You need a network of people that can feed you work.

Think about who is going to hire you.

You better have good credit.

What about licensing ?

Be prepared not to make a lot of money early on.

Have a good amount of cash in your savings account.

A wife that has a good paying job with insurance.

That's all I can think of at this time.

Some of the wealthiest people I have met were salesmen---

You boss earned his money for that skill----believe me,it's harder to sell than to hang drywall.

That is the skill you need to work on--it sure sounds like you have the hanging part down pat.

Do you know why he "makes" twice as much on each sheet?

You will soon find out... things like insurance, employee taxes, marketing, gas, accountant, the list goes on... when you make a mistake, as we all do, do you reimburse your boss? Of course not, but the money has to come from somewhere... when a customer is late or doesn't pay, do you say "no problem boss, I can wait"...

While money is a good motivator, that should not be the driving force for when you want to start a business. Because there will be plenty of times until you are established that the money is going to be a constant issue... people (i.e. - employees, subs, suppliers) expect to get paid whether you plan on it or not...

You only THINK he makes twice as much... and even if he did, being an owner carries MANY responsibilities you can't even fathom right now... certainly much more than hanging board...

So I guess what I am saying is don't let the money version of the grass is greener blind you to thinking the rest is easy... If it's Wednesday, and you don't have a job lined up and your employee needs to be paid on Friday, but your family needs to eat what are you going to do?

If you are young, ANYONE can retire a millionaire with MINIMAL effort. The older you get, the harder it is to do the same...

At 25... $300/mo with an 8% return...
At 30... $450/mo with an 8% return...
At 35... $700/mo with an 8% return...
At 40... $1,050/mo with an 8% return...
At 45... $1,700/mo with an 8% return...
At 50... $2,850/mo with an 8% return...

So hopefully, you are getting a better picture that stable employment, with some discipline, having no debt (stop giving money to the banks) can yield you the financial part... if you can't muster the discipline to save a few hundred per month and LEARN how to earn a minimum of 8% ROI, how do you think you will be able to run a company?

Go after your dreams, be a business owner if you want, but do it smartly and for the right reasons...

Best of luck... 8^)

Hamatin said:

Ive been hanging for a long while now , there is nothing I cant hang and I make my boss money every day. I do my own small jobs here and there.And I know what I wanna charge. Im sick of my boss making twice what I do on the sheets I hang for him .I was wondering If anybody has any advice they could give me on going off on my own, so I don't have to find out the hard way.

Click to expand...

Stay healthy and don't have any accidents (on or off the job).

There was a time when your boss was in the same situation making the same decision.
Nobody can tell if you make it or you don't...like anything else you will not know until you try.
So if you got patience, and not afraid taking risks, go for it and good luck to you :thumbsup: