A common response has been the ideal dream of not having to report to anyone and get rich quick thinking.

As Parisok alluded to there are several factors to consider when starting your own business. The 2 most common reasons as stated above are most prevalent. They also usually run false and only after one invest in the business do they discover they had false assumptions. My wife had her own business and was quitter successful prior to relocating to Korea. There were many sacrifices along the way in getting established. She was very good in the field and had several years experience. She answered to her customers demands which if you do not you will fail. Although she paid a decent profit the number of hours of work and the dedication to every minute of the day was exhausting. It was only her strong faith that kept her motivated.

The bottom line is do your research carefully and once you commit put everything you have into your decision. You will probably go hungry for a little while.

If you are a good programmer and have the marketing skills which is usually not the case <Bg> you may be able to sell your services and start your business.

Yes, the IT field is in constant evolution. If one remembers the dot com boom and collapse a few years ago. There were several web programmers that were in the soup line for a while. This has begun to take a upturn and web services is coming back strong. The problem with IT is manager do not truly understand the technology or how to implement. The FBI/SAIC $150 mil fiasco is a good example. 4 years after 911 the story broke where they unable to use any of the code. The FBI then signed a contract valued at $305 mil with Lockheed to start over. A contractor has only one focus, job security, and max profit. This is where Six Sigma philosophy should prevail. You assign a team to work the project to find out the objectives. You also ensure the right people are assigned to the team. This would have averted the squandering of the tax payers money in this case.

Well a little long winded; however, just wanted to share my experiences in owning your own business and the continuous evolution of the IT field.

__________________

Chill

Having successfully run my own business for three years, I would whole heartedly agree with Hiker's assessment of owning a small business. I worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and did paperwork for 4 hours on Sundays to catch up with stuff. Every pain in the butt that I've had to endure in the Air Force was multiplied exponentially with each customer that I had. The bottom line for owning your own business is to make money, and to do that, you HAVE to cater to the customers. If you don't, they take their money elsewhere and you eat dirt for that week. There's not a small business owner out there that has the flexibility to tell his customers how things are going to be ran. Those that think they can will not be in business long, or if their product is that sh!t hot, then they won't be a small business for long anyway. Either way, it's a LOT of work. The good thing is that it's also very rewarding and I plan on doing it again in the future. The key is to do something small while you're still in so you can get your feet wet while having job security. Learn everything you can about your product and how to run a business. Then, when it's time to jump out and do it full time, at least you won't have to stumble through the initial problems that cause most companies to fail. Anyway, good luck to those that are thinking about doing it, and if you need any advice or encouragement, just give me a shout. Advice is free. Encouragement is $100 an hour. You'll need the encouragement a LOT more than advice :-)
Joe

__________________
Joeninpo

The tyrant custom, most grave Senators,
Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war
My thrice-driven bed of down

Hi...
Thank you for your answer.
btw, What does that mean "a security clearance" ?
I have ever heard it before but I forgotten it.

Security Cleareance = Secret/ Top Secret Approved access, takes a long time to aquire now.

__________________
Just my humble opinion!

shsong21

Parisok is correct to obtain a security clearance takes a very long time.

You can usually obtain a interim (pending) Secret this usually is good for one year. This usually is a quick check of your background have you been arrested (jail). Prior to granting the Secret they also check your financial history.

The TS (Top Secret) usually goes back 5 - 7 years and an interview from people who have known you are asked question on your character. This usually requires 2 - 3 years to complete.

There are also various levels of TS Clearances

The defense contractors in Korea play cut throat bc of the time required to obtain a TS. I have seen marginally qualified individuals that recieved job offers based on their clearance alone.

__________________

Chill