So I have been reading a few things on business and all while spending more time in grad school and a few things have made me take note.
Many of the best business writers have said “You should never work for free” which I am trying to adhere to with the “no free estimates” and it works about 50-75% of the time. Wish it worked ALL of them time…
And another point I saw is someone said “anyone over the age of 40 should strive to make $100k per year as their annual income”.
Hmmmm? I turn 40 later this year. Yikes.
I had that once for a few years but that was a few years ago….might hit half of that this year. But half is a far cry from the whole 100.
Any thoughts on this knowing that our business is rather fluctuating and all?
Or is this just stuff folks write to sell books?
Replies
A quick take is that the comment was too general in nature.
Detroit is selling houses for $1/each, whereas you may have to spend $2k to rent a small apartment in Manhattan. How can you make a blanket statement like $100k/year when there is such a disparity between the high and low cost of living areas?
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Jon,
I can't answer that...its just what I read...those aren't MY numbers.
I know.You posted a statement that someone wrote and I responded to it. My assessment is that the statement the author of the book you read was too general to have real value to the author's readers.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Yeah, thats kind of what I thought when I read it as $100k goes along way in some areas and is borderline poverty in others.
$100K/ year. The average salary where I live is that, but then again homes cost 750K on up for 40 year old 3 BR 1500 SF homes. too.I too think it was too general a statement. We get $2400/ month for a 1440 SF condo ML
So you're at one extreme.Try telling the guy who lives & works in a reasonable area. He may be doing very well at $60k/year because of how much (or little) it costs to buy property, pay taxes, pay for services, etc.I see you're in CA. How much would you need to retire and stay in your house vs. retiring and moving to Northern Idaho? You would maintain the same lifestyle in both areas. I imagine the difference would be significant.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I agree. that why we hope to earn our livings here and come retirement age (20 years) move from this god forsaken state and live somewhere else where the cost of living is much lower. To stray here It would retire about 1.5M at retirement.60K in another state would most likely allow most people to live very comfortably.ML
We get $2400/ month for a 1440 SF condo$1400 here will renyt a 3000 sq ft house on the beach on the gulf of mexico
$1400 here will renyt a 3000 sq ft house on the beach on the gulf of mexico
that for a week or a month :)? last i checked for a 3000sf house on the beach they wanted $6500 aweek anywhere in north fl
p
Keep in mind that the guys that get rich in business rarely write books.
I'd estimate that 95% of the business books out there aren't worth the paper they're printed on. But there's always a bunch of guys looking for "the secret", so there's a big audience for this junk.
(Of course, it's not just business. Look at education, programming, probably even medicine, and you'll find a lot of "junk" books put out by "consultants" who can't "do" but still "teach".)
DanH,
Thats why I read books like that when they are given to me but try not to buy many of them.
DanH I would agree with you on the "business book" situation.
producing and marketing these books--is an industry unto itself-----directly comparable to the diet book industry there is a book OFTEN recommended on this forum-- that i personally find to be complete and utter rubbish---but i lot of folks are sold on it---so best of luck to them.almost always my best business ideas come--in "non-business" situations--and from carrying a pencil and small notebook at almost all times. Vacations--seem to generate great ideas for me.
if my business wasn't a seasonal one--- I would almost certainley set up an artificial system where I worked 2 weeks--and took one week off---work 2 more weeks--take another one off---the down time is where the ideas come from.
stephen
not quite sure what business you are in and why you are going to grad school?
Professional student.
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be! --Miguel de Cervantes
yeah no kidding. friend of mine finished grad school now wants to go back thinking he will make more money w. another degree....
Professional student
I wish...now wouldn't THAT be nice!!!
BC,
I'm going to grad school because I want to make $100K!!!
Oak River Mike
Flat simple statements like that mean nothing! Others have pointed out why. I did much better when I earned $85,000 a year than when I was earning $120,000 a year.
Time away from home was a tiny fraction at $85,000 a year and I was able to work on my home where when I earned $120,000 a year I had almost no time at all at home and was forced to pay a yard service for mowing the lawn. I had to buy a lot of things new rather than have time to maintian and service stuff. I was required to wear much more expensive clothing and drive new vehicles..
Next everyones circumstances vary.. starting over as you are you can't be in a position to pass work because while it's profitable it's not profitable enough. Staying home earning nothing is like cutting off your nose to spite your face..
FWIW
I prefer to perfect living on less than 15k. getting close but not there yet.
More time off .
John, that is my goal also, I'm there, for how long I don't know!
why settle for 100k when there is so much more to be had?
I don't know that it matters what you make $$$
what does matter is what you spend...
anything you don't spend... you won't have to make... that saves you 30-35% just on what you don't have to earn... assume'n the low figure of.... you have to earn $1.30 for every $1 you get to spend... and real world it's prob closer to $1.50 to $1.00
so yes i say your book is full of $%^&
"never work for free" that phrase always seems to make sense to the type that read books that tell you how to "get rich"
but real world you are never really working for free ... what you do today might not have a line item on an invoice but it's all part of being in business and at the end of the year you make X divide up however you want... but best to just divide it by 365 and say i made x each day....
I'm not telling you how to or what to charge for.... since i was 12 i understood MIP which has nothing to do with percentages, mark-up, profit margins or how you invoice... at the end of the deal it's all about MIP (money in pocket) I use to do $200-$300k deals sometimes as many as one a week... many times i'd sell at or below cost... and make money.... was even audited and investigated... i made all my money pay'n my invoices in 10days and getting a 2% discount while i was getting paid in 30 days... so i was make'n 4-6k a week paying interest on 200-300k for 20 days.... wasn't a bad sideline.... plus i was dealing with manufactures who gave better pricing the more you purchased during the year.... so in the end i was buy'n cheaper so to many that went up against me it looked like i was selling way below cost...
I'm only telling you this... because everyone has to find their own game, everyone on this board can do something better than someone else... everyone here has a trick that saves them steps or a method that really works for them...
I don't think you'll find it in a book
peace
p
Well said.
Especially like the "spend to earn" statements.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
you always have a way of making things clear and concise
"Never pick a fight with an old man. If he can't beat you he will just kill you." Steinbeck
my best bud and mechanic ... works mostly small car repairs in a 2 car garage attached to his house.
as small time mechanic as U can get.
just bought a $50K motorhome to pull his $20K trailer that holds his $50K dragster to the racetrack so he can spend about $6K-$8K / year on his hobby.
his accountant has never shown him to make anywhere near $100K/yr.
and he's completely legal and legit.
like Pony said .... it's all about Money In Pocket!
the deals he cut to swing that new motorhome made me dizzy ...
sold his old motorhome outright for $7K cash.
sold his old dually back to the guy he bought it from for cash and another pick up.
traded that pick up for cash and another pick up.
and picked up some cash along the way arranging the sale of one guys car to another ....
plus ... spent his walking around money knowing I had painting / carp work for him when I got back .... and called a coupla other guys and told them one weekend only .... great rates on body / paint work ... but he needed their cars asap and cash in hand when they came to pick up after he busted it out.
he never wrote a book ... but he went from a $7K mobile home to a $50K mobile home in less than 2 weeks after finding the deal ... his montly payments went up $100.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
you, too, Jeff
"Never pick a fight with an old man. If he can't beat you he will just kill you." Steinbeck
JeffBuck,
What is it about us racers where we are willing to turn all sorts of money into noise and excitement? I know few racers who actually step up to the plate to pay for racing.. most of us trade, swap , make, build, etc. whatever it takes to go racing..
Heck of an addiction. If we could bottle it and sell it on street corners I'm sure it would quickly replace heroin as the supreme drug..
he pays cash as he goes but knows plenty of guys with their whole financial future risked but trying to go faster on credit.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff Buck
I too paid cash as I went.. you can usually tell those who charge their way to going faster, they sell everything and try to bail themselves out of debt..
Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?
It says "Strive" not that you will actually make it.
I've been striving to be a millionaire for I don't know how long and an expert pianist, a perfect mother, a fine person and an excellent business person.
I always achieve at striving, I'm very good at it as a matter of fact. Reaching the goals I strive for is another matter.
I started out with nothing and have most of it left.
Hey Mike,
Been where you are. Still am a lot of days.
I'll warn against buying the hype of any business writer.
$100K is a pretty broad brush stroke as many others have pointed out. And, if we're having an honest discussion? probably more than MOST small business owners make.
On that front, maybe it's time to be honest and seperate small businesses, sole proprietors and artisans. then? You really have to be honest about which one you are.
Beyond that, the number is not relevant. For example, if you bought in my neighborhood 5 years ago? $100K would allow you a pretty comfortable life. If you bought in the last year and a half $100K would be a squeeze but you could do it.
My sister's house is 2/3 the size of mine on a lot 1/5 the size. And yet? If you made $100K you couldn't even afford a studio apartment in her town.
Then look at another aspect of it. I make the equivelant of maybe $85-90K a year. I also pay out of my pocket for Gas and tolls and a whole other list of things.
If I still owned a business and transfered some of those costs to the business, like if I drove a Company truck and used the Company gas card and had a company EZ-Pass????????????
How much of my costs have been shifted to the business? How much less do I need to make in order to live the same life?
I know your trying to figure out what's next and I've been there..............Don't buy that type of hype. If you wrote a business book and said every small business owner should try to make $60K per year after the age of 40? Who would get excited about that....................................$100K just sounds better.......
"Never Work for Free",
I do try to live by that, but every once in a while I do a design on spec and get slapped back into my seat in a hurry.
The ego gets the best of you--and some rich jerk in a 50,000 sf house gets a feee design. It just makes you feel like such a sucker.
This year it was a TV personality-- says he isn't doing it until next year and that he will call--I'll hold my breath.
1800 sf curved tigerdeck monster... and a tree house with flat screens for the kids. Somewhere between 2-300k
Around the corner the same week I got wrangled into free designs by another rich lady in a 30,000 sf stone house. She agreed to pay up front... and never did.
Thinking about filing on her credit just for the fun of it.
L
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