Thread: Getting a "JOB". What is your advice.

When you have a family to support I'd say that they come first. If you're not absolutely certain that your business will take off quickly, then you owe it to them to provide some steady money and benefits for them in the meantime. Don't become the Dad from Angela's Ashes

Being a W2 employee or being an Entrepreneur are not mutually exclusive. You can be both... Many of us here are both...

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

Originally Posted by Caesarion

Should I get a job in the meantime?
Or should I get creative and figure out some TODAY MONEY ENTREPRENEUR style.

Ahhh.. the struggling entrepreneur's ever-recurring dilemma.

This question is so difficult to answer because of everyone's varying circumstances. A few qualified questions:

1. Do you have people in powerful positions that like you? (I would assume so after reading your story)

If you do. Talk to them about your situation and ask for a job. A lot of times, these people that have worked with you in some capacity before and like + respect you, can offer you more flexible jobs than your run-of-the-mill classifieds job you'd normally get.

For instance, I just shut down a business last month. We used a very powerful inventory management software system that was produced and serviced by a 3rd party. Through the course of our business I became very intimate with the software, and also gained a lot of positive connections at the software company through service calls and brainstorming sessions with their Founder/CEO. Well, long story short, after he heard I was closing up shop... he offered me a remote position as an accounts manager with the company. This would be an ideal fit for me while I develop one or more the other projects I have my hands on that won't produce income for awhile. I'm still considering this move myself.

2. When you say "today money entrepreneur style", what are you thinking?

It seems as though you have a pretty strong background in design/art. This gives you a great advantage for creating $$ out of thin air with today's technology. There are many sites out there such as 99designs, elance, zazzle, istockphoto, etc where you can bring in a good income almost immediately with your art/design work. I'd highly recommend you look into it for a side income if you like to keep your skills sharp.


Just some thoughts. I feel for you though, it's a really hard decision, and I'm in the exact same boat at the moment. Also thinking about taking an investor up on his offer soon. Decisions decisions... Let us know what you decide!

I am currently bootstrapping my entire enterprise. I am trying to prove to myself that I can create something of value first, and earn profits in exchange up front, instead of the traditional route of lobbying for investor capital and then putting my plan into action. It's an intensely person decision. This way I don't have to sacrifice equity to anyone. I owe no one a share of future profits. It will all be mine. In addition, if I so wish to exercise it, I will become more attractive to investors if I have a bit of a track record proving that my idea has feet. I am a capitalist in the purest sense of the word in that respect. Create value first, and the money will come.

On to you...you can take the very wise advice you've read so far, or you can try to finance your first company through sales (if this is feasible). Is the latter feasible for you?

I loathe having a job. But it is all I can do right now until I create enough business income to finance my current lifestyle.

Originally Posted by Caesarion

Wow!

Driven 28 You are so right about talking to my BIG Friends in High places people in the industry that like me. I guess I have to lower my pride because they all think I'm doing FINE in terms of maintaining!!

We talk and hang out like I never lost a step. LOL

I'm doing contract design work now for department chain stores but it's been sporatic with these times. I guess I need to either GO HARD tapping more of resources with NO PRIDE and get some steady income.

OR

UNLOATH getting a job and make it happen. Rocksolid your right, Family first.

Man, I really appreciate you guys input.

Regarding your pride... It doesn't sound like you need to "lower" your pride, but instead, just rearrange it.

What do I mean?

I take a great deal of pride in the fact that I'm extremely transparent and honest with as many of the people in my life as I can be. Especially friends, vendors, employees, and customers. Being transparent and letting people know who you are, what you stand for, and more importantly... WHERE you currently stand, can get you so much further today than it ever has before, and it keeps you from having to hide things or explain things later.

Example: The Tiger Woods fiasco that is happening right now...

I just read an article that NAILED this thing on the head. There are many people to blame for this nightmare, many people acting irresponsibly... BUT the one person who could have prevented most/all of this to begin with is Tiger himself.

The example the author used was Magic Johnson. Magic made sure that everyone heard exactly what happened about the HIV thing, and heard it from him FIRST, and in a very honest and candid way. Because of this, the damage to his reputation and public character was minimized, and nobody could speculate or make up stories about him in the meantime, or pester him and his family for more info, since he put it all on the table for everyone to see. He gained respect in the end instead of losing it.

The flip of this is Tiger Woods, who has treated his situation in an extremely private manner with MINIMAL transparency. He's a very secretive person, always has been. He thinks he's protecting himself and his family (or possibly his ego), but he's really just created himself a shit storm. Had he taken a Magic Johnson approach, and taken pride that at the very least, he's up-front and honest about something that is very embarrassing... this situation would be almost history already.

Now I know this is a slightly extreme example as applied to your situation. However, this type of transparency, when applied to nearly everything and everyone in your life, will absolutely guarantee you respect among your peers and loved ones, and gain you opportunity when the rocky times hit.

I spoke with that CEO of the software company today, the one I mentioned in my first reply to you. During our conversation, the job came up.. and one of the things he said to me on the phone was this: "You've always been very honest and communicated with me about what's happening. That's rare, and I really appreciate it. That's why I want to offer you a position."

This is a company that I literally owed $$ to the entire year-and-a-half that I was in this business. Their licensing fee is large, and difficult for a startup in the industry to pay. I had to ask for a stall in my payment terms with them several times, but I was always 120% prompt and honest when these situations came up, even though it was increasingly embarrassing. It went a long way.

That's also what prompted this investor to offer me capital, despite only knowing me for a few weeks. When he and I first met, I didn't treat him like a money guy. Instead, I sincerely treated him as a mentor. Asking his advice and opinion about the difficult situations that were bombarding me towards the final days of my company doing business. I let him know where I was at, and how I felt about everything that was happening, even though none of it was very good. The result is that he calls me all the time now to see how I am and what I'm doing, and we have a very comfortable and nice feeling mutual respect.

Whether it's friends, family, or business related, it doesn't matter. Transparency is in, Mystery is out. Leave the mystery for your brand, your designs, your advertising campaigns, those are good places for mystery (The Purple Cow effect). But wear the rest on your sleeve.. you'll be surprised how people respond. Just make sure when times are bad, that you don't confuse transparency with "poor me". There are always opportunities and ways to let people see everything, without portraying yourself as a victim

Sorry for the EXTRA LONG OMFG WHAT IS THIS GUY POSTING post, you just caught me at the right time... been discussing this topic a lot lately with my peers. Maybe I'll create a separate topic somewhere for this too, as I think it carries great importance.

Anyway! Keep your pride. Shit I say work to increase it. Just be sure you strive to allocate it to traits that give other people pride in knowing you.

We got some great new people at this forum lately, both Ceasarion and Driven, you will go far guys! speed for both!

Originally Posted by Gymjunkie

We got some great new people at this forum lately, both Ceasarion and Driven, you will go far guys! speed for both!

Well, technically I'm not new... been lurking in the shadows for over a year Took a long hiatus from my online activities while I spent 80 hrs / wk working on my last startup.

Thank you though. Very much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Caesarion

Talked to my distribution company I used to worked with. We talked for about 2 hours. I was just completely honest with him about my current situation. they offered to give me some inventory on CREDIT with all the brands they carry if I want to open an online urban clothing store!!!

Im seriously considering it! being that the brands they carry are relavent and popular. I would just have to set up the shopping cart, infrastructure. I still have Merchant Account (I think). I could just fire it back up. Legally structure and then start Marketing.

Thanks for the ADVICE!

I'd like to recommend a good place to start fast for your shopping cart:

Magento

It's open source. And They recently released an "Enterprise" edition, which I'm not going to lie, is very expensive compared to other carts. But if you take the tour and look into it more, you'll see why, this shopping cart blows others away.

However, their free edition is used by a lot of companies, and might be a really solid foundation to start on without wasting a lot of time on developing your own, or going with a lesser cart.

Thanks for the Magento rec. I need to check it out asap.

As for the 3 sites listed above, they're similar, but are still different niches.

Karmaloop is more streetwear and DJPremium is more luxury compared to Dr Jays.

I've ordered from Karmaloop a few times, because they always seem to have very good sales. DJPremium is a little more spendy, but has nicer stuff imo, so that's why I've gone there. Not really into Dr Jays stuff.

I think the markets going towards more luxury/streetwear items. Kinda rambling, but I hope that helps.