Do you own your own business?

[Mynyel]

I have been throwing it around in my head.

 

I have a job working from home but I *hate* it. I mean really hate it. I cringe thinking about, get grumpy at everyone and it reflects in my work that I hate it so I have avoided it the last few days. I need to think about quitting before I am fired.

 

So I was thinking about opening my own business to do something to bring in money. My husband only works part time so we need the money.

 

However I don't know how to even go about starting it. I have a few ideas but not sure how to implement them.

 

So do you own your own business?

 

What is it?

 

How did you start?

 

Looking for ideas here!

 

:grouphug::grouphug:

[blessed3x]

My husband and I have a Shaklee business that we run together. He has another full time job and I home school our ds, so it is part time. It is something that you can work as much as you want and when you want.

http://www.ewing-enterprises.myshaklee.com

We both love their products, use them exclusively in our home and share them with others. It is very rewarding.

 

I have another home school friend who started her own business called "momma goes green". She orders and sells organic and all natural products -water bottles, baby items, dish cloths, jewelry, etc. It does well.

 

Another family in our area has a small farm. They supplement their income selling homemade breads, plants and eggs at our local farmers market. They do very well.

 

Good luck!

[Mommyfaithe]

My husband and I have our own business. He is a HVAC Tech/ plumber and I am a book keeper, so I do all the office work including billing, receptionist work and accounts payable. We work a lot of hours...and it can be really frustrating...but it pays the bills.

 

Faithe....

[Paintedlady]

My dh & I have a business where we supply the local park districts & churches with referees and umpires for their games. My husband has been a ref/umpire for about 10 years as a side job and this business spun off from that. Umpiring is the best kept secret of great paying jobs, at least around here (Chicago area). I'm not sure how much pays elsewhere.

[aggieamy]

We are starting an engineering company. Give us a month or two though before we can give any ideas because right now we're only about a week into it with no work yet. *stressful*

[KatieJ]

We have several rental properties. We have moved from the state where they are located, so we now have to have a local property manager there. But I still do all the books and such required for taxes.

[LauraGB]

We have an Adult Family Home. It's called other things in other states, but it is basically a home for mentally ill or disabled adults. Ours is in our own home, but many are corporate and employ shift workers. We chose to stay traditional because of the all the crazy paperwork and the extra expense of another home (and dealing with employees not showing up or quitting didn't sound all that appealing, either). We've done this for about 11 years now. Before that, we provided weekend respite care to families who still cared for their disabled children themselves.

 

We also have another company. Dh designs, manufactures and sells a sporting goods item, and over the years has added other items to the "store". Eventually we hope to make that our primary business.

[mommy4ever]

I run a home daycare. It's a busy house with homeschooling too, but we are making it work. It provides us with a nice second income.

[PinkInTheBlue]

We own a software company for marketers. Like so many businesses it came about because we were marketers and we needed a lean management system that did things other systems didn't or easier than other systems did. So many people that own their own businesses seem to have come to it because of seeing a need they had and fulling it created a company. Previously we also owned a leads distribution system but even though it was good money, it was a pain.

 

We also just joined a company that sells gold and silver. I was really surprised we were looking at it and ended up loving it. It operates with a network marketing style pay plan and I so didn't see us doing something like that. :) It's been really good though.

[cjbeach]

We actually have 2 businesses going right now but it was LONG road to upstart this company (meaning we were flat broke for 18 months. Ugh).

There are a lot of +s to owning your own biz but a lot of downsides. The downsides for me are: having to pay our own benefits ($$$), dealing with employees, never really having a day off/no paid vacation time, taxes, no such thing as 9-5 Mon to Fri, and if you had a bad week there's no paycheck waiting at the end of that week. We started this business with pennies. It was very, very difficult but are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Many, many days I just wanted to go back to being a nurse with salary, benefits, paid days off, etcc....

 

Most of our friends are business owners, it's all about finding your niche and building on it.

[Gooblink]

We own our own business. It's going to take patience, the hardest work you've ever imagined, and it may be years before you turn a profit.

 

Oh, and you'd better have a very strong marriage. You're gonna need it.

[cjbeach]

Oh, and you'd better have a very strong marriage. You're gonna need it.

Totally. :iagree:

[DesertDweller]

Dh and I have our own business. We service, repair and install air compressors for commercial and industrial businesses. We're partners and we run the company as such. We discuss and make decisions as partners.

 

He handles all the technical work along with soliciting new business since most of our companies are repeat customers using us for regular maintenance and service not just repairs. I handle all the office work including answering phones, scheduling, quotes, billing, etc.

 

We've been doing this two years. It's been tough since we started it right about the time the economy was going in the tank. But, there aren't many companies that do what we do so we've definitely found a niche.

 

It's hard and as another poster mentioned there is a downside. It's especially tough getting started. We had two other business that for various reasons failed. After dh couldn't find a decent paying job, we felt we were left with no choice but to start a business again. I guess you always have choices, but when you're starving and your cars going to be repossessed...well, you do whatever you can to survive.

 

Two years later, I can honestly say, it's the best thing we could've done. It's been tough. We probably still have another year or two before the company is where we want it to be financially, but we have definite goals and a direction to get us there. Overall, we're much happier now than when dh was working for a company. I know he'll never go back into the workforce.

[milovany]

DH is a self-employed handyman, and I help with the promotion of that.

 

I am an Uppercase Living demonstrator, which is fun but takes more than I can put into it right now.

 

I am also a Typewell transcriber for hearing impaired students at our local university. LOVE this job. I work 2-3 hours a day and it pays pretty well.

 

I'm hoping to sell fresh ground flour at the Farmer's Market this summer; I'll also maybe sell things like the homemade laundry detergent and deodorant that I learned about here.

[Dandelion]

DH started up a government contracting company last year. It's going very well (we live in a town with a huge military presence, so it's the best type of business to be in in this area).

 

I'm currently working on starting up a Life/Business Coaching practice (I'm wrapping up my training program right now and will receive my certification in 7 weeks). I plan to spend about 10-15 hours a week on my business while the kids are still young and then grow the business once they're in their teens. Coaching can be done over the phone (in fact, that's how most coaches do it) so it's flexible and you can work with clients all over the country. I also like the fact that it's a portable business, and that I can tailor my schedule to my family's needs.

 

Can't say yet how it's going, since I'm just starting it up, but it's looking promising so far! :)

[Tutor]

 

I'm hoping to sell fresh ground flour at the Farmer's Market this summer; I'll also maybe sell things like the homemade laundry detergent and deodorant that I learned about here.

 

We are planning to do this as well. I am also making vanilla extract and rose and lavender vinegar. My dd13 is going to try to sell cookies to local delis and at the Farmer's Market.

 

I also sell photography at our local artist's market and run a daycare in my home. I will be done with full-time daycare at the end of this month, though. It was not a good match for me. I am considering part-time care or a once-a-week mom's day out as an alternative.

[Alenee]

Dh and I just started an automotive repair co. He was a mechanic before starting his career in engineering. He was laid off a year and a half ago and found a job that just wasn't cutting it. We had hopes of starting a shop for years so with that job loss, we realized we really had nothing to lose! Dh did get back into his regular career but we are trying to grow the repair shop so we can do that full time. It's been HARD. We are so busy now that dh doesn't have any real time off and he's exhausted. But, this has been so exciting at the same time, watching our dream become reality!

 

If you have a business in mind, you need to start by finding out what the laws are in your area if you plan to run it from home. Then you need to contact people to let them know you're in business. The best thing we did was send a letter to everyone we knew in the area telling them about our business. The day people received the letter, our phone rang off the hook!

[LauraGB]

hslover - do you have ideas or inclinations as to what you want to do?

[Mynyel]

I do...kinda have an idea :) However I need a refresher course in one area and complete training in another I am looking at. I don't have to room for a home daycare, even if it was only a couple kids.

The thought of trying to drum up work is daunting and I don't have a network of people here to try an get work and even if I did I would be hesitant to ask unless I knew they needed something.

 

Just trying to get my feet wet!

[Hockey Mom]

We have a computer PC & network installation/repair business, and a web design/hosting business. Dh does all of the work onsite, I pitch in with web design as needed, and take care of the books.

 

Business in my neck of the woods has been very lean the past 18 months, but we're making it work. I figure if we can get through this recession, we'll be fine.

 

MY dream is to open a cupcake bakery. Unfortunately, I have no capital to get started. However, I have been told by several people that they would pay me for my peanut butter fudge and for birthday cakes. It's a hobby of mine, and I've never wanted to make it a business. I didn't want it to suck the joy out of it for me. But I'm seriously considering it lately.

[seibert4kids]

We own our own business. Dh started it "from scratch" and it has been quite an "uphill" road! I'm glad we've done it, as is dh, but you need to be prepared for it to really take awhile before things get rolling. We knew we wouldn't see much return from our investment for a while, and we're still not "succeeding" (in a business sense), but making progress.

Lots of lessons learned, but the main advice I'd have is make sure you have a BUDGET for your family and you can make it for a decent amount of time if your business doesn't turn a profit for a while.

[Ruby]

We have our Amway business on the side. We've been able to have the plus side of business without all of the overhead, employees, risk etc. I never thought we would be doing a business like this, but we have been able to help a lot of people and make a good impact in there lives as well as make some good money. It is something our kids look forward to doing and it is willable to our children for three generations. Solid company, great environmentally safe cleaning products etc. Love our business. Couldn't ask for a better fit. It is not traditional but we love it. Best thing we have ever done. Ruby

[G5052]

My work has never covered more than paying a few unexpected bills and kids' extras, but teaching local co-op classes and tutoring has been fun for me. I used to do some web design, but the market for that is really bad now and I haven't been focusing on that at all in the last year.

 

I also have another part-time job where I'm an as-needed state employee, so it's nice to have the balance of being a employee and self-employed. I could get benefits through my state job, so that's a nice option to have.