Thread: who owns and runs a business

Originally Posted by stig0000

is it worth taking that masive step and hoping it works,

you need to do your sums and work out where what and how your going to go about it..

not much hope involved most of the time just plain hard work and long hours till you get momentum...

Hi, Been in the speciality coffee business for 7 years now, was a truck mechanic for over 20 yrs before that. we tend to start businesses up and run them well for 18 months or so and sell them, done vans, carts and shops. we currently own an espresso bar in ipswich and have a new one opening in beaudesert tommorrow, want to start keeping the good ones now.
hardest thing for me was changing my mindset which is a continual proccess.
would i do it again?? definatly. theres nothing quite like being the master of your own destiny.
Its a lonley road at times but love it.
could go on about this for hours
just make sure your passionate about what you do and dont just buy yourself a job!!

I own and run my own full time business.

Get this: I design model trains...


But on occasion I also dabble in slightly larger subjects, like grabs, buckets and hitches for 20 tonne loaders...

We have a cleaning company, i dont work (as i have a full time job) in it just act as a volunteer in it

we bought the company in its entirity but it was run down and had not been pushed. Rach is a robot when it comes to hard work, she doesnt stop... and its a good job... it needed / needs it.

When we first looked into it we went to small business seminars and training sessions. I remember distinctly at one of the small business training sessions they told us that if you arent working 90+ hours per week on your business you dont have your own business or you are very lucky!

The business has been hard work, We spend most nights doing website, quoting, invoicing, bookwork etc etc and i have lost count of how many times i have been up until 2am+ trying to finish a section of the website. I know we could palm this off to others but when establishing a company we were watching our cents and we like the feeling of actually acheiving it ourselves (hence we are still doing our bookwork!)

so since taking it over in feb 2010 we have tripled the turnover, doubled the staff, and the number of real estates we have on side has gone from 5 to 30+

I guess we have cheated as i provided the regular income as a backup incase things were quiet... but Rach is definitly the earner now (and the harder worker!)

Would we do it again? .. i dont know whether rach would... but we are looking at diversifying into different areas.. so i guess we would

One thing to bear in mind.. over in perth (which is all i know) from all the small business people i have spoken to.. it seems to take 3 years for a business to start being 'busy' it seems to be the time where people notice you, remember you etc etc... i dont mean 3 years to make money... jst 3 years to become known...

Its hard work, and i cheat... but i think its worth it!

Thanks

Steve

We have been running an Electronic Assembly business for 12 years now. I am a Electronic Technician by trade so getting involved was not that hard, just getting my head around the business side of things took a couple of months. In this line customers will jump for as little as 15c per board.

There will be tough times but then also good times, as someone said you are your own master. With that come a lot of responsibilities. That face in the mirror is now the BOSS and he can be a b*****d. Although we have excellent staff the only down side is that long holidays (2 weeks +) is very difficult to achieve those long trips up the Kimberley's and across the Simpson will have to wait. I'm not even thinking of the Cape, as we are Perth based.

Do your research and if it looks good do it and give it your all, you only live once.

Cheers, Jurgens.

can understand its gona be hard work, still working out what to go into,, looked at so many options, but something online based is looking the go for future as basically most people look for things on the net, and net shopping is betting beter so i think that is the way to go

A slightly lower price and better service will get you going, after sales service will get customers to come back. Advertising is fickle, good communication with locals who might support you is vital. Once established a small business should be self perpetuating with word-of mouth recommendations.

I have been self employed since 1989, haven't advertised in the commercial media since 1996. Once you are established, spare time must be jealously guarded if you don't want to die an early death from stress. When you are asked if you work weekends, say, yes, of course you do, just you are booked out until next Monday.

I wish you luck.

Research...and plenty of it...seek advice....Business Enterprise Centre (BEC) Australia - Business Enterprise Centres (BEC) Australia

...some good FAQ's and links there.