Hello!

GPMagnus · Post by **GPMagnus** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:19 pm

Hi All!
My name is Magnus (Gnaeus Pompeius for you classicists

...). 36 SWM currently living in the Middle East.
My hobbies include reading, learning languages, travel, cooking and hanging out with my friends.
Unlike most people here who are salary men and women, I own a modest business that I started up with a partner about 3 years ago. I have two or three other small ventures running in parallel and I am in the (expensive and slow) process of buying part of another business.
I guess I'll tell you more (if and when) I add an ERE journal, but if you're piqued don't be shy to ask - I don't (virtually) bite!

I've read a decent portion of the forums and I'd like to thank akratic, bigato, c40, DutchGirl, jacob, LiquidSapphire, m741, pooablo and Riparian for posting what is both entertaining and useful !
Cheers,
Magnus

Spartan_Warrior · Post by **Spartan_Warrior** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:14 pm

Welcome!

Maus · Post by **Maus** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:33 pm

Ave, Magnus.

I smile because I have a good friend who calls me Crassus, though I don't want the gold to be poured down my throat...
I look forward to hearing your back story. Is the place where you live conducive to business ownership? Here in California, our business climate is the worst in the United States. My one attempt at self-employment, many years ago, was an experiment in slowly bleeding out my savings over 18 months. Maybe in retirement I will try something on a smaller scale because I won't be dependent on it to make a living.

LiquidSapphire · Post by **LiquidSapphire** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:36 pm

Hey Magnus,

Thanks for the shout out and welcome!

anomie · Post by **anomie** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:58 pm

Unlike most people here who are salary men and women, I own a modest business that I started up with a partner about 3 years ago.
That is a really interesting observation, and it corresponds with what I have read here as well. worthy of its own thread (if not done so already?) ?
Best of luck in your ventures, and welcome!

pooablo · Post by **pooablo** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:29 am

Hi Magnus,
Welcome onboard. I love the Middle East. I spent a month in Israel last year and would love to visit some of the other countries in the area. I am looking forward to your future posts and your personal experiences with entrepreneurship as I work with many business owners in my own line of work.

GPMagnus · Post by **GPMagnus** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:56 am

@ Spartan_Warrior thx!
@Maus If memory serves, while Magnus did fare better in the East (though not that far East), his fate was not much better, as he was stabbed to death by Ptolmey XIII's men ... as for my story - I will get to it, but I'll sure be interested to hear about what you learned from your failed business.
@LiquidSapphire You're welcome and thx for the welcome!
@anomie Thx for the welcome - this difference is one of the reasons I decided to post because I'm thinking that we business owners have some unique problems of our own with respect to ER/ERE that I want to explore together with the forum community
@pooablo Thx and happy to hear you enjoyed your time in my neck of the woods

Marlene · Post by **Marlene** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:10 am

Hi Magnus!

The point of what unique problems business owners face for Er/ERE would be extremely interesting for me - so welcome and I´m looking forward to your posts.

GPMagnus · Post by **GPMagnus** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:51 pm

Hi Marlene,
I'll be on a field trip next week, but I will do my best when I return!

elainaB · Post by **elainaB** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:40 am

Hi there! Welcome.

riparian · Post by **riparian** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:52 am

Thanks and welcome! What kind of business? I'm interested in how you handle ERE - much of the advice here doesn't really seem to apply to my situation.

GPMagnus · Post by **GPMagnus** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:21 pm

@ elaineB Thx!
@riparian It's a straightforward "boring" business - without getting into too many details, I deal with institutional clients in a "low-tech" industry. It's taken me time to gain traction, but now I have a relatively stable business (i.e. it probably won't disappear in 3 years, and might even be around in 20). I've also gotten my systems working well enough that I've been able to take a 9-week vacation abroad without doing any harm (sadly, the vacation ends next week), and day-to-day I spend, on average, 4 hours to run it. This leaves me a lot of time to do things I am interested in, such as studying languages, reading, or hanging out with friends.
As for how ERE is applicable to us, non-workers - I think that the awareness and culling of excessive consumption and spending is something we all share. On the income side, it's obviously different and in brief, since our cash flows are irregular, we cannot "plan" or chart our progress on a monthly or 2-week basis, but I think we can challenge ourselves to set goals in a time-frame that is reasonable for what we do. Given the nature of my business, a time-frame of 2-3 years is reasonable, and that is what I work off - e.g. "in 2015 I want to get X dollars/month from the business while working Y hours/month".