As I have already begun with the actual business, I had to rent an office and have all those nice expenses to begin with. Any good administrator will tell you that you have to make more than what you spend.
I remember the movie in the 1980s called the Secret of my Success. It started Michael J Fox as a small town College graduate going to the big city and getting a job in his uncle’s company. There is the scene there where he is arguing with senior executives and his love interest about making the company successful as they are going thru hard times because a competitor is making a bid for a hostile takeover. She believes that they need to cut costs immediately and he tells everybody that they need to spend more money. I guess this is a classic case of management by cost-cutting vs. management by expansion. In the movie, he is told that they can not do it.
Well, I kind of agree with Michael J Fox’s character. When you are looking to grow, a stable or a startup, you have to invest. You can work from your home, use your cell phone and use your existing utilities. I think that this is similar to the cost-cutting approach. Or, you can do what I did (People tell me I’m not all there BTW) and go out and rent office space, get into contracts and increase your expenses without having any revenue. I would say this is similar to what Michael J Fox was doing. Now I must warn you, I do not take business nor academic advice from trendy Hollywood films, with the exception of the “Back to School” classic, but in my point of view, you need to force yourself to make hard decisions so that you are committed fully (not to a mental facility) to a project.
By working from home, you always have the low expenses base and the option to go do something else, by signing contracts you willingly take that option away. Risk tolerance must be high, as well as confidence, planning capacity and let’s be truthful luck as well. Do not be afraid to go into a compromise if you are fully secure in your abilities. There will be hard moments, like right now that I am starting at zero, but you know what, I could not ask for more, because I have the opportunity to do what I believe in and to help others. Let’s see what happens when the bills start coming in…..
Stay humble my friends