Is it smart to start a public company?

[nutmeg]

Be in excellent health. I have never met, nor even heard of, someone sickly starting a successful business. It takes a lot out of you.
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Short story.

I'm type A. I burnt out when I was about 33, one morning I went to work was there about an hour, put my keys on my desk and walked out and went to bed for about year. Imagine that. I worked since I was 12, never missed a day of work -so I was sick.

I would guess I was about 10% better after a year, and fed up with not being able to handle any stress and not working but what could I do?

I started a cleaning business. My first customer gave me keys to the place, off hours and I worked at my leisure, there were no time constraints and no people. Simple, empty baskets, vacuum and wiindex desks, etc.

My second customer, knew my history, the guy had several apt units and asked me to do some light maintenace (at my leisure). Mow the lawn, take care of the outside.

I kept adding customers, cherry picked the jobs I could handle and bada bing bada boom things evolved and I never punched a clock again and eventually got back to my OCD routine of working 7 days a week.

 

[bronks]

Thanks for the kind words Banjo! I'll try and put a response together for the OP in a bit. I've been waist deep in contracts for the past two weeks. They're mostly Gov't contracts at the shipyard (Pearl). So what is normally a 3-6 page structural subcontract in the private sector, balloons into 250 page affair for the same thing... courtesy our fine bureaucracy... ugh.

 

[bronks]

Quote from mynd66:

I'm in the steel business, we fabricate and erect steel for buildings and bridges in NY and NJ. I'm just your average blue collar worker. Through the years I've amassed the skills, experience and tools to start my own company... Not nearly enough money though.

If I saved for a while I could dump a ton of money into getting insurance, a shop, and other necessities. Then I can try and get my name out there and score a few jobs in which I'd probably have to bid low to get them since no one knows me. Then I'll break even if I am lucky. Its really a lot of risk to take and I only get one shot, if I fail all my money is gone and I'm toast.

I know nothing about why and how companies go public. I do know that it all started because someone couldn't afford to do business without additional funding. If I have the know how to successfully run a profitable business then why wouldn't I be able to attract people to have a share in my company to enjoy some of the profits?

OK Irondog, first things first...

I cannot help you in anyway when it comes to starting a public company. All the contractors I know and some (I'll venture to say - most) of the biggest ones in the world are privately held and/or employee owned.

Realize that just because you're an ace at your trade, doesn't necessarily translate into running a successful business. In fact, it can be downright counter intuitive at times. Example: As ironworkers we are accustomed to making/forcing it to work/fit and the word subtle is not in our vocabulary. Business often times requires finesse, politics and choosing your battles... most everyone has an ulterior motive and there's probably a reason your competition is trying to "help" you. Know your opponents. A lot of give and take in business and a lot of unscrupulous backstabbing.

Do not be either a sole proprietorship or an LLC. Depending on your state law, you'll probably want to organize as an "S"Corp. WHY? Because you want to protect any assets (including your personal name) that you have in case your business takes shit. A lot of people mistakingly believe that an LLC will prevent that. Not in my state... check your local laws.

1. Get a good lawyer
2. Get a CPA ( I don't recommend doing your own books)
3. Get a good insurance agent
4. Farm out your payroll
5. Find a competent construction secretary (one who knows WORD/EXCEL/QUICKBOOKS) and is familiar with the terminology.
6. Make sure they all know each others numbers.
7. PAY YOUR TAXES
8. Act professional. Be professional.

You will be multi-tasking like never before. Learn to delegate your work otherwise, I guarantee you, you will drown in it.
Business is as much an art as anything else and like trading, the more capital you have, the better your chances are of succeeding.

I'll get to the money part in a bit.
You need to have all your ducks in a row brother. Trust me.

 

[mynd66]

Quote from bronks:

OK Irondog, first things first...

I cannot help you in anyway when it comes to starting a public company. All the contractors I know and some (I'll venture to say - most) of the biggest ones in the world are privately held and/or employee owned.

Realize that just because you're an ace at your trade, doesn't necessarily translate into running a successful business. In fact, it can be downright counter intuitive at times. Example: As ironworkers we are accustomed to making/forcing it to work/fit and the word subtle is not in our vocabulary. Business often times requires finesse, politics and choosing your battles... most everyone has an ulterior motive and there's probably a reason your competition is trying to "help" you. Know your opponents. A lot of give and take in business and a lot of unscrupulous backstabbing.

Do not be either a sole proprietorship or an LLC. Depending on your state law, you'll probably want to organize as an "S"Corp. WHY? Because you want to protect any assets (including your personal name) that you have in case your business takes shit. A lot of people mistakingly believe that an LLC will prevent that. Not in my state... check your local laws.

1. Get a good lawyer
2. Get a CPA ( I don't recommend doing your own books)
3. Get a good insurance agent
4. Farm out your payroll
5. Find a competent construction secretary (one who knows WORD/EXCEL/QUICKBOOKS) and is familiar with the terminology.
6. Make sure they all know each others numbers.
7. PAY YOUR TAXES
8. Act professional. Be professional.

You will be multi-tasking like never before. Learn to delegate your work otherwise, I guarantee you, you will drown in it.
Business is as much an art as anything else and like trading, the more capital you have, the better your chances are of succeeding.

I'll get to the money part in a bit.
You need to have all your ducks in a row brother. Trust me.

wow good info there, thanks bronks. didn't expect to meet anyone in the same field as I am on here. I'd write a bit more but I gotta hit the road and beat the traffic...

 

[Swan Noir]

Going public is one of a number of ways people raise capital. Capital is your problem not establishing a quote for the company. Having owned control positions in two small public companies I can tell you that running a US public company can be time consuming and generally not the best way for a new business to be positioned.