Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-30-2009, 06:58 AM   #21
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
Arif, great to see you posting again!

If you feel comfortable in sharing, please tell us about your business. Has the downturn in the economy hurt your revenue?
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 04-30-2009, 05:27 PM   #22
Full time employment: Posting here.
Arif's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 761
Hey Ken!
Well as you know I bought a pool service/maintenance company in San Antonio. We've grown about 34% from November of last year and this month we qualified to work on home warranty calls. The lady that manages the region including Texas said we should be able to get about 500 calls per year. I just hired a new guy last week to handle the increase workload.
One thing I have noticed is that new prospects are more price sensitive than they were last summer. Some just want us to come out an teach them how to take care of their pool rather than sign up for weekly cleanings.
We're still using that finder's fee from the pool store with great success though.

I think in this environment you must think out of the box. What worked last year might not work today so you have to adapt and over come. Just like in the military.
__________________
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Arif is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2009, 05:38 PM   #23
Full time employment: Posting here.
Arif's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 761
Quote:
Hi again, Arif. Welcome back!

No, I don't use the Robot Portfolio. I have long been interested in mechanical schemes, though and this deep value one interests me. I have been waiting for a bust like this to see how it would fare in a downdraft--and this one is a monster!

Good timing, man! I hope your business is doing well. (It wouldn't take much to do better than stocks.)

I have been thinking of using a little of my pot to start a small business, too. How could it be more risky than what we are experiencing?

Cheers,

Ed
Hey Ed!
Sorry I didn't see this post when I replied to Ken.
So the 34% drop was a model port? I would be interested to see how the robot is doing year to date.
Some say buying a small business is risky but after this downturn I beg to differ. Due your homework and anticipate you'll lose about 20% of the customers and plan accordingly. It was a steep learning curve during a very busy time of year (June) and we made some mistakes and brought some new ideas. This June will mark our 1 year anniversary in business and we anticipate atleast doubling our gross revenue.
__________________
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Arif is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2009, 09:09 PM   #24
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Ed_The_Gypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
Hi, Arif,

I just read what I wrote and I can see I was not clear. Gotta try again.

My personal retirement pot was down 34% in 2008.

I am not using a mechanical system, just my own seat-of-the-pants ideas:
70% equities, 30% bond funds, CDs, etc.
Equities 50/50 US/foreign.
Bond funds also 50% US, 50% foreign.
Equities mostly VG funds, but also have BP and Chevron for oil/energy today, plus BRK-B (not a good buy).

And so forth.

Even having taken a hit, I am still happy with my approach.

Well done with your business!

I am thinking of starting a small business myself. I took such a big hit with a decent portfolio, why not take a risk with a few grand?
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
Ed_The_Gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-30-2009, 09:31 PM   #25
Full time employment: Posting here.
Arif's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 761
Ed,
If you don't mind me asking. What type of business are you looking to get into?
__________________
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Arif is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2009, 05:43 AM   #26
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Ed_The_Gypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
Hi, Arif,

A friend and I have been doing the planning for setting up a small lab to provide services for a niche market. Our circumstances are such that it will not take much to set this up. He knows the market well and has credentials and contacts. At this time all I risk is a few grand and some of that could be recovered by reselling the equipment if it doesn't work out.

And it looks like I will have the time to manage this since I have been out of work for 4 months with no serious prospects. Engineering is in bad shape at the moment. I may be retired and don't know it yet.

Ed
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
Ed_The_Gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2009, 06:27 AM   #27
Full time employment: Posting here.
Arif's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 761
Sounds like you and your friend have the technical side down pat. Just be sure to keep an eye on the financials, ie. cashflow timing, etc.
Sorry to hear about the job search. But maybe that will give you time to focus on making the business a success. Just like Michael Bloomberg. He was let go from one of the brokerage houses and decided to start up his own company and the rest my friend is history.
__________________
You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Arif is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2009, 02:29 PM   #28
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Ed_The_Gypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
Yes!

I am not going to spend a penny until the business plan is complete. I don't want something to come out and bite me.

Positive cash flow is the first order of business.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
Ed_The_Gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
SWR - Amortize your portfolio RgrGd FIRE and Money 5 03-28-2007 10:29 AM
John Dorfman’s Robot Portfolio--again Ed_The_Gypsy FIRE and Money 3 03-05-2007 12:55 AM
the Robot Portfolio Ed_The_Gypsy FIRE and Money 10 02-15-2006 11:16 AM
Conservative distribution phase portfolio peteyperson FIRE and Money 13 03-22-2005 06:48 AM
Volatility in your Portfolio ESRBob FIRE and Money 5 03-03-2005 09:09 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:52 PM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.