Castrovinci
Member
- Location
- NJ
Great question.....long answer
Great question.....long answer
This question definetly hit home for me as well. So here goes my rendition or take on it.
I started out 4.5 years ago just like you, I got my license and worked full time for an outfit. It was 10 hour days so I got the three days off. I too am a go getter and could not sit still or stand being lazy. I worked for the railroad as an electrician earlier and call me nuts but couldn't take the sitting around all day doing nothing..........I decided to go into business while I worked. It is very difficult as many of the previous posts listed. Between getting a van to supplies to advertising etc. At first I did the work myself on my days off...got my feet wet. Keep purchasing equipment with the money I earned from both gigs so year one was a large loss. Eventually in year 2 I got a partime employee. This was a very difficuly challenge as there are some real characters out there. Anyway we made slow progress year after year and each year we did more and more commercial and industrial until we were almost soley industrial/commercial which brought a whole new set of challanges. Needless to say today we have 6 trucks (4 of them bucket trucks) and have over 1.4 million in sales a year now. Even though we got to this point I still work full time for an outfit. Point in case it can be done with hard work and the right moves.........
Now for the details, which consider everyone and every path is different. See if these items below are worth the risk/reward for you
1. The first few years in business you make very little and in fact typically take a loss since you are constantly investing. This includes advertising, new vehicles, bad desicions etc.
2. You will find that the hardest two items to deal with are cash flow and employees. Eventually you will grow and if you decide to do commercial you will have to deal with these two items in a harsh way. You will have to make the decision of stay in residential and get paid upfront but deal with the residential customer madness or go commercial and chase your money. Majority of the clients say their Net 30 but typically go Net 60 and beyond no matter how much you chase them. Don't deal with it and they find the next guy.
3. What will your profit margin be? What are you shooting for 15%, 20%, 50%. Surely we want to shoot for the highest possible, but will you really bring in after all your expenses. Just because you make millions you may only bring home 10-15% at the end of the day. Consider the down times too into this equation and benifits.
4. As one user stated this is very fun and exciting in the begining, but what about in 5 years.
5. You mention you love working with your hands, well once you grow that starts to go away and turns into more and more paper work and "professionally baby sitting"
6. If you do both jobs eventually you will end up hating one or the other and lose lots of family time.
If you don't like the statements above you have some options, a middle ground if you will. Stay small and just do some side gigs, pick and choose wisely and be honest with your clients. Don't be afraid to turn down some jobs, you can get crafty on how you do it. There are jobs that make money and then there are just busy jobs that break you even. You decide, but remember your time is something you can't put a price on.
If your a go getter like I was at the end of the day your going to want to try it and be your own boss :blink: ......Just be smart on how you approach and run it.
Great question.....long answer
This question definetly hit home for me as well. So here goes my rendition or take on it.
I started out 4.5 years ago just like you, I got my license and worked full time for an outfit. It was 10 hour days so I got the three days off. I too am a go getter and could not sit still or stand being lazy. I worked for the railroad as an electrician earlier and call me nuts but couldn't take the sitting around all day doing nothing..........I decided to go into business while I worked. It is very difficult as many of the previous posts listed. Between getting a van to supplies to advertising etc. At first I did the work myself on my days off...got my feet wet. Keep purchasing equipment with the money I earned from both gigs so year one was a large loss. Eventually in year 2 I got a partime employee. This was a very difficuly challenge as there are some real characters out there. Anyway we made slow progress year after year and each year we did more and more commercial and industrial until we were almost soley industrial/commercial which brought a whole new set of challanges. Needless to say today we have 6 trucks (4 of them bucket trucks) and have over 1.4 million in sales a year now. Even though we got to this point I still work full time for an outfit. Point in case it can be done with hard work and the right moves.........
Now for the details, which consider everyone and every path is different. See if these items below are worth the risk/reward for you
1. The first few years in business you make very little and in fact typically take a loss since you are constantly investing. This includes advertising, new vehicles, bad desicions etc.
2. You will find that the hardest two items to deal with are cash flow and employees. Eventually you will grow and if you decide to do commercial you will have to deal with these two items in a harsh way. You will have to make the decision of stay in residential and get paid upfront but deal with the residential customer madness or go commercial and chase your money. Majority of the clients say their Net 30 but typically go Net 60 and beyond no matter how much you chase them. Don't deal with it and they find the next guy.
3. What will your profit margin be? What are you shooting for 15%, 20%, 50%. Surely we want to shoot for the highest possible, but will you really bring in after all your expenses. Just because you make millions you may only bring home 10-15% at the end of the day. Consider the down times too into this equation and benifits.
4. As one user stated this is very fun and exciting in the begining, but what about in 5 years.
5. You mention you love working with your hands, well once you grow that starts to go away and turns into more and more paper work and "professionally baby sitting"
6. If you do both jobs eventually you will end up hating one or the other and lose lots of family time.
If you don't like the statements above you have some options, a middle ground if you will. Stay small and just do some side gigs, pick and choose wisely and be honest with your clients. Don't be afraid to turn down some jobs, you can get crafty on how you do it. There are jobs that make money and then there are just busy jobs that break you even. You decide, but remember your time is something you can't put a price on.
If your a go getter like I was at the end of the day your going to want to try it and be your own boss :blink: ......Just be smart on how you approach and run it.