Assuming most of us meet here on this board because we are pursuing financial careers. Instead of trying to make your way in a moribund industry, we should’t perhaps entirely rule out that there is an alternative route to riches. Becoming self-employed. I am pretty sure that not many of us have had this thought, but I think it is worthwhile thinking about it. Job satisfaction: YOU chose what your are doing. At times like this, employers can force tremedous pressure on you and still get away with it. Ever heard that streets are full with people who would beg to do your job (for half the money)? Career: Times are tough, regardless if your employed or have your own shop. But if your shop (say, whatever you have chosen) runs better and better as the economic situation improves, you may even make more money than as one of a gazillion underpaid financial clerks! Risk: Don’t kid yourself: Unless you are paid like an IB in the good old days, your financial risk is not much better! Just ask people who work for say five years, for how long they could survive after being fired. three months? Four? Money: Yeah, you need start money and an idea. But let us just presume, you could get a loan. Education: Now I will make a bold statement: Most of us are smarter than average! Why am I saying this? Well, the CFA is relatively difficult and it needs determination to pursue it for longer than just a couple of months. Intelligence and tenaciousness are not the only ones, but important ingredients in becoming successful businesspeople. There are some more, but if you have these two, you are off for a good start. Has anyone ever thought about this possibility? What would you be doing if you had the guts?
i consider today and the next couple of years as ‘experience foundationing’. after i see how things actually go down, then i can start to build my castle. i’m more of an idea man then a do-er though, so part of it is just being thorough enough in researching the math behind my ideas and proving them before bringing them to the front stage.
Daddy-Bear Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Assuming most of us meet here on this board > because we are pursuing financial careers. Instead > of trying to make your way in a moribund industry, > we should’t perhaps entirely rule out that there > is an alternative route to riches. Becoming > self-employed. I am pretty sure that not many of > us have had this thought, but I think it is > worthwhile thinking about it. > > Job satisfaction: YOU chose what your are doing. > At times like this, employers can force tremedous > pressure on you and still get away with it. Ever > heard that streets are full with people who would > beg to do your job (for half the money)? > > Career: Times are tough, regardless if your > employed or have your own shop. But if your shop > (say, whatever you have chosen) runs better and > better as the economic situation improves, you may > even make more money than as one of a gazillion > underpaid financial clerks! > > Risk: Don’t kid yourself: Unless you are paid like > an IB in the good old days, your financial risk is > not much better! Just ask people who work for say > five years, for how long they could survive after > being fired. three months? Four? > > Money: Yeah, you need start money and an idea. But > let us just presume, you could get a loan. > > Education: Now I will make a bold statement: Most > of us are smarter than average! Why am I saying > this? Well, the CFA is relatively difficult and it > needs determination to pursue it for longer than > just a couple of months. Intelligence and > tenaciousness are not the only ones, but important > ingredients in becoming successful businesspeople. > There are some more, but if you have these two, > you are off for a good start. > > Has anyone ever thought about this possibility? > What would you be doing if you had the guts? I’ve never thought about that, enlightening. IMO, it is difficult for most people to justify (economically) a pursuit of self employment who are or are attempting to break into the financial services industry. That does not mean it’s not a viable alternative for other reasons. …ever consider that your boss’ BS isn’t all that bad in the grand scheme of things? The key is the ‘why’…and it almost seems as if you’re saying to go it alone because the industry is ‘moribund’…and I’m not sure that’s a good answer for why. If anything i’d put that in the ‘why not’ category.
I think you are missing a quintessential piece of running a successful business and that is experience and/or education. CFA does not teach you anything about running a business. Hanging a shingle without experience is foolish at best, especially in this field. As someone who evaluates managers frequently, the only thing someone with no experience or track record gets is a giggle…its hard to make a living on giggles. this sounds more like an advertisement to be an insurance rep. Not to knock you, the idea is always intriguing, the follow thru is not so simple.
tvPM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > the only thing someone with no experience or track > record gets is a giggle…its hard to make a > living on giggles. Shh, don’t tell the Pillsbury Doughboy.
LPoulin133 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > tvPM Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > the only thing someone with no experience or > track > > record gets is a giggle…its hard to make a > > living on giggles. > > Shh, don’t tell the Pillsbury Doughboy. That guy seems like he eats just fine on his earnings…tubby b!tch
If I had a brilliant business idea right now, I’d consider splitting off and running with the idea. That being said, until I have that idea, I’m fine working in my current environment. I like my job and the people I work with, and I get paid a lot better now doing what I’m doing than any other reasonable alternative that I may have on my own. And while I think being one’s own boss is great, let’s not underestimate the hurdles and challenges associated with starting one’s own business either…
I like being self employed … it is a rewarding way to set things up. It been a long time but I would probably suggest people start out at a firm and learn the ropes first. Unfortunately once you get used to a paycheck its kinda hard to ween yourself off of it.
Thought abt opening a skincare product store during my unemployment Then all of a sudden, I find a great job, so I will continue to be a wage slave for a while.
“Ever thought about becoming self-employed?” Everyday, and working towards that goal everyday. I’ve never liked working for ‘the man’.
I’ve been interested in making this transition for a couple years now and I’m hoping to make the jump in the next 6 to 9 months. For me, working for myself is more important than the money. That being said, however, I think for the person that is determined and passionate about what they do, the money will come. At this point what I’m really looking for is an honest, hard-working person to partner with. When it comes to entrepreneurship, most people are all talk. They love to go on and on about their ideas, but few are willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to develop a successful business.
jond - what type of business are you looking at starting? xsellside at gmail dot com if you want to discuss offline.
its my ultimate goal, however i need about a decade of good work experience. networking and some capital to get to where I’d be comfortable starting my own business. Im not a Mark Zuckerberg with an original idea that i can start now
Well, he stole the idea from his mates. 
SeanC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > its my ultimate goal, however i need about a > decade of good work experience. networking and > some capital to get to where I’d be comfortable > starting my own business. Im not a Mark Zuckerberg > with an original idea that i can start now
XSellSide Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “Ever thought about becoming self-employed?” > Everyday, and working towards that goal everyday. > I’ve never liked working for ‘the man’. true. been working two years and i hate it to death! are there any of us here who have their own investment business? i started a business doing online forex trading a few months ago. we’re currently using our own money but if we’re succesful, we’re looking into managing other peoples’ funds.
Bookmark this post. Let’s see who walks the walk 10 years from now 
I would love to be self-employed 10 years from now. I actually have an idea for a business that I think would be a success. It is not finance related however and I’m not sure whether it’ll ever happen or not. It’s fun to dream sometimes. For the time being I’ll continue working for the man each day unless they tell me to stop (not all that unlikely given the state of the industry right now). If I was let go then I might give more serious thought to starting up a business as the opportunity cost of doing it would have been massively lowered. It would likely take a long time to find another job in the current market. I hope I don’t get canned but every cloud has a silver lining and perhaps it could be the push I need. I have a friend who was let go by JPM a couple of months ago and he is now reconsidering his life. He didn’t really care for what he was doing and is now considering changing to a journalism career! You never know where life is going to take you even if you make the most detailed plans.
Thank y’all for your great posts, I appreciate that. Lack of an original idea is being quoted quite frequently in and outside of this forum as a major reason against self-employment. However, before your brain melts while trying to figure out a new PC operating system or THE internet application the whole world was waiting for, check out this advice an old friend once gave me (he himself was successfully running a few five-and-dimes): You don’t have to do anything new. Just open a business and run it better than your competetors. I think that was a great advice and when you look around, you will find plenty of evidence that these are wise words!
I want a vineyard.
Daddy-Bear: that’s good advice. If you had to be the first to be successful, there would be just one of each type of business out there (we’d have just McDonalds, just Home Depot, just Microsoft, etc). In fact, it’s usually NOT the first company out to market that ends up the big winner because the followers learn from the first company’s mistakes.