Questions for Entrepreneurs with their own Contracting/Development Business

[Gaetano Citera]

I am at a bit of a crossroads. I am 4.5 yrs out of college and work with a telecom real estate fund and have always wanted to invest in real estate on my own. Although I enjoy the benefits of working for a company I am beginning to get tired of the corporate grind. I have flipped a few houses during covid and remote working times and was fortunate enough to grow up in a family of real estate investors and entrepreneurs which has provided me mentors and exposure to starting and operating a business.

I am thinking of starting my own construction/development company in a few years time and wanted to hear some opinions from people who have done it who are outside of my circle. The year I flipped homes was some of the most challenging, fulfilling, and genuinely fun time I have had working in my career so far. I also believe there will generally always be a demand for gc's/contractors in the long run and it is a real estate adjacent which would keep me "in the know" for off market deals and opportunities in my area. My big goal for my career if I pursued this would be to be developing commercial real estate projects and building a portfolio of my own real estate investments. 
 
With that being said, most of the people in my immediate network who are in the construction business say the most valuable skill is just being able to run a team and a job efficiently and if they could start over they would go the GC route. A few others have said a plumbing/electric/excavation company is the route they would go. Whatever direction I go, I would leave my current job and take a few years to learn the craft and business under someone else before breaking off on my own. 

Does anybody have any thoughts/suggestions? What direction would you take if you could start over? Would you bother getting experience working under someone else?