similar to llamas and their "wool" is supposed to be some of the best in the world. i see a lot of hobby Alpaca farms in central Texas

I don't own my own biz but my father does and a small oil tooling business in Houston. I am actually going to leave corporate America to go work with the old man soon and looking forward to it!

 

i'm a light excavating/landscape contractor. Lots of fun, get to drive the cummins alot to tow the excavator.

 

Sent you a PM!

 

I am a one man contractor.
No Employees No head aches.

 

Myself, my father, and my grandmother run two new car dealerships, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Can't make any money, and if we do the G takes it. Employee's are always complaining and fighting amungst each other. And then there are the nice cutomers like the 20 year old kid with a melted #1 piston in an 05 Cummins with a bullydog monitor and bullydog stickers all over his truck who wants it warrantied and swears he's not running a chip!

 

Well I was selling and shipping things I bought at auctions, liquidations, and yard sales on ebay part time but it became too much of a headache as all the scammers out there have ruined the ease of doing business to where its become a huge pain in the.....It was actually a good extra several hundred a month.

Now I too am looking at becoming self employed within a couple of years. Then I hope to start a transport service business suplemented by snow removal and might expand from there depending on how things go like RV transport and what not based on customer requests.

 

Having ones own business is great! You only have to work half a day. The trick is to figure out which 12 hour segment of the day you want to work - 7 days a week at first.

That statement made me think about something. Most people do not understand that there is a difference between a manager and a leader. Company owners should be both good leaders as well as being a manager, however the two do not always go together. The above statement makes me think that you are more a manager than a leader. Let me elaborate and then you decide.
Managers pursue the same strategies indefinitely. Leaders formulate new strategies regularly. Managers strive for stability and prefer little change. Leaders thrive in crisis and need change. Managers focus on tangible short term results and performance. Leaders strive for intangible long term results.

Another thing you are going to need is vision. Just wanting to own your company is a good start, but will not keep you going when the going gets tough as it is guaranteed to do. Unless you know where you are going, how are you going to get there? What is it that you truly want to accomplish? As has already been said, you must also do something that you enjoy.

 

I have an auto repair shop. I work by myself on a referal basis. It is like going to the doctor. My customers go to their regular garage for repairs, if it needs major repair they get refered to me. I have a 1/2 dozen or so garages that do this. Keeps me busy all the time. I do not advertise and work off a cell phone. My overhead is zip.My biggest expense is health insurance followed by business insurance, after that it is a piece of cake.

 

I work full time for one of the worlds largest plastics manufacturers. I HATE that job.
for sanity in life I have a 'side' biz. I wire tents and other temporary functions. I have worked my way to being the only electrician at the worlds largest 'working' farm show. Took me 20 years to get there and have held that spot for another 5. This gig requires all but 2 of my vacation days. It is also at the point where it needs a lot more time applied to it to be more profitable. I have enough "rental material" to do about 50 acres of tents. I use it one time a year for a three day show. This biz could grow by doing a few county fairs, large auto auctions, dog shows, plantwide meetings and Christmas displays (yes, I have done some of all of those. Ever tried to run a hundred hair dryers at the same time?) in addition to the farm show. My biz would make a creative person a good chunk of money. A less intuitave person might as well go see the bankruptcy lawyer now and get it over with. In this biz you cannot go to a supply house and get a hanger to hang a 1000 watt fixture from a purling of a Hocker or Roder tent (german made clear span structures). The welder will have to be a part of the backup crew.
This has provided me with a bunch of toys and is my sole need to have 2 Cummins powered pickups. I have also seen the backside of productions the rest of the world does not even know exhists

Want to buy me out? I would stay on long enough to train you.

 

Although the Wife and I both work outside the ranch in office enviroments we also run a horse and mule operation. We do training and offer breeding services with our jack. Once my child support goes away from my first marriage the wife will be staying home as a full time trainer since we are staying covered up with work and having to turn down people.

 

Just took a quick read of the answers so far and that made me remember something else. Many people get fed up working for somebody else and dream of having their own business. For the majority, that is all it will ever remain - just a dream. The difference between a leader and a daydreamer is that the leader activates his or her dreams, while the daydreamer just thinks about them.
Bret, are you just a daydreamer, or are you going to set a real definitive goal, then plot the route and timeline to get to each stage? Only you can make up your mind as to what you remain or what stars you reach for. Once you have made a firm decision as to the goal, then and only then can you plan the route, obtain help from other resources and take the steps to reach your star. If you just bumble along 'hoping' things will work out, then chances are that you will fail. It is imperative that you establish the goal FIRST and plot the route to get there. Yes, there may well be course changes, but PLAN and as much as possible stick to the plan and keep your eyes fixed on the goal.
Of course there is a lot more to the above, but hopefully this may help a bit.

 

Well, I have been a daydreamer. But its time for me to move on. My biggest problem is trying to decide, or find, what I love to do. My main love is auto racing. I guess you could say that auto racing is my own business, as I own and race my own equipment. And I do know what it takes to be sucessfull at racing, but racing is not a fiancially sucessfull business. Unless of course one has millions to start with. Which I definately dont.
I understand the hard work and long hours, as I have been, and am, there with racing. I usally work ave. 40hrs a week on racing after my 40 hr week job. Some weeks are real long and some are real short.
I havent figured my business plan yet, because I havent figured out what I want to do. Maybe I am having a hard time deciding what I love to do, because of the fear of failure? I dont know. At any rate, thats the reason for this post, just to try to gather some ideas. Bret
P.S. my racing is a finacial disaster, but is planned that way for tax purposes. As I dont have any tax write offs, except for racing.

 

Well I can tell you how to make a million dollars racing!!!!!!!















Start with 2 million

 

Once this snow gets melting and is gone, me and my buddy are starting on buying cars and fixing them and reselling or buying and parting out the cars. Not really a business but it brings in extra money. I am really looking into starting a laaawn care business with snowplowing in the winter,just need some start up money first and a bigger truck.

Will the selling cars in the state of Maine you can only private sell 5 cars a year befor eyou need a Dealer Lic.,so between Him,me and his Fiance we are ok to do 15cars a year then.

 

i plow in the wintertime, haul machinery for people, pick up cars and such and turn them in as scrap, do mobile welding/machinery/equipment repairs, and buy trucks dismantle them, then part them out.

on top of my usually 60 hr/week job in the summer