I had this when I was younger. I think it was partly due to a father who did nothing but was in front of him and partly due to being demoralised in school for being a free thinker and subverter of the boredom factory that is school.
I had a few ventures before the age of about 22/23. Very disastrous experiences. The underlying feeling was that I couldn't do anything on my own. I had some good ideas, but always ended up with some shyster. I started a couple things on my own and just gave up, essentially out of lack of belief. Even though they would have been viable or were viable.
The way out of this was being forced so low though my hand was forced and I just had to push through. Once you can get through, all of this doubt will be lifted from you.
You are 29 and have no doubt been sold a slew of lies and been left to raise yourself in a demented system like a free-range chicken. In my opinion the 20s are for establishing yourself. There aren't many people who can establish themselves in their 30s. And by this time I see that many think it's too late to do anything about it.
Though there was a guy who posted here he was in the same position at 30 and managed to make things work by 35.
So, I would think of this as your shot at a shrinking window. You don't have all the time in the world and (IMO) youth ends at 29. You don't have time to be procrastinating or worrying or doubting. You just have to do it, and let the chips fall where they may.
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Query for anyone who may have dealt with large companies.
Recently I have been dealing with a few big companies and I have found they are excessively gathering information (in my view). One sent me a questionnaire to fill in asking me all kind of questions about operations. There were multiple questions on if I have business-jargon-sounding plans. I didn't know what most of this stuff was. It struck me as being very jobsworth, put together by people with MBAs who rather than learning what works and doing it - think they are important by jumping through jargon-laden hoops.
Has anyone been exposed to this culture? And what would you say about it?
Tagged:
@rainy ,
@EndlessGravity ,
@BURNΞR
I'm not sure if my answer directly relates to the question here but I'll give it a shot anyway.
I've had a lot of employment experiences in my 20's across multiple industries and I quickly learned I one day wanted to work for myself. Didn't matter what I was doing, I have always hated the reality that someone else earns more off my hard work. My last job was as a corporate financial recruiter. Decent money but again, a slave to my bosses.
This was a few years ago but there was one day, and here I am 32 yrs old with a newborn, working these long hours in the office and interviewing/recruiting in the evenings as well, where my boss confronted me about being in the bathroom too long. She was the type that wouldn't allow breaks during the day, expected you to work thru lunch and then she pockets the majority of my commissions. And it was that day when she questioned why I was in the bathroom too long that I decided that was it.
I was in CA at the time but after doing a lot of research I discovered what I thought was a great opportunity. That being, many boomers who started and grew their small business and had full client rosters are now looking to sell and retire. And I thought, find the right one and it would be a great opportunity to transition into a proven business rather than start from the ground up. One thing led to another, tapped out my social network poking around and came across that exact situation from someone my parents knew.
Two brothers who built a company, grew it for three decades and one of them had been semi retired for years. So I made the approach. Took a year of negotiating, going over the numbers, CPA and attorney going thru everything, and brought my brother into it as well but in the end, we took out loans and bought the company. I moved my family across the country and here we are a few years later. It's in a blue collar industry, we service many clients and this year and last has actually seen significant growth vs pre-COVID. Like so many other related industries. And unlike the previous boomer owners, my brother and I are tech savvy, understand premium customer service and are ambitious. Lot's of work. Long hours. Lot's of pressure. Financially it's still extremely tight right now. But no one else will reap the rewards from out sweat equity. And we can see a more comfortable lifestyle within a few years given our successes and learning curve.
So, I've been in corporate situations which I despised. I've never respected authority. I have never been able to stomach someone I feel is less intelligent or doesn't work as hard, making more than me and earning off my efforts. If you get to the point you're fed up enough and are willing to sacrifice, there are a number of opportunities like the one I found out there.
And advice I would give is one, find a company where the owners are looking to retire, two, they have brand recognition and a repeat client roster and three, are in an industry where people need regular and consistent service. My company is landscape design & maintenance. People always need their lawns mowed. But once you educate and up sell, most clients have signed up for cleanups, mulching, pruning and lawn applications. The previous owners didn't do that. Notice most landscape companies are in and out as quickly as possible. Well, IMO they missed the opportunity. If everyone else is going for quantity, what if we go for quality. And lean towards the high-end. A 5K account becomes a 10K account with extra services. Constant communication. Reviews. Suggestions. Goes a long way. After consistent dialogue that 10K account decides ok, let's redo my front landscape, or back landscape, or I want a privacy border from the neighbors and that 10K account becomes a 20K+ account. And many want landscape design regularly. That 5K account remains a 5K with semi-retired complacent owners. That 5K account becomes a 25K account with young, ambitious new owners with loans to pay off and children to raise.
There is a generational wealth transfer we're seeing here at play.
Now multiply that by all the connected industries we work with. Lighting. Irrigation. Masonry. Tree services. Pool installations. All these guys right now are crazy busy and the demand is through the roof. And a number of them are.....owned by boomers who would love to cash out and retire in Florida. And you don't need to buy the company outright. Take out a loan, make a down payment of 20% value of the company, then give them 10% a year for the next 8 years. Why wouldn't they be open to that? That's a nice check coming each quarter or each year to them and for 8 years and they are now retired, golfing, relaxing, etc.
One of our subs is also a guy in his 30's who bought a tree service company. It consisted of 3 crews, the equipment, trucks and location. I believe the valuation was 1M based off 5X 200K net. He took out a loan for 250K and bought the company. Is giving the previous owner 100K per year until the additional 750K is paid. And according to him his revenue has gone up over 50% in his 4 years as owner. So if he's now at 1.5M in revenue, net is around 300K, he's paying off 100K per year plus maybe 25K per year of the 250K loan. So he's taking home maybe 125-150K given a cushion for reinvesting. But those 100K payments will end in a few years. So he'll be 200K+ per year. And continued growth and the initial loan ending a few years later would see him 300K+ in his 40's. Not bad. No desk job. No boss. Outdoors. Winters off. And building something which he can eventually either sell himself down the road for millions or pass on to his children.
If someone wants to be a doctor or a hedge fund manager or something similar, go for it. But if you're wasting away at a desk like I was, to a boss, miserable, I would highly consider looking for an opportunity similar to the above. All the sudden you're in control. All marketing, HR, hiring/firing, compliance, budgeting/forecasting, networking, business development, etc. If you don't know accounting you learn it quick. The P&L is your best friend. But the hand cuffs are off. You see an opportunity to try something or to expand, go for it. Fail, you learned. Succeed, compound it.
And an important point here I have observed is many boomers who grew their companies and are earning 150-200K per year, have been passive for years. Their ambition is long gone. That has opportunity dripping all over it if a young buck comes in with fresh ideas, ambition, marketing, networking and grows it beyond a stuck in their ways, passive 65 yr old.
These are my long winded thoughts. Despite everything going on with our economy this is an area I see serious potential. And it is mentally freeing.
One other key point. You don't need to be the expert. I am not a landscape designer. I am not an expert on lawn applications or hand pruning, nor do I want to be. I found a company with a top tier designer and a GM versed in all areas. Find a company with an expert, a GM, something similar who will still be there if the owner sells. Find a company where the owner already has stepped back and has someone else running day to day operations. Then you come and and grow the company. Network. Become very good with financials and understanding statements. Become close with your attorney and CPA and make sure your bases are covered. Strategize. Let your experts and employees excel in what they do and develop the bigger picture going forward. Good luck.
