the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

KEND wrote:Went out at age 50, had consultancy for 17 years. Advice, have 6 months savings so you can pay rent and eat with no income. Have a business plan, list potential clients and work through them. Don't rent permanent office until income merits it.Be prepared to work hard[80 hr weeks] and give up your previous life. Make sure this is what you want, you are not doing it to impress people or massage your ego.There is an element of luck involved, but there is a way of being lucky[read Wisemans book below]
The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind: Richard .Wiseman
https://www.amazon.com/Luck-Factor-Scie ... 151137683X
... and graphed research data from his eight-year study of luck, Wiseman's book promises to offer "a scientifically proven way to understand, control, and increase your luck." While many believe luck is a mystical force influenced by superstitious rituals, Wiseman, psychology chair at the University of Herfordshire in England,

middleway wrote:Also dangerously close to 40 myself however I went Self employed at age 24 and that grew into my own company with staff and a number of consultants. On Balance its one of my best life choices. I could never work for someone else now, no matter what they offered.

Best of Luck mate, you will smash it i am sure!

northern_mantis wrote:

middleway wrote:Also dangerously close to 40 myself however I went Self employed at age 24 and that grew into my own company

Wow that's young to make a success of your own business, good on you.

KEND wrote:Don't rent permanent office until income merits it.Be prepared to work hard[80 hr weeks] and give up your previous life.

northern_mantis wrote:

everything wrote:Similar situation. I want to start a company (pretty high risk product company). Instead I left a large company to start a product for a small services company. Couldn't be happier so far. I still want to go the start-up route.

A friend of mine who is already starting a start-up at first started a training services company. He said this is a great way to go to get started with lucrative self-employment, assuming you have expertise (everyone has relative expertise). You design one course, and then deliver it multiple times per year (the same course). It seems possible you could do this with data analysis classes as part of your self-employment. Then he would do 2 or 3 consulting gigs mainly to have fresh experience and stories. But the profit center for him was training. Here is a little breakdown:

1. Design course. This is all done on your time, based on your experience in your gigs. No revenue.
2. Rent hotel space for training course. Possibly $1000 (in USA). You can search with sites like hotelplanner.com
3. Charge about $500-1000 for a one day class. Get 10-20 people.
4. Provide lunch (you could hand out prepaid cards for a fast-casual restaurant next to hotel) at about $15 pp.
5. Profit for one class (not including travel) is about $7000 - $15000 or so.
6. Repeat this 10x per year.
7. The students are leads for your gigs, and the gigs provide stories and demand assessment for training.

That's really interesting, thanks. It definitely seems like services are easier to get working than a product based business especially if you're flexible about what you deliver.

Ron Panunto wrote:I'm 74 now and went on my own 14 years ago. I did it by purchasing the company that I had worked for for 7 years. It cost me $350,000, but I am making a good living and paid off the loan after 5 years. I'm a consulting electrical engineer specializing in forensics.

Wow that's young to make a success of your own business, good on you.

Most people I know who succeeded early had parents who also were successful business people.

middleway wrote:There was 5 - 6 years of limited money, working as a bouncer to make ends meet, living in shitty rented apartments, spending what little money i had to travel to see my then teacher etc.

My parents got divorced when i was young, so I was raised by my mother and grandmother. My mother was a PHD Veterinary Biologist for 50 years. She was wholey underpaid and struggled to raise me and my brother alone. So my story is quite different i guess.

Michael wrote:

Ron Panunto wrote:I'm 74 now and went on my own 14 years ago. I did it by purchasing the company that I had worked for for 7 years. It cost me $350,000, but I am making a good living and paid off the loan after 5 years. I'm a consulting electrical engineer specializing in forensics.

Thx for sharing.

Why did you decide to buy the company instead of continuing to work for it? What risks did you plan for? Do you think being 60 at the time is an advantage or disadvantage to someone like OP, who is 40?

KEND wrote:Ron are you still working? I continued on my own until I was 81, it kept my mind active. My clients called me back after my partner and I folded the company in 2001. I found that my years of experience in engineering was still in demand