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Can i take my book? {literally}

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Oct 15, 2006 1:58 am

[quote=babbling looney]

I don’t work from home. I have a very nice office in a professional office complex that houses a mortgage brokerage, a real estate office and a tax preparer. 

I did work from home for the first 6 months of transition while my office space was being remodeled.  You do lose credibility when you work from home IMHO.  My clients who came with me when I moved were understanding of the temporary situation, but it was permanent I don't think that they would have confidence in my long term prospects as a financial advisor. I hated it because my home never felt like my own personal space. My husband hated it because he couldn't come home for lunch without checking first to see if I had clients.  My business really picked up when I moved into my office and I felt better when I could separate my business from my personal space.

Phone calls were not recorded in the B/D I worked for before I became independent and they aren't now either.  I manually record notes about every conversation with clients in my customer contact program.  Take detailed notes of who, what, when, where and print them out every 6 months to put a hard copy in the client's files.

The S Corporation is a very good suggestion for managing your own taxes.

[/quote]

Indy is correct, that currently I am working out of a home office, and that I am seeking office space.  Actually I rather like it for the most part, as I spend absolutely no time on commuting, and when I'm not having client meetings I can dress as casually as I like.  Lunch or a snack or a cup of coffee are merely steps away, and when I occasionally take a break I can visit with my dogs for amusement.

It was also nice to not have to worry about overhead, but largely was a consequence of my coordinating a cross-country move for the family.  Now that we are settled in on that front, I'm realizing that to take things to the next level I need an office space for staff and to meet with clients.  So that's going to happen in the next six months at most.

Keep in mind that I was moving over clients whom I'd largely known for years, and had a rationale for the home office setup that I could explain very logically to them.  Too, it is a separate dedicated space that is in a remote part of the house.  I have a business phone line that rings only in the office, a separate fax line, and extremely high speed internet acces. IT might work for you, or it might not.  It has some advantages, no doubt.  Not, however, a long term answer for most folks.
Oct 15, 2006 1:16 pm

[quote=joedabrkr]

Indy is correct, that currently I am working out of a home office, and that I am seeking office space.  Actually I rather like it for the most part, as I spend absolutely no time on commuting, and when I'm not having client meetings I can dress as casually as I like.  Lunch or a snack or a cup of coffee are merely steps away, and when I occasionally take a break I can visit with my dogs for amusement.

It was also nice to not have to worry about overhead, but largely was a consequence of my coordinating a cross-country move for the family.  Now that we are settled in on that front, I'm realizing that to take things to the next level I need an office space for staff and to meet with clients.  So that's going to happen in the next six months at most.

Keep in mind that I was moving over clients whom I'd largely known for years, and had a rationale for the home office setup that I could explain very logically to them.  Too, it is a separate dedicated space that is in a remote part of the house.  I have a business phone line that rings only in the office, a separate fax line, and extremely high speed internet acces. IT might work for you, or it might not.  It has some advantages, no doubt.  Not, however, a long term answer for most folks.
[/quote]

You're chasing your stories Joe Boy.  Several weeks ago you were asking if you should buy the office building where you have your office, now you're saying you work out of a remote part of your home.

Over the years I've known several people who worked out of their homes.  The only one I can think of who actually was good at it was a guy who represented Panasonic--a manufacturers rep.

Among the others was an attorney who practiced real estate closings and conducted them at real estate offices so it was not obvious that he didn't have an office.  He, like so many, ended up failing because it's just too easy to screw around when you work in the house.

The argument that you don't have to commute becomes you don't have to get dressed, which then becomes you don't have to bathe, which then becomes you don't have to get up at all.

The idea that the refrigerator is nearby causes you to pack on the pounds, the idea that the wife and kids are around the corner causes you to knock off early.

Then there's the social side of the equation.  Having a home office is a very solitary lifestyle.  Even if you do enjoy your own company more than anybody else's never seeing other people can turn you into an introvert, costing you enormously because eventually you just sit around and stare at market information thinking you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.

90% of this business is maintaining the proper mental attitude, day after day.  The reason that brokerage firms build palaces as offices is to impress clients, but it is also to cause the brokers to think that they are special.

At most firms you start in the bull pen, then get an inner office without a window, then an outer office with a window, and finally a corner office--it's all part of the motivation.

If you're in a spare bedroom, or above the garage, or in the basement you're not going to be motivated--in fact it is very easy to become demotivated to the point that you simply stop trying at all.

Forget what the customers may think--which is never positive--think what you will think.

Also, never forget that your spouse--no matter  how much you love each other--enjoys time alone.  Often that time alone is when you are at work--but if you're not gone they're not alone.

Oct 15, 2006 4:07 pm

If you're in a spare bedroom, or above the garage, or in the basement you're not going to be motivated--in fact it is very easy to become demotivated to the point that you simply stop trying at all.

Forget what the customers may think--which is never positive--think what you will think.

This is very true, at least for myself.  I found it much too easy to be distracted at home and sidelined by things that I would rather be doing.  Do I want to cold call new prospects and old clients, always a really fun task........ or decide that creme brulee would be nice with dinner..... or maybe looking out the window I really should move the day lilies and water the geraniums and by the way....or, well you get the idea.

I had to force myself to get up at an early hour; get dressed as if I were going to work, put on the make up and jewelery.  Lazy clothes make for lazy work habits.  If I were dressed at least, it made it a harder decision to get up and do the chores/fun stuff I just detailed, plus if you decide to go to the post office and other chores you will meet with people in your professional attire and not jeans.

Also, never forget that your spouse--no matter  how much you love each other--enjoys time alone.  Often that time alone is when you are at work--but if you're not gone they're not alone.

How can I miss you if you won't go away?  Actually this is true too.  My husband has a job that takes him from the house most of the day, but when he wanted to come home to change clothes, grab a snack and get his messages, it was annoying if I had a client.  He never felt that the house was our home while I was working at home and neither did I.

Bottom line, working from home sucks.  Sure, you will save some on overhead but the downside outweighs any advantages.  Of course one advantage was that the wholesalers couldn't just drop in and eat up my time.

Oct 15, 2006 10:41 pm

[quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

You're chasing your stories Joe Boy.  Several weeks ago you were asking if you should buy the office building where you have your office, now you're saying you work out of a remote part of your home.  Oh Newbie Putsy you dumbass, once again you think you have me all figured out but your poor reading comprehension(and deteriorating memory) have failed you once again.  If you care to go back and re-read the post, I did not claim it was the building where I had my office.  Rather, it was an office condo that I could buy and then establish my office there.  Get your facts straight.

Over the years I've known several people who worked out of their homes.   Just curious, did any of them admit to knowing you?  Ironic thing is that you had an office for many years, yet no work was done there.

Among the others was an attorney who practiced real estate closings and conducted them at real estate offices so it was not obvious that he didn't have an office.  He, like so many, ended up failing because it's just too easy to screw around when you work in the house.

The argument that you don't have to commute becomes you don't have to get dressed, which then becomes you don't have to bathe, which then becomes you don't have to get up at all.  I do enjoy the ability to dress casual when I want, and don't miss the time wasted on the road to the office.  Other than that you pretty much have it all wrong.  But, as usual, you KNOW that you have it all figured out.  One thing that is consistent about you is your arrogance.

The idea that the refrigerator is nearby causes you to pack on the pounds, the idea that the wife and kids are around the corner causes you to knock off early.  It can be tempting, especially for people who have no discipline or self control.  I am not one of those people.

Then there's the social side of the equation.  Having a home office is a very solitary lifestyle.  Even if you do enjoy your own company more than anybody else's never seeing other people can turn you into an introvert, costing you enormously because eventually you just sit around and stare at market information thinking you're doing what you're supposed to be doing.  It is true that every now and then I find it to be lonely, but those occasions are quite rare.  In reality I have PLENTY to keep me busy, plus plenty of clients to call on the phone, and meetings whenever I like to schedule them.  I don't really miss the social side of the equation, especially since most of the "social side" involved "office friends" who weren't really friends dropping by to waste my time!"

90% of this business is maintaining the proper mental attitude, day after day.  The reason that brokerage firms build palaces as offices is to impress clients, but it is also to cause the brokers to think that they are special.  I don't generally need external superficial validation to remind me that I'm special.  (Unlike yourself who takes every opportunity to trumpet his supposed "specialness" from the rooftops.)  Funny, too, the rare occasions I feel a little blue a client usually calls and says something really nice that picks me up.

At most firms you start in the bull pen, then get an inner office without a window, then an outer office with a window, and finally a corner office--it's all part of the motivation.  Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.  I gain plenty of motivation when I get my paycheck, and when I reflect upon the fact that the business is MINE, and that I no longer have to deal with middle management time-wasting serfs like you.  And when I select my own office space in the next 6 months or so it will have a window, be in the building that I choose, and be decorated however I want.

If you're in a spare bedroom, or above the garage, or in the basement you're not going to be motivated--in fact it is very easy to become demotivated to the point that you simply stop trying at all.  Perhaps for pikers like you it's easy to become demotivated, Newbie.  For me it's worked fine for about a year now.

Forget what the customers may think--which is never positive--think what you will think.

Also, never forget that your spouse--no matter  how much you love each other--enjoys time alone.  Often that time alone is when you are at work--but if you're not gone they're not alone.

[/quote]
Oct 16, 2006 3:57 pm

Interesting how Newbie/Putsy/Soon2BGone has nothing more to say on the matter when he is once again called out on his inaccurate statements…

Oct 16, 2006 4:14 pm

Joeboy, it's been less than a year since you jumped from PaineWebber rather than get fired.  You have yet to get out of your bonus room with your "business."

Get back with me when you're a success.

Oct 16, 2006 4:21 pm

[quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Joeboy, it’s been less than a year since you jumped from PaineWebber rather than get fired.  You have yet to get out of your bonus room with your “business.”

Get back with me when you're a success.

[/quote]

No dumbass.  In fact it has been more than a year.  Once again you are wrong.
Oct 16, 2006 4:32 pm

[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Joeboy, it's been less than a year since you jumped from PaineWebber rather than get fired.  You have yet to get out of your bonus room with your "business."

Get back with me when you're a success.

[/quote]

No dumbass.  In fact it has been more than a year.  Once again you are wrong.
[/quote]

But you've still to rise to mediocrity--I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Oct 16, 2006 4:41 pm

[quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Joeboy, it’s been less than a year since you jumped from PaineWebber rather than get fired.  You have yet to get out of your bonus room with your “business.”

Get back with me when you're a success.

[/quote]

Did you mean to say: "It's been less than a year since the folks at my former employer realized I was about as productive as tits on a bull, so they "invited me to retire".  Now I spend my days posting on the Registered Rep bulletin board, because I really don't have much else to do.  Sometimes it's about topics I know, such as exotic options strategies, NASD testing, or how to cover your tracks when you fire someone for discriminatory reasons.  Often, though, I'm just spouting B.S. on subjects where I have absolutely NO expertise, just because it helps pass the time."

Was that what you meant to say?
Oct 16, 2006 4:46 pm

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

Oct 16, 2006 4:49 pm

[quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

[/quote]

nope, just dead weight like you…
Oct 17, 2006 4:52 am

[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

[/quote]

nope, just dead weight like you....
[/quote]

You meet the best people in this business and board.

Oct 17, 2006 1:53 pm

[quote=Seeker15][quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

[/quote]

nope, just dead weight like you....
[/quote]

You meet the best people in this business and board.

[/quote]

Well it's never boring, that's for sure!
Oct 17, 2006 4:39 pm

[quote=joedabrkr]

[quote=Seeker15][quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

[/quote]

nope, just dead weight like you....
[/quote]

You meet the best people in this business and board.

[/quote]

Well it's never boring, that's for sure!
[/quote]


You're right Joe.   Reading the same petty insults over and over again is never boring. 

I'm not bored with plowing through pages of sniping and chest thumping to actually find the serious questions and responses.

No, Joe.  You guys are not boring at all.


Oct 17, 2006 6:25 pm

[quote=JCadieux]

[quote=joedabrkr]

[quote=Seeker15][quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Soon 2 B Gone]

Do you figure that every guy who is over sixty, with more than thirty years in the business is fired?

[/quote]

nope, just dead weight like you....
[/quote]

You meet the best people in this business and board.

[/quote]

Well it's never boring, that's for sure!
[/quote]


You're right Joe.   Reading the same petty insults over and over again is never boring. 

I'm not bored with plowing through pages of sniping and chest thumping to actually find the serious questions and responses.

No, Joe.  You guys are not boring at all.


[/quote]

Do I sense a hint of sarcasm there Jeff?

Nobody is forcing you to read it if it's that tiresome.....
Oct 17, 2006 7:15 pm

[quote=joedabrkr]

Do I sense a hint of sarcasm there Jeff?

Nobody is forcing you to read it if it’s that tiresome…
[/quote]

I suspect that fewer and fewer people do read it.

We see the same pattern over and over.  Somebody asks a good question.  There is a mix of amusing and serious answers.  Finally the discussion degrades into 3 or 4 pages of off-topic arguments about who’s a loser and who has the biggest… um…  book.

The serious responses get buried and the thread grinds to a halt.

I post on this forum because I like it, and because I get good candidate referrals.  I’m not secretive about my agenda, because I contribute in a material way without any expectation of quid-pro-quo.

I don’t expect you to change.  I just thought it was time somebody pointed out the decline of an otherwise useful and interesting forum.

No need to respond.  I doubt if many of the serious members are still reading this thread, anyway.




Oct 17, 2006 7:29 pm

[quote=JCadieux] [quote=joedabrkr]

Do I sense a hint of sarcasm there Jeff?

Nobody is forcing you to read it if it's that tiresome.....
[/quote]

I suspect that fewer and fewer people do read it.

We see the same pattern over and over.  Somebody asks a good question.  There is a mix of amusing and serious answers.  Finally the discussion degrades into 3 or 4 pages of off-topic arguments about who's a loser and who has the biggest... um...  book.

The serious responses get buried and the thread grinds to a halt.

I post on this forum because I like it, and because I get good candidate referrals.  I'm not secretive about my agenda, because I contribute in a material way without any expectation of quid-pro-quo.

I don't expect you to change.  I just thought it was time somebody pointed out the decline of an otherwise useful and interesting forum.

No need to respond.  I doubt if many of the serious members are still reading this thread, anyway.

[/quote]

I tried to read it, but because you guys didn't use colors to elucidate your barbs, quite frankly, I found it difficult to follow and soon lost interest. Where's Mike when you need him. Oh yeah, he's working.

Man, it's a slow day.

Oct 17, 2006 7:53 pm

[quote=BondGuy]

Man, it's a slow day.

[/quote]

Not for me--I've been busy as a beaver jockying into a pretzel as I await Yahoo earnings and then the big boy on Thursday.

The market can be so much fun, it's a shame that the "modern" advsior is nothing more than an asset gatherer who turns the money over to others to run.  What a dull job it must be these days.

Heard Jim Cramer say awhile ago that he's "scared" because the short interest is so low--should the bids dry up due to some event there won't even be support to stop a crash in the form of short covering.

The Dow will go through 11,000 before it goes through 12,000 if it doesn't get there today.

Oct 17, 2006 8:14 pm

[quote=Soon 2 B Gone][quote=BondGuy]

Man, it's a slow day.

[/quote]

Not for me--I've been busy as a beaver jockying into a pretzel as I await Yahoo earnings and then the big boy on Thursday.

The market can be so much fun, it's a shame that the "modern" advsior is nothing more than an asset gatherer who turns the money over to others to run.  What a dull job it must be these days.

Heard Jim Cramer say awhile ago that he's "scared" because the short interest is so low--should the bids dry up due to some event there won't even be support to stop a crash in the form of short covering.

The Dow will go through 11,000 before it goes through 12,000 if it doesn't get there today.

[/quote]

Yeah, the days of day trading and position building were action packed. Then again, not being able to take a piss was a real downer.  As was being valued as being only as good as your last pick. I give you that picking winners is what it's about, but the whining when the risk management system kicked in was enough to make me leave my desk for that long overdue stand at the urinal. When you can't differentiate between the stream leaving your body and what you are talking to on the phone, it's time for a change.

Oct 17, 2006 9:29 pm

[quote=haRDcorp]

Well said Jeff. I usually refuse to work with recruiters because 99% of the time, I don't find them to do anymore than drop me a name, a poor/fair profile, and then wait for the big check.

I like how you approached this issue and answered the question with an emphasis on making the recruiter the consultant- something I try to be to my prospects as well.  You will be getting a call from me-

[/quote] The "let's throw mud to the wall and hope that some sticks" mentality is growing old and tired.  Advisors and managers are looking for value-added people to associate with.

Those in this business that are simply passing along a name, number and production stats are finding that they are losing the battle, even with the heightened competition for top producers.