Tired of Self Employment

Have you considered hiring someone to delegate your work? There are a lot of reputable firms that will handle your payroll and all other employee relations.

Branson

If you want to exit, find a company that specializes in sales of businesses and ask them to appraise the business for possible sale. If you have set it up properly so it can function 100% in your absence you may do quite well. If the business is an "empire", where nothing is decided without the emperor deciding it, you may find the business is worth just a little more than inventory value. So if you want to sell the business it must be turn key sellable. Even so, expect to agree to work there and to not work in competition with them for a number of years or with a competitor.

Another thing to do is sell to a larger company in the same business, who handles all the banking, receivable, loans etc and give you a paycheck every month.

You would have to assss your skill set compared with a new grad. Yoy may get less due to lack of modern skills....hard to say, some-one who knows you might say?

yes nothing is impossible . you may be first guy to get money ,but think first now you are owner after it you are labour . A journey master to labour ( think) Shailendrasemwal (shailendrasemwal@yahoo.com)

Hello JLK.

In the past I have had a contracting business, with too much risk, too many employees and paying too much for insurance and bonds. Personally I liquidated my company and went to work as a private consultant.

For the last 5 years or so my personal gain has been larger and my risk has been zero.

Currently my work is in Iraq where you are paid well for performance, in the past my work has been in the U.S. and after 50 or 60 hours a week, my time was my own.

You may wish to talk to some of the folks you currently do business with and see if they would be interested in your talents as a private consultant.

thats it from here,

rick

Rick:

I apologize in advance but I just couldn't resist. Currently working in Iraq with zero risk?

No problem Bluestone, there is no finiancial risk but there is risk in Iraq....

rick

www.vmc.com

you may be tired but you do not know how lucky you are -as unless you are protected by a union contract you have no rights under the law-US.

why not just solve you problem and hire an administrator with an mba just out of school and to reduce the number of hats you have to wear if you earn a little less money but have fewer headaches it will be worth it as it sounds as if you are micro maanaging everything-no offense ment-that is how the Ford motor co. got into trouble.

you should be in my shoes- unemployed since 99-referred to as dead WEIGHT-costing us money and with no options as far as education-could not finish my college edu.

and what skills I have as mechanic -desiel and hydraulics are uneeded/I am overqualified and I cannot leave to look for employment.

Have youi considered marine diesel and hydraulics. Here at teh coast of NC they are always looking for someone with experience. the local Community college has started a marine school. I am not sure of your age?

Hi JLK. You are deenergized because you are probably more "techie" than "boss administrator."

The PI test is statistically validated and It will be worth it to have your profile determined. If indeed it confirms that you are in fact the ace techie and the 'worst" boss administrator (low A highC High D) then you will know that the problem can besolved by bringing in a professional manager who has the managerial admin skills and free you up to be creative in your area.

If you had inherited a baseball team, you wouldn't automatically expect to be the first baseman.

"know thyself"- use Pi; then take action.

heres a link, there are many providers:

http://predictiveindex-consulting.com/

This is not mumbo jumbo, there are a number of shops in my industry that have turbo charged their HR performance using this tool.

milo"zero C"

Boss is better than labour, find good assistant, 51 years old is high risk to change profession.

ys barry

the way i see it , you have challanges.

1. selling your existing business, which may be a problem, if YOU are the bizness...

2 finding someone who will hire a worker bee that already was a queen bee....

3. if you decide to keep the shop, have a salary and take your piece of the pie from the top

i really don't have any advice other than that...

everyone wants to be their own boss until they are.....

good luck

You have already been given a lot of sound advice, but I want to take it one stage further, because like you I had had enough running my own business and was looking for an exit. I did manage to sell my business (for much less than I expected) and it did give me some short term relief from the daily stress. For a while I enjoyed my "freedom", but after a few months I realised that I did not have enough income to retire on and I was starting to miss the every day involvement of getting up and going to work. I then started to look for a job, so I sent my CV to several prospective emloyees with limited success. I even went to an inerview for a job that I could have done standing on my head, but was told that I was over qualified.

After about 18 months I had a break in that a guy that used to work for me was looking for someone with my experience, so I have been working for an ex employee for 18 months now. At first I was really happy but after a while I could see that the way the company is being run is not how I would be doing it....... basically I am now finding it quite difficult to work for someone else after running things my way for all these years.

With hindsight, If I had been given the advice that has already been offered, I would certainly have bought in a manager to do the bits I was not so good at whilst concentrating on my core skills.

I suggest that you try this route first.

Dear Self Employed

I feel your pain. I did the same for 10 years and then had to regroup to redefine my personal goals. I restructured everything to gain better control while using the resources of others to help me manage my day to day operations.

What I found; my business began to blossom. Sales grew, income grew and I had more time for life things.

My suggestion; if you have a local reputable business school (university level) I would approach the school and offer exposure to your operations for students to come in and evaluate your business and operations.

Many MBA and undergrad business schools have a policy section that allows students and businesses to work together to help each other. They can take an academic view of your management approach and offer valuable advice and guidance on how to get better control of your situation.

This would be my primary step before I make the big leap to dump or sell the business.

I have taken the past 2 1/2 years to reassess my business situation. I am now in a healthier and happier situation. I do not attempt to do everything. I leave responsibilities in the hands of others and stay updated with regular meetings or discussions on things to offer advice and guidance when needed. It is time to use your experience to teach and monitor.

Top things I needed.

a solid sales team
a solid production team
a solid adminstrative team

self-empowered leadership.

If you have managed all these years, you can get over the hump.

Charge On

TAR

Ok, thanks to all!

Branson, thanks for the advice.

Aurizon, thanks...good advice ... and having someone 'competent' to run my business in my absence is a consideration. But yes, I do have an 'empire' here and I decide on everything. Selling the business, I am finding out, is easier said than done! I understand your approach.

RickinIraq. The opportunity of 'relocating' is not a desire of mine. Although the money made by working in the 'Danger Zone' is appealing, the risk is not worth it to me. Thanks for sharing your situation...Believe me, I've thought about doing something like that...

Guest: Yes, I am probably overqualified and would find working for someone else annoying and non satisfying. Sorry about your unemployment since '99... that's incredible.... in my case, I have 'too much' and that is another issue that is driving me nuts... i.e. going thru the employment process... I'm always seeking that older experienced mechanic (ie. iron worker / fitter) to perform the work...and to 'get it out in short amount of time.

Milo: thanks.... I may consider the PI factor...it's quite interesting!

reefdiver: Now that's what I miss! I havent' been diving in 25yrs... not to mention having a vacation is the same amount of time! But I do see your point and I have condsidered it...like I said, selling the business is easier said, than done.... mainly b/c of existing family members, the property and other rental properties on the business property.

HydroScot: Great advice...It is apparent you have experienced what I am going thru.

And it's interesting to hear what you've stated! I heard it before... 'you couldn't work' for someone else, given your age, you're set in your ways and you just wouldn't enjoy it! I won't go into the detail of the 'trials and tribultions' of the everyday work, but overall, I will take your advice as well as the others and make it work. Essentially, I am debt free, it's the company that's struggles to make ends meet....and I guess by default, "I am the Company".....I know I portray myself as desperate, but I am really not that way...I'll make it, I always do, I've made it thru 'working for my father' and UG engineering school and now the I'm taking on the formidable task of G.S.....

Thanks for the great advice!

JLK

Thanks for the closure.

Another thought, Get active in your NAtional Trade association. You can network with other in similar strais, maybe find the person that you need, and have a source to contact when you need to discuss an issue. Many smaller companies are 'family owned' and yes they do have a different set of issues from other companies.

Contact me via email (by clicking on my link) if you need some assistance hooking up.

milo

I don't own a business but have been working for different small family owned business for more then 10 years.

The problem with owing a business is doing everything yourself. One reason maybe you want it your way and nobody else could do a "better" job. Another is you can't trust other to do a good enough job. Both case will get you 20hr works a day and no time to grow your business.

As an engineer/shop manager/plant manager I've found to most productive time is when the boss is not around. There is nobody to second guess every decision. Nobody to change schedule every hour. Once the shop was late with 3 month worth of works. The boss was gone for a month. Before he come back we've clean everything up and get the shop back in time. Of course we start to fall behind once he come back.

On a more successful company the two owner have no problem telling other what to do and then walk away. They go golfing every Friday in the summer with customers. They can take a few months off and business will be the same when they come back.

To me the owner shouldn't worry about daily operation of the business. He/she is there to make decision on overall direction of the business. Hire accountant, manager and engineer for daily details. Owner should go out and connect with customers. The owner is the leader who over see the whole operation. He/she supposed to get other to do their work. The only the owner supposed to worry and focus on is how to grow their business.

Don't sell your business, learn how to be a good leader and seat back to watch everyone else do all the works.

If you're running around doing works for your employees, you're being owned by the company.

Pineapple

Pineapple, you're response to my post is ....at most, Amusing!

JLK

It seems that everyone wants you to keep your business, but they haven't answered your questions.

With your experience and degree, you could demand between $75-$100K a year in the US.

Your fight is with the kids out of college, they can do the same job for $50-$55K. You need to stick to your guns, tell the employor he will get what he pays for, if he wants to pay some kid $50K he can expect to hold his hand, you don't need hand holding, for your $80K for example, he can pass you a project and forget it. He'll know he'll get the project done on time, under budget, and right the first time.

I was in a position of unemployed a couple a years back and that was my approach, I told the interviewer that yes, I wanted that much, but I was worth it. I got the offer. By the way, just looking for an engineering position in the US will take you about a month to land a good job. We are in short supply right now, good time to go fishing.

Good luck, by the way, what city are you interested in?

P.S. to sell your business, have you contacted your competition? I have heard many times about business owers selling to the competition and then got to keep their old jobs with out the problems. (An old company I worked for, the owner Pres. sold the company and the new company kept him on as Pres., how cool was that?)

Yes, he wants you to exploit the worker and become a classic running dog of the capitalist banditry....Go Lenin:-:)

A common problem with selling a business is when the owner wants to retire and is to deeply embedded in the business. Basically, the real value in the business becomes the owner, and he wants out. Many companies do not want to buy such businesses, since they purchase will less than productive and problematic integration without the owner involved for a long time. Many companies also buy smaller companies to fuill a niche they feel they need to stregnthen for future endeavors or market transitions. One large company I used to work for made a practice of purchasing companies to position themselves for future prospects in the federal sector. I have worked for two companies that were sold by the owner, one was sold to the workers, other to a large company. Your workers may be intersted in buying you out and sharing company profits, this is the most friendly situation i have seen. The worker will want you to stay on for a while and typically allow you to work your own schedule. Selling to a large company, they will want you there working to transition personel and still managing, marketing and working every day. Then one day they will replace you, and thing go to crap.