I have an apprentice with me, almost always. I do service calls alone.

I'm an employee. My employer probably doesn't make any money off me when I'm alone on a small job. With wages and other employee overhead added to the cost of the truck, fuel and maintenance, there isn't anything left. The profit comes from the apprentice.

Having an employee allows him to bid larger jobs, where there is a profit, because the competitor is also paying an employee.

The unspoken benefit is that he can also take on really ugly work, without getting his hands dirty [Linked Image] We also have quite different backgrounds, so our range of work extends from residential, to data, to industrial. I try not to think of myself as a "starmaster", whatever that is.

I do agree that the employer-employee relationship is not what most expect. My employer works for me. His job is to find work, and look after financing and billing. He is free to make as much money as he can, as long as I get my hourly rate. If he doesn't do a good job, I'll replace him.