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I Made a $8,500 Mistake ... And I didn't get fired.

AgainstAllOdds

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A couple of weeks ago, I made a stupid mistake and beat myself up over it.

I had a custom order from a client, and asked a supplier to fulfill it. In my communication with the supplier, I wasn't clear enough, and through lack of proper communication, we both made mistakes.

That could've cost me $8,500.

So I called the client and asked him if he could take the new product. The answer was no. So I asked him if he could wait an extra week. The answer was yes.

My profit on the sale was about half - $4,000. So with the mistake, I lost $500 on the deal. Not great, but not the end of the world. I'll keep the client and hope to make money on a future order.

...

After making the mistake, I really beat myself up. I felt horrible and like a complete idiot. But there was a realization that made me smile:

I realized two things - 1) That I'd never make the same mistake again; and 2) That I couldn't get fired.

If I were working for someone else, and made a similar mistake (likely with a lot higher dollar amounts), then I'd likely be fired instantly. I'd be out of a job. Unemployed. And without the prospect of money coming in.

However, because I started my own business, I had full control over my future. I took a momentary loss, chalked it up as a learning experience, and refocused on growing my business.

...

Society associates jobs with a sense of security. That having a job is safer than being a business owner. But in all fairness - is it really safer?

In my scenario above, I was a lot better off by being the business owner. And I will be a lot better off in the future.

The only scenario I can envision where the employee is better off than the boss is when a company is breaking even. In a time of growth, the business owner wins out because he's the one that makes the most money. In a time of downturn (mistakes), the business owner still wins out because he gets to keep his job and whatever salary he chooses to pay himself before firing himself last. The only time he can possibly lose out is when he's breaking even and stuck in a road to nowhere. But even then - he can simply switch businesses.
 
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Jon L

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A couple of weeks ago, I made a stupid mistake and beat myself up over it.

I had a custom order from a client, and asked a supplier to fulfill it. In my communication with the supplier, I wasn't clear enough, and through lack of proper communication, we both made mistakes.

That could've cost me $8,500.

So I called the client and asked him if he could take the new product. The answer was no. So I asked him if he could wait an extra week. The answer was yes.

My profit on the sale was about half - $4,000. So with the mistake, I lost $500 on the deal. Not great, but not the end of the world. I'll keep the client and hope to make money on a future order.

...

After making the mistake, I really beat myself up. I felt horrible and like a complete idiot. But there was a realization that made me smile:

I realized two things - 1) That I'd never make the same mistake again; and 2) That I couldn't get fired.

If I were working for someone else, and made a similar mistake (likely with a lot higher dollar amounts), then I'd likely be fired instantly. I'd be out of a job. Unemployed. And without the prospect of money coming in.

However, because I started my own business, I had full control over my future. I took a momentary loss, chalked it up as a learning experience, and refocused on growing my business.

...

Society associates jobs with a sense of security. That having a job is safer than being a business owner. But in all fairness - is it really safer?

In my scenario above, I was a lot better off by being the business owner. And I will be a lot better off in the future.

The only scenario I can envision where the employee is better off than the boss is when a company is breaking even. In a time of growth, the business owner wins out because he's the one that makes the most money. In a time of downturn (mistakes), the business owner still wins out because he gets to keep his job and whatever salary he chooses to pay himself before firing himself last. The only time he can possibly lose out is when he's breaking even and stuck in a road to nowhere. But even then - he can simply switch businesses.
This is so true. Add to this the fact that, as a business owner, you're pretty much constantly 'looking for a job' (i.e. more clients). After a while, you get pretty good at finding 'work.' ... a skill that pays handsome dividends
 

JokerCrazyBeatz

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This is it , the reason being a entrepreneurs is the best thing since sliced air
 

ddzc

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A couple of weeks ago, I made a stupid mistake and beat myself up over it.

I had a custom order from a client, and asked a supplier to fulfill it. In my communication with the supplier, I wasn't clear enough, and through lack of proper communication, we both made mistakes.

That could've cost me $8,500.

So I called the client and asked him if he could take the new product. The answer was no. So I asked him if he could wait an extra week. The answer was yes.

My profit on the sale was about half - $4,000. So with the mistake, I lost $500 on the deal. Not great, but not the end of the world. I'll keep the client and hope to make money on a future order.

...

After making the mistake, I really beat myself up. I felt horrible and like a complete idiot. But there was a realization that made me smile:

I realized two things - 1) That I'd never make the same mistake again; and 2) That I couldn't get fired.

If I were working for someone else, and made a similar mistake (likely with a lot higher dollar amounts), then I'd likely be fired instantly. I'd be out of a job. Unemployed. And without the prospect of money coming in.

However, because I started my own business, I had full control over my future. I took a momentary loss, chalked it up as a learning experience, and refocused on growing my business.

...

Society associates jobs with a sense of security. That having a job is safer than being a business owner. But in all fairness - is it really safer?

In my scenario above, I was a lot better off by being the business owner. And I will be a lot better off in the future.

The only scenario I can envision where the employee is better off than the boss is when a company is breaking even. In a time of growth, the business owner wins out because he's the one that makes the most money. In a time of downturn (mistakes), the business owner still wins out because he gets to keep his job and whatever salary he chooses to pay himself before firing himself last. The only time he can possibly lose out is when he's breaking even and stuck in a road to nowhere. But even then - he can simply switch businesses.

Great lesson, and agree completely.

@Andy Black can probably testify, we're in similar fields with IT Contracting, except I'm on the Network/Security Engineering side of things. I've seen people get fired for a keystroke or single command missed on a router, switch or firewall. That's all it takes. I remember not too long ago, a device was misconfigured and it brought down the entire finance system. It was down for only half an hour but 6 figures of revenue was lost in that half an hour. The guy was fired immediately. Sometimes, the contractor can even be sued (if you read the contents in full depth of your contract). If you're not incorporated, you're screwed. Scary stuff.

Back when I worked full-time, a lot of the veterans who had no skillsets outside of the organization thought they were invincible because they were around for so long. All of them were wiped when it came time to laying off several hundred/thousand people in the company (yearly cycle). Clean up the overpaid/underperformers and replace with the young guys out of college/uni for half the rate.

There's no such thing as job security.

Great post.
 
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ApparentHorizon

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If I were working for someone else, and made a similar mistake (likely with a lot higher dollar amounts), then I'd likely be fired instantly. I'd be out of a job. Unemployed. And without the prospect of money coming in.

Sometimes, the contractor can even be sued (if you read the contents in full depth of your contract). If you're not incorporated, you're screwed. Scary stuff.

I've heard stories from friends where their employer would go after the employees if they made costly mistakes. After being fired, of course.

IDK about you guys, but "job security," sound like an oxymoron. Why you would place your entire, long term, future in someone else's hands?

We literally have all of the world's knowledge at our fingertips, yet so many let it go to waste.
 

AgainstAllOdds

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Back when I worked full-time, a lot of the veterans who had no skillsets outside of the organization thought they were invincible because they were around for so long. All of them were wiped when it came time to laying off several hundred/thousand people in the company (yearly cycle). Clean up the overpaid/underperformers and replace with the young guys out of college/uni for half the rate.

For employees: loyalty only lasts until it stops making monetary sense. With your own business, "loyalty" lasts until the market decides it doesn't want your product or service.
 

Scot

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"Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?"
-Tom Watson
 

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