Would you ever work for Corporate America?

Again?

[anthonyon]

I want to hear from all you entrepenaurs who have left the workplace in a rage and started your own enterprise. Or those entrepenaurs that are successful without the tides to Corporate America.

Would you ever work for Corporate America? Again. Why and Why Not?

Me, personally: I think the working man is a sucker and anyone who work for a company for the rest of their life without having the plan to build their own empire one day is going to suffer and struggle the rest of their life without getting the pot of gold. Though, I respect those that work for a company because they really enjoy what they do.

[nancyb]

I'm probably old enough that corporate america wouldn't want me anymore, but there is no way in he! that I would go back to work for a company.

Too much freedom to accomplish what I want to do, to much fun, waaay less stress, and above all else I abhor the politics that abounds in corporate life.

[buckworks]

I would never go back to a regular j*b if I could help it. I enjoyed many things about jobs I've held, but having my days structured by someone else's schedule was definitely not one of them.

(I've never worked for "Corporate America" except as a freelance consultant. But I had my share of bureaucracy and politics in academia.)

[edited by: buckworks at 7:12 pm (utc) on Jan. 11, 2005]

[Freedom]

Absolutely not. I hated it then and I would rather be a Mall security guard with a funny uniform and hat then go back to work for Corporate America.

[Shak]

Me, personally: I think the working man is a sucker and anyone who work for a company for the rest of their life without having the plan to build their own empire one day is going to suffer and struggle the rest of their life without getting the pot of gold. Though, I respect those that work for a company because they really enjoy what they do.

I think your comment is going to be offensive to many...

not me, as I have never had a real job anyway.

some people are employers, whilst others are employees ...

simple as, lets have this conversation in 5 years to see how many are still on their own ;)

Shak

[txbakers]

I recently went part-time with big conglomerate in order to keep insurance while I build web business.

I told the manager that it was either part-time for me or bye-bye. When asked why I wanted it, I was truthful - I have a web business which is growing nicely and I want to devote more time to it.

He was amazed! I told him that I didn't think big conglomerate was looking out for my best interests one bit, and I could do better than sell my time here. I told him that I would no longer devote my life to making the boss rich. His choice was to let me go, or keep me for my skills.

He kept me part-time and I keep my insurance. One year from now I'll probably be able to buy my own and won't need big conglomerate anymore.

[skippy]

No way they have all of these rules about having to wear clothes when working and they want you work very strange hours.

[jshpro2]

Why would you want to when you can make just as much money of ad revenue from just a few successful web sites?

[steve40]

I am afraid your remarks could be considered offensive to many

yes it is good to be an entrepenaur and choose your own hours and be your own boss , but without corporate america and the millions who work in it there would be no cars built no electricity no garbage collection etc. etc. etc.
it is the people who work for corporate america that creates the wealth of the country and the computers we use and the internet we surf
Be gratefull if you have the brains / the balls / and the will to succeed and thank yourself lucky not call others stupid
If major changes were to occur in the internet and you were one of the unlucky ones to be hurt I have no doubt you would work in corporate america to feed / clothe and house yourself and your family

You are privilaged they are not stupid
steve

[showyourpic]

Well i'm working in corporate america now (been here for a year and half) and I enjoy it. But during the whole time i've been putting together my own business and using that wonderfull salary of mines to develop my website.

So would I work in corporate america again? Maybe if I need the money to get my own thing started....

[dauction]

There are many people with disablities or percieved disabilities that Corporate America simply wont employ.

Without to much detail I went through a life altering situation almost 10 years ago..I had a double lung transplant!

I'm basically fine today but I never finished getting my degree so my options were pretty limited , I was Heat Treater ..I put steel parts in big ovens heated them up to 1400 degrees then locked in the molecular changes that occur at that tempature by quenching them in 400 degree oil..and I loved it!

So after transplant and without a degree my choices were pretty narrow . I got into buying and selling domains ,then building 3-5 websites and selling them ..

Today I maintain around 10 medium size 200 page sites and sell advertsing on them , through adsense and other sources.

I cant express how amazed and grateful I am to be living at such a point in time that technolgy has not only extended my life but has doors of financial opportunity that nearly anyone can not only access but thrive in through the internet..

I know we take it for granted at times, it all seems normal ..but what is normal today was scifi just a few short years ago.

But Corporate America is still a much needed force that must be maintained ..even with all the crap associated with it

[anthonyon]

I am afraid your remarks could be considered offensive to many

As being a "Working Man" myself I must reiterate "The Working Man is a Sucker". No one will ever treat you as good as you will treat yourself. Any time you work for someone it means you are making someone else (besides yourself) richer, regardless your position, title, or income.

I apologize if I've offended anyone. That was not my intention. But my point is that if you wake up everyday (like myself) and hate that you have to go to work (and put on that face), knowing you are very well capable of running your own business but have not put fourth the needed energy because of fear and procrastination (like myself), then you are selling yourself short.

It's a New Year, no more fear and no more procrastination!

[txbakers]

I loved the movie Collateral. Jamie Foxx has a dream of opening up his own limo service, he's only doing the cab thing temporarily.

Tom Cruise asks him how long temporary was - turns out it's been 12 years.

Later in the movie they are talking, and Cruise shakes his head at Foxx's inaction. He says a line I'll always remember, "All it would have taken was a down payment on a Lincoln Town Car"

Cruise saw the possibilities eluding Foxx for 12 years. If you don't make it happen, don't whine about being trapped.

At my last annual review for big conglomerate mentioned above, we had to fill out a three page survey. I was reminded of American Beauty. When it came to section on "your goal with the company" I put "7 figure salary, corner office, 32nd floor".

The manager in the meeting didn't like that. He said that goals needed to be measurable and obtainable. I asked him if my goals weren't possible with this company. I asked him if instead of that I should put, "I'm looking forward to droning the rest of my productive years away for an annual 3% raise in a 6 x 8 cubicle while this company saps the joy for living I once held."

He didn't like that either. Finally I told him to tell me what to put and I'll write it.

What bull**** big companies are.

There was one section about how I was helping the company maintain fiscal responsibility. I replied that I share a stapler with my neighbor.

[2by4]

txbakers 'What bull**** big companies are.', couldn't have put it better myself, I was on a conference call with Sears webmaster / it guy and I kept going in my head, are you serious? Their skills were like zero, his boss kept saying, now, can we do this? [they were talking about some simple html coding stuff, I thought when I joined the call they were talking about creating some advanced db backend thing...].

Another time I was talking to a major euro manufactoring company, ftp problem, they weren't typing the password in correctly, I don't know, seems like skill isn't one of the main requirements to do corporate IT, that would explain all those Windows servers too.

Near as I can tell, it's "don't rock the boat", "don't tell the truth whatever you do" etc... if you can stomach that kind of scene I guess you deserve whatever they need to pay you to do that. There's a reason corporate salaries are high.

[mcavic]

I quit my corporate job in late 2002. I didn't leave in a rage, it just wasn't for me, and I felt like I had to get out. I regretted it for a while. I didn't have a solid plan for the future. I missed the steady paychecks, and my coworkers. I thought I wanted a different corporate job, but none of them would have me.

Two years later, I have a plan to start my own business in a different industry, hope to launch in a few months, and am really excited about it. I believe it was all worth it.

I don't think the working man is a sucker. Just look around you. All those jobs that you'd never want to do... aren't you grateful that someone's doing them?

knowing you are very well capable of running your own business but have not put fourth the needed energy

Yes, absolutely. But I'd venture to say that many people are quite happy going to work, being told what to do, doing it, and collecting their paycheck. I've seen enough businesses fail or struggle to know that being your own boss isn't a golden ticket.