Did you ever try to start your own business?

had a small realty company for 13 years,after retiring from 20 years army service.was twice honored by real estate commission for being a very successful agent/owner.had 14 employees.then in early 2007,something went horribly wrong.i and the 14 agents all went 6 months without a sale.i knew the economy was in trouble-people stopped buying .most of the other small realty offices in our area also closed.only big places like remax remained and flourished-they were huge,national corporations with money to ride out a downturn.mom-and-pop operations had to have steady income to feed our families.so,we folded.it was gr8 for awhile,but the recession killed it.thats life.for the record,i encouraged people to stay within their income level and not bite off more than they could chew.it was amazing how few people listened to me and insisted on buying a "mcmansion" they could ill afford.to be sure,some mortgage brokers were wrong in encouraging this sort of behavior,but the people were not naive or hoodwinked in a lot of cases-it was their insatiable desire to impress,their willingness to try to support an elephant of a house,just so people could envy their lifestyle-this greed was something which had begun to sour me on realty in any case.even if the recession killed us,i was becoming dissatisfied.no one listened to my advice. they wanted mcmansions,and i despised those places.i saw them for the money pits they were.every one has the right to a house they love,but when people think they can afford a mansionette on a middle class budget-somethings got to give.and it did!

The failure in my case was under capitalization. I was fortunate due to being about to sell it before the economy tanked! The first couple of years is usually going to put you in debt if the business is a new startup.

Industries vary, but as a general rule buying a existing business is the easiest because you already have clientele(good will) systems and staff in place. The rule of thumb is to buy an existing business for as low as 100% of what the annual profit was or as much as 100% for gross sells/business revenue(without considering expenses).

Say it makes $200,000 gross revenue but after expenses makes only $50,000 in profit. I'd look at issues that restrict profits and and value the business respectively. I would pay maybe $75,000 for the business if they're are areas that can be improved on.

While in my 20's I thought I could take over a small cafe in my hometown. Although I could cook and bake well, my lack of business savvy and the fact that I was unwilling to put in 12-15-hour-days to get the place off the ground, I nearly drove it into the ground within a few months. Thankfully, before I crashed, I sold it to an older gentleman who had some know-how in the restaurant business.

When I was 24, I started a publishing company with two other people. It did well and we sold it to a larger publisher for a considerable profit.

Now that I am retired, I am tempted to start another company, but the economic and political climate in the US is terribly uncertain right now. It would help if the government would lead, follow or get out of the way.

Plenty of ideas -- and I also had a decent side business on ebay for awhile (vintage video games) that fell as the fad died off. I had some publications that never got advertiser support so died after a few issues. My investments were minimal.

But, at 40, I started a newspaper aimed at college kids that's been profitable from the start. This paper I planned for several months and saved enough startup cash for. My years in college administration helped teach me learn such planning skills when it came to publications. I learned all the other skills (writing, layout, editing, etc.) working for other papers or in college. I learned how to sell ads advising a community college paper for a few years. The adviser had to handle the business aspect of it.

I did do a nice business on eBay for a while, but that was about 6 years ago. It started going downhill after that, but was nice while it lasted. Everyone said I should be an entrepreneur but I guess it would had to have been on the Internet. Too hard and too expensive to set up a business otherwise.

I think eBay was just one of those things that had it's hay days, just like the Beanie Babies craze. The economy plummeting didn't help it, either.

No, I never did try to start a business but they kept being thrust upon me. One guy wanted me to take over a business making cultured marble counter tops and fixtures. He just wanted to give me the business. This was when this type of thing was basically unknown. I didn't want it and he became a multimillionaire from it.

Another time a guy wanted me to take over a thriving motorcycle dealership with him only as a silent partner until I bought him out. Turned him down too.

I built a custom chopper in my father's back yard for a guy while visiting one time and pretty soon I had what seemed like hundreds of people wanting me to build bikes for them. I said "ENOUGH ALREADY", and hit the road again.

I also do some occasional Ebaying here out of my home. You can still do well there if you offer what people want / need. However, ' borderline ' items don't sell like they used to do and that is why Ebay is down some from what it once was.

By the way, ' borderline ' items ( my own terminology ) are items that would've sold in the past, but no longer do. They are hard to define, yet there are millions of them offered everyday on Ebay. And, about the only way to learn what will / won't sell is through experience.

It was a music store. No it didn't crash, because I DID NOT GET A LINE OF CREDIT. I am retired now and the business is sold and supporting several families.

In the UK when small casinos were legalised I was tempted to invest in one by a Mexican who had been a croupier in Mexico City.

I thought it over but decided against it.

I found out later that crooks had taken it over and were bringing in prostitutes to encourage new custom.

This resulted in my Mexican friend having to leave after investing a lot of money.

The law was changed soon after and all these small casinos were closed down.