Side Jobs to Working Solo

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Since I was known to do volunteer work for all the local activities for the kid's quite a lot of people would ask me to do side job's for them. My answer was: - if I charged enough to not be mad at myself they were going to be mad at me.......if I charged very little they would be happy, I would be mad at myself, .... and I would be cutting the throat of the EC who was doing it for his family's living. With that mindset I turned down all that work.
After 20 years with one company, at the time I thought I had the greatest job in the world, we closed - permanently. I was one of the chosen...I got transferred to another site. I hated it! But by then I was on my way up - but I really did not like the way things were at my new job. Management did not trust labor, and labor did not trust management. Both were wrong. I had been promoted, and ran over 50 men, mostly electricians and mechanics. The pay was great, but life was miserable - from loving my job I had grown to where I hated going to work. I was mad, and I let everyone know, all the time, my bosses and the workers. Each side was fighting the other about everything! It's not just management that creates problems....
Two years was all I lasted. I went out on industrial construction projects. These weren't local - there was no local construction at all. I traveled 200 miles to the 1st one, then 600 miles to the next. I thought I may as well go where I wanted. What I did know was that I was never again going to work steady for any one company.
In less than 2 years I found my niche - and became self employed contracting to engineering firms doing electrical start up on their projects.
I got to work from Alaska to Florida, and Maine to California. They paid my travel, my expenses, and when a job ended I took a loooong vacation, until I wanted to work - or needed to work again. Then I had to find another job.
I think I had l8 different contract jobs in 20 years!
But when I began contracting I had to buy my insurance, and pay all the taxes, and I put 20% into my retirement plan. I was able to retire early because I planned it all out. I had to make a living and support my family without any workers compensation if injured, and no unemployment if out of work. And so I had to charge enough to do all those things.
If you are a successfull EC you have that good feeling inside. Its worth all those hours you work. Just don't work cheap, and do quality work. Let midnight electric go belly up. If they do have good skilled workers pretty soon those guy's will be working for you.
 
I hate side work. I would rather just work late for my employer and collect time and a half. I only do side work for friends/family that rope me into it, mostly my wife is the one who volunteers my services :( and if I charge them what I make at time and a half for my employer, they get pissed off, so I end up "losing" money.

I would rather volunteer for habitat for humanity than get screwed by some cheap skate.
 
I started my own company 19 years ago. Side work had nothing to do with it. I served my four years as an apprentice for a six man commercial and industrial shop owned and run by two old navy electricians for 43 years. One was on our state board of examiners. I always thought an electrical license was for working for yourself because thats what they told me. They always treated us with respect and paid you what you were worth. Then their son's took over and everything changed. They did not know how to run the business and we started to lose customers. I was just getting my masters and thinking its time for me to start my own thing. I started in 1989 and things were hard but I quickly realized that working two to three days a week was better than my full time job. I was lucky and my wife worked and had benefits. I had a hard time finding commercial work but found enough smaller companies like small machine shops etc. Then about a year later something funny happened. Two of the industrial companies I use to take care of for the old shop found out I was working for myself and called me and I have never looked back since. God smiled on me that day.

Mark
 
I worked for an Industrial Plant and started my business that way. I was a single dad with three boys ages 10,9,5 so i didn't do side work as I had no time for it. I did contract work durring the day and told the plant manager that i wouldn't be in. They didn't like it much but wouldn't fire me, I got away with too much but I had given them a chance to pay me what I was worth, they wouldn't do it so I missed a lot of work. I won't get into the details as to why they wouldn't fire me lets just say it would have cost them a lot more to fix problems had they done so. I still do work for them but as a contractor now, and at a good rate. the situation was win win and I have been in business for six years now. I don't know what all this talk about slow down is, my business is up 54% over the same period as last year, and there is lots of work for those who know where to look and those who do quality work.
 
bikeindy said:
I worked for an Industrial Plant and started my business that way. I was a single dad with three boys ages 10,9,5 so i didn't do side work as I had no time for it. I did contract work durring the day and told the plant manager that i wouldn't be in. They didn't like it much but wouldn't fire me, I got away with too much but I had given them a chance to pay me what I was worth, they wouldn't do it so I missed a lot of work. I won't get into the details as to why they wouldn't fire me lets just say it would have cost them a lot more to fix problems had they done so. I still do work for them but as a contractor now, and at a good rate. the situation was win win and I have been in business for six years now. I don't know what all this talk about slow down is, my business is up 54% over the same period as last year, and there is lots of work for those who know where to look and those who do quality work.
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Being a single Dad to those boys must be harder than any job is. Got to respect that. I also am very busy. I'm about a year out. But I know lots of companies down to 4-day weeks and layoffs in Mass. I'm steady and credit that to good hard work and great service but there is always a little luck to it. If my customers were really slow maybe they wouldn't be spending now.
Mark
 
HaskinsElectric said:
I know of no other way to start a contracting business. I got my license and started doing side jobs on evenings and weekends. When the money I made on side jobs exceeded what I made on my day job, I quit my day job.
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THANK YOU!!

Finally, somebody who knows what I mean about starting LEGALLY with sidework and growing from there.
 
HaskinsElectric said:
I know of no other way to start a contracting business. I got my license and started doing side jobs on evenings and weekends. When the money I made on side jobs exceeded what I made on my day job, I quit my day job.
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How long ago was it that you started your business and what type of work (residential, commercial, industrial) do you perform?

BTW: What is you Amateur Call Sign?
 
HaskinsElectric said:
I know of no other way to start a contracting business. I got my license and started doing side jobs on evenings and weekends. When the money I made on side jobs exceeded what I made on my day job, I quit my day job.
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I had a full time job and was a single full time parent. No time for side work. I quit my job, took the masters test, bought a used van and started handing out business cards.
 
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