Wow, guess my post was uninformative and useless. Last time you point somebody towards this site? Last time I try to offer up real world, very young business advise. I've been at this for a little over 4 years and am in the thick of the rough and tumble try and survive point. Most of us "welders" have become pretty good accountants due to the fact that when your business is 6 months old, a year or two old most cannot afford a CPA so EVERYTHING is up to you, the welder, the owner, the secretary, custodial duties, truck maintenance, welder maintenance, shop maintenance, new construction at your shop(new office at mine), EVERYTHING is in your hands as EVERY bit of money that you can muster is being poured into making the business work. So a real business owner is not just a welder, he's a jack of all trades, master of welding hopefully and a dash of everything else.

I've been up and down, paid for a house, a truck and kept my family alive on $15,000 gross in my first year. I'm no Warren Buffet but there has been lots of sound advice from Brent and Operator, Tommy and we would get nonsense replies back. What does having a carry permit have to do with advice on running a business? I've got green trees in my front yard...............see, I bet you just said, "what?".

"Lets try to help this kid instead of righteously preaching at him like a person who is in danger of drowning when it rains."

Actually, in business you could drown the next time it rains. If raining is your next slow time, and drowning is your money you have in the bank to survive. You hit a dry spell, as Blue has pointed out and you don't have the funds to cover insurance, fuel, expenses, steel or materials a client wants you to buy and then sit around and "loan" this money while you wait for accounting to look at your invoice for 30 days before the check printing area opens up to send you a check then yes, you could drowned. Plain and simple, it's not just about the competition, it's about the work out there, the work you get, getting your name out there in a sea of people who are already known in the area whether they do good or bad work. We are/were trying to help but I ain't gonna suger coat it and say, it'll be alright. Ask for advise but 90% of running a business is figuring it out on your own. I'll help a guy out but I'm not going to write your business model for you. Shuffling money, knowing when to spend that $500 or $2000 on a piece of equipment, how much money is coming in, job's coming in? Can I afford that $2000 piece of equipment right now? How much do I really need it? Can I survive or pull the job off without it? I've got it in the bank but what's gonna happen 3 months down the road? You may have it now but in a few weeks or months it will be slow and you'll have a nice new piece of equipment not making you money cause the phones not ringing and wondering how your going to pay for your business insurance this month and believe me, they don't wait. Unlike contractors that can't read "Due Upon Receipt" everybody I deal with wants their money and they are not going to wait 30 days for the most part.

There's nothing wrong with sub'ing out some of your work to other guys you trust. I've done it and I've got a friend who'll call me in once in awhile. I respect him and his business and he calls me cause he knows I won't stab him in the back. I'll work my arse off for him, sometimes maybe to hard. We all get covered up in this business and need to have good friends, that can weld available, sometimes at a moments notice, right Tommy!!!

You wanted advise, this is real world experience. You'll get busy making all sorts of money and think it's all good, buy a crane truck, tools, shop equipment and then the phone will stop ringing cause your client base is not deep enough. Your building rent, insurance will start creeping up on you and you'll have spent everything. Or maybe a truck breaks down, welding machine implodes and you've got this large expense to deal with. Me, I've worked my tail off the last 6 weeks or more, all for contractors and all seem to miss the "Due Upon Receipt" on my invoice as I am not a bank. All of my money is gone, literally, out on materials, fuel, welding supplies. I have money for my insurance and business bills for the month. Have plowed thru savings on materials. Could I have turned work away? Yeah, probably, but I've got all the bills covered til the checks start rolling in. So, instead of stressing, I'm on the front porch in my pj's watching traffic go by in my rockin' chair drinking a cup of java, a forced shut down I like to say! Kinda relaxing actually, no worries. On the other hand, forethought and planning abandoned and I could be rolling over, selling everything I own to survive or worse the business goes belly up. I've survived this bump but while I'm sitting hear I will be thinking and looking over how I can avoid this issue next time. Perhaps more savings? The work load comes and goes as it does, God and Chao's theory take care of that so I'm at their whim and must plan ahead to deal with it.

Running a business is like playing chess. Your thinking 5, 6, 10 or 12 moves ahead. What I do today with this extra money in the bank, how will it effect me 3, 6, 10 months down the road. More or less trying to predict the future. I look back at times when I could have spent money on something and then how it all unfolded and am glad I didn't spend it. Multiple bank accounts, a savings, maybe two, checking accounts, maybe two or three so you can put money in different places for different times. A savings for slow times, savings for big jobs, checking accounts used for you main business operations, another for receiving credit card stuff and let's not forget that at some point you would like to pay yourself, maybe save some money for when you can retire or maybe get a paycheck. Some guys will step right into a great big small business wet dream, have contracts, jobs pouring out the ying yang and other guys are gonna step right into a big pile of....well, yep, you guessed it. This is where it will make or break you, can you get out of that big pile of doo doo? Do you have the moxy to tough it out for years? When your employee buddies talk or complain about their paycheck can you joke and laugh and say, "Paycheck? You get one of those? I've heard about them but only as a myth". The most common thing I hear and have read about as a small business owner is that you will have to suffer, go without and sacrifice to make this business happen. I can tell you that is the darn truth, paycheck? Hahaha! Really? When I have money my paycheck is buying food for my family, helping with bills. Anything that is not a paycheck/owner draw is sat on like a golden egg to use in the business. Toys? Boats, jet ski's, motorcycles, we're allowed to have those? Not big enough yet to even consider blowing money on things that don't make me money or make it easier for me to make money. Saw a Ducati parked right next to my truck the other day, just about creamed my drawers looking and dreaming about the fun I could have on that bike, but it won't make me any money or make my work easier. $12,000 motorcycle or $12,000 put towards a real shop? Hmmm, real shop for sure!

Not trying to beat a guy down, mock, insult but I'm not going to blow smoke up your arse, pee on your shoulder and tell you it's raining or whatever. If you don't have the moxy, the stones, the nerves to deal with it then you might consider the single hand gig. No smoke, just facts.