I started working when I was nine years old, mowing lawns and shoveling driveways, so that I could buy a motorcycle. In two years I saved $330. Big money back in 1974. Since that time I’ve always tried to be my own boss and have started numerous businesses and ventures. Some successful, some not. I successfully sold my last business which was a tire recyling plant that changed car and truck tires into granulated/powderized rubber. 70,000 sq.ft. of machines and a 24/7 operating schedule. Lessons learned along the way have brought me to where I am today, enjoying the best business in the world.
Here are some reasons my cynical side thinks why:
- NO EMPLOYEES – Face it, employees are the biggest pain in the ass. From payroll to sick days to screwing things up, more headaches come from them than any other area.
- NO CUSTOMERS - Sure, without them you are finished but chasing accounts receivables and placating unreasonable people is a terrible way to spend your days.
- NO RENT – Not having to deal with pernicious landlords or their underlings whose only joy in life is jacking up the rent is a real treat.
- NO LAWYERS – IMO lawyering is one step away from being a crackhead. Addicted to more fees, not caring who they rob to get more.
- NO INVENTORY – Buying or making stuff and having to store it becomes a hassle.
- NO ADVERTISING – How do you know if it really works or not.
- NO BANKERS – Being held over a barrel is really not a lot of fun.
- NO MACHINERY – Having to fix broken stuff all the time wears you down.
- NO LICENSING – being shuffled around city hall in order to pay them to let you operate is demeaning.
- NO COMMUTE – Nothing I can think of sucks the life out of you more than fighting rush hour traffic everyday.
Now my positive side can add some things here. With trading, everything starts and stops with you. Your decisions alone determine your future. Immediate results return from your efforts.
And you can work at home in your underwear.
If you are having trouble getting into trading and can't seem to find you way, remember that you have the ability to do it. It just takes work and realization of what is holding you back from success. Attack these areas with an almost missionary zeal, get it right and the rewards will be more than you can ever imagine.
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3 comments:
Thanks Scott. As a self-employed guy myself, I whole-heartedly agree to your assessment of its difficulties. Among the multitude of challenges, I have had employees wreck two of my service vans, one was drunk with his little neice. The other crashed into a woman who sued me, keeping me in court every day for a full week. So f**k the lawyers too, IMO.
This site is a blessing to me and many others, to be sure. I will continue to study this art and look forward to the day when I too can say "to hell" with the traditional self-employment route.
And you're not being cynical at all, if the pain in the ass was real experience.
Very true!
Amen to being your own boss and only answering to your own decision making or lack-there-of.
I have never fit in anywhere I have worked. If I saw something that needed to be fixed or could be done better I spoke up and that almost always caused tension.
I once used the same thought as a motivator for our group of trainee's. If doing what we're doing now is hard and is getting you down, think about what you used to do and if you had to go back to that. Would you really want to go back?
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