Forget about 6 figures, how did you made your first 7 figures?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do now, OP? That might help with some realistic options for you.

But, yes, most everyone in my life who has made serious money started their own business and had a big break of some kind. You could do some kind of entrepreneurial workshop to get some ideas started. I think Stanford has a summer program.

Op here. Thanks! I'm in I.T, a decent programmer but by no means great. Some companies do fight over me sometimes and I leverage that to my advantage, but again, I've reached my glass ceiling at $600k.

Thought about a Software company like another poster mentioned with low recurring costs, I just have no idea what type of software I can write and I lack the connection to Sales/Marketing guys to make it happen. I guess time to start work on it, only 14 years left before I reach 50!

There are very few "jobs" that pay 7 figures, even fewer for someone in a technical capacity. Frankly I am surprised at the 600k income. Must be a very very niche talent combination.

The one thing that anyone can get into, at any time, is business. Some companies have great ideas about what they want to build, but if you don't have such an idea, you can always start your own company building what others want. Start your own consulting company or something.

The problem with that is risk tolerance for most people; building a business generally will take capital, whether savings or loans -- and if the businesses fails we can be wiped out. As well as the lost income from the steady job that was left. At 45, I have young kids to support, and college to pay someday, and while it would be great to build a business and set my kids up for life, it's a roll of the dice. And the downside are very severe, since we have no safety net (savings is mostly in home equity and retirement, no family help to draw on, it's our jobs between us and poverty).

How do you others manage that risk to take the initiative to start their own company? Do you really put everything on the line, drain your savings accounts and take out home equity lines, you have that kind of confidence in your business venture?

Same poster as the previous reply, hit "submit too fast".

To answer your second question in more detail, you are right that risk management is a top priority. You do this by *NOT* putting everything on the line. Both of my businesses were started on the side as I was doing something else. Gradually as they became more successful I shifted my focus towards them. When you are just starting out, there is literally no work to be done other than to setup the structure. It does not cost much to maintain such a structure. Most of the time is spent hunting for opportunities, which again does not cost money. With regards to contracting, yes you would have to write proposals, which costs money if you can't deal with it by yourself, but there are on-demand proposal writers who can help you on a per-job basis. Don't go and hire a full time proposal writer, rent office space/equipment. Start with the small contracts, even just a few 10's of thousands. Slowly build up your network of temporary helpers until it comes a time when you land a larger contract and actually need full time help/support. Even then, if the contract isn't a multi-year award, I would put people up in temporary office space that charge by the month. Sure it costs a little more, but the risks are much lower.

Something that I also feel is important is that you need a good partner, someone to counter-balance your opinions and give you a different perspective in important matters. I am not aware of many successful single-leader companies. There are some good sized entrepreneur groups in this area, go hang out with them and talk to people. Those people are in there to network. When you hit it off with someone, discuss your ideals, or maybe he/she has a great idea but needs help making it happen - if you have complementary skills, then it could be a great setup. Finding a good partner also does not require you to put everything on the line. It does require that you do actual work in terms of going out to talk to people.

From my own experience, my first business had zero out of pocket for me in terms of cash. I contributed time and effort to setup the website, accounts, and etc, and my partners built the product in their spare time. In retrospect we were just a bunch of bored kids in our late 20's. Second business we started with about 20k total seed capital but was cash-flow positive within the first year. We never bought anything for the business that wasn't absolutely necessary - I mooched notebook paper from my kids, bought a used laser printer from craigslist, etc. I caution you, it's not about being cheap, but the mindset of not spending money needlessly, which many businesses tend to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do now, OP? That might help with some realistic options for you.

But, yes, most everyone in my life who has made serious money started their own business and had a big break of some kind. You could do some kind of entrepreneurial workshop to get some ideas started. I think Stanford has a summer program.

Op here. Thanks! I'm in I.T, a decent programmer but by no means great. Some companies do fight over me sometimes and I leverage that to my advantage, but again, I've reached my glass ceiling at $600k.

Thought about a Software company like another poster mentioned with low recurring costs, I just have no idea what type of software I can write and I lack the connection to Sales/Marketing guys to make it happen. I guess time to start work on it, only 14 years left before I reach 50!

There are very few "jobs" that pay 7 figures, even fewer for someone in a technical capacity. Frankly I am surprised at the 600k income. Must be a very very niche talent combination.

The one thing that anyone can get into, at any time, is business. Some companies have great ideas about what they want to build, but if you don't have such an idea, you can always start your own company building what others want. Start your own consulting company or something.

The problem with that is risk tolerance for most people; building a business generally will take capital, whether savings or loans -- and if the businesses fails we can be wiped out. As well as the lost income from the steady job that was left. At 45, I have young kids to support, and college to pay someday, and while it would be great to build a business and set my kids up for life, it's a roll of the dice. And the downside are very severe, since we have no safety net (savings is mostly in home equity and retirement, no family help to draw on, it's our jobs between us and poverty).

How do you others manage that risk to take the initiative to start their own company? Do you really put everything on the line, drain your savings accounts and take out home equity lines, you have that kind of confidence in your business venture?

Same poster as the previous reply, hit "submit too fast".

To answer your second question in more detail, you are right that risk management is a top priority. You do this by *NOT* putting everything on the line. Both of my businesses were started on the side as I was doing something else. Gradually as they became more successful I shifted my focus towards them. When you are just starting out, there is literally no work to be done other than to setup the structure. It does not cost much to maintain such a structure. Most of the time is spent hunting for opportunities, which again does not cost money. With regards to contracting, yes you would have to write proposals, which costs money if you can't deal with it by yourself, but there are on-demand proposal writers who can help you on a per-job basis. Don't go and hire a full time proposal writer, rent office space/equipment. Start with the small contracts, even just a few 10's of thousands. Slowly build up your network of temporary helpers until it comes a time when you land a larger contract and actually need full time help/support. Even then, if the contract isn't a multi-year award, I would put people up in temporary office space that charge by the month. Sure it costs a little more, but the risks are much lower.

Something that I also feel is important is that you need a good partner, someone to counter-balance your opinions and give you a different perspective in important matters. I am not aware of many successful single-leader companies. There are some good sized entrepreneur groups in this area, go hang out with them and talk to people. Those people are in there to network. When you hit it off with someone, discuss your ideals, or maybe he/she has a great idea but needs help making it happen - if you have complementary skills, then it could be a great setup. Finding a good partner also does not require you to put everything on the line. It does require that you do actual work in terms of going out to talk to people.

From my own experience, my first business had zero out of pocket for me in terms of cash. I contributed time and effort to setup the website, accounts, and etc, and my partners built the product in their spare time. In retrospect we were just a bunch of bored kids in our late 20's. Second business we started with about 20k total seed capital but was cash-flow positive within the first year. We never bought anything for the business that wasn't absolutely necessary - I mooched notebook paper from my kids, bought a used laser printer from craigslist, etc. I caution you, it's not about being cheap, but the mindset of not spending money needlessly, which many businesses tend to do.

$20k in my 20s!!! That would have been amazing....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do now, OP? That might help with some realistic options for you.

But, yes, most everyone in my life who has made serious money started their own business and had a big break of some kind. You could do some kind of entrepreneurial workshop to get some ideas started. I think Stanford has a summer program.

Op here. Thanks! I'm in I.T, a decent programmer but by no means great. Some companies do fight over me sometimes and I leverage that to my advantage, but again, I've reached my glass ceiling at $600k.

Thought about a Software company like another poster mentioned with low recurring costs, I just have no idea what type of software I can write and I lack the connection to Sales/Marketing guys to make it happen. I guess time to start work on it, only 14 years left before I reach 50!

There are very few "jobs" that pay 7 figures, even fewer for someone in a technical capacity. Frankly I am surprised at the 600k income. Must be a very very niche talent combination.

The one thing that anyone can get into, at any time, is business. Some companies have great ideas about what they want to build, but if you don't have such an idea, you can always start your own company building what others want. Start your own consulting company or something.

The problem with that is risk tolerance for most people; building a business generally will take capital, whether savings or loans -- and if the businesses fails we can be wiped out. As well as the lost income from the steady job that was left. At 45, I have young kids to support, and college to pay someday, and while it would be great to build a business and set my kids up for life, it's a roll of the dice. And the downside are very severe, since we have no safety net (savings is mostly in home equity and retirement, no family help to draw on, it's our jobs between us and poverty).

How do you others manage that risk to take the initiative to start their own company? Do you really put everything on the line, drain your savings accounts and take out home equity lines, you have that kind of confidence in your business venture?

I have family money. We have a several million dollar LOC created for us so that we don't have to touch principal on my trust. Using that for start up costs is our plan in 1.5 years when the last of those pesky RSU's vest. He will be 43 at the time.

So the answer to this is, no - they don't all really put everything on the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do now, OP? That might help with some realistic options for you.

But, yes, most everyone in my life who has made serious money started their own business and had a big break of some kind. You could do some kind of entrepreneurial workshop to get some ideas started. I think Stanford has a summer program.

Op here. Thanks! I'm in I.T, a decent programmer but by no means great. Some companies do fight over me sometimes and I leverage that to my advantage, but again, I've reached my glass ceiling at $600k.

Thought about a Software company like another poster mentioned with low recurring costs, I just have no idea what type of software I can write and I lack the connection to Sales/Marketing guys to make it happen. I guess time to start work on it, only 14 years left before I reach 50!

There are very few "jobs" that pay 7 figures, even fewer for someone in a technical capacity. Frankly I am surprised at the 600k income. Must be a very very niche talent combination.

The one thing that anyone can get into, at any time, is business. Some companies have great ideas about what they want to build, but if you don't have such an idea, you can always start your own company building what others want. Start your own consulting company or something.

The problem with that is risk tolerance for most people; building a business generally will take capital, whether savings or loans -- and if the businesses fails we can be wiped out. As well as the lost income from the steady job that was left. At 45, I have young kids to support, and college to pay someday, and while it would be great to build a business and set my kids up for life, it's a roll of the dice. And the downside are very severe, since we have no safety net (savings is mostly in home equity and retirement, no family help to draw on, it's our jobs between us and poverty).

How do you others manage that risk to take the initiative to start their own company? Do you really put everything on the line, drain your savings accounts and take out home equity lines, you have that kind of confidence in your business venture?

Same poster as the previous reply, hit "submit too fast".

To answer your second question in more detail, you are right that risk management is a top priority. You do this by *NOT* putting everything on the line. Both of my businesses were started on the side as I was doing something else. Gradually as they became more successful I shifted my focus towards them. When you are just starting out, there is literally no work to be done other than to setup the structure. It does not cost much to maintain such a structure. Most of the time is spent hunting for opportunities, which again does not cost money. With regards to contracting, yes you would have to write proposals, which costs money if you can't deal with it by yourself, but there are on-demand proposal writers who can help you on a per-job basis. Don't go and hire a full time proposal writer, rent office space/equipment. Start with the small contracts, even just a few 10's of thousands. Slowly build up your network of temporary helpers until it comes a time when you land a larger contract and actually need full time help/support. Even then, if the contract isn't a multi-year award, I would put people up in temporary office space that charge by the month. Sure it costs a little more, but the risks are much lower.

Something that I also feel is important is that you need a good partner, someone to counter-balance your opinions and give you a different perspective in important matters. I am not aware of many successful single-leader companies. There are some good sized entrepreneur groups in this area, go hang out with them and talk to people. Those people are in there to network. When you hit it off with someone, discuss your ideals, or maybe he/she has a great idea but needs help making it happen - if you have complementary skills, then it could be a great setup. Finding a good partner also does not require you to put everything on the line. It does require that you do actual work in terms of going out to talk to people.

From my own experience, my first business had zero out of pocket for me in terms of cash. I contributed time and effort to setup the website, accounts, and etc, and my partners built the product in their spare time. In retrospect we were just a bunch of bored kids in our late 20's. Second business we started with about 20k total seed capital but was cash-flow positive within the first year. We never bought anything for the business that wasn't absolutely necessary - I mooched notebook paper from my kids, bought a used laser printer from craigslist, etc. I caution you, it's not about being cheap, but the mindset of not spending money needlessly, which many businesses tend to do.

$20k in my 20s!!! That would have been amazing....

If you read carefully, the first business I started was in my late 20's. I didn't indicate when I started the second business, which was in my mid 30s. I had sold the first business by then and it was a very high six figure pay day. The 20k into the second business was combined contribution between the partners, so my amount was a fraction of that. Even so, $20k was a relative drop in the bucket by that time. I will say this, if you have difficulty raising 20k capital, or if 20k represents "putting it all on the line", then you are probably not ready to get into a business that requires that amount of contribution. The moral of the story isn't the specific amount invested, just that don't go into a business where you have to put it all on the line, because the risk of failure is significant. Don't bet your family's quality of life on it.