To Do or Not to Do

bholdt

I am in a situation I am sure many of you have found yourselves in before I have just finished university and am looking at either taking a job at a big company (such as Accenture) or starting a small consulting company on my own. Both options seem rather big for me. Firstly, a company such as Accenture might force me to travel too much (meaning that family life will be left behind). Successful, quality and small software development houses don't really exist in my city (or I have yet to find one). Starting a consulting company with no real projects yet seems like an impossible thing to do. I am also developing a good product for teachers here in South Africa. Maybe I can go of selling that .... Any thoughts or maybe some random rants about your own experience?

berndg

Join the big company. You need experience first, and contacts, and a name in the industry. If everything still looks cool in 3 to 5 years, then revisist this decision.

ProffK

JOin the big company, especially in SA. As said before, you need the reputation and contacts. BTW, what city are you in? Gene Roddenberry was a legendary pioneer of thought-provoking, futuristic science fiction. George Lucas created Jar Jar Binks.

Taka Muraoka

Quite possibly the best career advice you will ever read is here[^], here[^] and here[^]. For the last two links, it's well worth checking out the rest of his site as well :-)

Lets be honest, isn't it amazing how many truly stupid people you meet during the course of the day. Carry around a pad and pencil, you'll have twenty or thirty names by the end of the day - George Carlin Awasu 2.1.2 [^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.

Lost User

Setting out on your own is a big step and it requires business expertise not just technical. Get a bit experience first and learn from those around you. Elaine :rose: The tigress is here :-D

Turtle Hand

Odd that you are looking at 2 extremes, join a big company or be a big shot. Perhaps a mid size company will give you the growth you need. "When you string a guitar too tight, the string breaks. If you string it too loose, it doesn't make a sound." It's good to be alive, Josef Wainz Programmer Analyst

code frog 0

I don't mean to fly in the face of others but you should ask a few things differently. This is not to say I disagree with anyone or what hey have already said. Of those saying work with a big company and get experience. Q. Do you now or have you ever worked for yourself. The remarks of working for a company to get experience. Q. A person working in a company especially a large company (right out of school) will not be getting experience. They will be getting placed in a job with simple tasks that are most likely repetitive. You won't get the experience of running a business nor will you really get that many "contacts" unless you are in technical sales. My story is all I can offer. I worked for a big company. I wrote one of their largest systems. It had .0001% down-time in 3 years. It saved them millions. They laid me off when I needed them most. I had a sick kid and desperately needed health insurance and a pay check. What did I learn working there? {Scratches head.} Well, I did not learn how to run a business. I did not gain any contacts. I did not learn the steps to incorporating. I learned to become so financially and personally dependent on my employer that when they cut my job it was earth-shattering. I then struggled for 2 years. Finally went with my instincts and incorporated. Now I make 4 times what I did at the company. I'm at home with my family all day long. I work when I want, I play when I want. I come here and read and don't worry about my big brother corporation spying on me. Did I know how to run a business? Nope. Did I know what I was doing at all? Nope. Did I have any contacts? I had 2 but I worked very hard for both of them and did a few small things to get the word out that I was now on my own. Things just went from there. Is this how it will go for you? Only time and history will tell. Go with your heart. Once you are an employee it can be very difficult to break the mindset. Once you are self employed you can always give up and go back. The best advice I can give you is that you follow your instincts. Self employment is horribly risky and you can kill yourself. Small business counseling might be a good thing. So can planning. This is not in a any way a small topic. You really need to do a lot of research on this. One thing I'll offer you. Growing up as a teen and coming out of high school going in to college. I never wanted to work for someone else. I always had dreams of working for myself. It was as much a part of who I was and how I thought as anything.

bholdt

Well, I thank you all for your comments and insights. I still have a lot to think about. I am more clear about what I want now: to really help people focus on what they do best and let technology do the boring repetitive stuff. (I will develop that technology for them :) ) If a company can offer me that opportunity and is not too focused on their share price etc, then I will go for that. Anyway, I thank you all for your insights. I just read a quote from Arthur Ashe, which really hit me: “From what we get in life, we make a living; from what we give, we make a life.”

code frog 0

I spent a little more time thinking about this. My situation is easy enough to analyze because it already happened and here I am. If I could go back and change things that I did, knowing that 4 years later I would be where I am then I would plan. In 1999 I was hired as a corporate employee (not for the first time) for a very good salary. Had I known then that I would take a different path in 2003 that would lead me on my own. Here's what I would have done. 1. I would have worked my arse off at that job and maybe even another to get at least $50,000 in the bank. If you think I'm joking guess again. You'll wish desperately you had it for 1000 reasons all of them good. I would have then parcelled it out to cover my own life and health insurance (About $600 a month for a family of 5). My cost of living. Capital expenses and purchases and maybe a few other minor things. 2. I would have taken some community or university courses on general accounting and management. Only one class on each topic or possibly a highly rated class that covered both. 3. I would have incorporated in 1999 and not done a thing after that. Then in 2003 I would have been able to show I was a corporation for 4 years and any loans or checking accounts that I needed would have been much easier to negotiate. If you listen to anything I say this one is very important. 4. Don't even think about employees until you are making and banking 200% of what you plan on paying them. Strange things happen and you don't want to jerk around good people. 5. In 1999 I would have started planning my office. Where I wanted it to be in relation to where I lived (yes you might move, you'll have to deal with that). How I wanted it set up. What lighting needs would I have? What electrical needs would I have to meet the power consumption of my equipment. Would I have enough equipment in a small enough space to create abnormal conditions for heating and cooling. 6. In 1999 I would have started developing a business plan. Establishing a framework for the services I was going to offer. The product I was going to sell. The {Fill In Blank} that I would make people pay money for. 7. Lastly, if you stay in your current home and plan on working at home will your current home meet your needs? Can you build on an office on the side or back (that's what I did, remember that $50K plan on $3000 to $20000)? If you move be forward thinking pick a home that is large enough to house your family (even if you don't have one now) and your business. In general if I h