smitcat wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 6:24 amI remember you had asked about other job alternatives in other threads and it's not that time consuming to find out more about the options.RobLyons wrote: ↑Wed May 31, 2023 12:22 amsmitcat wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 7:40 am"Something like half of all small businesses fail within 5 years."RobLyons wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 4:05 pmsmitcat wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 9:06 am
"Many did well for a short period and then things came back to earth."
We wish that we started our own business's earlier than we actually did. While we were in our small businesses for 15+ years the earlier start would have been great. After selling a few years back the new owners are continuing to do really well.
That’s excellent. I could say the same thing about my current profession. But that’s all subjective. We know the statistics about small business success vs W2. Something like half of all small businesses fail within 5 years.
I guess whatever works for you is good!
I also share your sentiment that college is mostly a huge waste in this country. Big money grab with poor highschool guidance for decades. Recently I heard some news about free community college for residents. Can’t remember if that’s Boston or where but it’s a great start.
It would be great if you could spend some time at an SBA office (or SCORE or something similar) to know the real data and what it actually means.
Many of those business's did not fail they shut down - every one that is set up for a home flip or similar temporary business does this regularly. In addition to that any business that is sold (like our 3 a few years back) is also listed as discontinued. In our experience many of the small business that fail are due to substance abuse, divorce, large medical issues, etc.
We were both in corporate jobs for many years as well as in our own small business - we have seen both sides over many years.
"I also share your sentiment that college is mostly a huge waste in this country"
Sorry I did not say that, wrong person.
Well I'm unable to spend the time so is there a link you could provide to educate me? The exact wording is the businesses that "failed" and that's from investopedia and data from BLS.
And my mistake, OP stated he believes colleges are mostly a waste of money.
Most of what I learned was at the SBA but it was also easy to get better data when I was adjunct teaching a college course on 'entrepreneurship' at Stonybrook University. After I attended a number of meetings with many small business owners at the SBA it became very clear that small business was not nearly as difficult or competitive as one would think.
You remembered that? How long ago did I post that? Haha! I found it quite time consuming researching job alternatives. The best option was picking up more hours at my current job(s).
I feel there's a big disconnect here. And I don't mean to thread jack, just asking for clarification.
You're saying investopedia and BLS are incorrect and the correct information is insider information not available to the general public. Something like that? I'm not talking degree of difficulty or competition, but rather success rates. If BLS and investopedia are wrong, then there must be correct information somewhere that you could link.