ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Could be opening my own business

Some good points Gerald,

Few people can understand the type and level of "Independence" (or lack of) an owner has until they try it for themselves.

Slam,

Good luck with whatever you decide, One step at a time. You'll find there are many customers looking for work being done during "off hours" and weekends. Just try to keep it from detracting too much from the other aspects of your life

Bill

behster, gpowellec, Bill,
Thanks for the input. I will consider all that you've said. Have a nice day.

SlamTex,
First-off, good luck.
I am one year into my second effort at building an off-hour business, with hopes of self-employment. My first try, from 1989-91, was abandoned in favor of the security my day job provided. My situation then was similar to yours now. However, I quickly discovered the down side to all those sayings, such as "you'll never get rich working for someone else" and "if I'm going to work hard, it might as well be for myself". The down side being the reality of being solely responsible, all the time, for the whole business. I wasn't ready for the commitment then. I was 30 with no kids. Now, due to another merger, my day job is in jeopardy for the third time in 4 years. I now have 3 children, though, and am giving it another try. Some of the old negative feelings are back, but I am more motivated this time. I don't know where it will lead. I may just not have what it takes (whatever it is)to be a contractor. I probably would prefer a secure, maintenance job with a large manufacturing company, but those seem to be a relic of the past, so I will make another attempt at it.
BTW,
Make sure you have liability insurance (it is reasonable) and obtain the required licenses. This will set you apart from those who are doing "side work" and legitimize your business.
GOOD LUCK.

Good luck to the both of you and anyone else who is thingking of going down that road. The country really needs more small businesses. One of these days I may be back in business, but not as a one man show. I am not yearning to be rich or on an ego or power trip, but my character make-up does not lend itself to doing a lot of things that I consider peripheral to the electrical trade. The only details I like paying attention to are directly related to electricity, the equipment,and people, not business. I do not intend this as a plug for bmaugeri, but I would use some outfit like hers or arrange to have a business manager even if he or she would need to be a partner. Half interest in a successful company (with a partner you get along with) is better than me struggling to do it all and never being at my best at either side.
But that is my opinion now. Originally I thought it would be better for me to have total control of everything. Like Bill said, "Few people can understand the type and level of "Independence" (or lack of)an owner has until they try it for themselves." I ended up realizing no one can control everything.
If you are happy with a level of business that you can handle and it gives you a good income and some security you are very fortunate. There are a lot of people out there like that. The trick is keeping the buisness level below the stress level.

The country really needs more small businesses

a good and highly debated point Gerald...

Slam
Being in Texas my self you will find it really tough competeing with other people doing the same thing.IT is really hard bidding aganist some one using a general labor worker with no liscense and here you are with one and making that knowledge part of ur bid.
you bid a job at $1000.00 the guy down the road bids it at $750.00 why because that laborer is working for 10 - 14 bucks an hour and maybe even less because his boss has a liscense.
Having a couple of business of my own strictly for side work one is a washing business with a big pressure washer charging a company $45.00 for coming up at midnight and washing their parking lot along comes a guy does it for $30.00 ,they use him his machine is not as big does not clean as well as mine does but they are happy with how clean it gets, mine is not adjustable so I cannot clean it as good as I do so therefore I cannot compete {keep in mind the people writing the chck do not see the work they see a $ 15.00 savings .JUST DON'T GET INTO THE MIND FRAME OF LOWERING YOUR STANDARDS OR QUALITY TO GET THE WORK
WISH YOU THE BEST

I would consider myself a detail oriented person. I consider it a strenth in the area of business management, but a weakness when it comes to working in the field because sometimes I have a difficult time making quick decisions. It goes against my nature to just "whip out" an answer. I'm one of those people who can work on a plastic model car for, literally, hours without looking up. Funny how people are.

As an estimator I know where you are coming from. Sometimes I can't believe what these jobs go for. One sad thing is that there are plenty of GC's out there who will use a low number on bid day, and they don't care who it comes from either.

Gentlemen,
I'd like to say thanks for the words of encouragement. My intent was to get the dialog "rolling" by posting this topic, and I have enjoyed what I've read so far. I know that I can do all the work that I want on the "side" for cash. To me, the issue still remains. Do I make it an official business? I'm sure I'll come to some conclusion in time. It is difficult for me to hold a Master's License and let it "sit on the sideline". I'm sure that I won't work in Houston because as a Houston Master, I would have to quit my day job in order to legally work there.
I will say that this is a nice problem to have. Many people in other countries can only dream of owning their own business. Heck, they can only dream of owning their own house, or even car for that matter.

Can't see where this will lower ur taxes on ur regular income if you do all work cash then you cant show the business as a cost,why not talk to a good CPA and ask him weather do start a business ,set it up as a hobby or doing it as a DBA TYPE business