Yeah, just wear a bra on your head.

 

Done!

 

Plenty of businesses fail. but you gotta try something and take a risk if you want to make it big.

It's all about risk / reward.

I'm a manufacturing engineer specializing in medical devices. I know people and general places to look for medical device startups.

But I know that quite a few people on this forum actually have their own small business either as their main business or as a sideline. I know most of them work very hard, but also that a lot of them say; "it's not what you know, it's who you know".

Anyone find that to be true? What are your stories?

 

I worked for a bank as a teller my freshman year of college. They had ridiculous stipulations on the percentages you could be off every week. So yeah, I get fired on a Friday morning. I go home, instantly start my job search. I go in for 2 interviews that same day. I get a call on Monday morning that I got a job.

So I worked as an import specialist/accounting assistant for 2 years. I learned a TON! One of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever had (minus being heavily overworked and always discriminated against because of my age, haha). I enjoyed learning about the regulations enforced by Customs & Border Protection. I got to be VERY good at my job. I left because I was severely under-compensated.

I then worked as a bookkeeper for an attorney for 6 months. He handled mortgage purchases and refinances. It was fun to work in the housing market. I was laid off after 6 months due to a tremendous drop in business (damm you, economy). I was unemployed for a month.

I'm currently working as an office assistant and bookkeeper for the Iowa Funeral Directors Association. I also manage a million dollar trust fund for our state. It's an incredibly interesting profession and I've learned a LOOOOT about the deathcare industry.

Currently job searching in Minnesota. I'm biding my time and saving my money though, because I realllllly want to have my own business someday. Something probably artsy-fartsy. I make jewelry and other funky stuff (purses, pins from polymer clay, etc.).

 

I think you can avoid all the politics if you just stay relevant. Don't just sit on past accomplishments or know-how. See what's on the horizon and try and learn it before the industry reaches that point, even if you're not paid extra for doing so. Once you're no longer relevant, or someone is more relevant than you, you're just a working stiff running repeatedly into a wall.

EDIT: And you better believe this applies to your own business. For instance, look at the extra steps and partnerships made by Netflix that allows them to way outpace their competitors.

 

lol reading this makes my head spin. Im 18 working as a porter at a Mercedes Benz dealership making $9 dollars an hour while going to school. Im sitting here thinking, how does one stumble upon these well paying niche jobs that i guarantee you did not yet have a degree or training for. I feel like i have so much potential that is not being used and i do not know how to use it!

 

My dad has run his own business as long as I can remember. There are positives and negatives about it for sure, just like any other career. Working for someone else, you have the pain of working for management who many times hasnt a clue how to do your job (or theirs) and were simply hired because they are "trained in management". When you work for yourself you have to deal with all of the overhead that takes time away from the part of the job you really liked to begin with. So it is a balance.

I dont see myself working for someone else forever, but I dont know when I will make the switch to working for myself. Depends on whether I stay in project management (plenty of options either way in this field) or go back to straight engineering. I have serious thoughts of taking some of my ideas to reality and building a business on it.

My problem now is dealing with some management who havent a clue.. but seem to think they do have one