I worked as a plumber for over 10 years. The company I was with got acquired by a larger one, and after a few years, they shut down the entire plumbing department, laying off around 10 workers, including me. I was faced with the choice of either finding a new job in a small(ish) town, competing with 10 other plumbers for the same position, or finally doing what I’d been thinking about for years: starting my own business.
I didn’t want to focus solely on plumbing, so now I’m essentially what you’d call a handyman. I take on a variety of home improvement projects according to my skills, and I absolutely love it. Not only is there no one telling me what to do, but the variety of jobs I get to do is immense. No two days are ever the same.
On top of that, I actually receive gratitude for the work I do. Practically all of my customers so far have been visibly satisfied with the quality of work and service they’ve received, which makes my job extremely fulfilling. I actually feel like a useful member of society now. To be honest, I’m quite surprised by the amount of positive feedback I’ve gotten. I’ve always known that I have extremely high standards for the quality of my work, but I never considered myself a particularly likable person. I might need to reconsider that as the evidence to the contrary keeps piling up.
Of course, there are downsides. I took a significant pay cut, and the long-term success of my business remains to be seen. But so far, things look promising. I’m not looking to get rich, grow my company, or hire employees, but if I can maintain my current standard of living and never have to go back to working for someone else, I can safely say this has been one of the best decisions of my life.
As a homeowner it’s often difficult to find someone who will do good work and not rip me off. I usually just end up figuring out how to do a lot of work myself, but I’m busy so projects get delayed. It’s encouraging to read a story like this. I hope someday I can find someone like yourself to build a relationship with to get more updates done around the house.
I’ve worked in IT for 16+ years and have not managed to rise to any worthwhile position (still doing helpdesk). If I had your gumption and belief in myself I could make it, I would do the same thing.
Unfortunately, I’m a coward and convinced I’m a talentless hack, so I’ll be working for crumbs until pension age (if I make it that long, that is).
I applaud your entrepeneurship and confidence and wish you all the best and all the success you deserve!
I was a nervous wreck for months while getting the preparations done to start up. Never been that anxious before. I just had to do it because I knew I’d regret if I didn’t.
assume the helpdesk job will be gone soon anyway with AI, start seeking out good people who could use good people.
everyone has been raised to be a coward, try anyqay. ideally you want to find something remote, so you can do it from anywhere.
I doubt this because people will call helpdesk expecting an actual person, not a bot that may or may not give you false information. Giving an AI admin permissions is also a scary thought.
That’s a great motivational story! I wish only the best success for you!
I’ve always wondered about the floor that goes under the floor. It’s nice to see it in your photo
It’s the original vinyl flooring in this case and even though it’s not generally recommended to lay “luxury vinyl planks” on top of it, it usually is not a problem and the customer didn’t want me to tear out the old flooring due to how much extra work that would cause.
But the new stuff is not vinyl, right?
It is. The problem is that vinyl carpet floor can be too soft for vinyl planks and thus in the worst case the seams might open up. Laying vinyl planks on laminate or parquet wouldn’t be an issue because it’s a hard surface.
If you haven’t already, get it in writing that the customer was informed about the possibility, or at least that you did it “per customer decision” or something like that.
I hope he takes your advice, but he might have to learn the hard way to CYA. He might live in an area where the people are so desperate for good work that they don’t act like that too.
Yes it can be hard to learn that nice people can be talked by friends into suing over the consequences of their own choices. I fear confrontation so I’d just quietly add a few words to the final invoice, in the description of the work, so they will have signed off on it.
Although even emails or texts would cover it as well.
It wouldn’t really matter. If I knowingly install something “wrong” it’s on me even if it’s how the customer wanted it. I wouldn’t agree to something like this if I was worried about it causing issues in the future. After 2 years it’s no longer on my responsibility.
If I knowingly install something “wrong” it’s on me even if it’s how the customer wanted it.
For my fellow Americans confused by this, OP mentioned that he lives “on the opposite side of the planet” from Texas, in a country that apparently actually has real consumer protection laws.
This is also true in the US, at least where I live.
As someone who also recently layed a lot of vinyl planks: Take care of your back, otherwise good luck! 😊
Congrats! People recognize good, honest work. Your business is definitely on the right track.
If the flooring is that flush on the other side, I applaud you. I did my basement floor myself to save some money and it was rough. Measured a small gap to leave some wiggle room but it’s pretty fuckin bad in places.
Also if you’re good at what you do (and it certainly looks like you are), word of mouth will be your lifeblood in a small town. My dad was a small business owner (2 employees eventually, after years and years of being solo) and the vast majority of his work was word of mouth and returning customers.
If the flooring is that flush on the other side, I applaud you.
I just got done fixing some 2 1/4" strip hardwood flooring in a closet, and even over a run of only about 5" it got about 1/2" crooked by the time I got to the closet side wall. And that’s despite (or maybe because of) weaving it in with the flooring outside the closet opening!
(Either that or my wall is crooked, which is also a possibility, LOL.)
Do you by chance live in Dallas? I’ve got a front door that needs serious adjustment and got absolutely swindled on trying to install a generator last year. Haven’t been able to find anybody to work on either.
I used Angie’s list for the door several months ago, paid four hundred dollars, and watched my door come off its hinges two weeks later.
Unfortunelately no, I live on the opposite side of the planet
Awesome! No idea where you live but if you were near me I’d hire you. I always try to do little projects but end up failing at them because I suck at working with my hands lol.
I applaud your courage. What interesting jobs you’ve done and what skills other than plumbing you are confident in doing rn?
I’ve only been doing this for around 6 months so I haven’t had any that special jobs so far but I did a small kitchen remodel to one customer where I tore down the old and build a new one for her which was quite enjoyable job.
My favourite jobs are ones that require creativity and problem solving. When ever I can fix something instead of replacing it is fun. This is a recent example of such job:
It’s honestly easier to list what I don’t do which is building something bigger than a shed, electric work, work inside tanks / wells, challenging tree fellings, jobs that require more than one person such as roofing, asbestos demolition and jobs where I need to deal with refrigerants.
Hell yeah. I love this. Best of luck out there.
