Is Your Business Your Main Source Of Income?

[KingHippo]

Is your business your main source of income? Can you support yourself entirely from the money you make from your business?

[Patrysha]

Yes and No....

It is my source of income but not the family's only source of income. At the moment it couldn't sustain us for very long, but I'm working towards it. It has kept us going through some tough times, enough to keep our head above water during periods where my husband was unemployed for short stretches...

[vangogh]

Yes and yes. My business is my only source of income and I've been supporting myself working only for myself for about the last 5 years. In the beginning it was more of a struggle, but if you hang in there you can learn how to do what you do better and build your business until it is supporting you.

[Dan Furman]

Yes, my business is my only source of income. I'm including books there, but they are almost a non-entity in comparison to the copywriting (books pay WAY less than people think.)

My wife works a job (she's a legal assistant.) We get health insurance through her for now, but she works more for the "extra", etc - my efforts could support us both pretty easily (I make more now than we did combined when we both had jobs.)

I'm also very proud of the fact that I built this business from nothing (I didn't leave a job to go into the same business, had industry contacts, etc - I had zero in that respect). Every client (and by extension, referral) of mine started off by searching for what I do, finding my website, and was then converted (not that it's any less doing it the other way, mind you - but I'm just as happy it worked out the way it did.)

[vangogh]

It was the same thing for me Dan. The only time I've ever worked as a web designer/developer is for myself. I had no contacts when I first got started. I built a relationship with someone I met as through continuing education at the University here. He owns a hosting company and I did some freelance work for him as I started building my client list. One of my first client found me through connections to relatives, but after that they've all been people who found me in one place or another online.

It's a great feeling the first time someone you've never met or have any connection to gets in touch wanting you to work on their site. Actually it's a great feeling most any time someone does, but that first one seems to be a little more special.

[Baseline]

I've been supporting my family for 15 years- and my wife only started working 2 years ago. Not to be rude- but it is silly to "own" a business that pays you less than you can make in the market. IMO, if you don't figure out how much you are making for each hour of work, you are being shortsighted. You need real numbers to compare.

Don't confuse self-employment with a hobby- you can make money, or lose money with a hobby. But you need to eat; so plan on making money. Why else would you take the risk?

[orion_joel]

In the probably 6 years that i have been operating my business i have been able to cover all my expenses with the income just two years. The other four i may have been a bit short and really been digging into savings if i had not been working a full time job. However in saying that had i not taken a full time job maybe i would have made more from my business.

While i am sure that if i put in full hours and really focused on my business i could easily make 2 or 3 times the money that i make working for someone else. It kind of becomes hard to quantify if i could actually do it. I am more looking to focus on making my money from my business ASAP as i realized just how poorly i am getting paid from my job now.

The biggest challenge is taking the business to a level even just a barely cover expenses level while i am working the job i am.

[vangogh]

While I agree you should figure out how much you are earning each hour, it's hardly silly to own a business that pays less than you can make in the market. Your assertion assumes money is highest on the priority list. For many, myself included, it isn't. Money is pretty high up there on my list, but it's not number one.

For me I gain a lot in the quality of life department by owning a business and working from home. I get a far greater sense of satisfaction and self worth from being 100% responsible for running my business. No job at any price could truly replace either.

But even in solely monetary terms there's still reason to run a business earning below your market value. At a job most people can look forward to an annual cost of living raise, which may or may not be enough to cover cost of living increases. To make more usually involves promotions into other jobs, which could take you further and further from the work you enjoy doing.

Many business don't reach their potential in the first few years. It's not unreasonable to think you'd work a few years below your market worth in order to reach the point where your business will provide far more than you could get on the market. You might make less than you can on the market in the first few years, but make far more than your market worth over the lifetime of your business.

[orion_joel]

I think that a lot of what you have said is very true Vangogh.

It is not even just about what you earn, but also what you spend. If you are working from home while you may dedicate a portion of your house to your business, you are also cutting out number of costs. For one Fuel, i spend per week about $60 on fuel, if i was not working i would not be driving anywhere near as far and would probably spend closer to maybe $25. Also on a yearly basis i would generally maybe spend anything up to $1,000 on clothes suitable for work, that may not be worn at any other time, this would be wiped out almost entirely as i don't need to wear a collar and tie to work at home and the ones i have would last a lot longer for when i do need to wear one.

There are many other costs that often are associated with working which other may be able to cut, buying you lunch, when you are at home you make it there a lot cheaper. Parking no longer becomes an issue if you work in a metro area where you need to pay for parking. Toll Roads often won't even be ventured on where some people have to use them every day to get to work. Of course these costs are going to differ from person to person and country to country, even city to city. But the thing is I think most people could probably cut at least $2K maybe even $3-5K or more, from their expenses if they were not working.

Of course this does lead back to the argument "But what about my mortgage, or other bills". Well yes of course you will have those but anyone who throws in their job to start a business with zero in the bank and no emergency fund (http://www.small-business-forum.net/financing-your-small-business/253-emergency-funding.html) in my opinion is planning to fail or at least setting themselves up for a very difficult time ahead.

One other big key point that i think comes in here is that for example i earn approx $40,000, which i don't think is that great really, i could be making much more. I am not really happy with that income for what i do now as a job. However if i was to be turning over that much profit in a business i would be very happy. Not only would i be working for myself, i would be saving money by not having to go somewhere to work, i would be probably spending not much more then 15 hours per week on the business. But the biggest thing, i would be able to choose my work time, where i work from and what i do when. I am fully set up that i could operate my business from my desk right here at home, or the coffee shop, or a park, anywhere really and i would have the freedom to do that. Yes i may be making the same money but i think that i would be happier doing that.

[Baseline]

While I agree you should figure out how much you are earning each hour, it's hardly silly to own a business that pays less than you can make in the market. Your assertion assumes money is highest on the priority list. For many, myself included, it isn't. Money is pretty high up there on my list, but it's not number one.

For me I gain a lot in the quality of life department by owning a business and working from home. I get a far greater sense of satisfaction and self worth from being 100% responsible for running my business. No job at any price could truly replace either.

But even in solely monetary terms there's still reason to run a business earning below your market value. At a job most people can look forward to an annual cost of living raise, which may or may not be enough to cover cost of living increases. To make more usually involves promotions into other jobs, which could take you further and further from the work you enjoy doing.

Many business don't reach their potential in the first few years. It's not unreasonable to think you'd work a few years below your market worth in order to reach the point where your business will provide far more than you could get on the market. You might make less than you can on the market in the first few years, but make far more than your market worth over the lifetime of your business.

Two separate points there. One is the joy of being self-employed- the other is eventual worth of business (for sale, or whatever).

The first point is the one I disagree with. If I can work as a surveyor for a company at 50% more than I make self-employed, with all other things being equal....... why not take the more money? Now, that also means the business model you're using is bad- you need to charge more, since it is the same professional service- but I am amazed at the number of people who work more hours for less money just so they can be a "boss". Working fewer hours for more money should be the goal- leaving you time for the rest of your life. Your life should be more than just your business.

But the second point is valid- if the goal is to sell the business, or go public, maybe take less to keep cashflow in the early years. But at some point the business needs to be making money, or else it won't be worth anything.

I've seen several businesses in my field fail when the owner dies- one was a good sized firm with two offices and 25 employees. Many of my friends try to sell their practice, and find that it isn't worth what they thought it was on the open market. So my comment about "silly" is meant to make one look at the business from an outsiders viewpoint. We all fall in love with our business- but as E-myth said, at some point you look at the 100 hour weeks for weeks on end and decide to do.... something.

Lastly, it is a decision to work from home and just make enough to get by versus seeing how far you can take it. If working 30 hours from home allows you to pay the bills, and live the life you want- great! You're right, it isn't all about the money. My point was the person who is working the 100 hour weeks and losing money. Maybe its a bad business; maybe its a bad skill set; maybe a lot of things. But if you can make more doing the same thing in the same time with someone else taking all the risks, you should do that. Until you can figure out what you're doing wrong.

IMO, of course....

[vangogh]

I'm not saying you shouldn't go for the more money assuming money is more important to you. But I am saying that money isn't the most important thing to everyone. For me the things I get from being self employed are worth far more than money.

All other things are not equal when it comes to comparing working for someone else and working for yourself. By definition they're very different.

As far as my second point I didn't mean it about working to sell your business, though that's certainly a possibility. What I meant was that most businesses aren't going to do as well in their first few years as they will in later years, but you can't get to those later years without going through the early years.

For example lets say market value for a job is $50,000 and someone working that job can look forward to a $5,000 raise each year. That same person could start their own business and make only $20,000 in year one and maybe $30,000 in year two. They might then be able to go on to make $60,000 in year three and $150,000 in year four.

Obviously I'm making up the numbers above, but the idea is there's a higher upside in regards to revenue when running your own business. When you work for someone else you work to make them money. When you work for yourself you work to make you money.

[orion_joel]

Vangogh, made up number's or not, i believe they are the realistic possibilities.

Wroking for someone else you have the potential to get a CPI raise or maybe if you are lucky a few thousand more. Where as working in your own business you practically have unlimited potential. Today when i go into work i am going to be paid $18 for 1 hour, how hard i work or what i do will not change that, it is a fixed rate. I could work three times as hard as the other people but that does not matter.

In contrast working for myself i have no fixed hourly income. I could have an hour where i make nothing and then the next i could spend 15 minutes doing a quote, and 15 minutes later have an order that has $1000 profit in it. Or i could be on site charging $100 an hour to the client.

Between working for someone and yourself there is major contrast that cannot be compared in dollar figure, even if dollar's are the most important thing to you.

However there is a complete other set of questions you need to answer for yourself before you decide if your own business is better for you then working for someone else. Things like
- Do you mind doing book keeping (unless you are comfortable with out sourcing this it is a requirement for small business, and more involved then your own personal taxes) If you are going to loath this part, maybe you are better off working for someone else.
- Also record keeping, you need to keep good records, so if you have trouble finding simple thing's for your tax consider if you are really going to be able to maintain a solid record keeping system.
- Self Discipline, If time management is not a strong point and you have trouble sticking to a plan, then again working for someone else may be a better idea.

the lure of potential better income from small business, cannot become a reality if you are not able to keep good record, know whats going on with your book keeping, manage your time well, and any number of other things. But probably the most important thing is that you need to be able to focus and eliminate distractions. When i was working solely for myself, i wound up watching an hour or two of tv in the middle of the day, i would find myself going to the shops more often and many other distractions, while at the time it did not really affect my business to any large degree, if i had better spent that time marketing and promoting my business it may be a much different business today.

[vangogh]

Lots of good points Joel. What I was saying above was just the potential money making aspects of a business. The ceiling is much higher when you work for yourself than when you work for someone else. There's no guarantee you'll reach that ceiling of course. Most probably won't.

It's a valid point that going into business is not for everyone. There are different challenges and different skills.

My main point in my last few posts was simply that it's not always an automatic choice to take a job for more money than what you're making in your own business. There are valid and good reasons to making less working for yourself than you could working for someone else.

[orion_joel]

I think that the main key to owning your own business is that the biggest key is that when you set-up your business correctly, their really is no ceiling. Again that method of continual growth may not be for everyone, but it is the unlimited potential of working for yourself.

The other key thing that has potential in your own business is the ability to leverage time. When you work for someone else, and in a position of management, you automatically are leveraging your time through the employees that you manage, however you could manage 5 or 5o people make roughly the same money and still have a whole pile of work you need to look after. Where as when you have your own business, you have that potential to leverage your time to people that you employee, and where when working for someone else the additional profit that is generated through you leveraging your time to your employees is not profit on your own balance sheet. Not only this but you have the ability to earn more and with the correct system's and employees in place give yourself much more time for yourself or family or such.

Finally another area that i think you need to take into account when looking at the comparison of how much you earn is what value you are creating. In respect of a service business this may not be a lot if you are the sole employee, however if you can set up a business model that has employees and procedures in place, then even if you are not making more then your market rate in your own business, initially, there is a great chance you will in the future, plus you need to take into account the value you are creating in the business itself.

Unless you operate your business like i do, which is do almost nothing with it and turnover only a few hundred dollars with minimal profit per month (more so because i have not got the balance between work and my own business to do much more) Then you are continually moving towards a potentially better future in your own business.

[vangogh]

I see owning my own business as an unlimited ceiling too. At least much less limited than were I working for someone else. I think there are many different ways to approach that ceiling and my task is to find those ways and make them work. I know I'm closer to the ceiling than I was a few years ago when I first started.

For me though, the main reasons I'm in business for myself are the ones that have less to do with the money specifically. Sure the money is important and I'd like to continue to make more, but I never felt the same sense of accomplishment and satisfaction working for others as I do working for myself. The enjoyment I get from having all the responsibility for my success or failure on myself is something no job can ever give to me. I could make half or less the market value I'm worth and I'd still prefer to work for myself.

I'd need to be offered far above market value to even consider working for someone else.

[Dan Furman]

You sound like me, Vangogh.

One of the parts I hated most about having a job was the realization that my income was capped. That no matter what I did, I could realistically predict what I'd be making 10 years from now. And even if I was off by, say, 30-40k (say I changed companies and got a bigger offer), it's still a pretty stifling thought.

To give an example, my brother is a radiology tech - he can pretty easily predict that in ten years, he'll be making between 80-120k. Now, he's happy with that, but I find it soul crushing.

With my own biz, hey, who knows what's gonna happen? I may even make 500k next year - all it takes is one phone call or e-mail from the right client. Now, I may not make that (or even close to it), but at least it's realistically possible - I can actually see it happening. When I worked a job, that wasn't happening, no matter what.

Like you, it would take a lot for me to go get a job again. Like a million bucks. Literally. :)

[Steve B]

I'm not sure a million would do it for me. I currently make a fraction of what I used to earn in the corporate world - but, I don't even entertain the thought of going back to it. I was never motivated by money. The predictability and limitation of it didn't bother me about the corporate job - it was all the other stuff that went along with working for others that was the problem.

[vangogh]

@Dan - When I worked for other people I knew most of my effort was going toward making them money. I like it better when my efforts go toward making me money. My future is more in my control than it is in the control of another person who could decide to downsize.

@Steve - Same here. Money isn't the sole motivating factor for me. There's so much more freedom associated with what I do now than when I worked for others that it would take a lot to get me to go back to working for someone else.

[orion_joel]

I think Vangogh, when you feel you are getting closer to the ceiling that is the time that you need to be looking at things that can produce income or otherwise automate your income. Because even though as i first mentioned there is an unlimited ceiling on your income. There is still a ceiling on something that is much more valuable than that, your time. I believe that when you feel you are reaching your ceiling, you need to look to break through the ceiling. However if you are comfortable where you are there is really no need to break through. I think that you Wordpress theme project you have been working on is one of these things. It is something that you work on once but can reap the rewards many times over with little additional effort.

Dan, i do totally agree with you on all points. I earn somewhere around $35-$40K a year now, in 10 year's in the same career path i doubt i will be even knocking on the door of $100K, and this is working in a fairly hand's on always on the move job. Where as in my business if i really applied myself i could essentially far exceed this income. I say potentially because so far i have been responsible for more failure to provide much income from my business then anything else. While i am still operating at a profit it is a very small one.

While money to some extent is a motivating factor for me, as i want to have a suitable income to provide for my wants and such, it is far from the only factor. The primary factor that probably comes ahead of money is variety, i want to be able to pick and choose what i do when. Which is why i really want my business to go in the direction of having multiple different businesses as part of the whole, this means that i can choose to go to one place one day and another at another time. I am not fixed to going to the same place and doing the same thing each day.

[vangogh]

Joel that's a good point about raising he ceiling. That's something you can do when you work for yourself, but not so much when you work for someone else. You could of course seek a different job within your company, but even that can be limited.

Time is an issue. Since my business is currently based on services my money is directly tied to how much time I can work. I've spent much of this year working towards things that scale better and don't have that same 1:1 relationship for me with time and money.

[BillR]

Time is an issue. Since my business is currently based on services my money is directly tied to how much time I can work. I've spent much of this year working towards things that scale better and don't have that same 1:1 relationship for me with time and money.

I am currently planning a new business.

I know it could be immediately profitable if I do direct work with customers. I'm not going that way however. I am very deliberately going to NOT be a direct customer revenue generator. Other people are going to do that for me - I'll have to hire and train them but long term the income generation will be FAR higher.

I don't want to fall into the trap of having no time to run the business because I am so busy doing actual customer work.

[orion_joel]

I am in a similar boat Bill, I know i could make a profit from my business, but i really want to be sure that what i do is going to give me better results them working for someone else and not cause me endless headaches.

[vangogh]

I don't want to give up working with my clients, since I do enjoy working with them and on their sites. I genuinely enjoy designing and coding websites and developing applications. But I do want to work on projects outside of client work that scales better and can bring revenue not specifically tied to my time.

[BillR]

I don't want to give up working with my clients,

11 years in the trenches dude :) I am done!

[Baseline]

Which is- really- the point I was making. Why do the same thing you were doing for the same money you were making? No net change in your life, other than trading the yammerheads you were working for, for the yammerheads you are working...... waitaminnit............

Scalable is another buzzword for E-myth, 4Hour Workweek, etc. You want to stop trading time for dollars- which is what most of us self-employed types are still doing (me included- not throwing mud here...). This is why we are "small" business, and not large, I would submit. For various and sundry reasons, we don't want to get "big"- so we want it scalable, so we can get sorta big- but still be da boss.

IMO, of course.....

[vangogh]

I think scalable is more than just a buzzword. At leas the way I see it it's more. An example might help clarify.

I can design someone a custom theme for their blog and charge a decent amount. I put in X hours and make Y dollars. And that's it. More money might come from making changes to the theme later or maintaining it. Ideally the process leads to a new client who continues to have me work on other sites or recommends me, etc. Still the revenue is all tied directly to how many hours I'm working.

On the other hand I could put some time into developing a blog theme for sale. It would require more time to develop a theme for sale than to custom design one since it would need to be more flexible for a variety of uses. I'll put more time into developing that one theme and won't be able to charge as much as I could for a custom theme. However that theme could sell many times over and ultimately bring back a much greater return that isn't tied to my time 1:1.

Obviously time goes into to both, but the scale is very different. The theme for sale potentially can bring in a far greater return per time, than a custom design can.

[Dan Furman]

I don't want to give up working with my clients, since I do enjoy working with them and on their sites. I genuinely enjoy designing and coding websites and developing applications.


Yea, but don't you just HATE it when they try and get involved or (God forbid), help? :D

[vangogh]

Funny Dan. Thinking of someone we know? :)

[orion_joel]

Baseline small or big business is all a matter of perception and comparison.

I do not think that anyone would argue that Exxon Mobil is not a Big business. However as you go down the ladder where do they stop being big and start being small. Really it is all a matter of comparison.

But maybe one guy own's 3 or 4 coffee shops has 30 or so staff in them turns over $4million per year, with $500K profit. Small or big business? Another guy owns a computer consulting firm, employees 3 techncians and sturns over $4million per year, with $500K profit. Small or Big business? I have a feeling that many people without knowing revenue and profit figures would say the guy with the coffee shops has the big business and the other guy has the small business, but really it is all a matter of perception.

And really at the end of the day both business are probably micro businesses compared to anything on the fortune 500 list.

[greenoak]

so glad i found you all again...i have some new plots to run by you!!
but to the question....yes , its the only income for my dh and i....but not online.
.but our internet parts are crucial....
.....if iwe had had to make a good wage in the first years our business never would have made it...... like van gogh, the money was never the main thing and isnt now.......but i like it a lot!!!
at the start we didnt have another income, altho we did have an overlapping business for a few years, i always think not haveing a safety net /other income gave us a huge advantage....we couldnt mess around we had to make it work....and pay attention.
_______________
ann
Green Oak Antiques--Located in Rochester Indiana. Privately Owned Antique Shop. Online Sales (http://www.greenoakantiques.com)
magpie cottage (http://www.magpiecottage.blogspot.com)

[vangogh]

Hi Ann. Good to see you here and glad you did find us.

That's a good point about not having the safety net. I didn't when I started either and it's always helped motivate me to push harder than I might have.

[Baseline]

Baseline small or big business is all a matter of perception and comparison.

I do not think that anyone would argue that Exxon Mobil is not a Big business. However as you go down the ladder where do they stop being big and start being small. Really it is all a matter of comparison.

But maybe one guy own's 3 or 4 coffee shops has 30 or so staff in them turns over $4million per year, with $500K profit. Small or big business? Another guy owns a computer consulting firm, employees 3 techncians and sturns over $4million per year, with $500K profit. Small or Big business? I have a feeling that many people without knowing revenue and profit figures would say the guy with the coffee shops has the big business and the other guy has the small business, but really it is all a matter of perception.

And really at the end of the day both business are probably micro businesses compared to anything on the fortune 500 list.


I use a slightly unconventional metric- it isn't a metric at all......:D

My definition is one that the owner doesn't have to be involved in. As a consultant, I see many firms that grow with the founder, and when they retire- it dies. The Trump orginazation is then a small business- when Donald goes, they sell off the pieces. Gates has a big one- Apple is in transition. Again, in my field, a 20 million dollar company is a large one- but if the owner dies and the firm goes under (happened to one I worked at 20 years ago), it wasn't really a big business- just a large one.

The difference is the mind set; if you have to be involved in or doing all the work, it isn't a Big business. Big business has a CEO who doesn't know diddly about most of what the firm does- but is focused on the orginazation itself, and how it will survive and thrive.

[orion_joel]

Not a bad, well if it isn't a metric what is it?

Anyway kind of along the path of what i am looking for not really a big business, but a business that does not require my involvement. While i will more then likely spend a majority of time working in and on my business i want to be able to have it set-up so i can not have to work in it if i don't want to. Or more then likely just start rolling along as a serial entrepreneur, start a business put in a manager, start a business put in a manager and so on.

[greenoak]

im just the opposite i love the work...the planning the plotting, seeing the ideas come into being, the people, the deals, finding stuff, buying,,,.......its really the whole point for me..
.i dont really want to be a franchise or absent owner.. and im not very good at vacations...the emyth goal wouldnt suit me at all... or a lot of successful people i know...
ann

[vangogh]

I'm the same way Ann. I love the work I do. I know the emyth goal of working on your business instead of in your business, but I enjoy working in my business. Enjoying my day is more important to me than the bottom line, though I do want to improve the bottom line along the way too.

Fortunately I think it's possible to do both.

[orion_joel]

Oh it is far from the truth that i don't want to work, i very much want to work in my business, however i want to have the choice. The one thing that i hate about working for someone else is the need to go to the same place every day and do the same or similar things each day. I don't get to choose if i work in this area or that area, i need to be in the one place doing pretty much the same thing each day.

I want to have businesses, that do not require my presence but allow for it if that is what or where i want to be that day. I think that if i had this flexibility and variation i would probably work in my businesses more of the time and it would not feel like work.

As such i can understand and appreciate the differences in other people, being happy in working for themselves to the capacity that they wish to, and creating the life they want. Although i can appreciate this, i want to think on a larger scale, i want to improve my own lifestyle and at the same time give as many other opportunity as i can. Working for myself as just myself won't really help me achieve that, however that is the place that i need to start.

[greenoak]

i hear you on the bottom line!!!

dont forget, every good hire you make frees you to do something new in your business....its sure been that way for us...im working the business but someone else is doing the sweeping and any other job i dont want.... .... i just dont want to delegate everything...
i want to be like warren buffet or howard hughes..or some john wayne cowboy,,,.and enjoy my work on my terms for as long as possible....i cant imagine ever getting tired of this...or running out of interesting, to me, ideas.....

[BillR]

My definition is one that the owner doesn't have to be involved in. As a consultant, I see many firms that grow with the founder, and when they retire- it dies.

True story:

A friend of mine's dad built a small ISP/hosting company. It was moderate in size - $500k in profit and a couple million in revenue.

He had a stroke. He never recovered fully and ended up selling it about 2 years afterwards. He was VERY depressed by the whole thing.

What I have never heard him say is this: he gets credit for building an organization that could sustain itself without him. He literally suddenly dropped out of the company - and it did just fine. In fact, the manager in charge managed to keep growing it. Now, part of that his the manager doing a good job - but the owner hired him and he gets credit for that.

[orion_joel]

I think that putting the right people in place is probably the biggest thing in continuity of business. Unless you are just a single owner operator, and don't plan to continue the business later on, it is essential to have a succession plan. This is the failing of many businesses is that the owner sees that they are infallible, and does not take any action to show any other people what needs to be done to keep the business running. The ones that do are the ones that will survive and prosper long after their owners are no longer involved.

[greenoak]

if i didnt have a kid involved, i wouldnt care about a succession plan.... why would i?..
.i might care about being able to sell ...or being able to take a month off...thats where the emyth ideas are helpful to me..but the emyth falls off the track for me when it thinks its better or even more money or smarter for me do something besides my business...my hope is to be able to do it into my 80s...which a lot of antiquers have done...which the emyth seems to take as a missed opportunity...
i think it might just a difference of words...the fun for me is building this business and seeing where it can go , the fun for others is building their business..which is their business of building and selling businesses... i dont see much difference...im selling my stuff and you are maybe selling or hoping to sell your stuff , a franchise or whatever...
the result is an income that makes you happy......
now if the emyth result is to get rich and quit working then that wouldnt suit me at all... i just never feel like he gets it about the fun and potential of working in your business...or what the big difference is between in or on.... always interesting tho...

[orion_joel]

Ann, i think that the emyth can be seen in a number of different ways. Which in many cases is generally going to be based on how you perceive it.

I think that the emyth can be taken many different ways and also can be made useful to different degree's. The biggest thing that i took from the emyth i believe is moving the tasks that you are not so excited about doing and having someone else do them. I think it is more about freeing your time, from the mundane that doesn't generate as much of an income, as anything else.

To some degree i think it is slightly off base, as it has a hard line going towards taking you out of the business, where i think it could be applied both ways where the emyth can help you work yourself out of the business, but also work the administrative side out of your day to day things, to allow yourself more time in the business. Depending on your preference and desired focus.

[greenoak]

thats how i feel too joel.and i hope those emyth ideas will remind me and push me to work on some really hard stuff i should be working on......
but im definitely in here for all the good parts...i love and enjoy the basic stuff of our business...
..
i hope everybody can find that, it really keeps you going...

[orion_joel]

I think that is the biggest point that the emyth missed Ann, is that not everyone is trying to get from bottom to top (or technician to manager). Some people just want to have the business run with them doing the things that love, and the rest moved off to other people.

[greenoak]

right ....thats what i want...and to make a great living too...and not be bound by a bunch of layers i dont want....i wouldnt see any upper income limit....but tons of money isnt the prime motivator for me...being my own boss is lots more important....and delegating away al the ikky jobs...
to me i am at the top,,, and, duh!!, my thing could be as big as i can come up with,
its so good to be on here and get ideas and help for the new ideas i need to get going to survive in this economy.........
ann
.

[Watchdog]

I could if we didn't need health insurance. We're not getting rich, but we're in our comfort zone.