Experiences?
I set up a business to build an online art gallery about 10-12 years ago. Partnered with an artist/web designer friend of mine with the idea that I would handle the business side of things and he would scout talent and administer the site. He did neither and company disolved within a year. I guess I could have gone out and hired a web designer and moved on without my friend, but didn’t want to shell out the cash and also didn’t want to cut out my buddy.
Bump. This is a good thread. What kind of business are you referring to? Right now, mine are small time, but they have potential for growth. Realistically though, I can’t take the paycut (as compared to the day job) and devote full efforts because the client base is not enough. It’s a catch 22 situation because the time I can spend with clients is limited since I work full-time, but even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t exactly be guaranteed that I’ll have enough clients. Muddhahudda -> Thinking of starting your own business? What kind? I say go for it, at least on the part time scale if you have a job. I didn’t think that mine would take off so quickly, but it did and I’m not actively trying to get new clients.
done 3 with some good pnl
I started my career consulting business a couple years ago, but only started ramping it up last year after I had sent in my business school applications. In the last year, I’ve worked with close to 200 clients on resume reviews, cover letters, mock interviews, financial modeling training, business school application reviews, and so forth. I don’t have any staff – I personally answer every inquiry myself – and this is on top of my “normal” job where I work close to 50-60 hours a week. I’ve also begun to partner with a couple of recruiters who farm out some of their clients to me for resume editing, which has been an additional source of revenue. However, I don’t get to share in any commissions if the recruiter places the client at a job; it’s just the extra cash I get from working on the client’s resume, which I may not have otherwise gotten. Anyway, the interesting thing about this whole process is that not only has the business ramped up pretty well, but I’ve also really enjoyed working with people, and helping them discover their potential and skills that will enable them to get into front-office finance. My greatest point of satisfaction is being able to place people in jobs – obviously, my goal when I work with clients is to help them interview better and gain more traction with employers, but of course the real objective is to get people an offer – that’s where the money’s at. I’ve had a fairly good success rate with helping people that are already in front-office finance change from one role to another, but honestly the most satisfying clients to work with are the people that came from non-finance backgrounds or middle office, who’ve successfully been able to make it into equity research or investment banking. I just heard from a client yesterday, whom I met on this forum, that he got a job at a leading equity research firm in New York (we’re talking about BofA/Credit Suisse/JPM). People sometimes ask me about my services and think I work some type of magic and somehow “reinvent” the clients that I work with. That’s not really what I do. Basically, the value-add I provide is because I have had experience in equity research and private equity, I can give my clients real insight into what a “day in the life” is like, and what recruiters look for in prospective candidates. I give them ideas about the type of interview responses and resumes that I’d want to see or hear. However, no matter what my clients say about me, *they’re* the ones that do all the heavy lifting. They own their work and their achievements. Yes, it’s true that we work together in improving their resumes or interviewing skills – that’s how I see my role as a career “coach” – but it’s critical that my clients take ownership of their work and their achievements. My main value add is to take a look at their backgrounds and achievements, and help position them in ways that show leadership and investment acumen that the client may not have thought of before. And frankly, one of the best parts of running a career consulting business is that my clients work just as hard as I do to improve their resume, cover letter, and financial modeling skills…so at the end of their day, *they* own their product. I’m just a career coach, mentor, or whatever else you want to call me. So, anyway, it was a couple weeks ago that I first thought about whether I should pursue a career as an executive recruiter. The reason for that is because I have these various career consulting services that people hire me for, but as you know, the “big bucks” are being able to place that candidate in a job. Standard recruiter fees typically range from anywhere between 15-25% of a candidate’s base salary – that can be 50-100x what someone pays me to review their resume. So, it seems like I could have a much higher ROI if I shifted my efforts from career advisory to actual recruiting… Are there any recruiters here on this forum that would be willing to speak with me about their careers in headhunting, and discuss candidly their pro’s and con’s? Is there anyone here that has considered becoming a professional headhunter? I’d love to hear some thoughts, either on the open forum or via e-mail.
BTW I’m curious to hear what other business ventures people have engaged in here. goldenboy09, can you share more details? higgmond, how did you get interested in starting the online art gallery? Is this something you might consider pursuing again in the future if you had the proper partnership and backing?
Thinking about ecommerce retail. I’m working at a dotcom right now, so I’m learning a few tricks of the trade (domain name negotiating, SEO, PPC, linkbuilding etc). It’s an uphill battle but once you get to a certain stage, it’s easy money. The fact that my girlfriend is a professional website designer is even more incentive. The trick is finding that niche (but not too niche) market that isn’t too saturated online. Maybe a pipe dream, but when I see my 27 year old boss going home to his lake house at 5:30pm in his Porsche, it makes me have second thoughts about this finance stuff.
volante99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thinking about ecommerce retail. I’m working at a > dotcom right now, so I’m learning a few tricks of > the trade (domain name negotiating, SEO, PPC, > linkbuilding etc). It’s an uphill battle but once > you get to a certain stage, it’s easy money. The > fact that my girlfriend is a professional website > designer is even more incentive. The trick is > finding that niche (but not too niche) market that > isn’t too saturated online. > > Maybe a pipe dream, but when I see my 27 year old > boss going home to his lake house at 5:30pm in his > Porsche, it makes me have second thoughts about > this finance stuff. Be sure to find out if he owns the car & the house or the bank does. My business idea is really simple. There is a really great product in the US that is not available in Europe (or rest of the world). I’m looking at same idea, different location. There are a couple of avenues for me to explore. 1. Set up as a distributor (for the US company overseas) 2. Se up as a manufacturer If I go down the #2 route, I would need to get involved in plastic moulding (have an ex house mate who does this for a living), source from China (have a family member who works with big factories there), produce & market. Expect to put down $200k for start up costs/2 year turnaround. The cons are that it is more labour intensive, risky, time consuming. The pros are that I can adapt the product (it can be improved), expand the range (theirs is limited and I could really make a killing if I put my ideas into practice), own the company & the product. I genuinely believe it would make a couple million if successful (there is the rub!). I believe this because I am prepared to buy the product and have it shipped from the states to my location. The product retails for around $120-150. The shipping costs will be probably 1/3 to 1/2. I am prepared to pay for it as I cannot get it in Europe. None of the retailers on Amazon US will ship this anywhere in Europe. It isn’t on any of the European Amazon sites. As I searched the net, I saw others on forums had gone through the exact same thing and found small retailers that were not on Amazon who would ship it - so there is demand. And people were searching out for this. I basically want to distribute on Amazon across Europe. The entire market place is 300m here. My target segment would be a subset of this, but 50m without a worry. Any one have any suggestions about how best to play this? My first thought is to call the US manufacturer and ask them whether there is scope to work as a distributor. Anyone got any experience of how to play this? I know I would have to consider import costs, storage costs & distribution. I don’t think it is too onerous.
Muddahudda, you said you will need to shore up some $200k. Assuming you dont have this cash and assuming you can borrow it against some collateral, would you prefer borrowing or prefer partner/s who can pool in this cash?
rus1bus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Muddahudda, you said you will need to shore up > some $200k. Assuming you dont have this cash and > assuming you can borrow it against some > collateral, would you prefer borrowing or prefer > partner/s who can pool in this cash? I would definitely look for partners to spread the risk & share the wealth. My thoughts so far are to include the plastics guy I mentioned and the other would be the family member with the china know how. They would be able to give me expertise and, as important, feedback on how viable it is - this overlaps with what they both do as a day job. I’m fairly confident that it will pass the test, but these guys work for firms that manufacture & market goods. They will have more experience. 200k is a total finger in the air estimate. I presume that I will need to create a prototype and refine it a couple of times. Having the plastics guy will make this part as efficient as possible. Then I need to contact a factory in china and have them deliver inventory to a storage space. My family member will be able to tell me approx costs/logistical issues. So these costs include manufacture, shipping, inventory & distribution costs (should be low). Then it is about pricing & placing it on Amazon and watching it go from there. I don’t *think* I need to go overboard on marketing as I think it would have regular ongoing sales. A nice earner. Back of the envelope calculation: Mark up/profit = $20 per unit. Target market penetration of 0.01% in the UK only - annual profit = £150k So on that basis it would be a couple of years before a return on investment. I think those figures are fairly conservative though. For example, I would hope for a greater mark up per unit, a higher market penetration and of course I have excluded the entire continental Europe from my raw analysis!
volante99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe a pipe dream, but when I see my 27 year old > boss going home to his lake house at 5:30pm in his > Porsche, it makes me have second thoughts about > this finance stuff. Sorry, but if you’re 27 and you have enough discretionary income to have more than one residence and a car that will clear 2k/year in insurance then you’re living beyond your means or you’re a fuking rockstar. Unless he drives a Gayman or a Coxster. Then it’s not REALLY a porsche.
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > BTW I’m curious to hear what other business > ventures people have engaged in here. goldenboy09, > can you share more details? > > higgmond, how did you get interested in starting > the online art gallery? Is this something you > might consider pursuing again in the future if you > had the proper partnership and backing? Online art galleries hadn’t really gained traction at the time and the internet seemed like a perfect medium. I think art.com was still pretty small at the time. The boat has probably sailed on the idea now.
this guys does: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110125/how-to-upgrade-an-old-phone-into-a-porsche
numi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > BTW I’m curious to hear what other business > ventures people have engaged in here. goldenboy09, > can you share more details? > > higgmond, how did you get interested in starting > the online art gallery? Is this something you > might consider pursuing again in the future if you > had the proper partnership and backing? worked at A&F (dont flame me) in 99-00 time frame in high school and get a letter one day about a class action law suit. I fill out and return. Year later I get a check for 22k. SWEET!!! Lead to business #1 I go to a local dry cleaners and one day the wife of my tailor is working. Turns out he had a heart attrack and she does not want to run it. She asks for 15k and I show a 5k bid. She hits my bid. I dont know a thing about running a tailor or dry cleaners but learn fast. I start to hit up every hotel and motel. I market the crap of my services. I bring in the smartest dumb person I know to help me. I overpay him so he will think twice from stealing from me. I share my profits with my three employees. I sell two years later. next 4 years I am in college business #2 said dumbest smart guy wants to start a clothing line and I know he has been wanting to since we were in high school. So I fund it and we also open a clothing store. Turns out we are not good buisness partners. We fight for 10 months and make 5% on our investment. Overall it failed but I learned the most about this exp. You cant teach passion and you cant swin against the tide. The labels we were going against… well we just could not keep up. I tip my hat to Marc Ecko who has turned into my start up idol. Well it was mostly a tough time in this project I learned the most about myself. I rather be the boss then the partner. #3 I am working on opening snow cone stands in a few spots where I live in Houston. Why? well i like them and houston is dam hot. I honestly dont care about the money and if I lose it then so be it. I know that is not the right view for a small business but I want to give back to my area and if a cool trick on a hot day cost me, then so be it.
ASSet_MANagement Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > volante99 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Maybe a pipe dream, but when I see my 27 year > old > > boss going home to his lake house at 5:30pm in > his > > Porsche, it makes me have second thoughts about > > this finance stuff. > > Sorry, but if you’re 27 and you have enough > discretionary income to have more than one > residence and a car that will clear 2k/year in > insurance then you’re living beyond your means or > you’re a fuking rockstar. > > Unless he drives a Gayman or a Coxster. Then it’s > not REALLY a porsche. He’s pretty rock star, we’re gonna break $30 mill in revenue this year with less than 50 full time emloyees, most of whom are making below $12/hr., operating out of a crummy warehouse with a leaky roof, and selling products at over 100% markup. So doing the math, the guy can probably buy himself a Porsche
volante99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ASSet_MANagement Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > volante99 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Maybe a pipe dream, but when I see my 27 year > > old > > > boss going home to his lake house at 5:30pm > in > > his > > > Porsche, it makes me have second thoughts > about > > > this finance stuff. > > > > Sorry, but if you’re 27 and you have enough > > discretionary income to have more than one > > residence and a car that will clear 2k/year in > > insurance then you’re living beyond your means > or > > you’re a fuking rockstar. > > > > Unless he drives a Gayman or a Coxster. Then > it’s > > not REALLY a porsche. > > He’s pretty rock star, we’re gonna break $30 mill > in revenue this year with less than 50 full time > emloyees, most of whom are making below $12/hr., > operating out of a crummy warehouse with a leaky > roof, and selling products at over 100% markup. > > So doing the math, the guy can probably buy > himself a Porsche Jesus, that sounds like a pretty lean operating model. So margins are fatter than Rosie O on Thanksgiving, or an Ellen Degeneris swinger party.