Interesting and funny thread . Bookmarked .

Yep, trolling can be hard. :P

Majority owner of a market research firm. There are some months I "enjoy" seeing payroll go out where I make less than my employees. The beauty of overtime. This will be the year I get a competent PM and I can lighten the work load. I think I said this last year so we shall see. :p

You folks with employees... my hat is off to you. My biz is really simple compared to that can o' worms and the good and bad that come with it. Hell, the wife and I are thinking about having her quit her day job and work part time with me off the books (no pay, no paperwork and all the rest), and even THAT step seems daunting.

I don't really have employees. :P Employees you get to tell what to do. If I did that to my parents they'd open something that was closed and close something that was open.

Yeah... I know what you mean. It's just me and my partner at the moment, we're both co-owners so no proper employees.

But we've been talking for a long time about expanding and having to deal with employees (and tax etc.) is one of the biggest hurdles in doing so... we know we'll need to at some point (there is only so far we can go with just the two of us) but it's a hell of a step.

Myself I am trying to get back into freelance artwork. Now that the car is fixed I can run down some commission leads. In the past I would sometimes have more work than I had time for and then the next month would wonder if I would make it to the next month.

That is an artist life though. Been learning new styles and such and expanding out of my comfort zone. The worst part is self doubt that goes with doing your own business.

Owning your OWN business and working for someone else including parents is NOT owning your own business.That needs to be clarified to the people that work for their parent's business and claim ownership of business.That's all for today's lesson in ethics.Next lesson,EGO and Attention Seeking.

I think I'll need at least 50 millions of Euros to build a decent enough lab to conduct my experiments so no, I can't run my own business. Sometimes I would like to though - stupid bosses are everywhere ;)

I know of at least three different families where members own their own businesses, yet are working for their parents. It can happen, and it does happen, usually for tax or health reasons.
The parent usually starts the job, gets it running, does the day to day workings in it, but the name of the owner is the child, so they won't have to go through inherit taxes once the parents retire or die. Once the child grows up, they do go to the business to help out (be it as a waiter in the restaurant, as secretary in an office or as a driver in the warehouse), while the parent is still running the business.
Yes, the child can tell the parent to get lost, but not only are you usually losing an experienced employee, you are also alienating a family member. Sometimes it is necessary though (as has happened with one of the families I know).

This was a lesson about paperwork. The name of the owner of something and the name of the one running said thing is often different, and who takes order from whom can also be different from what you'd expect.

Sure,but there is a difference when said child claims to be business owner when in reality only works for the parent (owner).That was my point.

Yes. Ownership is determined by the paperwork. Working for someone depends on working position. So as I said, you can own a business and work for your parents (who also work in that business). Not mutually exclusive.
And to add to your original post, one could own a business and work in a business their parent owned. Still not mutually exclusive, if there are 2 different businesses.

On second thought I'm not so insecure that I need to defend myself against the rantings of a sad little troll.

Running my own business has been a long time "dream" to me, at least I've wondered how it would feel to make all the decisions for yourself, deciding whether you try to do it all yourself or maybe hire some people, etc.

But I haven't done it mainly because I am chickenshit afraid of it, and I have absolutely no idea what kind of business I could even run. I don't feel that e.g. my current experience and knowledge really can be a basis to start some kind of one-man business, and if it would be some completely new area... I have no idea what it could be.

No I am not interested to start e.g. a pizzeria, I think there are already enough of them, e.g. very near two me two pizzerias side by side, in front of them another food restaurant, and nearby e.g. a Subway and McDonalds. I just don't see how I could make enough money with that kind of business. Same goes for some kind of small grocery store, I don't see those succeeding here unless it is some very specific food stuff, as people buy in the chain markets, and many places deliver their stuff only to such chains.

I know some who have their own business, and also my brother might be starting his own one-man lawyer company (yes he is a lawyer) instead of working in his current position in another small lawyer firm where he feels he is the only one who really knows the stuff and does most of the work. The other is a small consultation firm (two owners, and one or two employees I think) who represent certain software here, offering services, consultation, courses etc. for it.

I am always just amazed how people come up with their ideas for their own company, how do they come up with correct pricing that they are not selling their services or goods too cheaply nor asking too much, etc. Ok of course for my lawyer brother it is a no-brainer, and I guess if you are hair dresser or a constructor, that's what your company would do, but still...

Then there are all those yoga instructors and wellbeing-consultants... since I can't understand who the heck would pay for something like that, I don't feel comfortable doing anything like it either as a profession.


Also I wonder how different the legislation etc. is in different countries regarding running your business? For instance, I've understood that somehow in the US it is not really a big thing if your company goes bankrupt, you just start another business then. I keep hearing of these small time, or even big time, business men with several bankrupts behind them, as if it was nothing.

Really? Who then pays all your debt? Is it the bank who gave you the loan who has to live with the debt you made, and you just start another business with another debt? "Personal bankrupt" or what it is called?

Here I've always thought that if you start a company which starts making a loss and you go into heavy debts... then that is quite often your personal debt. Made two millions of loss with your company which went bankrupt? Too bad, you'll be paying them back to banks for the rest of your life, until you die. (unless you made it a public company or something, with shares and shit). Or then I have completely misunderstood how it goes.

That's the same I've wondered about mortgages, I've understood that in US, if e.g. your home value goes south and you can't pay for the mortgage, you just give the house to the bank and that's it. You have no mortgage anymore (and no home either).

Here it goes like that if you can't pay your mortgage anymore, then the bank might be able to sell it (cheaply even), and you STILL have to take care of the rest of the mortgage. So you lose your home and still get to keep your mortgage, bank has less risks.