tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6931353.post116197034907115050..comments2023-10-28T09:25:39.790-04:00Comments on The Atavist: 'Mental Health' breaks and other weighty business mattersThe Atavisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12529157597486952484noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6931353.post-1162322850863518092006-10-31T14:27:00.000-05:002006-10-31T14:27:00.000-05:00Love the contracting idea. And, the OPM.And, the ...Love the contracting idea. And, the OPM.<BR/><BR/>And, the potential for freedom. :)<BR/><BR/>Thanks.SuperP.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06830641369098524799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6931353.post-1162321692686741522006-10-31T14:08:00.000-05:002006-10-31T14:08:00.000-05:00Actually, I am one of the very lucky ones. I 'ret...Actually, I am one of the very lucky ones. I 'retired' in 1988 by asking my top employee if she wanted to be general manager of, and take over the day-to-day operations of my businesses. She did, and I've never looked back. Rather than goof off or play golf, something I am temperamentally unsuited to, I spend my time doing things that are fun to me. I start new businesses. I write. I read. I go to the office every day. If I feel I need a break, I take one. My problem is not being able to take a break, but in tearing myself away from my desk. I enjoy what I do.<BR/><BR/>In your case, I think you are on the right track. Training people to do the job, adding more customers, hiring more trainees, etc., works great if you have the patience and dtermination to develop your system and make a few mistakes along the way. One way to motivate people and to maintain consistent margins both, is to pay people as 'contractors' by giving them a fixed percentage of whatever you charge the customer. This won't work with office staff, but with the people who fix the computers, drive the delivery vehicle, clean the home, paint the house, whatver it is that your business entails, it is the way to go if possible.<BR/><BR/>Your gambling model is pretty close to a system that would work in an entrepreneurial environment. The big thing in business is 'leverage.' You use OPM (other people's money) to enable you to expand quicker than you might otherwise be able to do with your own money exclusively.<BR/><BR/>And yes, the freedom is priceless.The Atavisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529157597486952484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6931353.post-1162319950462085912006-10-31T13:39:00.000-05:002006-10-31T13:39:00.000-05:00Funny. As I've begun this modest little business ...Funny. As I've begun this modest little business of mine, I've thought more and more about how much more interesting it would be to find people to do what I am doing, and then find someone to manage those people and then, perhaps to give it all away, so that it's not my struggle or headache, but my toy to trade.<BR/><BR/>I'm a long way from that, but maybe I should think about molding it into something I want to sell in the future. <BR/><BR/>I've thought about that a lot with homes, about how my friends buy homes and fix them up, never with the intent to sell, always with the intent to live better and how they struggle, when they could improve here and there, sell and then have more to work with in regard to the final realization of their goal.<BR/><BR/>My one friend keeps dumping money into her house and I keep saying, 'you've got a 25 year mortgage, you can't afford to keep draining your funds and increasing your line of credit, when there is no return except your own short-lived satisfaction manifesting in the drywall of the basement and the paint in the corridor. You need to flip it and then the money you make will pay for your new door and parking pad. <BR/><BR/>It's like when I used to gamble on vlts. <BR/><BR/>I'd take 20 dollars and my goal would be 30. <BR/><BR/>If I lost - I quit. <BR/><BR/>If I made the extra ten, I put the twenty back in my pocket and used the ten for a new goal. <BR/><BR/>If I made ten more, I'd put my original ten in my pocket and use the next ten. <BR/><BR/>Then, if I made ten more, I'd put five in my pocket and use the next fifteen to up my odds. <BR/><BR/>VLT's aren't the way to go, let me tell you. <BR/><BR/>But, I think my system had something in it. <BR/><BR/>I enjoy your posts and what they bring to mind. And, you know, I never imagined you at the office every day, until now. <BR/><BR/>My misconception was that successful business men were the ones who had had to work 60 hour weeks, living like they worked 20 and who eventually got rewarded by living like they worked a 40 hour week, but who actually only worked 20.<BR/><BR/>lol! I guess I was wrong.<BR/><BR/>In any case, it's good to be boss. You can go for a drive if you feel like it. And that is freedom is priceless.SuperP.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06830641369098524799noreply@blogger.com