Advice Needed As I Pursue A New Course ...

[TheFinBin]

Hi Everybody,

I wanted to get opinions and comments on the next steps I plan to make in my life / career. I've posted here only a handful of times. I've been more of a lurker than anything. MJ may recall some of my journey when I first joined the Fastlane.

Let me give you some quick background:

1. Started a few online "businesses" - if you can call them that. Personal finance website, Sports networking site, published 2 books.

2. Slowlane wise, I've been in the accounting world since I left college in 2006. Some public accounting experience early on with 7 years at federal government as an auditor after that. That's where I am currently.

3. I'm working on my CPA (Certified Public Accountant). I've already passed one part. Have 3 more to go.

4. I'm 31 with a wife and a 3 month old son.

Where I want to go:

1. My goal is to start a business using my CPA skills to help small business owners.

2. I realize that I need experience in certain areas like taxes, but this could mean a big reduction in pay (like making $20k less or more).

3. With my wife wanting to be a stay at home mom (she is a real estate agent, but has cut back severely on her business), we are considering relocating to a place with cheaper cost of living.

4. Ultimately, I don't want to work for anyone. I understand that starting a business is a process and while starting a CPA/tax business may not be fastlane initially, I understand that it's all about learning and finding needs in the beginning. I get all that.

2-Fold Problem:

1. Do I take a lesser paying job as the sole breadwinner in the household? I would hate to put my family behind the 8-ball financially. We're already grinding it out as it is with my wife not working and raising a new baby.

OR

2. Do I stick with the government job and try to get experience on the side? This would mean getting the CPA credential done, staying at my current job, and maybe working PT at a firm to get some tax experience. Or it could also mean starting a tax business on the side myself.

I would appreciate any feedback. I don't care how brutal you are. I just need honesty because I'm fed up with my career as it is. I want to start a business and I believe I can provide value to business owners and individuals.

Thanks for your help,

Dave

 

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[jon.a]

Is your wife just pretending to be a real estate agent these days?

 

[TheFinBin]

Is your wife just pretending to be a real estate agent these days?

Not exactly, she's handling whatever deals she had ongoing and only working referrals.

 

[jon.a]

My gut's not sensing a burning desire from you two as a team. My gut's waiting for Paul Harvey's "rest of the story."

 

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[Duane]

The biggest problem with leaving your safety net and starting any bold adventure is that you have a family. The family comes first, have to provide for them. I don't think your wife has to be a stay at home mom though, real estate agents schedules aren't super flexible, but they don't have to work the traditional 9-5 everyone else does. Many families raise children and work 2 jobs, a lot of us have done it..

I don't know exactly what these jobs pay, but you should have your financials down to know what that bottom line number you need a month is to survive comfortably. If I could survive and feed my family making 20k less doing something I want to get into over doing something I'd hate, I wouldn't miss that 20k one bit. An extra 20k/year isn't going to make you a millionaire or put you behind in the game and it'll likely just end up being spent on things that you don't need. Learning on the side won't come close to what you'd learn actually working for a company that is doing what you want to learn.



I'm curious as to how your side businesses went. Sounds like you went a couple of different directions, no success? How much time did you put into each business before moving on to the next one? Did you seek help when you struggled before moving on? Mentors can be amazing and aren't hard to find if you go about it the right way.

The main one I'd look at is your personal finance website. That sounds like it's right up the ally of what you want to get into. You should have really held on to making it happen. Maybe not a website in particular, but helping people in this area in general whether it be offline or online.

 

[Almantas]

If I were you I would discuss the possibility of opening your own firm with your wife. However, I do realize that she might possess a Slowliner's attitude and might not tolerate your ambition.

IMO you should stay working FT and do some research on your potential business idea on the side. This would allow you to control the financial risk and give you some knowledge of the market needs. Long story short, when you finally open your own business, do it Part-Time and see how it goes while working FT in your company. If your business makes more/same amount of money than your job, politely leave your job.

There's a lot more risk involved when you have a family. But the life is risky enough generally, especially considering that none of us will get out alive anyways, lol.

 

[TheFinBin]

My gut's not sensing a burning desire from you two as a team. My gut's waiting for Paul Harvey's "rest of the story."

Jon, I'm not sure why you would say that. If passing one part of a 4-part test, doing literally thousands of questions, and watching hours upon hours of lecture isn't representative of a burning desire for something more out of my life -- I don't know what is. This is part one of the process.

As for my wife, she became one of the top agents in her office in just one year. She decided, and I support her wholeheartedly in this, that being a stay at home mother was better than letting a day care raise our child. I'm proud of her for making that choice as she has a burning desire to raise our child the way she sees fit and not how society may "expect" her to. On top of that, she's breastfeeding and up half the night with him.

Your gut may just be wrong on this one.

 

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[TheFinBin]

The biggest problem with leaving your safety net and starting any bold adventure is that you have a family. The family comes first, have to provide for them. I don't think your wife has to be a stay at home mom though, real estate agents schedules aren't super flexible, but they don't have to work the traditional 9-5 everyone else does. Many families raise children and work 2 jobs, a lot of us have done it..

I don't know exactly what these jobs pay, but you should have your financials down to know what that bottom line number you need a month is to survive comfortably. If I could survive and feed my family making 20k less doing something I want to get into over doing something I'd hate, I wouldn't miss that 20k one bit. An extra 20k/year isn't going to make you a millionaire or put you behind in the game and it'll likely just end up being spent on things that you don't need. Learning on the side won't come close to what you'd learn actually working for a company that is doing what you want to learn.

I'm curious as to how your side businesses went. Sounds like you went a couple of different directions, no success? How much time did you put into each business before moving on to the next one? Did you seek help when you struggled before moving on? Mentors can be amazing and aren't hard to find if you go about it the right way.

The main one I'd look at is your personal finance website. That sounds like it's right up the ally of what you want to get into. You should have really held on to making it happen. Maybe not a website in particular, but helping people in this area in general whether it be offline or online.

Thanks, Duane. My wife and I made the decision for her to be a stay at home mother mainly because we wanted one of us raising him and not some day care workers. We strongly feel it's important for him to have one of us home with him for the first few years. Plus, with her being up half the night breastfeeding, doing real estate at the high level she was is out of the question.

About taking lesser paying jobs, we are continuing to weigh that option. We do know the financials behind it and that's what is prompting us to consider relocating. However, it would have to be a job that will allow to learn what I need to need. Otherwise, it's useless.

Honestly, the side businesses didn't fair that well. At the time, especially with the personal finance site, I tried to do too much in terms of writing, podcasts, books, etc. instead of getting good at just one thing and growing from there. I sought out help at different times, but mentally I was already moving to the "next big thing." In hindsight, I know I should've done things differently, but I consider it one of my more important business lessons.

 

[TheFinBin]

If I were you I would discuss the possibility of opening your own firm with your wife. However, I do realize that she might possess a Slowliner's attitude and might not tolerate your ambition.

IMO you should stay working FT and do some research on your potential business idea on the side. This would allow you to control the financial risk and give you some knowledge of the market needs. Long story short, when you finally open your own business, do it Part-Time and see how it goes while working FT in your company. If your business makes more/same amount of money than your job, politely leave your job.

There's a lot more risk involved when you have a family. But the life is risky enough generally, especially considering that none of us will get out alive anyways, lol.

I have to agree with you, Almantas. We've discussed that frequently. She majored in accounting in college as did I. So, we both have that foundation. She does subscribe to the Fastlane mentality and has quite a lot of ambition herself. As I explained to Jon, she became one of the top agents in her office a few years ago in her first year in business. She did this by cold calling, door knocking and holding open houses. Further, she does support me (and has supported me) in this endeavor and many others.

Yeah, we are considering that option as well. If we go this route, we may still relocate, but only if it means a higher paying job. Getting the CPA credential certainly helps that option as does hopefully getting a raise at my current job. This would certainly help not only our living expenses, but putting a money aside to finance a startup business.

It certainly is, but at the same time it's because of my family that I want to do this in the first place. I want to leave a legacy for my son in terms of a business, so I want to do whatever I can as his father to build something that supports our family.

True, none of us will get out alive, will we? Very risky indeed. Lol.

 

[Madhu]

I'd second Almantas suggestion of staying at your full time job. I think a lot of budding entrepreneurs are worried that if they do this, their business will get pushed on the back burner and it will never happen.

The best thing, is to work out what are the smallest number of steps you need to start your own business. Then map these steps out in a spreadsheet.

When you come home from your full time job, get into the habit of making sure that you spend at least 20 minutes working on these steps. Don't be tempted to rest first. Just crack on with it. If you have the steps clearly mapped out, it's a lot easier to overcome the urge to have a break.

It might not sound like much, but if you spend 20 minutes a day, it will build up. (Plus once you've got the first 20 minutes out of the way, there's no reason why you can't spend more time).

Another thing to bare in mind is that the time with your son will go by really quickly. In 5 years time, he'll be at school and you'll be in a new situation.

 

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