Who has created their own job or own their own business?

Slowly taking over the family business of landscaping, getting paid to dick around outside all day!

 

I wouldnt mind doing a landscaping business! Ive thought about it several times over the years. I would for sure hwave to move though. We have been in a drought for years so no one can water anything. Nurserys are closing down... Cheap labor from farther south makes it hard to do as well.

 

Ohhh yeah, i didn't think about that, being close to the border gives a pretty bad competition problem. Its pretty great though, keep it small and profitable, where i am theres a lot of word of mouth and business is easy to come by. Theres a lot of flowers and shit i have no clue about though, hard to care about some things

 

Lots of 12 hour days?
Generally, we're experienced on one or two pieces of machinery. They put us on machinery that we have no experience running. That's not such a big deal... but the 'JOBS' that are on that equipment IS a big deal. If you're not familiar with a job, or the pages and pages of instructions..... mistakes & quality errors occur. They set you up for failure.....and they don't care.

 

I'm ready to do my own thing. I was never comfortable working for someone making them rich while I break my back just to make ends meet. Going into to work every day hearing about how i'm terrible at what I do and i'm too slow, etc etc is getting old quick.

I'd like to start my own job and I have a little start-up money saved up but I have no idea what i'd do. Seems like Janster and I are in the same boat.

 

Zero 12 hour days. Overtime is a very very rare thing for us. I'm not gonna lie, my job is stupid easy but I just don't enjoy it and I don't like 98% of the people I have to spend my time with. I'm only 27 and I see all these old guys I work with, a few in their 60's and 70's, and I don't want to be doing the same boring crap for the rest of my life.

I've started making a list of potential businesses I'd like to start and I'm going to go from there. Pros and cons of each. How realistic would each one be.and go from there.

 

A friend and I started and ran a Mobile Oil Change business for a while while working full time jobs in upstate NY. We made enough money to pay the bills, insurance, etc., but after a year decided to fold. Just not bold enough to quit and get into it full time. It was a good experience though.

 

I own a diesel engine repair business. We work on luxury yachts here in So Cal. I started my business 9yrs ago. I have been in this line of work for 22yrs.

 

That's awesome! And that is what I mean by "created your own job". You thought outside the box and innovated!

Very nice. I bet there can be good money in that working on some of the luxury yachts. Do you have a yacht of your own or just enjoy working on them? Are you still the main laborer or do you have employees that do the physical stuff and you can actually "run" the business?

That is one thing I have thought about. At what point do you decide to step back from the labor or production and have employees do the "dirty work" so to speak?

 

I do have a tech working for me. I still go out and work on yachts. I enjoy it and am still young enough to do it. I know some day I will have to leave the heavy lifting to the young guys but not yet.. I do not own a yacht and the money is good.

 

You're always gonna work for the man. I've been self employed for 5 years, and while it is the most gratifying and challenging thing I've ever done, it's still easy to get in the rut, the mindset, of working for the man. Fed taxes due on the 12th, state/sales due on the 20th, rent due on the 1st, payroll every Friday... annnd repeat.

 

I worked for General motors for about 20 years, and have 8 years in the Marines as a technician. I have always loved working with my hands, and figuring out how things worked. When I got divorced and had the chance to start over, my family invited me to move in with them to get it rolling. We live in a small town where you mostly have "shade-tree mechanics" here, so most everyone with a nice, newer car simply drives the hour or so to the next major city to get it worked on. Opening a shop here was a no-brainer for me. I am able to provide great service at fair prices, and save the people money and time since they no longer have to drive an hour to get quality work.

I have the support of many of the local businesses, and even have a couple of contracts with a local lumber company to work on their small pickups. (Interestingly enough, most of them drive 4wd Tacoma trucks) I am now in the process of trying to obtain the state contract for a local college, to take over their vehicle repair and maintenance.

I will say the biggest challenges are finding good, quality suppliers, and the TON of paperwork. I have never been a fan of paperwork, so I have had to grin and bear it. If you are looking at starting your own business I have this advice: If you TRULY want it to succeed then be prepared to make your business your LIFE for the first 5 years. I average about 11-12 hours a day, 6 days a week at the shop, and another 8-10 hours a week at home doing paperwork. I started this shop with $1000 in the bank account, and have been doing reasonably well after only 2 years. Right now I have about $14k in debts, and about $3k in the bank. For those who have run a business, they will see that I am not doing too bad in only 2 years. Our accountant says we should be profitable in about another year and a half. I do all of the wrench turning, and talking with the customers at this point. I am a stickler for quality, so while I would like to hire another 2 techs to work for me in the future, they will have to be ASE master certified, and be pretty dang good before I hire them! lol.

 

You just touched on the key, Guy...

quality service to others

If you get that right... you don't need to think about the dollar because people will throw money at you.

I was laid off in the last big recession in 1979, and started my own business as an electrician. I still run that same business today and never need to worry about money for the rest of my life.

 

Growing up my dad and I did a lot of scrap metal so much so that it did turn into a business. It actually evolved into a surplus electronics and computer parts business. We did very well after he past away a few years ago I just didn't have the drive to do it anymore without my Pops being with me. So I sold it off. Looking back it could have sustained with the contacts we had but I ended up where I am at today working as a diesel service tech at a shipping port/terminal for a very large corporation. Funny thing is that I still gather scrap for resale with my 9 year old son for extra pocket money. We have a blast together and it reminds me of when I was his age.
There are huge benefits to your own business. I say go for it start small and build slowly. BUT don't be afraid to change along the way it can work out. It is a challenge but done right can be extremely rewarding both in finanical sense and family wise. Good luck.
Sorry for the novel, funny I haven't really talked about this since my Dad past.

 

im selling my bike this week to get my business up and going. my buddy has a auto spa here, the only car detailing shop in town, and is packed 24/7, so to speak, and he just started doing tinting and he gave me a call and asked if i was doing to expand it some more and start painting with him, so selling my bike just to get off the ground and get my products and ill be under way.

im 20, and i hope to quit my current job in a few weeks.

 

Finally got my business doing fabrication registered and officially going as of yesterday, but I have been doingba bit of fab work on the side for a little while now. Hopefully soon, it will be my main source of income

 

I'm glad you took the time to share your story as well as your good advice. Father so son continuity is beautiful. I've carried two of my father's hand tools on my utility belt for over 30 years, and remember him when I use them.

 

Great stories everyone! Keep them coming

 

http://pacmechtech.com/

While in grad school a few friends of mine founded Pacific Mechanical Technology LLC. Primarily make EV charging stations but dabble in other stuff.

http://youtu.be/y6m70jULqIQ

Electric rock crawler as a technology demonstrator, but mostly for shits and giggles

 

As you already know from being a customer. I started my shop because I was done working for other people. I thought hey why can't I do that when I saw the process for the first time.