Are You / Were You Self-Employed?

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Self-employment - the dream of so many nine-to-fivers. Work for yourself! Have no boss! Go to the beach on Tuesday!

But it takes a certain kind of person to hack it in the self-employment world. You have to be bold and determined. You have to be a salesperson. You have to wear ALL the hats. You have to bust your butt.

Many will fail within the first 10 years.

Yet, the dream lives on ...

Were you ever a person who worked for themselves? Are you still doing it? Did you sell the business for a few million and are sipping one of those little umbrella drinks on a tropical isle?

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It does - or DID - have a certain amount of security, didn't it?

Nowadays you never know when your job will suddenly disappear.
 

Geez, all that for a Canadianyr mermaid? Seems like overkill. I am going to hide out at Ike's place. He is so big, if I stand in his shadow no one will see me! I will cook/bake for my supper. Lolol.
 
SifuPhil said:
Ouch. That's always a concern, I guess - suddenly getting a competitor that has deep pockets.

Did you end up going to work for them?
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No, I sold off my stock for next to nothing and went out of business . There was no way to compete with Blockbuster.
 
BlunderWoman said:
No, I sold off my stock for next to nothing and went out of business . There was no way to compete with Blockbuster.
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Man, that's sad. Did that experience turn you off to self-employment? Myself I've had so many failed ventures I can't count them, but I'm still in there pitching.
 
Shalimar said:
Geez, all that for a Canadianyr mermaid? Seems like overkill. I am going to hide out at Ike's place. He is so big, if I stand in his shadow no one will see me! I will cook/bake for my supper. Lolol.
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Sorry girl but all I saw of your post was the word bake......we're talking about brownies right ?

If so hop on a Greyhound and head this way.......I'll have the oven preheated. :)
 
SifuPhil said:
Man, that's sad. Did that experience turn you off to self-employment? Myself I've had so many failed ventures I can't count them, but I'm still in there pitching.
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No I wasn't turned off to self employment. It's always a gamble. I won't say I didn't giggle a little when Blockbuster fell off the top of the hill :D Around that same time my ex began his own business & I stayed home raising the kids. I'm still thinking of a small business now, but I want to get healthier first. My ex's business did very well, but he sacrificed everything for it. Many businesses require so much it's worse than being married to it.
 
BlunderWoman said:
No I wasn't turned off to self employment. It's always a gamble. I won't say I didn't giggle a little when Blockbuster fell off the top of the hill :D Around that same time my ex began his own business & I stayed home raising the kids. I'm still thinking of a small business now, but I want to get healthier first. My ex's business did very well, but he sacrificed everything for it. Many businesses require so much it's worse than being married to it.
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Understood. 80-90 hour weeks were the norm when I was running my schools and clinics. Not good for relationships. Not good for health, either.
 
My husband was a car salesman and he and a fellow car salesman decided to open a high rise window cleaning company. Don was the sales guy, Jim was the window cleaner but there were soon enough jobs that Don had to learn to clean windows. That was back in '75 and the company still operates today although we sold it 8 years ago.

It was a hard job because you have to find the balance between dealing with employees and demanding customers. There's the nightmare of always being on top of your scheduling (how many guys showed up for work, what are their talents, what's the weather making impossible, and then there's the never ending paper work that has to get done and of course finding new business so that you can keep growing.... I did some of the office work although Don took care of the invoicing because he was never one to write anything down so which jobs were done, on the go, etc., was all in his head. We were absolutely thrilled to be able to sell and get out. Too much stress.
 
I've been self-employed twice.

I was a respite nanny, the nanny who replaces a nanny who takes an extended vacation or leave. The longest I was with one family (2 children) was about 6 months, when the regular nanny had major surgery and a lengthy recovery. I also began senior sitting, taking care of Gramma while the family went on vacation. I began hiring people when I got more business than I could handle, but made some errors regarding background checks - not that I hired *bad* people, I just didn't do the paperwork properly and also missed a deadline. My license was suspended and I gave up after about 6 months of hassling with the state.

Husband #3 and I bought a liquor/grocery market in partnership with his cousin. I created a business within the business; bar catering...we built 2 portable bars, hired 7 certified bartenders, and did weddings, graduation and birthday parties, etc., and naturally we supplied all the liquor. Excellent business as it was a college town.

I left that store, and bought into a partnership on another after divorce #3. 70 to 90 hours per week was the norm, as it was just me and my partner. Lots of physical work. Massive liquor, beer, and soft-drink orders. Three grocery isles and a coffee bar and soda fountain as well. And some crazy-ass customers. Good times, though. Really good times.
 
Debby said:
My husband was a car salesman and he and a fellow car salesman decided to open a high rise window cleaning company. Don was the sales guy, Jim was the window cleaner but there were soon enough jobs that Don had to learn to clean windows. That was back in '75 and the company still operates today although we sold it 8 years ago.

It was a hard job because you have to find the balance between dealing with employees and demanding customers. There's the nightmare of always being on top of your scheduling (how many guys showed up for work, what are their talents, what's the weather making impossible, and then there's the never ending paper work that has to get done and of course finding new business so that you can keep growing.... I did some of the office work although Don took care of the invoicing because he was never one to write anything down so which jobs were done, on the go, etc., was all in his head. We were absolutely thrilled to be able to sell and get out. Too much stress.
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That's a rough job. I imagine the insurance costs were a nightmare as well.

I owned a commercial cleaning company for a few years, mainly restaurants (the grease!) and small manufacturing firms. Scheduling WAS a beast, and dealing with cranky customers always a chore.
 
FazeFour said:
I've been self-employed twice.

I was a respite nanny, the nanny who replaces a nanny who takes an extended vacation or leave. The longest I was with one family (2 children) was about 6 months, when the regular nanny had major surgery and a lengthy recovery. I also began senior sitting, taking care of Gramma while the family went on vacation. I began hiring people when I got more business than I could handle, but made some errors regarding background checks - not that I hired *bad* people, I just didn't do the paperwork properly and also missed a deadline. My license was suspended and I gave up after about 6 months of hassling with the state.

Husband #3 and I bought a liquor/grocery market in partnership with his cousin. I created a business within the business; bar catering...we built 2 portable bars, hired 7 certified bartenders, and did weddings, graduation and birthday parties, etc., and naturally we supplied all the liquor. Excellent business as it was a college town.

I left that store, and bought into a partnership on another after divorce #3. 70 to 90 hours per week was the norm, as it was just me and my partner. Lots of physical work. Massive liquor, beer, and soft-drink orders. Three grocery isles and a coffee bar and soda fountain as well. And some crazy-ass customers. Good times, though. Really good times.
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From nanny to liquor sales - quite a jump, no?

That was clever starting the catering business.

"Really good times" - sometimes that's better than the money. Sometimes. :D
 
SifuPhil said:
From nanny to liquor sales - quite a jump, no?

That was clever starting the catering business.

"Really good times" - sometimes that's better than the money. Sometimes. :D
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As I look back, yes, good time/better than the money. At the time I was busting my ass...mmmnot so much.

That bar catering thing was a big hit. I even did pre-wedding wine consulting. Took a class and everything, i.e. wine tours and wine seminars. A tasty gig.

Quite a jump...yeah, I'm pretty versatile.
 
I was never self employed but my son has his own high end cabinetry business. Took it up in trade school, worked with someone for a few years,then bought him out. Doing very well and said he would never work for someone. He works extremely hard, and is very disciplined. Has many problems, one of which is trying to get reliable help. I asked him one time if he had the chance, what would you really like to do. He replied that he is doing it. I doubt many can say that. So many out of college today don't end up in the field of their choice.
 
I was "self-employed" for a few years, providing clerical services and personal services to a bunch of folks. Word of mouth got around that I could come in and get your files ready for tax season, fill in for your receptionist, clean out your closets and take things off to Goodwill, housesit, be a nanny, pet sit, etc. I'd come and wait for repairmen to show up. I'd take dogs to the groomer. If you were willing to pay me, I'd do just about anything. I made a good living off that, too. I helped a friend get her home business off the ground, taking care of shipping and receiving. Finally, I went to work three days a week and then four and five days a week for an old boss, but as a "contract employee". I had to pay my own taxes, but I could announce that I was taking Tuesday off and nobody could say anything. Luckily, I had insurance through my husband and was able to keep it after he died, so I didn't have to take a job for benefits. Then the company was bought out and I had to either become an employee or leave. I opted to become an employee and that worked out until I retired at 62.
 
We were self employed for 34 years-collision repair business. It can be tough but we loved it. Had my last two kids while working there-worked up til the day they were born,then went back to work at 4 and 5 days old with baby in tow. Had a corner of my office converted into a nursery and was able to take care of both my job and the baby. So when I say that Wes and I have been married for 48 years,I also say that it`s really more like 82 years because we weren`t apart for 8 hours a day like most couples. It was 24/7. Always worked great for us though. When we finally decided we had had enough,we only intended on leasing the property,never thought the business would sell,it was just "blue sky",really. So we closed and within a day had 7 offers to purchase the business. Sold it and have collected a handsome rent ever since (6 years now). When I think back to those early days though (we took over the business in 1977) we had soooo much fun. Worked our butts off 12+ hours a day but it was just fun. That lasted til the 90s,when our government (local,state and federal) decided to tax us to the breaking point and put so many environmental license fees on us that it just became ridiculous. Got to be that you hate to open the mail each day to see what they had come up with now. Just wasn`t fun anymore.
 
SifuPhil said:
That's a rough job. I imagine the insurance costs were a nightmare as well.

I owned a commercial cleaning company for a few years, mainly restaurants (the grease!) and small manufacturing firms. Scheduling WAS a beast, and dealing with cranky customers always a chore.
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I would imagine that your type of business was extremely competitive too wasn't it with customers always asking you to 'sharpen your pencil' which is code for 'don't charge me so much or I'll find some guy to do it really cheap'.

And between the insurance costs and Workmen's Comp., you're right, nightmare time. We had one guy who was told repeatedly before he went to the job that they were replacing a section of glass on a over the sidewalk awning, to watch out for the hole and wear his safety harness. We had to pay for the ambulance to take him to the hospital because he didn't wear his harness and when he stepped through the 'hole', he hit a handrail and broke his back. That cost us.

Then we had another guy (also on an awning) who was also told 'remember the harness', who figured that his 20 years of window cleaning meant he was invincible, except the Workmen's Comp inspector didn't agree and that cost us about $17,000.00 despite our employee admitting to the Compensation guy while at the scene, that 'yes, he'd been told several times by his boss to remember the harness'.

So yeah, the aggravations in order of importance, the employees not doing what they're told, customers demanding more than is reasonable and then the weather.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
I was never self employed but my son has his own high end cabinetry business. Took it up in trade school, worked with someone for a few years,then bought him out. Doing very well and said he would never work for someone. He works extremely hard, and is very disciplined. Has many problems, one of which is trying to get reliable help. I asked him one time if he had the chance, what would you really like to do. He replied that he is doing it. I doubt many can say that. So many out of college today don't end up in the field of their choice.
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Your son is a very lucky guy then Ruth.
 

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