn't count. My buddy spent more time picking out which van he would buy for a handyman business that never got off the ground, than actually doing the uncomfortable work of finding customers and pitching his services.

This. So much This. If most entrepreneurs worried about finding paying customers half as much as they worried about the paint color, the logo, the business title, the business cards, how to write-off every penny of business expenses, the carpet color.... then they would either a) be fine, or b) realize they didn't have a viable business model. Sadly, I only know this through experience and occasionally forget it.

You'll see this in some Shark Tank interviews. The business owner says he's working more on the operational side, and the panel is like "dude, what's to operate if you don't have customers to pay you?"

[Bloop Bloop]

Most business owners regret it at some point.

What is the most important thing to succeed?

You have to make sales.

You do not need

A logo
A van
A website
Business cards
Etc

To make that happen.

You do have to make real connections with an offer people need to do well.

Yes. The only thing you need is clients. Work hard till you have enough clients to fill up your X number of hours each week, then increase your rates to keep demand just about at that level.

It's dangerous as a business owner if you want to be "popular". That's how you end up working for demanding clients, or accepting invitations to provide freebie goods/services for no particular return. If each client gives you 5 hours of work and you want to work 40 hours a week, you only need 8 clients a week. If you have 12 clients each week, that just means you are screwing up your own supply/demand curve, i.e., you are setting your rates too low. One of the best things I ever did was to cull my clients down to only how many I want.

Flashy stuff like business cards/websites also don't necessarily work as well as networking and word of mouth. I don't have a business card and don't bother promoting myself in any medium, other than by doing good work and general networking.

[Samuel]

Take a look at the acquisition entrepreneur book. If the point is to have a good investment and make money, I would encourage you to think about something boring like buying an HVAC company from a retiring boomer that does 2M in sales, while providing the owner with $400K/year. You could probably buy that with an SBA loan and 150K down. https://www.amazon.com/Buy-Then-Build-Acquisition-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07JKM2F5Q

FYI - The kindle edition is currently $1.99 and there were a couple weird credits that brought it down to 38 cents (for me at least). 

Haven't read it yet. Can't vouch for it. But the price is right and this kind of stuff has been on my mind lately. Good timing for this thread to be resurrected.

[Michael in ABQ]

I just recently went the route of buying an existing business with an SBA loan.  It's only been 3 months but so far absolutely no regrets.   I would caution about buying a business that you couldn't run if all of your employees quit on you on the same day.  Either buy something you can run on your own in an emergency,  or if you buy that HVAC business, learn HVAC ASAP.
Be smart about it and remember that cash is king in the beginning.

I'd love to hear more details about how you found the opportunity, evaluated it, and pulled the trigger. What was your experience with the SBA? Did you have technical expertise in the biz you bought? Kind of a thread hijack, but you're doing exactly what OP is contemplating.

Sure.  The original decision to buy a business started after working for a couple of similar businesses.  After managing these companies for several years I realized that I was really good at it.  Seeing how much money I was making someone else, and then watching them blow though it, made me finally decide to take the plunge.  Constantly busting my ass for clueless owners who drive up in brand new sports cars just wasn't working for me anymore.

I looked at several, and in the end didn't go with the one that had the best numbers,  but the one that I believe has the most potential.  It's still early,  but so far so good.

The SBA was.......exhausting.   Between the SBA, and the bank, and the attorney, and the broker it was crazy.  I REALLY started to second guess things.  Honestly there were a couple times that I wanted to back out but I kept thinking that if those clueless fools in their shiny infinitys can do it, damn it so can I.

Just found this thread and I'm curious what sort of business/industry you purchased in?

[JeanLuc]

I would say it depends on what you personally value. If you are someone that prefers stability in their financial situation starting your own business can be a bit unnerving. However if you are excited by the idea of starting something for yourself and running your own thing it seems like a good choice. Whatever you do, don't start a business if you are not going to completely commit to it. Obviously if you are not into entrepreneurship but you are only doing it because you think you might be able to earn a little more don't do it. It rarely works out if you don't enjoy what you are doing.

One thing I noticed personally is that it's not for everyone. The moment you quit your job and start doing something for yourself it's like your are stepping into a spotlight. Your whole social network suddenly has an opinion and there are going to be people judging you. You are going to have to believe in your own idea because others won't. If that makes you very uncomfortable you might want to reconsider.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

One thing I noticed personally is that it's not for everyone. The moment you quit your job and start doing something for yourself it's like your are stepping into a spotlight. Your whole social network suddenly has an opinion and there are going to be people judging you. You are going to have to believe in your own idea because others won't. If that makes you very uncomfortable you might want to reconsider.

THIS.

It's like everyone becomes an expert in how to run a business, even though it's a very specific skill. Ops manager in a company? No, you do not know how to run a small business! Accountant for a hospital? No, you do not know how to run a small business! Employed hairdresser in a salon owned by someone else?No, you do not know how to run a small business! Be careful who you take advice from.

[Kyle Schuant]

Everyone is an expert with somebody else's money :)

[Lamancha]

I just recently went the route of buying an existing business with an SBA loan.  It's only been 3 months but so far absolutely no regrets.   I would caution about buying a business that you couldn't run if all of your employees quit on you on the same day.  Either buy something you can run on your own in an emergency,  or if you buy that HVAC business, learn HVAC ASAP.
Be smart about it and remember that cash is king in the beginning.

I'd love to hear more details about how you found the opportunity, evaluated it, and pulled the trigger. What was your experience with the SBA? Did you have technical expertise in the biz you bought? Kind of a thread hijack, but you're doing exactly what OP is contemplating.

Sure.  The original decision to buy a business started after working for a couple of similar businesses.  After managing these companies for several years I realized that I was really good at it.  Seeing how much money I was making someone else, and then watching them blow though it, made me finally decide to take the plunge.  Constantly busting my ass for clueless owners who drive up in brand new sports cars just wasn't working for me anymore.

I looked at several, and in the end didn't go with the one that had the best numbers,  but the one that I believe has the most potential.  It's still early,  but so far so good.

The SBA was.......exhausting.   Between the SBA, and the bank, and the attorney, and the broker it was crazy.  I REALLY started to second guess things.  Honestly there were a couple times that I wanted to back out but I kept thinking that if those clueless fools in their shiny infinitys can do it, damn it so can I.

Just found this thread and I'm curious what sort of business/industry you purchased in?

Without getting any more specific, the pet care industry.  It's not as easy as everyone thinks either.  No, we don't pet puppies all day.  Sigh.

[Monerexia]

Running a business is an entirely different energy than working for megacorp. It's an entirely different mindset, an entirely different role as a human being. One way to look at making money for megacorp is you are paying them to hold the structure you are obviously at the current time either unable or unwilling to hold for yourself. If you leave before you address these reasons chances are you will be assaulted by unaddressed psychological winds haha and find your way back to megacorp, so leave on good terms if you must. One option to level up like this is to do it in your hours outside of work--make them parallel tracks and ease out of one into the other. :)

[Monerexia]

Really just start small. Don't bet the farm, bet 10% of the farm--that's enough to get your attention but not enough to take you completely down. Then it can be fun. Even large businesses that start businesses don't bet the farm--they allocate some of their capital and apply pessimistic economics and prepare to be in the red for a bit. No biggie really.

[KarefulKactus15]

So its funny to read my post from a year ago.   Clearly - I didnt account for a worldwide pandemic with my optimism.

[Alien]

So its funny to read my post from a year ago.   Clearly - I didnt account for a worldwide pandemic with my optimism.

I got pushed into business like a bird pushed out of its nest and never regretted it. I've started 3 businesses. One flopped over way too long a time period, one made me enough to retire, the other I still run on a few hours a month and makes beer money.

Regret happens when you drag out failures. Fix the amount of money and time you have (e.g. 50k, 1 year).

The main personality traits you need are energy(work ethic, industriousness) and ruthlessness.
- If you can't start working on your biz in your off hours, you don't have the energy.
- If you aren't ruthless enough to focus on what your biz needs (not what you want), then it won't work (e.g. get customers at all costs, ditch your pretty stupid ideas if they are not working, fire employees fast).

What happened with your plan after all? If you're considering buying, if the CV lockdown continues and if the govt stops backstopping businesses (e.g. PPP), you might be able to get a good bargain.

[calimom]

This post popped back up on my feed and read my original post. Even though my business is  down, we still  exist. About 20 percent of clients  have  cancelled altogether, another 30 percent  or so are  on suspended service. And the other half  is  being serviced my my rockstar  technician.
My second business has had numerous  projects being put on hold for the foreseeable future.

Still, no regrets. Life is uncertain.Unexpected things (like a PANDEMIC) happen. We survive. @Kroaler, I read your other thread. While the timing on your new business  could not be worse, you're going to survive this, you hear me?  You're a hardworking, smart young guy. I predict great things for you. You're going to be OK. We're all going to be OK.

[SwordGuy]

Bloop Bloop mentions money and of course that's a factor, but the real reason to start your own business is autonomy. You no longer have to do things someone else's bullshit way, you can do things your own bullshit way.

This does things for your spirit which are hard to quantify.

Until the bullshit way is the paying client's way and you need their money...

[Kyle Schuant]

That's why if you want autonomy, you find a business approach which gives you many small clients rather than a few big ones. Many small clients - someone will be happy with whatever crazy shit you come up with. A few big clients, it's even worse than having a regular boss, since a regular boss has to follow some sort of procedure and is bound by various workplace agreements, whereas the big client can fuck you around at will.

If more than half your income comes from one client, you don't really have a business, you have a subdivision of someone else's business.

[bbqbonelesswing]

At one point in my life I took a risk and started trading full time. I had been doing it profitably on the side for a few years, so when I saved up enough after college I took the leap. Ultimately I wasn't successful, and ended up flat broke after burning through all the money I had set aside.

Do I regret it? Hell no. I learned so much and I'll carry that experience with me forever. It's something I had always wanted to try, and now I will never have to think, "what if?..." in my old age.

Do I ever imagine how things might have gone differently? Of course! After failing, I ended up in a very bad position financially and had to work my way back from scratch. I often think of where I would be now if I had instead saved my seed money and kept working and saving at a nice stable job. I'd have a lot more money now, yes. However, I would probably be very unhappy and inside would feel like a schmuck who was always to scared to reach for something bigger. Despite failing I can always hold my head high.

I've had a few other attempts at starting my own business, and will keep at it. I'm working on something now. One lesson I've learned, as others have mentioned, is to try not betting the entire farm on any one idea. Working on side projects while you have cash coming in from a day job can both scratch the itch to try a new idea and limit your downside if things don't work out as planned.

[KarefulKactus15]

This post popped back up on my feed and read my original post. Even though my business is  down, we still  exist. About 20 percent of clients  have  cancelled altogether, another 30 percent  or so are  on suspended service. And the other half  is  being serviced my my rockstar  technician.
My second business has had numerous  projects being put on hold for the foreseeable future.

Still, no regrets. Life is uncertain.Unexpected things (like a PANDEMIC) happen. We survive. @Kroaler, I read your other thread. While the timing on your new business  could not be worse, you're going to survive this, you hear me?  You're a hardworking, smart young guy. I predict great things for you. You're going to be OK. We're all going to be OK.

Well things are in fact going good.  I spent some covid time learning a little more about marketing. I have a 3 part plan.  I've implimented 2/3 parts and that has lead to a 7x increase in sales.

I'm still working on the last part. It taking a little longer to nail the SEO but I work on it here and there based on analytics reports and Google trends.    When I get this part complete how I want I expect another 2x - 3x increase in sales.

[MoustacheDArgent]

I purchased an online business and several years ago and was completely ripped off.    Looking back I didn't perform the proper due diligence and it cost me $5k. 

I started buying rental houses and then the money ran out to buy more.  I was maxing out my 401k and really hating my job.

I decided to buy a real estate course and was really skeptical and sat on it for several months in my mind coming up with all kinds of reasons why it wouldn't work and didn't make sense and how the course was a really low quality production.   Then I thought to myself that I should just try it and not focus on the course production but on the actual knowledge that was being conveyed.   I did a deal and made some money and was hooked.   That was over 5 years ago and now it's my full time job.  I quit the job I hated and now I have a net worth of over 1 million and monthly income over 20k.  I started small and have used no debt.     Anyway my point is to find people that are doing what you want to do an learn from them how to do it properly.  Don't start business you know nothing about and try to do it on your own.    If you just want something you can live off of and don't have a particular passion, I highly recomment real estate.  There are a lot of niches you can start in that don't take much money.   Things like short term rental management,  selling mobile homes in parks with owner financing,  etc.

[moresprinkles]

I had 2 passion projects.
Regrets? Absolutely not.
Did they fail? Of course they did, but that depends on what your definition of success is...

I had a bookstore and was vibing pretty good and learning about how to increase my profit margin (it’s not in books..it’s the other stuff in the bookstore) and then the FEDS showed up like something out of MIB and my landowner hadn’t paid his property taxes (asswipe) and now in the space where my bookstore was... sits a public park.
Silver lining? There is a little park that will live on and I got to read tons of books and my cat got to come to work with me.

I also had a little travel agency. No, not an MLM. The startup costs were minimal. I branded (which was fun) and used a host agency’s IATA number to book travel. First big mistake. The cut for the agent is exploitative and is not in the agent’s favor UNLESS you can somehow roundup large groups which is truly difficult. Lots of early joiners and then people flake out and never make the deposit. Competition is rough with the online agencies (Expedia) too. I got my startup money back, but it was a ton of work for little return.

Would I do it again? No! It’s too much headache being responsible for the travel hiccups that consistently take place while people are traveling. “Yeah, I lost my phone on the train between Rome and Pisa. Can you call and see if they can mail it back to me?” Uh, no. Consider that bitch lost.

Silver lining? I made some new friends and learned that co-branding with a huge corporation is not a good idea.

But the entrepreneurial spirit in me lives on and I now have an AirBnB in my house which is bringing in a consistent amount of cash flow. The startup costs are low and the administrative burden is minimal.

More often than not, people will go the safe route and not take the risk to be an entrepreneur for fear of failure or whatever, but I can’t imagine a life without it. I fail at most of the things I do and fuck what people think, even if I lose a little money...I gained valuable experience and the courage to step outside my self limiting fears. Right?

 

[iris lily]

Most business owners regret it at some point.

What is the most important thing to succeed?

You have to make sales.

You do not need

A logo
A van
A website
Business cards
Etc

To make that happen.

You do have to make real connections with an offer people need to do well.

So true. DH quit his job on a Friday and began working  his own service business, in a different field, on the following Monday. He did it for 15+ years and he never had a logo or business cards. He did have a well established and wide reputation in our neighborhood  as a nice and reliable guy,so when they learned he was also competent, he never lacked for business.

He cleared somewhere between $25,000 to $40,000 depending on the year.

To most of you, that lowball amount isn’t acceptable. But it was enough money for us.

He did handyman work and light construction. We live in a neighborhood of 130 year old houses owned by yuppies who have no idea how to fix anything. His customer base was within a ten block area and he seldom went outside of it. During the boom real estate years leading up to 2007, he made bigger money. After the real estate crash, he had fewer jobs but was still busy when others in his trade were out of work.

DH can fix anything!

[KarefulKactus15]

I imagine the trades will be safe for a while. Less people learning it and lots of people retiring.

I also don't think it can be automated or done remotely for another 25 years at least.