What skills would you develop in the meantime?

[Komelika]

While reading another thread about a good job being a detriment it got me thinking about my longterm plan. My job and a few other things are definitely keeping me from taking the plunge. My situation is this, I have a wife that stays home with our two small children. She will stay home for the next four years until our youngest is in school according to our plan. I make at minimum $80k a year and with OT (maximum of 60 hours per week) I can earn up to $100K. So, I'm not quitting my job anytime soon. In four years, however, when my wife goes back to work we plan to pay off our house very quickly, which will make us debt free barring any unforeseen circumstances. While she is working and the children are in school I will scale my hours back to 36-48 hours per week and have 3-4 days off per week. I think then I could feasibly start something up with the potential to create real wealth. Maybe that something involves my wife instead of working for someone else. I have no idea at this point what that something might be. So my question to the members here is, given that time horizon, what skills would you spend your time developing? Web design? Basic business skills? Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

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[RazvanRogoz]

Management (Effective outsourcing) ...

Sales ...

Negotiations ...

I don't think you want to learn how to be a technician. Earning $80.000/year is enough to leverage it and use other people's effort. So your main two focuses would be in effectively managing those people (even if it's only a web designer or a graphic artists to get your website done) and sales (to sell your idea to customers, to sell your idea to investors, to sell your idea to the entire world).

Time and energy management is also a good skill to develop, no matter where you are in your life. It's not applicable only to business and you'll always need to use your time in an efficient manner.

Or learn a new language. Just don't waste those spare hours watching TV or doing "poor people's stuff".

For example, right now I'm learning about statistics. Before that it was about sales. Before that about system thinking. I learn for pleasure because I like to have the edge. So I learn about every skill I find useful (except technical skills, as I can always hire someone to do them). I know it's better to dig a single hole, but it's amazing how a concept taught in investing can give you that winning idea in a marketing campaign. Business usually inter-connects and most skills work together.

Razvan

 

[deSeingalt]

I would just start brainstorming ideas and do alot of research on the topic/industry. Find out what it takes, whats needed, whats the course of action, what can you do by yourself and what help would you need in the long run.
Usually after I do heavy research and read alot of articles, blogs, forums, books and etc. you will have a pretty good idea what skills you need or what you should be focusing your time on.
Hope that helps.

 

[gabrielpark]

You've got 4 years to educate yourself? Any idea what industry you want to go into?

#1 I'd say make yourself a subject matter expert in that field. And I don't mean an academic expert... Learn who the fastlaners are in that industry and learn everything that they themselves have learned. Also learn everything you can about outsourcing. See The Outsourcing Institute - THE Professional Resource for the Outsourcing Industry and Virtual Assistant | Virtual Secretary | Executive Assistants | Research Services - Brickwork India

#2 Make a point of reading all the books on MJ's reading list...
My (Recommended) Bookshelf

#3 Technology changes fast and you really can't anticipate specific changes four years out so I can't recommend a specific computer programming language to focus on other than HTML 5. Everything else that follows is speculation - Right now some people are making tons of money making mobile phone apps. What were they doing 4 years ago? IBM and Apple now make more than Microsoft. What does IBM even do? Windows 8 comes out next year and tablets may become popular and inexpensive very soon but then again, Microsoft isn't what it used to be. In 4 years they may be more or less important, but I think the xbox will become more crucial to their bottom line. But who knows? Apple is about to integrate twitter into their iphone OS. Who knows what will happen to texting or the cost/structure of cellphone use after that? The internet itself might be more restricted and/or it might be harder/more expensive to market things online. Palm died and HP/Compaq is switching gears. Amazon just started making tablets. They just want a platform to sell on, so who knows what other hardware or services they may introduce in 4 years? And Facebook vs. Google - how is that going to play out? You might want to learn the technology that the F8 platform is built on. Then again, Facebook could be the next myspace, so learning F8 would be a waste of time.

So to summarize: Learn about your industry and outsourcing, read all the books MJ recommends, and learn about technology in general, using HTML5 as a way to become conversant regarding web technologies, and keep up to date on what is going on in the industry. In 4 years you will know exactly what to do and how to do it.

 

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[lleone]

I would stay open to many ideas. Maybe start a blog or journal to write about your progress in finding a great idea you can execute. It will help organize your progress. You're at the big picture phase right now, so it should be all about fulfilling a need that has potential from both a scale and/or magnitude point of view. Why learn a programming language if your idea may not even be internet related? Once you have your idea, then you can drill down and become an expert on how to get it executed. Four years is a long time, so you have the leisure to really have something in place for your wife (or you) to pursue real wealth. Why have your wife take a slow lane job and start all over 4 years from now? By the way, four years will go by faster than you think, so don't squander the time!

 

[Komelika]

Awesome responses! Thank you all for the time!

Well, here it goes. This morning I had an aha moment for an idea based on an experience I had a year and a half ago. I bought a big ticket item and saved 30% off MSRP by using a specific tactic. I thought, "Wow, why don't more people do this?" I thought about writing an e-book and marketing this tactic online, which is still a possibility, but I could possibly go much further with it. My idea is to create a website that will give the consumer the option to make offers on, or even have dealerships bid for the consumer's business. Consumer wants X and is willing to pay Y for it. Dealerships either accept or counter offer. Or, Consumer wants X and the dealership with the best offer gets the consumer's business.

I think it could work because it worked for me. I could market it to Dealerships as a service to expose them to more customers, particularly customers outside of their normal market or advertising area. They could advertise on my site too. I could market it to consumers as a way to get a better deal by leveraging the competition against each other without spending hours at any one place. The problem for dealers is that they lose control of the sales pitch and cannot use the tactics that they enjoy to get the most money out of the consumer. What do you think? Is this feasible? I could spend some time learning how to execute because frankly I know as much about making this a reality as a pre-schooler knows about advanced trig!

I know it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what the item is, but it isn't cars. I'm pretty sure this is already being done for cars. This is more of a niche market though and I'm petty sure it isn't being done yet.

 

[gabrielpark]

...This morning I had an aha moment for an idea based on an experience I had a year and a half ago. I bought a big ticket item and saved 30% off MSRP by using a specific tactic. I thought, "Wow, why don't more people do this?" I thought about writing an e-book and marketing this tactic online, which is still a possibility, but I could possibly go much further with it. My idea is to create a website that will give the consumer the option to make offers on, or even have dealerships bid for the consumer's business. Consumer wants X and is willing to pay Y for it. Dealerships either accept or counter offer. Or, Consumer wants X and the dealership with the best offer gets the consumer's business.
..Dealerships as a service to expose them to more customers, particularly customers outside of their normal market or advertising area. They could advertise on my site too. I could market it to consumers as a way to get a better deal by leveraging the competition against each other without spending hours at any one place. The problem for dealers is that they lose control of the sales pitch and cannot use the tactics that they enjoy to get the most money out of the consumer. What do you think? Is this feasible? I could spend some time learning how to execute because frankly I know as much about making this a reality as a pre-schooler knows about advanced trig!

I know it doesn't take much imagination to figure out what the item is, but it isn't cars. I'm pretty sure this is already being done for cars. This is more of a niche market though and I'm petty sure it isn't being done yet.

Well, it's being done already in several niches but there's no reason you can't do it in your own niche. The questions are how do you do it and when. See Group Commerce for a white label solution, CarFisher, Make Dealers Compete, You Save! , and to wrap your mind around the mechanics of it, you might get some inspiration by reading up on Groupon Google Offers and especially BuyWithMe and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuangou .

If you want to know how to create sites/web apps like those I would buy something off of http://www.scriptcopy.com/ , crack it, and reverse engineer it. Heck, that might be the best way to educate yourself over the next 4 years -- learn to program by cloning sites.

 

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[Komelika]

More thoughts... initially it could be advertised as a consumer service. I could build a database consisting of manufacturer's authorized dealerships across the US. Each of their products would be placed in a category. There are X amount of dealerships that carry Y withn Z miles from your loaction. The consumer would select the mileage that he is willing to travel to buy product. For example; within 1000 miles there are 10 dealers that carry this item. The dealerships would be concealed and the consumer would input the price they are willing to pay for the item or the click best deal. An automated email would be dispatched to the dealer from my company telling them that a consumer in (town/state) is interested in this item. What is the best deal you can offer. Your offer will be compared to the offers of other dealerships selling this item and the best deal gets the consumer's business. This would also be advertising since the dealership will have a link to which they can learn about the advantages my business offers them.

The prices offered would never be disclosed to anyone other than the consumer, probably through an automated email. I could advertise an average percentage discount on the website.

 

[Bsgarrison]

My husband and I owned a retail business that we sold recently and though we are educated people and had a lot of management experience, there were a lot of things about owning a business that we learned in the school of hard knocks. I suggest you learn the administrative tasks of running a business. Buy a copy of Quickbooks and learn to use it to track your business expenses. Fully 1/3 of your time will be spent in administrative tasks. It is best not to outsource these tasks, especially in the beginning, because you need to have a grasp of what you are spending and how much money you are actually making.

Learn about what licenses and permits you will need to operate your business. Will you hire employees? If so, you better bone up on employment laws for your state. Is there a professional organization that you can join now, to give you some insight into the market? If so, I would do that now, then you can make connections and talk to people who are already doing what you want to do. But, be careful, sometimes these people can give you bogus information, so be wary about the advice you get. If your clients are going to be local business people, join the Chamber of Commerce.

My husband and I were co-owners and we worked together well. We took a long weekend, once every quarter, to have a business meeting. We went over our income and expenses, employee issues, marketing, etc. - we tracked income from each product and service, which helped us decide what was making money and what was not worth the effort.

I hope this helps. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have about working with your spouse. My husband and I did this quite successfully and would still be doing this if our area of the country had not been one of the hardest hit by the recession (SW Florida).

 

[Rickson9]

Selling skills.

 

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[Komelika]

My husband and I owned a retail business that we sold recently and though we are educated people and had a lot of management experience, there were a lot of things about owning a business that we learned in the school of hard knocks. I suggest you learn the administrative tasks of running a business. Buy a copy of Quickbooks and learn to use it to track your business expenses. Fully 1/3 of your time will be spent in administrative tasks. It is best not to outsource these tasks, especially in the beginning, because you need to have a grasp of what you are spending and how much money you are actually making.

Learn about what licenses and permits you will need to operate your business. Will you hire employees? If so, you better bone up on employment laws for your state. Is there a professional organization that you can join now, to give you some insight into the market? If so, I would do that now, then you can make connections and talk to people who are already doing what you want to do. But, be careful, sometimes these people can give you bogus information, so be wary about the advice you get. If your clients are going to be local business people, join the Chamber of Commerce.

My husband and I were co-owners and we worked together well. We took a long weekend, once every quarter, to have a business meeting. We went over our income and expenses, employee issues, marketing, etc. - we tracked income from each product and service, which helped us decide what was making money and what was not worth the effort.

I hope this helps. I would be happy to answer any other questions you have about working with your spouse. My husband and I did this quite successfully and would still be doing this if our area of the country had not been one of the hardest hit by the recession (SW Florida).

Thanks Bsgarrison. I appreciate the insight. I've heard of various pitfalls with working with spouses. I'm glad you and your husband made it work. My wife and I have complimentary skills. She is ultra-organized and meticulous about record keeping and other office detailed work, while I am a hands on doer for the most part. She has expressed that she would prefer to work for "us" much more than anyone else.
With my schedule I work a compressed work week, which essentially allows me off two weeks a month including weekends and more with vacation and floating holidays. She could work the business that we go into
while I work the day job for the benefits and I would work the business on my days off as well until the business earns enough that I can quit my job. We'll see how it all pans out and if this arrangement even lends to the business that we unlimately decide on.

 

[Komelika]

Question for the masses...
I think developing a webpage to sell an e-book on the tactic I mentioned that saved me 30% would be a great lesson. Where would I start? Can you direct me to the appropriate resource to get something like this going?

Nevermind. I found a good resource already. Pretty comprehensive course here: http://www.htmltutorials.ca/index.htm

 

[gabrielpark]

Good idea, just don't use paypal as a payment processor. I lost $10k 2 years ago due to chargebacks on an information product. Chargebacks exceeded my revenue, totally screwed me over. Google ways to minimize chargebacks. I think you will find a good thread on that issue on digital point.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

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[Bsgarrison]

Your schedule does make it sound like an ideal way to get a business started while still working. When we bought our business I continued to freelance for a year until we were sure we would have enough money to exist. Also, there are a lot of professional organizations that offer group health benefits that you could look into to replace what you have from your job.

Also, when my daughter was in law school and her husband was in sales for a small company, they did not have a company health plan, they bought a catastrophic health insurance policy. It kicked in after a high deductible but that also negotiated down the rates that they had to pay. This might be something to investigate for the future. Good luck!

 

[LFinkle]

Running a business is hard work. I suggest a couple of things to do while you are considering if this is good idea and if so do you want to work with your wife and what business to consider. Pick up the book by Michael Gerber titled the E-Myth. Great book on helping you see about running a business.

Secondly as to skills to consider I hardly know where to begin. You'll need sales/business development skills first and foremost. Great business ideas often fail because there isn't enough sales or marketing to make them work. Business planning skills, accounting/financial skills, hiring if you are going to have employees are just to start.

 

[Komelika]

I actually have the E myth on the shelf. Its an older copy from 1995 that I picked up on Amazon. I finally got my copy of the fastlane though!

Thanks for the tip on paypal. Chargebacks? Wow, hadn't even occurred to me. Was that your first endeavor in selling informational products? How did you get started? Did you create your own web page or outsource? Do you have to pay royalties to use Adobe? Appreciate any direction.

 

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[NewWorldOrder]

Practice trying to convince strangers to buy stuff from you. Getting customers that are willing to pay you (preferably for something that isn't tied to your time) is among the hardest and therefore most valuable skills you could develop.

 

[gabrielpark]

...Thanks for the tip on paypal. Chargebacks? Wow, hadn't even occurred to me. Was that your first endeavor in selling informational products? How did you get started? Did you create your own web page or outsource? Do you have to pay royalties to use Adobe? Appreciate any direction.

It was my first and only endeavor with selling my own informational products. I had positive results selling other peoples clickbank ebooks so I cranked out one of my own and also cranked out the wordpress based single page site myself, using open office to make the ebook and then converting it to a pdf. Adobe doesn't take royalties but I didn't use them. I did blackhat seo plus advertised on adbrite, facebook, and myspace. (I've always had good results making my own graphic ads and banners.) Paypal and its way-too-easy chargebacks plus a crappy product advertised with spam on forums full of shady people was my downfall. I forget the name of the service I used but it wasn't clickbank. I spent $0 making the product, $10 on the domain, $500 on ads, 200+ hours spamming forums, sold about 1000 copies and quit when my losses approached $10k. Never again will I crank out a crappy product and never again will I put myself at the mercy of paypal, at least in regards to selling information products.



Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[Komelika]

Wow, sounds like a nightmare as well as a great lesson learned. All the terms you mentioned are new to me so thanks for the direction.

 

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[NewsletterScott]

While reading another thread about a good job being a detriment it got me thinking about my longterm plan. My job and a few other things are definitely keeping me from taking the plunge. My situation is this, I have a wife that stays home with our two small children. She will stay home for the next four years until our youngest is in school according to our plan. I make at minimum $80k a year and with OT (maximum of 60 hours per week) I can earn up to $100K. So, I'm not quitting my job anytime soon. In four years, however, when my wife goes back to work we plan to pay off our house very quickly, which will make us debt free barring any unforeseen circumstances. While she is working and the children are in school I will scale my hours back to 36-48 hours per week and have 3-4 days off per week. I think then I could feasibly start something up with the potential to create real wealth. Maybe that something involves my wife instead of working for someone else. I have no idea at this point what that something might be. So my question to the members here is, given that time horizon, what skills would you spend your time developing? Web design? Basic business skills? Any ideas will be appreciated.

1) Learning how to sell
2) Learning the skill of copywriting
3) Learning the skill of driving traffic effectively
4) Learning how to build a marketing funnel that converts

I would start there.

 

[DeletedUser2]

Sales
Networking

and really really getting to understand leverage.

also the skill of testing and killing bad ideas fast.

 

[Spicket]

Do you mind telling us what kind of work you do? That is a good job, 80k per year and only work half the days of the month.

 

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[davidil]

Learn everything about accounting and legal stuff.

 

[Komelika]

Do you mind telling us what kind of work you do? That is a good job, 80k per year and only work half the days of the month.

I work for Intel Corporation as an Equipment Maintenance Technician. It is a very good job, especially in the State of NM. It pays well and provides excellent benefits, but it doesn't satisfy my creative side. No matter how difficult or easy my shift goes the place looks exactly the same when I leave as it did when I got there. The creative aspect of starting a business is one of the things that intrigues me. I think my personality is more suited toward building something rather than simply maintaining. However, I have learned a lot about myself in the past 11 years at my job. There are a lot of leadership opportunities and I typically find myself in those positions on an informal basis. In the beginning I would strive for those opportunities, but in the last several years I've noticed that the teams I have worked on would simply put me there and look to me for direction. I think being a leader is integral to business so that can't be a bad thing.