I know where your coming from Strother. I've found myself looking at jobs, even jobs that are not welding but in the evening to leave me free during the day to handle the business like a business. Personally I have turned down the Nashville airport authority(mechanic job), the U.S Post office(mechanic job) and the Pipefitters Union in the three years that I have been doing the business. Sure ain't rich, nowhere near it actually, broke as h_ll but I am happy, I enjoy the different locations I go to and look forward to more new locations and the interesting work and people I deal with for the most part(people that is). Security is something that I think we all would like, some handle the insecurity better than others. I had a shop working on cars, after a year I went back to wrenchin' for someone else. Not an easy thing to do but you could compare the two side by side then. Punchin' the clock was a steady paycheck, nice, someone else pickin' up the insurance tab, taxes, SSI etc, etc.....nice. Downside, punchin' the clock, being a pawn instead of a knight, set schedule, same ol' daily grind, same place, same shop, same people day in and day out for years and years.
Owning the business, my favorite memory was when I was covered up for weeks and weeks as a mechanic shop owner. After I got all the o.p.s fixed and out of the shop I went in a told my buddy that I rented the building from that I was taking a vacation. He said, "where you going?" Told him I have not had a break in weeks/months and me and the family were gonna go back home for a week. That was on a friday, we left out sunday morning or something like that. Spent the week back home with relatives eating Buffalo wings all week long!!
I guess the downsides are playing secretary, accountant, manager, welder, lack of money when truck payment is due, etc, etc but I find the upside to that is sitting in my pajamas while doing the paperwork part of the business!!! Even design phases on gates, handrails and such, that's great pj work!!! How many people can say they designed some fancy gate in their pj's that now hangs off a million dollar home?
Whatever you do it's your decision as many have told me before. Amazing how difficult of a decision it actually is. The wife is a concern, but you have to be happy too, no sense in being p_ssed at life the next 20-30 years wondering what could have been. Heck, I've actually taken some work next week installing chain link fence, gates, gate operators and the grid in the driveway just so I don't have to go punch the clock. Works for me! It's all about what you want,
Good Luck!!
Shawn
I learned long ago that it is a poor business strategy to put all your eggs into one basket.
My policy is that no one company represents more than 10% of my business on an annual basis. I have actually told a couple of large clients they would have to find someone else to service their needs when they became too demanding of my time. It sounds crazy, but the political winds can shift very quickly in a large company. You are an indispensible hero when they need you and "who are you?" when you no longer fit into their plan de jour.
I had a large aerospace client that required my services one week per month. At the end of the training cycle I spoke with the education director to tell him that I was going cut them back to one week every two months. He said he could not live with that and he wanted me to commit to two weeks per month; one week for welder training and another for inspection/NDT training. He said, “There are vendors that depend solely on the work we feed them.”
I said, “I know a lot of them that are no longer in business because you folks had a change in your business plans that did not include them.”
At that he said, “You have a point there. The winds blow hot and cold here and a lot of people have been hurt because of it. You’re lucky to be in a position where you can afford to walk away.”
I can afford to walk away because I refuse to let any one client monopolize my business.
I try to keep a balance of teaching, inspection, and consulting in the business mix. There are times when you walk away from the “big clients” because they demand too much attention and the smaller clients are left to wither. Eventually the smaller clients will find someone that can give them the attention they need. Money can be an issue as well. You can be left holding the bag waiting to get paid a good sum of money when a large client encounters financial problems. I would rather have 10 small clients that owe me small sums of money rather than one big client with a large unpaid balance. The sting is not as severe if one small client falls on hard economic times and cannot pay up.
It is also a good business practice to diversify your client base. By that I mean, do not concentrate on one industrial sector. Every industrial sector experiences business cycles. Rarely do hard times fall on all business sectors at the same time. A diversified client list is the same as a diversified stock portfolio. Even in these hard economic times there are some industrial sectors that have not been as severely affected as others because they lead or lag the general economy. Everyone has experienced some problems with the slow recovery of this recession, but there is still work available.
This will not be a financial banner year, but I don’t believe I will be on the streets with a tin cup in one hand and a hand full of pencils in the other. That will come next year.
Best regards - Al
That's good advice Al. Just wish I would have had it 9 years ago. I went into business woefully unprepared. It sounded like a good idea at the time work hard, do the right things, and success will follow. Unfortunately it didn't. This was partially due to some poor business decisions and partially due to the economy. I can say that the past 9 years have provided an education that I could not have gotten anywhere else and would not trade that for anything. If I had to start over with what I know now I could make a go of it. And if I have to I can make a go of it from here but right now I am spent. The hydraulic test lab emailed me on friday with a job offer. It looks like a good opportunity and possibly a chance to make some connections in a stable industry in case I ever decide to go back on my own.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Randy
Update. After lots of thinking I decided to turn down the job offer . I'm not ready to give up yet . Thanks everyone for your advice and comments.
"I can afford to walk away because I refuse to let any one client monopolize my business."
Wise decision. The local sheetmetal fab shop had 1 customer who they let grow to about 70% of the business volume. They went in the hole for a new, big, modern shear & press brake to do that customers work. That customer then gave them the option of selling out to them or loosing all their work. They sold out, and about a year later that company layed off all the employees and closed the shop. It had been a family business for 2 generations that employed ALL the family members, and a few others. The rest of the family got pissed at the one who was running the shop, He and His wife & kids moved away.
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