Going from High Paid Employee To Business Owner/Investor
© 2008 Richard Cooley, PhD

When you call DKTaxServices (888.592.4769) to learn how you can become one of our clients, chances are you’re going to talk to me. And one of the things I’ll tell you is that I’m not a CPA or lawyer, so I can’t give you tax or legal advice.

What I do have is years and years of practical experience as a business owner when things worked out, and when they didn’t, and as an investor when things worked out, and when they didn’t.

I started out my professional life, like many of the people I talk to, as a high income employee. I have a PhD in Ceramics and worked in the microelectronic field. I know first hand what it’s like to have a big, high paying job one day and suddenly get a lay off the next day and then to find out that my retirement fund has tanked.

But, I’m not as quick as some of you. It took the second lay-off for me to discover I didn’t want to be this vulnerable anymore. I wanted to take control of my financial future so that I had income even if the job market became unstable. I wanted control over my own future.

Most people call me because they are looking for a tax savings, but what I hear they really want is financial independence. That was just like me.

After the 2nd layoff, I decided to build a business to create multiple sources of income. At the time, the best strategy for me was rehabbing properties. This isn’t passive income. I bought properties that had some kind of challenge and then I fixed them and flipped them. After I got a little bit of money built up, I held on to some of the property and used Rent to Own contracts to put tenant/buyers in place. At that point, I had mixed income sources. I still had my full-time job in microelectronics. I did rehab and flipped properties, and I did rehab and held on some properties for fairly passive monthly income.

LESSONS:

I went to a lot of seminars at that time. And I learned that a lot of the seminar guys make their money off of seminars, not actually doing what they’re teaching. I ran into a lot of seminar companies with very low integrity.

I also met Diane Kennedy, who later became my wife.

I’m not involved in real estate anymore, at least not at in any active capacity. Fix and flip is dependent on the market. The market has to go up for it make sense. One thing I know for sure about business: Don’t hitch your wagon to just one star.

A sustainable business needs to have a plan that works when market is up, down or stagnant. Otherwise, you don’t really have a business, you’ve just got a tip at the race track.

I also found that I have a tendency to not value my time. I would take my high dollar value time and spent it doing low dollar value tasks. One of my biggest problems is that I’m handy, so it was easy for me to justify just being the repair guy.

I had some tough lessons on the need to protect your business. Just locking the doors on a house gives you a false sense of security. There are many thieves among us. The hardest, of course, is when they come all dressed up in partner clothes and say they want to help you.

If I were starting over today:

• Without a doubt, I would start a business. Today’s tax breaks force you to spend 1 ½ days per week working on your real estate, or you can’t even take a deduction. With a business, you get deductions from day one.
• I would make sure the business made money even if I wasn’t physically doing something. It’s okay to work to start it, but not to keep it running.
• Make sure the cash flow is worth my time. People work way too hard for minimal amounts of cash flow. For example, I talk to people who are ecstatic making $100 - $200 per month in cash flow. And it takes them 10 hours or more per month to manage the investment.
• I’d apply the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule) to all of my activities and focus my activity only on the things that give me the highest leverage.
• I’d know what season of my life I’m in. At 20, I’d have a very different business than I would at 60.
• I want flexibility and the ability to change. (Another reason real estate doesn’t work as well for me. It anchors me in an area.)
• I would make sure my business included the High Touch factor. Businesses have largely evolved into a virtual mode. People (customers) need High Touch if you are to make High Profit.
• Keep it small and keep it all. Small business does not mean small profit.
• Keep a keen eye on the P & L to catch any embezzlement fast. Accurate accounting and good bookkeeping are critical.

And the most important question I’d ask for any business plan, how viable is the business premise?

You should:

• Have strategies for each market condition (up, down, stagnant)
• Know how to identify transition points
• Recognize leading indicators
• Understand time necessary for the market to change and the length of time you’ll need to identify and adapt

Today I have two areas that I focus my time in: (1) Through Diane’s practice I’ve been exposed to a number of MLM opportunities. I’ve learned how to look at the competition and potential rip off risk. I’ve found one that beats its competition and looks to be completely bullet proof for rip off situations. (2) I sell $20 gold pieces for $5. DKTaxServices tells you ahead of time how much you’ll save and you then pay a fraction of the savings amount. It’s the best job in the world. I love helping people save money.