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BusinessMind11

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Jan 31, 2019
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Hello everyone,

I read TMF a few years ago and I wanted to introduce myself and hopefully get some help from the members here. The book was a huge inspiration to me and really made me think differently about my life and what I want out of it.

I'm currently a teacher and I'm looking to leave this job as soon as I can start generating income elsewhere. My job is difficult, and I'm not happy with it, although the hours are good! I started an E-commerce website last year doing drop shopping but it didn't do well at all so I shut it down.

I have been thinking of business ideas for a while but nothing has been sticking. At this point (I'm 32 years old) I am looking for guidance. I can't make more money at my job unless I accumulate more years in or work over time. I could go back to school and spend about 15k-20k and get a license to work at the administrative level. This would get me out of the classroom (which I want so bad, it's hell) and get me in as a Principal, or, there are many easier leadership positions where I'll get paid between 100-170k and have a lot more freedom (and won't have to deal with kids all day- for example, giving workshops and continued education to adults). I obviously want to get out of the rat race and don't feel like going back to school for a year (although the program is only over the summer and in a year and change i'd be done and get a big pay jump) but I figure what choice do I have? Stay working as a teacher until I come up with an idea for a business? What if it takes my 5+ years to do that? If that's the case wouldn't it be better to spend 4 or 5 of those years in a better position making more money than working a job I don't like for half of the pay?

I also plan to invest in real estate, but my mind tells me if I'm in administration as my job I'd have more money to invest into real estate. If you guys were me, would you go into administration until I come up with a business idea? Or am I just dragging myself into a nicer paced rat race? Would you guys say just stay in teaching until something pops up in my mind? Another part of me feels like I don't want to go into administration and I just solely want to own and operate a business, but it's kind of like a safety plan. And I think the 15-20k it costs for school could be a nice down payment for my first piece of real estate also.

If anyone could give me any advice I'd be grateful.

Thanks in advance
 
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BusinessMind11

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Jan 31, 2019
5
5
Hello everyone,

I read TMF a few years ago and I wanted to introduce myself and hopefully get some help from the members here. The book was a huge inspiration to me and really made me think differently about my life and what I want out of it.

I'm currently a teacher and I'm looking to leave this job as soon as I can start generating income elsewhere. My job is difficult, and I'm not happy with it, although the hours are good! I started an E-commerce website last year doing drop shopping but it didn't do well at all so I shut it down.

I have been thinking of business ideas for a while but nothing has been sticking. At this point (I'm 32 years old) I am looking for guidance. I can't make more money at my job unless I accumulate more years in or work over time. I could go back to school and spend about 15k-20k and get a license to work at the administrative level. This would get me out of the classroom (which I want so bad, it's hell) and get me in as a Principal, or, there are many easier leadership positions where I'll get paid between 100-170k and have a lot more freedom (and won't have to deal with kids all day- for example, giving workshops and continued education to adults). I obviously want to get out of the rat race and don't feel like going back to school for a year (although the program is only over the summer and in a year and change i'd be done and get a big pay jump) but I figure what choice do I have? Stay working as a teacher until I come up with an idea for a business? What if it takes my 5+ years to do that? If that's the case wouldn't it be better to spend 4 or 5 of those years in a better position making more money than working a job I don't like for half of the pay?

I also plan to invest in real estate, but my mind tells me if I'm in administration as my job I'd have more money to invest into real estate. If you guys were me, would you go into administration until I come up with a business idea? Or am I just dragging myself into a nicer paced rat race? Would you guys say just stay in teaching until something pops up in my mind? Another part of me feels like I don't want to go into administration and I just solely want to own and operate a business, but it's kind of like a safety plan. And I think the 15-20k it costs for school could be a nice down payment for my first piece of real estate also.

If anyone could give me any advice I'd be grateful.

Thanks in advance

Bumping for help!
 

Bekit

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Aug 13, 2018
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Hey there @BusinessMind11 , and welcome to the forum.

OK, let's look at what you've got going for you.
  • You're a teacher, so you have great hours, meaning that you'll have the time to invest in getting your side business up and running. Time is a luxury that not all of us have. There are members of the forum who are trying to launch their side gig on top of an 80-hour workload, so you're poised really nicely to take advantage of this.
  • You have the job stability to easily continue working at your current position for 5+ more years. This is awesome. It means you have what it takes to cover your basic living expenses while you develop your fastlane biz. This is a runway of 5+ years that you have the luxury to continue inputting tries into the system until you get your business to start making you an income. It shouldn't take you nearly that long.
  • You have an entrepreneurial mind and you've tried a few things already, getting you some experience under your belt and helping you to see what does NOT work.
Now, let's look at some of your challenges.
  • You receive low pay for a challenging job that you're not happy with. You'd like to get a pay increase, even at the cost of $15,000 to $20,000 in additional education (which will also take the time that you could have used to work on your fastlane biz).
  • You don't have a good business idea yet. You're not sure if you should just keep teaching until this idea occurs to you.
  • Even if you went into administration or became a principal, there would still be a ceiling to what you could earn, so you're not sure if pursuing those options is just a long, convoluted detour.
OK, now here are some mistakes I think you're making...
  • You're waiting for a business idea to occur to you. Instead, you should be actively engaged in looking for a problem you can solve, value you can skew, a need you can meet, or a skill that you have that people will pay you for. The needs are all around you. This is not something that just "pops up in your mind." That's sidewalk thinking, like, "Yay, I won the lottery, a business idea decided to grace me with its presence." WIth a little bit of intentional reconnaissance, it shouldn't take you a week to come up with a business idea, much less 5 years.
  • You want it to be easy. Are you willing to recognize and acknowledge that getting to the fastlane is going to require a lot of grit, a lot of courage, a lot of perseverance, and a lot of showing up and taking action?
  • You're saying to yourself, "One day, I'll develop my own business, but FIRST, I have to get my income up." No, you don't. But if you absolutely MUST, you certainly don't need to follow the "scripted" path to do it by taking the next step up on the rung that belongs to your career. Get a sales job and start making that money without any extra education.
And finally, a word or two of advice:

Hope this helps! All the best.
 

Rabby

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Aug 26, 2018
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You're saying to yourself, "One day, I'll develop my own business, but FIRST, I have to get my income up." No, you don't.

Seconding this. You don't need to spend years diving deeper into employment in order to start a business. You're avoiding thinking out the business steps because it's hard; you don't know what business steps look like yet. So your mind is substituting career steps which you're more familiar with.

If you guys were me, would you go into administration until I come up with a business idea?

No way. I would flee in the opposite direction. Maybe I would quit, give away my stuff, and move to another country just to break my habits and change my perspective. But don't copy me or anyone else ;) I'm just giving an honest answer.

What do you get from going deeper into a career? More income? Sure, but employee income isn't what you need if you're interested in entrepreneurship. You need business income.

but it's kind of like a safety plan.

I empathize with this feeling. We all want to be safe, and do what's best for ourselves and our families. After much thought, the conclusion I came to was that learning to make a business work is the best safety plan there is. It takes hierarchical decision makers (administrators, bosses, politicians) out of your financial equation. Only the people in the market can decide whether they pay you, and you can respond to their decisions, if needed, by adjusting what you offer.

Now... I have a recommendation. Post a "post-mortem" about your e-com business. Tell us what your idea was, what value it offered to the buyer, how you communicated that value to that specific buyer who needed it, why you thought it would work, what you tried and for how long, and why you think it didn't work in the end. And if any of those things were missing from your plan, mention that. It's nothing to be embarrassed about -- everyone here has missed things in business, and we'll probably keep on missing some things. I bet someone here will have an insight for you.
 
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BusinessMind11

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Jan 31, 2019
5
5
Incredibly wise words, I can't thank you enough !

Hey there @BusinessMind11 , and welcome to the forum.

OK, let's look at what you've got going for you.
  • You're a teacher, so you have great hours, meaning that you'll have the time to invest in getting your side business up and running. Time is a luxury that not all of us have. There are members of the forum who are trying to launch their side gig on top of an 80-hour workload, so you're poised really nicely to take advantage of this.
  • You have the job stability to easily continue working at your current position for 5+ more years. This is awesome. It means you have what it takes to cover your basic living expenses while you develop your fastlane biz. This is a runway of 5+ years that you have the luxury to continue inputting tries into the system until you get your business to start making you an income. It shouldn't take you nearly that long.
  • You have an entrepreneurial mind and you've tried a few things already, getting you some experience under your belt and helping you to see what does NOT work.
Now, let's look at some of your challenges.
  • You receive low pay for a challenging job that you're not happy with. You'd like to get a pay increase, even at the cost of $15,000 to $20,000 in additional education (which will also take the time that you could have used to work on your fastlane biz).
  • You don't have a good business idea yet. You're not sure if you should just keep teaching until this idea occurs to you.
  • Even if you went into administration or became a principal, there would still be a ceiling to what you could earn, so you're not sure if pursuing those options is just a long, convoluted detour.
OK, now here are some mistakes I think you're making...
  • You're waiting for a business idea to occur to you. Instead, you should be actively engaged in looking for a problem you can solve, value you can skew, a need you can meet, or a skill that you have that people will pay you for. The needs are all around you. This is not something that just "pops up in your mind." That's sidewalk thinking, like, "Yay, I won the lottery, a business idea decided to grace me with its presence." WIth a little bit of intentional reconnaissance, it shouldn't take you a week to come up with a business idea, much less 5 years.
  • You want it to be easy. Are you willing to recognize and acknowledge that getting to the fastlane is going to require a lot of grit, a lot of courage, a lot of perseverance, and a lot of showing up and taking action?
  • You're saying to yourself, "One day, I'll develop my own business, but FIRST, I have to get my income up." No, you don't. But if you absolutely MUST, you certainly don't need to follow the "scripted" path to do it by taking the next step up on the rung that belongs to your career. Get a sales job and start making that money without any extra education.
And finally, a word or two of advice:

Hope this helps! All the best.
 

BusinessMind11

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Jan 31, 2019
5
5
Seconding this. You don't need to spend years diving deeper into employment in order to start a business. You're avoiding thinking out the business steps because it's hard; you don't know what business steps look like yet. So your mind is substituting career steps which you're more familiar with.



No way. I would flee in the opposite direction. Maybe I would quit, give away my stuff, and move to another country just to break my habits and change my perspective. But don't copy me or anyone else ;) I'm just giving an honest answer.

What do you get from going deeper into a career? More income? Sure, but employee income isn't what you need if you're interested in entrepreneurship. You need business income.



I empathize with this feeling. We all want to be safe, and do what's best for ourselves and our families. After much thought, the conclusion I came to was that learning to make a business work is the best safety plan there is. It takes hierarchical decision makers (administrators, bosses, politicians) out of your financial equation. Only the people in the market can decide whether they pay you, and you can respond to their decisions, if needed, by adjusting what you offer.

Now... I have a recommendation. Post a "post-mortem" about your e-com business. Tell us what your idea was, what value it offered to the buyer, how you communicated that value to that specific buyer who needed it, why you thought it would work, what you tried and for how long, and why you think it didn't work in the end. And if any of those things were missing from your plan, mention that. It's nothing to be embarrassed about -- everyone here has missed things in business, and we'll probably keep on missing some things. I bet someone here will have an insight for you.

Great thinking, thank you very much.
 

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