Anyone earning 'big bucks' (£200k+ per year)? Would love to hear your story!

mattyg said:
Its all about moving up the ladder.

I went from starting at the bottom. Learning how the business works.
Learning what the business does well and more importantly what it doesn't do so well.

Then I approached the company with a proposal of how I could improve my dept. I wanted a basic salary but with performance related profit share.

I very quickly went from
Dept
Depot
Region
Nationwide.

I was then headhunted and offered a very generous package to move.

From there I was headhunted again but decided on a different path.

There is another thread on here where it being discussed about time off for dependants. I've aired my views.

I've got to where I am today by NOT taking time off. I had an operation last year. I was working until they came and took me to theatre and I started working 10 mins after I came around.

Most people don't get a buzz out of "work" If you do get the Buzz you want to do it more and more

I can almost guarantee MC works 18+hrs a day.
He may get a couple of extra hours sleep whilst travelling between meetings etc. But I bet he will wake up and answer his phone if it rang.

Most people work 9-5 and think thats a working day. For most it is. For some there is at least another 3rd left
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You sound like my previous boss - finally retired sometime around March last year very well off, died ~10 days before Christmas. I hope he got a buzz from what he did otherwise what a waste.

Lord_ZED said:
For that sort of money You have to work hard and I highly doubt most of them are interested in Computer parts store forums.
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There are some fairly well off regular posters here - also my brother used to do internet provisioning for on location/off site type stuff for the BBC i.e. question time and has seen 1-2 famous people browsing these forums :D
 
joey1211 said:
Two words. Nose and brown
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That's extremely short sighted of you...

There are many ways to earn decent money, but the common factor in all of them is generally hard work. Either during the period that you earn good money, or the time leading up to it.

You could have no qualifications but talk your way into a recruitment job at 17, work yourself to death and be earning £200K within 5 years

You could have a 1st from Cambridge, but no people skills and thus earn £50K for the rest of your life.

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Identify what yours are and make the most of it

Either that or follow this handy guide:

1) Move to London
2) Acquire investment related finance job
3) Work really hard
4) Ball even harder
5) £££££££
 
Deus Ex said:
You wot m8?
But seriously, only soul destroying private work in certain competitive fields does that and the hours are obscene.
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Pretty well paid though - know one guy that did consulting on the tech side of medical stuff and was clearing approx. £500/h doing 4 hours a day (evenings), 4 days a week on top of his day job.

EDIT: Only have his word for how much it paid but given his life style you couldn't really fake that on much lower pay for long.
 
A lot of contractors on decent day rates are pulling in very close to £200k pa gross

Its not unachievable for the above average man (or women)
 
February 2014 I was still a 'poor' person living on 65-70k in London (contractor, earnings dependent how hard I worked, or didn't work. But 80k would've been my max).

Moved to NZ 10 months ago. Started working as a PM for a big civil engineering site. My direct boss asked me whether I'd be interested to leave the company and start a business with him. Valuing my pay check too much, I said I'll come on part time. Within 2 months I quit and went at it full time with him. This was around June/July last year. We went from a 2 person band to 18 full time staff as of today, with 50-60 contractors working for us at any given time. Imagine doing all this the past 6 month. I don't think two days have gone by the past 6 months where I didn't see my life flashing before my eyes when payroll comes around or having to pay a contractor 200k while we're still waiting for our money from the principal contractor. It's only really the last month or two that I can relax just a little bit more as we build up buffer funds.

I long since stopped caring about impressing people or throwing numbers around that really have no basis in reality, so I won't bother with numbers. However, going by the digits the OP specifically mention, I probably do belong in this thread, so to speak :p

1.) There's honor and romance and a certainly a good story in closing your eyes and jumping, but in my short experience, you usually end up flat on your arse. Do your homework and take well calculated risks. And they are 'risks'. Nothing is guaranteed. But having done your homework, you'll do much better.

2.) Network network network. Not once did we have to go out touting for work. My business partner in particular have great contacts in high places who feeds us more work through than we can handle. All they ask for in return is us not letting them down. And the odd all-expenses-paid golf day. The old adage of 'It is not what you know, etc etc' There's truth in that.

3.) You need money to make money. I've found that to be true. You can't start a business with 100 bucks. Forget about the stories you've read about a homeless guy starting out with a fiver and becoming a millionaire. In the REAL world these things don't happen. The stories are usually lies anyway.

4.) Find ways to manage your stress, as you'll probably be overwhelmed at times with the stresses of running a business. Especially when people come to work for you and you're indirectly responsible for paying their mortgages and feeding their kids.

Probably all generic advice but certainly true. I can write more but I'm being picked up in a helicopter in an hour to whisk me away to my friend's wedding ...






(I'm catching a bus with a group of people so we can get tanked on our way back and sing songs and pass out before we get home at midnight)

5.) Never let it go to your head!
 
Deus Ex said:
You wot m8?
But seriously, only soul destroying private work in certain competitive fields does that and the hours are obscene.
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Hence why I indicated fortitude was required. Moreover, you don't have to work in the UK you know or even keep to one actual job.
 
Tunney said:
I don't but my wife does. She's a barrister so her experience might not be all that relevant to a chemical engineer! :)

She is incredibly smart (1st from Oxford, Eldon Scholar, top of her BCL year) but also works insane hours (80 hour weeks are common). Her ability to successfully complete complex work on 3 hours sleep a night is beyond the capacity of most people of similar intelligence. She also loves her job and I think that's important too. If the job is satisfying, you're more likely to put in the extra hours no matter what the salary.

My wife is a fantastic barrister but she almost didn't make it despite her excellent academic achievements. The competition for places is fierce and having a 1st from Oxbridge is the most basic of the requirements for any of the respected chambers. Getting that foot in the door was incredibly tough. She comes from a working class background and didn't have the contacts (or maybe even the confidence) that others had. Thankfully, someone recognised her ability and bent the rules to take her on. She's the first one to admit that she got lucky.

She was also lucky that she had some great role models in chambers. One of the QCs, who is now a high court judge, came from a similar background to her and took her under his wing.

As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm very proud of her. :)
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That's a great post and you should be :)
 
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