Good Evening

meche_contra

G'evening,

I'm 24, just out of school last year with a BSME Degree and started working as a assistant PM at a large GC here in NYC.

I want to as soon as I am capable to open my own contracting business, however I have lots of questions and lacking the knowledge on how to go about doing so. I figure I might get some of the answers I seek on this site assuming there are a few experience members that can entertain me for a bit.

Cdat

Welcome. Let me get this straight. Just out of school and wanting to start your own business? No knowledge or lacking knowledge to do so? Might I suggest you work with your present employer for a few years to learn the do's & don't's?

meche_contra

I've been working here for 9 months now, enough to get the general do's and don'ts of a GC although I'm well aware there is plenty of more to learn.

I intend on running my own business from the very start and figure the best way to do so is to work on my own one man company on a part time basis while working full time at the GC. The benefits of doing so is that it will be easier to observe and grasp the concepts I need at the GC because I will be applying them immediatly to my part time company.

If it does take me a few years before I'm ready to quit here and go out on my own, at the very least I will already have the experience & framework to succeed and grow my company instead of starting at a blank state.

I know myself enough that despite not being the smartest or hardest working cookie in the batch, I tend to learn very quickly from real world experience, so a plan like this should work well for me.

Cdat

My concern would be the money. Where you going to get the money if you're fresh out of college? Must have some loans already to pay back and it's hard to get all of your operating costs without nothing to support it.

How is your employer gonna' feel when he learns of this?

Cdat

These two items you mentioned have thrown up warning signs. To start up yourself you have to be very confident in your abilities. You also need to be highly motivated. You don't have to be the fastest or the smartest or the hardest working. You just have to be better then the rest around you.

Bill

Hi and welcome. Glad to see a youngster with some gumption!

__________________
Is it beer thirty yet
Virginia Department of Licensing
Virginia Plumbing Codes

meche_contra

I've already paid back one loan, and working on the second one that should be paid back early next year. Money will definitely be an issue but I can manage to save up a 2 or 3 thousand by year end to complete a small project.

My current employer doesn't know of my plans and I don't expect to tell him. This will definitely be an issue but I do know my direct boss (the PM) is very much willing to help me grow in this industry even if it means leaving the company. It is also this exact reason that I need experience with this while I have a job, so if the situation arise when I don't have a job, I'll be more prepared to make it out on my own.

Weather I'm better than the rest or not will be determined after I've start my company and get a few projects going. One of the advantages of starting this early is that I have more time to experiment with the company so that I will be better than the rest later on.

AtlanticWBConst

...you also have more time to make mistakes and learn from them....it's the same path that we all have taken. I have learned more from mistakes, than what I thought I could learn from tanacity and youthfull vigor.

My advice: Do yourself a favor and find an experienced mentor.

__________________
- Build Well -