For those who are out on their own either in a one man band or bigger company
What gave you your first break? What pushed you out into the land of self employment and business ownership.
How did you survive the first few years, when you had to advertise or prove yourself, to develop a decent client base and gain referrals?
What made you successful, what were your failures, what pitfalls did you not realize were there until you fell into them?
What would you do differently, why?
What would you consider to be “key” to not just doing the work, but running the business. What helped you to grow.
you get the picture by now….
By no means am I thinking of heading out on my own, but I thought it might be a decent set of stories if not an informative discussion.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.
Replies
by accident!!!!
i used to have an office job.
one day i overslept and decided not to go in as my trian was just leaving the station as i woke up.
i took the day off and ( iwas living at home at the time) someone came to visit my mum about some work; he offered me a job as a labourer and i'vee never looked back.
aleks
I started working construction while in high school. Ended up opening a tire shop with my dad after graduation. Hated the work, but really enjoyed working for myself.
I started taking on small repair projects and remodels on the side. Slowly buying more tools as I needed them and establishing a reputation as a reliable carpenter.
When I left Texas and moved to Missouri, I tried the real job route for about three years. Kept doing side jobs and buying more tools until I didn't have time for my day job. Then I went out on my own.
I have found over the years that I enjoy this work the most when I am working by myself or when my wife comes out to a job and works with me. It seems like when I have a crew of workers that the headaches outnumber the rewards by at least a 3 to 1 margin.
I got one tip for you.
Work for someone else for 10 years, or maybe from 18 to 30. Work your way up. If you work for someone successful, and good, you may learn enough to really kick as* on your own.
I sort of did that, but I wish I did exactly that.
Tom
I was born to a construction family (4 generations of masons I know of). My dad didn't want me to continue the trend, but because he was my hero, I had to follow him. His problem was, he didn't think you could earn a good living and receive the respect of a professional (for example a doctor or lawyer) being a construction worker. Well by the age of 24 I had worked as a laborer, a bricklayer, a stone mason, a framing carpenter, a form setter, and beside my dad, building spec homes. He had proven himself right, you couldn't make a professional wage working for someone else. So I went out on my own. I had three things going for me.
1.) I had a new wife who supported me, both financially (she was a CPA) and emotionally.
2.) I loved work
3.) I was incredibly persistent and unwilling to fail
Twenty-two years later I make what a good MD makes, and I respect the people I work with. I have one employee and work on incredibly fine homes.
Do what you love, love what you do. That's why and how.
Surviving is a matter of learning from your mistakes, and always striving to improve.
As for avoiding the pitfalls. You learn to trust your instincts. If it's to good to be true it is. If someone seems shady they are. If you're doing it for the wrong reasons it won't stand the test of time. In other words, I think to be sucessful for the long haul you're work has to be honest. It has to be the best you got, and it will return the best to you.
1. Got no breaks.
2. I framed, hauled trash, did construction clean up, emergency repairs, cut and sold firewood and occasionally went back to work for someone else - temporarily.
3. Never was successful, never had any failures, borrowed money from father-in-law. (There is no failure, there is only feedback.)
4. I'd do nothing differently. It was and is a live-by-your-wits life (sooooo that's why I was never successful...)
5. Demand more of yourself than you are sure you can accomplish! Only committing to what you are sure you can do will never get you anywhere.
6. Be flexible. Accept different challenges at different times of life and think about what you can accomplish next. That said, always take a bit of time for what I call "work appreciation". If you did well, appreciate what you accomplished. If it didn't go as well as you'd have liked, appreciate that you have learned something and appreciate the most miserable jobs as offering the most learning.
7. Imagine what you want to accomplish in work, but even more, imagine what you want your whole life to be like!
8. Accept compliments when they come along: Neil, you show that you are already a cut above just by asking such questions!
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
My Dad ran a FT kitchen and bath remodeling company as his "second" job. We all worked on site as soon as we could sweep w/o getting hurt. I started on site when I was about 8 yrs old.
Worked in sales.....got burned out ...quit ...back to remodeling with Dad.
Had to turn down a big addition because all I knew was interior work.
Went back to school ...trade school ....at 30 an just married.
Planned on coming out and working for someone ....but old customers kept calling and I kept busy. Then the wife got prego ..so decided to get a FT/steady paycheck.
That lasted about a year ......then laid off ....and asked back as a sub at the same meeting.
Been subbing and working my own stuff since.
I decided I wanted to focus on high end trim/finish work. So I interviewed only with companied that did such ...and I interviewed only as a trim carp. I have don't most everything else ....but I was on a mission.
Company I stayed with needed some tile work done ....I said I can do that....
So I became their trim and tile guy. Ran some smaller jobs as a mini-lead. Didn't push for the full lead because I thought that didn't pay enough for all the additional work involved. In hind site ...I shoulda get more lead time in on their dollar.
The big push this last time was getting laid off .....but getting handed a set of prints to bid kinda softened the blow a bit.
I'm still no where..and wouldn't have gotten this far w/o the years of sales training.
Best sale trainer/boss(Ron) would often say....
"Don't be afraid of the money".
Start bidding jobs and you'll soon see what he meant.
Also .....keep yer beltloops. Good...long story there...maybe Mike Smith will explain it!
I have a fantsatic to me) track record of customer referals. Just about every other job has given me at least one lead. I get the referals because I ASK for them. I remind the Sh!t outta people to pass out my name/number to everyone they know. It becomes a running joke. For certain customers I'll even "discount" the job if they agree to pimp me to the neighborhood.
Like Ron would say ...Never give nothing away for free ..give the discount...but explain why ...fully and often.
Doing great work is key. Charging enough to do great work is key ....but no one seeling or hearing about your great work get's ya no where.
Take pics ....lotsa them. Then show them.
Sell yourself ....no one else is.....
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
keep yer beltloops.
Would that have anything to do with starving out of poverty in the begining?
Like I said, not now, not soon, but eventually....
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.
LOL, that helps, too.
I'm no Smith or Buck, but I'll give it a poor try. Something to do with a (pushy) little old lady coming onto the used car lot, grabbing the salesman by the belt loops. She then leads him all over the place, dragging him by the belt loops. Salesman can't get into his spiel, as she controls the conversation. As he tries to stop and regain control, she pulls the beltloops off, trying to get him moving under her control.
To keep yer belt loops = keep control of the sales conversation, you guide the customer, not the other way. Not that you have to be pushy or a used car salesman (no offense Jeff). The customer isn't always right. Also mebbe knowing what/how to say things, anticipating the customer's responses & questions.
Apologies to Jeff Buck, and Ron the sales guy who taught Jeff the story. May have butchered "the letter" of the story, but the intent is till there.If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.
Hey cag, it is actually easier than most would have you believe, as in any business you only have to really emphasize a few major ideas and the rest will work out.
Honesty is the best policy. Gently and courteous to be sure, but the facts are what they are.
Do the best work that you can. Price complaints will die eventually, but bad work will haunt you for a looonnnnng time.
Always look for improvement, your skills, tools, and in the jobs that you do.
Believe it or not, in construction business, a clean honest person that is on time and ready to work stands out from the average from the start. YOur reputation will spread, and you will be busy first, and then profitable, and then youmay become downright almost wealthy if you work at it.
now back to the subject, I got started as a helper for a repairman for an owner of several apartment buildings. Had always been a diy kind of guy, but now I was getting paid for it. Learned a little about many things, now am self employed because I could not find work when we moved here. Impressed the third or fourth customer when I showed up on time and with tools. Turns out she was managing about sixty houses. Then her company bought the competitions contracts, and all of a sudden I was busy. Four years later, I still have most of the first 500 business cards left, as I am not really looking for more customers. Of coarse it does not take a lot to keep me busy, as I am slow, but usually on time.
Dan
close enough!
Was a carpet cleaning guy ...and the lady actually ripped the belt loop off his pants as he thought they were done and headed one way but she had more explaining of what his price would include!
Ron would be proud of ya.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
pita... you WERE paying attention...
beltloops is part of my dna code now.. ever since jeff tole that little story..
and how goes the summer ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike ....
we gotta get together and go visit Ron in Houston .....
get a refresher on the sales courses.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
I've been trying to tell you all that I pay attention around here. (Not much, and it seldom happens, but every once in a blue moon...)
Summer's good enough. Et tu?If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.
other than the semi-constant rain.. it's been greatMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
You know these part time farmers who have a 40hr/week job, but what they'd really love to do is farm? A friend of mine is like that and he told me it's an old joke amongst farmers that they'll keep at farming until they go broke and then go make some money so they can go back to farming...until they go broke...you get the picture...
Well that's how I always felt about carpentry. I'd work for another contractor for awhile, then do a job or two directly for a customer, then work on my own place for a while, then go back to work for a contractor.
After a few years the time to work on my own projects got squeezed, so I kept working directly for customers when I could, and working for contractors when I had to, and at some point, I had to start putting customers on a waiting list, so I stopped hiring on with contractors, and the lwaiting list got longer, and there sat my own projects untouched for months...eventually years...
And I woke up one day and realized that I wasn't controlling my business, it was controlling me.
THAT'S when I "started out".
I been avoiding this thread because I already did this once - it must be in the archives someplace.
Darned if I know where.
But I figure too many here would be bored by it all again and it's such a long story....
You see it all began one day back in '49 when my Dad saw my mother for the first time....
Excellence is its own reward!
... and to make a long story short, I just landed another job to restore an 1800 Cape..
Excellence is its own reward!
lol gee, thanks.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.
I ran off to Alaska and couldn't find work. Borrowed a good carpentry book . . .spent all winter building walls, roofs and stairs on paper and out of sticks. Spring time came . . I talked a guy into hiring me for a frame job.......soon I was on my own. Never had anyone to teach me anything, but I did it......on my own. I've made a good life for myself and can now pick and choose ....cause if it's made of wood, I can do it.
This is not a brag, but an observation......cause I hear so many young guys (old guys too)"wishing they coulda" ........when all they have to do is apply themselves and try. Fear is always your greatest obstacle . . . fear will F you up.
Learn . . . none of this stuff is that difficult. Be smart and fix your mistakes. Forget about the profit first time around, rather make sure the project is top knotch, even if you have to tear it out and start over. NEVER slipslide out the door and leave a crappy job behind you. .....cause it will follow you.
The ONLY thing that constantly works for you in the trades is word-of-mouth. Get a bad rep and you might as well hang up your hammer and join the boys in the tavern, where you can sit around complaining and feeling sorry for yourself alongside the rest of the losers.
Industrial America moved to China . . . if you don't get skilled you will soon be S.O.L..........IMO.
I still do it to myself, though not nearly as often, " I'll need to think about that and get back to you". In the past, I used to always say "No problem, I'll do that". For me, thought require's time, a quick answer usually got me stressed out, Oh, about 10 minutes after I opened my mouth. May your sleep be sound, and your alarm clock set, Jim J
My side business basically fell in my lap. My brother is a contractor and when he has clients who need plans drawn up, he just gives me a call and gives me jobs. I am a lucky SOB, but also have my degree and have been working the commercial side of the architecture world for about 5 years. So, I am really helping my brother get the job, and I am getting my name out there on the residential side at the same time. Through that process my plans have been bid by other contractors, who are looking for designers, architects who are now using myself for their deisgn work. Respect the word of mouth connections people make, do quality work, and understand your role in the process. Give clients the opportunity to look to the right people for there questions. So I am looking forward to a possible design/ build type team or whatever comes my way. Thanks for the question, its nice to share.
dps