Starting Businesses - Young, experienced, and driven

[ajeceo]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this forum. I wanted to share information about what my business partner and I are working on, what my goals are in life, and to see what you all think about what I have to share.

To start, I will provide some background about me. I'm in my later 20s. I grew up on a farm. Working long hard days is something I feel good about. Anyways. I graduated college in May of 2008 with a degree in biology. I worked several full-time jobs before I went to college. When I was in college I continued to work full-time (I didn't do as good in college as I could have as a result). Since college I have been working full-time at a job that is brain draining. My boss doesn't know what she is doing on most days (management position). But that is besides the point. Along with working full-time, I have planed out 53 businesses that I am working on launching. I am serious about the amount of business plans I have created.

I learned early on in life about the importance of taking care of yourself. In my early 20s I had been working at a factory for three months, and one day we had an employee meeting. We were told the factory is closing and moving to Mexico. As you can imagine, I lost my job. I had no valuable skills at that time and it took me a while to get a job at another factory. Well, after working at that job for a few months the factory closed. I was once again out of a job. During this period of my life I became very depressed and I knew I had to find something in this world that I can build a career out of. Therefore, I looked at the job openings of a local hospital and was hired for an entry level job. I loved working in the healthcare setting. But I hated working as a slave. So I decided to go to college so I could become a genetic counselor. When I was in college I developed a plan for how I could start genetic clinics around the world, and here in the United States. But I knew I needed a lot of money to do this. Therefore I took charge of my life to make the money so I can make my dream a reality. That is when I took the time to create 53 business plans around skills that I have developed over the years.

Most of the businesses are Internet based. I'm going this route in order to start creating some cashflow, and keeping my operating expenses low, so I can start to buy other Internet based businesses. I have spent a lot of time research successful Internet businesses. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to just buy a site and hope to make money off it. Instead I am focusing on buying Internet businesses that provide a database, services and/or products. There is one company for sale right now that has an organ transplant database with a cashflow of $30k. My goal is to keep buying as many of these businesses as I possibly can and hire "managers" to operate the day to day functions of the business while I do all of the CEO work (I have a finance person that will do the finance work).

Human genetic testing is my passion in life. I learned in college that being a research scientist wouldn't allow me to accomplish the big ideas I have with the genetic clinics. So I didn't bother thinking about doing a PhD. I decided against doing the genetic counseling degree since I need to make a lot more money to get this done. My idea is to take about five cents of dollar my company makes (both revenue and cashflow) and put it towards creating a genetic clinic. Eventually I want to create an international genetics clinic (you may or may not understand the need for this). To go along with this I want to create an international genome database.

Now, to get back to my businesses, I'm doing my best to create a business plan around every single sector of the Internet (content development, web development, search engine monitoring, domain revenue consulting, Web ads, and so, so much more).

I have learned early on in life that taking charge of your dreams is the only way to make them a reality. Working for an employer never allows your dreams to be reached.

I already registered the site for my corporate business. We are working on getting our first real-estate gig up and going.

Once I finally have set myself up for life (not having to worry about being paid for three months and being able to eat....you know what I am getting at), I am going to expand from these "small" business ideas and start creating businesses that are much more expensive to operate and start. For instance, I want to create the world's largest supply chain in the healthcare field. So many drugs are now made in other countries. So my goal is to build small local stores around hospitals/clinics so the medications can get to the clinics and hospitals quicker.

I'm also going to create a law division. I hate it how the government tries to make us do things that are illegal according to the constitution. Therefore, I will be creating a law division that sues the government for any illegal policy they put into law.

Please provide your ideas and thoughts.

 

[Gumby]

I'm also going to create a law division. I hate it how the government tries to make us do things that are illegal according to the constitution. Therefore, I will be creating a law division that sues the government for any illegal policy they put into law.

Please provide your ideas and thoughts.

You sound like a very energetic person and I wish you well with your ventures. This one, however, I would forego. There is little or no money to be made in challenging the constitutionality of laws as an entrepreneurial business venture. Why do you think the ACLU needs donations? Most of the people or industries affected by laws or regulations will hire their own law firms to do whatever is necessary to protect their interests. You are unlikely to successfully start a new law firm to compete with these established firms (especially if you're not a lawyer).

 

[ajeceo]

You sound like a very energetic person and I wish you well with your ventures. This one, however, I would forego. There is little or no money to be made in challenging the constitutionality of laws as an entrepreneurial business venture. Why do you think the ACLU needs donations? Most of the people or industries affected by laws or regulations will hire their own law firms to do whatever is necessary to protect their interests. You are unlikely to successfully start a new law firm to compete with these established firms (especially if you're not a lawyer).

That is true. I may not need to start law firm, but I could become well connected with some law firms to accomplish what I want to get done (also become well connected with the States). There are 37 States, as of yesterday, that are going to sue the government if they sign the health reform bill into allow. That is the gist of my passion in this area.

 

[Gumby]

That is true. I may not need to start law firm, but I could become well connected with some law firms to accomplish what I want to get done (also become well connected with the States). There are 37 States, as of yesterday, that are going to sue the government if they sign the health reform bill into allow. That is the gist of my passion in this area.

I think it likely that if any states do sue the federal government, they will be represented by their own state attorneys general. Such work is rarely outsourced to private law firms. In fact, my guess is that the interested states' attorneys general's offices will band together to share the work load (what they call a "multistate case")

 

[ERD50]

Wow! I think Gumby has a valid point on the law thing, and I can't say that I really follow much of what your plan is, but you do strike me a s super-energetic and seem to think things through. I'm pretty certain you will succeed at something.

If you can build upon success and use that to fund the next step, and you learn along the way, well that is a good plan, IMO. We often hear about companies where the owner was in debt and leveraged to the hilt, and then the big orders start coming through and it ends well and they get lots of articles published, etc. But for every one of those, I bet there are dozens maybe hundreds where the leverage ate them up before they could get the cash flowing (it was ever going to flow).

If possible, start while you are still employed. A paycheck and health coverage are good things if the job doesn't eat up too much of your off-time.


Good luck!


-ERD50

 

[ajeceo]

Wow! I think Gumby has a valid point on the law thing, and I can't say that I really follow much of what your plan is, but you do strike me a s super-energetic and seem to think things through. I'm pretty certain you will succeed at something.

If you can build upon success and use that to fund the next step, and you learn along the way, well that is a good plan, IMO. We often hear about companies where the owner was in debt and leveraged to the hilt, and then the big orders start coming through and it ends well and they get lots of articles published, etc. But for every one of those, I bet there are dozens maybe hundreds where the leverage ate them up before they could get the cash flowing (it was ever going to flow).

If possible, start while you are still employed. A paycheck and health coverage are good things if the job doesn't eat up too much of your off-time.


Good luck!


-ERD50

I will keep working my job for as long as I can.

Here is the gist of how I am planning on running my business:

- I will have a corporate company that owns all of the companies that I create in what I call "divisions." This means there will be a corporate headquarters where we run everything. We work one-on-one with the managers of the companies that we build. The managers will be in charge of all of the day to day operations of the business they work for. I will only hire a manager if needed. Otherwise I will just hire an employee or an IC. I want to do all of the finance work at my headquarters (with my finance expert). This helps eliminate any bad management by others. If I screw things up, it falls on my shoulders and nobody else.

- We are going to reinvest money back into the business. We will work at having at least two streams of steady income that will pay for our cost of living (we are looking at $40k/year). Everything else goes back into the business.

- Once we have enough money to buy an Internet based business that is already generating a cash flow that we like, we will try and buy it. Our goal is to keep doing this over and over and over. The more cash flow we can make, we can use those funds to help fund our bigger project ideas. This way when we need to go to an investor to try and get several million in funds to expand the company, or to develop a software program, we will have a better chance at getting the funds. Also, if one company has to fold, we will still have other businesses to work with. As a result we are not putting all of our eggs into one basket.

Let me give you an example of one of my business ideas. I am creating a service that would identify all of the type-in domain names and then tell you which ones didn't resolve. Why is this an important service? If you were to take 50 websites, go to the Who Is site and try to find out who owns the site, you are likely only able to get in contact with 3 out of 50. I have read this stat many times over by domain investors.

We are basically taking the money we make and putting it back into the business so we can continue to expand and make new businesses.

I don't want to try and run straight to my big ideas by going after 10 million dollars in funds right now. There is a lot to learn first.

Let me give you an example:

Company A is selling Web site business cards. After 12 months of in business, we made $75k after expenses. We can use this $75k to either buy a new business, grow the business where this money came from, or take that money and make another business, or split it in various ways (new employee, buy a business, etc).

Here is an example of the type of business I would buy: Healthcare Living Wills & Advance Directives - Business for Sale in New Jersey, NJ

 

[plex]

It sounds like you understand to keep your day job, unless something takes off, so I won't get into that. It is pretty important though to keep in mind.

From my own research on this subject, a lot of entrepreneurs have a ton of ideas (as you do), but the most common mistake that seems to be made, is to get in over your head and over-invest in too many different ideas at once (even if they are all great ideas). Not all your ideas will pan-out (most likely), actually, assuming for the moment that your are on the path to great success, I would not be surprised if you had 10 failed ideas for every idea that hits it off.

As such, don't try to stretch yourself too thin trying to see if a bunch of your ideas will work all at once. Only try out ideas where, if they fail horribly, you will not go cash dry (or multiple ideas where if they all fail, you would go cash dry). Regardless of whether you have "money", or not, your business(es) is/are basically dead once you run out of liquid assets.

As for advice for what to do if something really does take off, get some decent help, hire a CPA and a lawyer experienced with setting up businesses, so you don't get into major trouble at the next step. Just having a "financial guy" isn't going to be enough after that point.

One last comment would be, and you may be aware of this site, would be to read the biography of this guy at shoemoney.com, he is a marketer, so you may not want to get involved in his "system" that he seems to be pushing as one of his businesses, but it may be interesting to you to see what he started out doing, and where he went from there in order to build his business.

 

[RonBoyd]

I agree with what Gumby is telling you. What you have mention are too diverse. Entrepreneurers that become successful (and that is not most of them) do so by focusing their attention on a single subject... to the exclusion of all others. They methodically think through every single aspect of that "idea" and devote total energy into "today." They do not spend much (if any) time imagining what the world will look like once they "make it."

I support your thinking but it is a little "half-baked." Put it back into the oven until it is done and then go for it. You have the drive (apparently) to make it happen but that energy needs a single direction -- not a "get on your white horse and run off in eighty directions" effort.

 

[angelbaby]

I agree with what Gumby is telling you. What you have mention are too diverse. Entrepreneurers that become successful (and that is not most of them) do so by focusing their attention on a single subject... to the exclusion of all others. They methodically think through every single aspect of that "idea" and devote total energy into "today." They do not spend much (if any) time imagining what the world will look like once they "make it."

Certainly in the case of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates-types, but not always. Look at Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire Hathaway. What started out as ownership of a small-time textile company became ownership of GEICO, See's Candy Company, Fruit of the Loom, and thousands of other smaller companies.

I think the original poster's concept is brilliant. No need to own just one company and become the BEST in that one field. For some that works, but for others, it's too risky. I mean, I'm sure Donald Trump is now wishing his sole business interest wasn't just real real estate as of late. Sometimes the best strategy is to diversify your holdings.

Now, what I'd agree on is getting one business up and running to speed before setting out and working on another. I like the idea of hiring managers to run your outfits so that they don't take from your time. This is what entrepreneurs like Felix Dennis and Timothy Ferris have done. Just be careful who you hire. Good talent is hard to find and you need talent that is good enough to do the job well, but not "too god". I believe Steve Job's worst career mistake was in hiring Bill Gates.

 

[angelbaby]

ajeceo:

I suggest you look into finding out how you can use self-directed tax-deferred retirement accounts like a Roth IRA, SIMPLE-IRA, 401K, and Keogh plan to do business deals out of and own real estate.

As your business grows and you employ yourself, you can sock away parts of that cash into one or a few of these accounts and eventually save up enough to invest in rental property, oil/gas trusts or business partnership deals and have that money grow tax-free along side your regular taxable business dealings.

 

[RonBoyd]

Look at Warren Buffet and his company Berkshire Hathaway. What started out as ownership of a small-time textile company became ownership of GEICO, See's Candy Company, Fruit of the Loom, and thousands of other smaller companies.

FWIW, Mr. Buffet's focus was on stock purchasing not starting all those diverse companies. His expertise was in recognizing good managers, buying in, and letting them do their thing. This to the exxclusion of everything else. This, btw, holds true today.

 

[chris2008]

My three cents:
- One step at a time
- Pay yourself first
- Do not throw more eggs into the air than you can juggle

All the best to you and your plans.

 

[Nords]

Welcome to the board, Ajeceo. I think. I've been watching this thread for a few days to see if you're really looking for feedback or just a hit&run.

Please provide your ideas and thoughts.

It seems ironic that you've chosen an early-retirement forum to share your ambitious Internet business plans. Which one of us knows less about the subject-- us posters for our focus on ER or you for choosing this forum to discuss business?

But if you want to run Internet businesses then Paul Graham has a few thoughts on the subject.

 

[FinanceDude]

Human genetic testing is my passion in life. I learned in college that being a research scientist wouldn't allow me to accomplish the big ideas I have with the genetic clinics. So I didn't bother thinking about doing a PhD. I decided against doing the genetic counseling degree since I need to make a lot more money to get this done. My idea is to take about five cents of dollar my company makes (both revenue and cashflow) and put it towards creating a genetic clinic. Eventually I want to create an international genetics clinic (you may or may not understand the need for this). To go along with this I want to create an international genome database.

There are folks out doing this already (creating genome databases). In order to succeed, you would need some bigtime genetic folks that are CREDIBLE and published, and they do not come cheap nor do they gorw on trees. The scientific community is quite finicky in many regards.

I want to create the world's largest supply chain in the healthcare field. So many drugs are now made in other countries. So my goal is to build small local stores around hospitals/clinics so the medications can get to the clinics and hospitals quicker.

You'll have to maneuver around the FDA with that.......not going to be easy as the regulatory environment will get more dicey.........