By Sourdough
Date 01-12-2007 23:05
Edited 01-12-2007 23:11
rfdtv - LOVE IT!!! Now you know brother, it aint no happy time going to the yard for materials. I charge a bunch more than it cost me after discount on steel. When it comes down to it, the customer is paying exactly what it would cost them off the street for that stuff. I think that is fair. Most welders just getting started don't think that there's much overhead to contract welding. My first year I almost bent over to the IRS. The next year it was better. When I first started, I thought I was going to be rich!
As far as small businesses, the IRS is after all of us self employed businesses like no other. They will tag you, watch you, tax you, and audit you like no other business in the nation, period. This is how the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer!! Every time I get a "big one"(job), my wife cringes, because she knows it will get slim for 2 or 3 months. No more shopping, (yeah right), and no more dining out for a while.
This what we look forward to :Steel, fuel, rod, discs, gas, tools, paint, leads, toolboxes, tires, oil, windshields, insurance, shop rent, office rent, advertisement, relocation, electricity, gas, snowplowing, phone bill, internet bill, heat, water, secretary, paper, envelopes, stamps, sub contractors, equipment, ( cranes, excavators, backhoes, winch trucks, equipment haulers, roustabout crews, cement trucks, wirecrews, etc.. etc..etc... then some. Some we pay for, some we dont. Needless to say, the bigger you get the less home life you are allowed. I enjoy the challenge, and i don't think I would trust it to any one else. "Stay small - it pays!!"
Ah well, I'll sleep when I die??