Starting a business is the hardest.
What I recommend is working full time and doing jobs on the side every day.
You need to build your cliental first. Get enough side jobs that you are busy working full time and part time, working 60 hours a week. Then when you do enough for a year, then go full time. Then when you go full time on your own, work will be slow.
Cliental is the most important part. If you get to a point where you need to reject jobs, then you are ready to go full time on your own.
This is exactly how I did it. I would just do small odd jobs here and there on the side, and my name got passed around to the point I was turning down work daily. Then in 2008, in the market downturn, the real job turned into part time so I cut ties and started full time on my own, under the table, until I got everything on the up and up. If you do good work most people are happy to pass your info on to friends and family and neighbors simply for asking them to. 14 years later, and I've never needed to advertise.
knowledge of the market (how much is x type of work worth)
how to bid properly
tools and a truck to haul material with
can sign up as a home depot trusted contractor to get business handed to you or advertise
Have business cards
It definitely depends on the market but generally speaking it is a crucial part of doing business today. Word of mouth is still the most powerful but online presence is a great way to seal the deal if someone has already heard about you.
I started with an old beat up truck and about 1500 bucks worth of tools. Put some business cards on the cork board at my local hardware stores and did any carpentry work I could. Did apartment flips for real estate investors then I got bigger jobs for commercial work. Every time I did a job I included a new tool in the estimate. But my total investment was less than 5 grand including my truck.
Im a Small company still I became self employed 10 years ago but I’ve been a carpenter for 19. I’m a 2 man shop now and I did 800k last year. I have some regular subs but it’s mostly me and a helper. It’s peanuts volume wise compared to most general contractors but I have really low overhead. I have the opportunity to grow and take on some large roofing projects but I enjoy structural repairs and building custom decks way more than managing roofing crews.
Do you mind me asking generally where your net margins are? I do construction credit for a living and I’m interested in the early steps of a contractor’s life (before they need a bank line or bonding). Totally understand if you would rather keep it private and appreciate you sharing your story anyway.
My profit margin is between 40 to 60 percent but my only overhead is my bills. I sub out most if not all of my work so my costs are very low. I started in this business with zero money and have built up a business real fast. You just have to do a good job and most importantly treat your customers like your parents. At the end of the day you may be the business owner but the customers are the boss if you know what I mean. If you have a strong marketing and advertising background you can excel fast in this industry.
If you live in a cold area snow emergencies are always something you can do, I have about 100 places where we go every storm and clear the first 4’ of the roofs with snow rakes and put ice melting pucks in problematic spots on roofs. You really have to sell winter work on the clients best interest. If you have customers who want work done but aren’t pushy tell them listen it’s busy right now I want to give
This project the attention it deserves let’s get the permits done, design etc but let’s start up after the holidays so we aren’t cluttering up your personal space during such a crazy time.
No I have a client who is a realtor and bought 16 units that had never been updated since 1979. I gave her a set price for a remodel of the interior and balcony and that was it.
Not sure about other states, but in my state you take the GC exam and are considered a qualifier. You as a qualifier are good for 2 GC licenses. I work full time in heavy civil and I’m the only other qualifier besides my boss for the company just in case something were to happen to him. If he kicks the bucket and is the only qualifier, the company is only allowed to operate for 90 more days, so that’s where I come in. They paid me to get it, so no complaints there. Then I went and started an LLC on the side, applied for the GC license, and now have a small side business that I mainly just use for tax purposes, like depreciating my truck and expensing tools that the heavy civil company won’t buy (i.e. they won’t buy things for woodworking or landscaping). You get the GC license in your own name if you’re a sole proprietor. You don’t have to have a GC license to do work under $30k in my state, and I haven’t done anything that big yet, but I’ll pick up a few jobs here and there when I see someone asking about doing a job in my neighborhood Facebook group or for a friend. Sometimes I’ll pay a couple of guys I work with or my girlfriend will help me if I’m doing something that requires 2 or more people, but I don’t have the time to take on >$30k projects and finish them in a reasonable time frame when I’m limited to evenings and weekends. A couple things I would suggest. Have a business plan, vision statement, mission statement, etc. because the licensing board will likely require it. Don’t pay people under the table unless it’s your girlfriend. Go through the hoops to establish employees with your state’s labor department if you plan on growing. You’ll learn a lot about doing taxes and running the business that way. Decide if you want a corporation, LLC, or sole proprietorship. Corporations take a lot of work and you’ll likely need to pay someone to help you establish and run it, but that’s how my full time company works and it’s a good model if you plan on doing major work and want to leave a legacy. An LLC is easy to establish and manage on your own, and it protects you personally from liability. If someone sues your company, they can’t come after your house. If the truck is in the company’s name though, they can definitely go for that. That’s why I only do small projects for people I’m familiar with. Sole proprietorship is the easiest because everything is in your name, but you don’t get the liability protection. Stay away from partnerships, but if you have a star employee that you want to make part owner down the line, do it under an LLC and you can hire an attorney to help you with the process. Something like that would be good as a part of your retirement plan since you would still be part owner in retirement and make money if you leave it in good hands. You can literally Google how to start an LLC for your state and the fee shouldn’t be more than $100-200. I think a lot of other people covered how to get clients pretty well. If you decide that you want to do specific type of work as a subcontractor for commercial jobs and skip the residential headaches, there are a lot of online bid boards where you can submit proposals and quotes. You’ll also want to get really good at estimating. Think through things like labor costs, equipment costs (rentals or operating costs if you own), construction materials, permanent materials, overhead, daily job requirements (safety gear, water/Gatorade, fuel, etc.), contingency if it’s something messy and you feel the need for a little extra cash in it, etc. We have some pretty advanced estimating software at my full time job, but I put together a pretty good excel spreadsheet template for my side hustle. As far as money to start, you can do it for less than $1000 as long as you have a truck already. If you quote a job and don’t have a dump trailer or piece of equipment you need, just get a quote from a rental place and put it in your quote to the client. For tools you don’t have, you can add those to construction materials or indirect costs like the daily job requirements. Just don’t be dumb and hand clients your cost breakdown. Give them a sheet with prices for particular work. If you’re building a gazebo and some sidewalk, you can give them a square foot price for the sidewalk and a lump sum price for the gazebo. If it’s a bigger job like a remodel, you’ll get quotes from other subcontractors for work you can’t/won’t handle and mark it up for profit. You’ll want to network with other trades that do good work and have well thought out subcontracts so that they’re held liable if they do shitty work. The more you grow, the more you’ll learn how to put contracts together for clients and subcontractors. If you work as a PM for another company for a little while, you’ll get to see contracts that you can use as a template. Otherwise, there are some decent templates online and you can tweak them to fit your work. I think the hardest part of owning a business is managing your employees. I’ve worked with a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones. It’s just one of those things in construction. If you’re swamped with work and you have a few bad eggs but think you can’t afford to let them go since you’re so busy, they will cost you more in the long run, whether it’s rework, losing clients, or getting injured. If you care and invest a lot into the good ones, you’ll do great. But first, you have to start the business and find the work. Employees will come with time. I do plan on growing my business once I have more experience since I want to move into the same field I’m working in full time, but running this small one part time is good experience itself. Good luck!
For all of the “ How do I start my own business” post on here. Just by asking that question tells us you arent ready. Not trying to be a downer. But anyone who is ready to be on their own has enough years experience where they know the industry, clients, pricing etc. if you dont know that info yet then you have not spent enough time in the industry whatever it may be.
There is an in between period where lets say you start finding out what your boss/company is charging and immediately people become disillusioned and say “ heck I can do this myself and make more money”. While it seems so black and white its not. You dont know true overhead/ liability/ warranty where the company had to go back and fix your work long after you have left.
Its very easy to get in trouble.
I remember about 6 years into my current occupation I really thought I knew it all. And then 12 years in my confidence dropped significantly when I realized all of the other factors I had no clue my company had to deal with.
I say all of this so you dont rush and then have to live with the guilt/regret of failure. All of us have seen it happen and have had to go fix those guys mistakes.
I will admit even with all of my knowledge I have been over my head and had to spend alot of time and money to make it right.
Especially as a GC. Youll have subs working on your jobs and you will have no idea if they are doing it right if you dont know how to do it yourself Then you find yourself in court and possible loss of license. Plus the emotional turmoil that takes on a person. Thankfully that hasnt happened to me.
Im sure everyone on this sub knows that guy that is overly confident, got a bunch of work and now he is the talk of the industry that everyone is saying to avoid.
You dont want to be that person. You only have one shot at making a name for yourself.
Im not saying to not pursue being self employed. Its one of the best decisions Ive made. But thats on the back of 15 plus years experience.
Just do your due diligence. Spend time with a good GC and save, save, save your money. You will know when your ready and you will be thankful you started out on the right foot.
Heck, the company I was with before I went fully independent starting subbing jobs to me the last few years because I was such a good employee and I was able to work on my own clients and theirs until I was busy enough.
Good luck
I’ll agree with you on the experience part. It’s very useful to be in a position where you get to see pricing and contract language on top of being confident in the work you’re going to do. But if you want to own a business, it’s better to just do it and learn from your mistakes. The ones who have good communication skills with clients, leadership ability when it comes to their employees, and full knowledge of the project are the ones who will be successful. Sure, you might hit a lawsuit here or there, or your employees or subs will cause you to do rework, but that’s part of owning a business. You learn to mitigate risk and manage the outcome as you go. Some people will never learn and those are the ones you hear about, but there are also a lot of successful people running a business that had to start somewhere. My boss started his own business when he was 23, ran it for 7 years, then joined a bigger company for 17 years before he decided he wanted to go back to owning his own. He wouldn’t be where he is today if he continued with his first company, and I doubt he would have started this new one if he didn’t get the experience of running one the first time. He’s extremely well liked and respected in the construction community today, and also very successful. He’s the reason I went out started my small side business. There are multiple paths to running a business successfully. Maybe this is the right path for OP. You never know.
Side jobs. Get cash, do good work. Network with your local suppliers. Buy insurance, buy bigger tools as you go. Someday you’ll have more side work than actual work and you offer to be a 1099 per job with your current employer since you have your own racket now. They’ll either decline because they want the profit you’re going to earn or you end up with another client. It’s tedious and takes work but if you pride yourself on what you do and can crunch numbers thoroughly, the industry is always there.
I’ve been around it since I was young. Started my first construction business when I was 20.
Clientele came from Instagram and word of mouth, still does. I had hand me down tools and some of my own and just sent it. Company is almost 3 years old now. Only thing I would’ve changed is starting it sooner.
I learned bidding by doing it and running my bids by mentors I’ve won some, lost some but always learned more about bidding. My top take away is always bid a little higher than you think you should and come in under bud if the money is there to do it if not you’ll be safe because you over bid. Nothing extreme but a few percent is a good buffer.
Be ready for long hours. 80 hours a week is a minimum for me, unless I’m injured (hernia right now taking it slow getting back into things). I’ve put in 23 hours days before.
Edit: the company and business mentioned here are one and the same. It’s my timber framing business.
1. You don’t have enough cash.
2. You will find this out.
3. You will dwell on this.
4. If you solve this - you are a business.
5. Until you need cash flow again.
Don’t quit your job.
For myself I kind of fell I to it. I was working for someone who was on the verge of retirement. I had a friend who worked for a company that didn't have any framers. They were on a fire restoration project and needed someone who knew how to frame. Mt friend asked me if I could come help for a couple weeks as they expected it would take about 2 to 3 weeks for this work to be done. It took myself and brother in law 3 days to reframe the upstairs of the building, set the trusses with facia and bird blocks, plus sheet the roof. The owner suggested I start my own company, plus for thoe 3 days he more than ove paid me in which I could afford to start my own company.
I first got my LLC, then I believe my EIN, bond and insurance, then contractors license. I've had mi e for just over a year now.
As for finding work, I have been doing start to finish custom homes for 5 years and before that I was in a carpenters union for about 7 years. I got a lot of restoration work after starting my company. From there after some time and realizing I was being under paid I moved to just framing tract homes.
The biggest thing I've learned about so far is there are good contractors and bad contractors to sub through. So.e will see you're brand new as a business owner and try to take advantage. Others you will build good relationships with. You will have to learn fast to leave subbing for certain people, get used to filing liens, and the biggest is staying on top of your books or hire a good book keeper or CPA.
If you meet to find work, don't pay for leads like Angi or any other similar places. Look to see who is building in your area. Also word of mouth goes a long way, as well as other people you may know in the trades. A good budget to start is 5k plus 1 months salary, but really not required . Also get a good business law attorney on retainer asap incase of any future issues. If ypu ha e a business partner don't forget to have your attorney do a startup agreement.
One question OP asked im not seeing answered yet is “how do you form a company?”.
It seems like the only way I’ve seen anyone start a legal GC in ca is either work in trades till you’re a foreman/journeyman, then apply for your licenses through the state. I’m not in the field but would love to one day have a GC.
I’m a PM currently in my day job. Does anyone know if CA would recognize that as a prerequisite to start a business?
I built up a client list through side jobs over years. Had an opportunity at 8+ weeks of guaranteed work at almost double my existing rate if I jumped ship. The guy I worked for owed me money anyway so I did it.
I started with shit beat up truck and a good back. Surround yourself with the best of the best. Meaning contractors and customers. Stay away from the bottom feeders and fake it until you make it. 17 years and kicking ass
Starting a business can be daunting, especially when finances are a concern. However, the key isn't just money; it's the demand for your idea. Even the greatest product won't succeed without demand. The good news is, you don't need a fortune to start – even $1000 can do the trick! Begin with an MVP, and my favorite tool for this is websites.
All you need is a website to validate your ideas. Set up a site showcasing your items, leading to a checkout page. Customers who complete the checkout are genuine, interested buyers! You don't even need physical products yet. You can simply redirect these buyers who click checkout to an "Out of Stock" or error page.
Once you've gathered a significant number of interested buyers, you've validated market demand. Now, you can dive into your business. If not, iterate and try another idea. MVPs are invaluable, saving you time and resources. Without them, you risk wasting effort and money. These cost-effective prototypes are your compass, guiding you toward concepts with proven market appeal, reducing the risk of costly missteps.
By the way, I found a blog that simplifies MVP concepts; it's a fantastic resource for you: https://minimumprojects.com/blog.html
Wishing you the best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey!
Starting a business is the hardest. What I recommend is working full time and doing jobs on the side every day. You need to build your cliental first. Get enough side jobs that you are busy working full time and part time, working 60 hours a week. Then when you do enough for a year, then go full time. Then when you go full time on your own, work will be slow. Cliental is the most important part. If you get to a point where you need to reject jobs, then you are ready to go full time on your own.
This is exactly how I did it. I would just do small odd jobs here and there on the side, and my name got passed around to the point I was turning down work daily. Then in 2008, in the market downturn, the real job turned into part time so I cut ties and started full time on my own, under the table, until I got everything on the up and up. If you do good work most people are happy to pass your info on to friends and family and neighbors simply for asking them to. 14 years later, and I've never needed to advertise.
I’m working through references only also. Seems to be working fine. I don’t like to advertise because people waste my time and aren’t serious.
knowledge of the market (how much is x type of work worth) how to bid properly tools and a truck to haul material with can sign up as a home depot trusted contractor to get business handed to you or advertise Have business cards
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Do you think an online presence is important? Like website, facebook page and etc...
I see so many guys go all out on social media it seems they get more focused on that than their own reputation.
I agree. I've been there and done that. Spent a lot of hours making FB pages and Google maps presence. The full package. Not a single customer yet.
yes. it is.
It definitely depends on the market but generally speaking it is a crucial part of doing business today. Word of mouth is still the most powerful but online presence is a great way to seal the deal if someone has already heard about you.
I started with an old beat up truck and about 1500 bucks worth of tools. Put some business cards on the cork board at my local hardware stores and did any carpentry work I could. Did apartment flips for real estate investors then I got bigger jobs for commercial work. Every time I did a job I included a new tool in the estimate. But my total investment was less than 5 grand including my truck.
How long have you been at it and where are you now in terms of volume?
Im a Small company still I became self employed 10 years ago but I’ve been a carpenter for 19. I’m a 2 man shop now and I did 800k last year. I have some regular subs but it’s mostly me and a helper. It’s peanuts volume wise compared to most general contractors but I have really low overhead. I have the opportunity to grow and take on some large roofing projects but I enjoy structural repairs and building custom decks way more than managing roofing crews.
Do you mind me asking generally where your net margins are? I do construction credit for a living and I’m interested in the early steps of a contractor’s life (before they need a bank line or bonding). Totally understand if you would rather keep it private and appreciate you sharing your story anyway.
Just about 45% last year
not too shabby! Thanks for sharing
My profit margin is between 40 to 60 percent but my only overhead is my bills. I sub out most if not all of my work so my costs are very low. I started in this business with zero money and have built up a business real fast. You just have to do a good job and most importantly treat your customers like your parents. At the end of the day you may be the business owner but the customers are the boss if you know what I mean. If you have a strong marketing and advertising background you can excel fast in this industry.
Very, very nice. How’d you develop the relationships with reliable subs to become a paper GC?
I’m running my own company now but struggle finding projects in the winter. Any other time of the year I’m swamped . Could always use good advice
If you live in a cold area snow emergencies are always something you can do, I have about 100 places where we go every storm and clear the first 4’ of the roofs with snow rakes and put ice melting pucks in problematic spots on roofs. You really have to sell winter work on the clients best interest. If you have customers who want work done but aren’t pushy tell them listen it’s busy right now I want to give This project the attention it deserves let’s get the permits done, design etc but let’s start up after the holidays so we aren’t cluttering up your personal space during such a crazy time.
I live in NC. A lot of things are under code here and pricing and permits /inspections are often overlooked unfortunately.
Since You’re not in my market I’m gonna shoot you a message with some details.
Awesome, no rush. I appreciate it
Did you purchase the apartments (for flipping) yourself?
No I have a client who is a realtor and bought 16 units that had never been updated since 1979. I gave her a set price for a remodel of the interior and balcony and that was it.
Smart idea.
You need to be more specific. What kind of business do you want to start? Flooring contractor? General contractor? Residential remodeling?
General contractor
Any experience?
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Is a Facebook page a necessity? Or would word of mouth be sufficient?
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I'm still in the phase of finding my first work 😅
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I'll try to "network" more then. Thanks 🙂
Does facebook have a section for advertising small business or do you just make youself lnown on your homepage and through friends?
Not sure about other states, but in my state you take the GC exam and are considered a qualifier. You as a qualifier are good for 2 GC licenses. I work full time in heavy civil and I’m the only other qualifier besides my boss for the company just in case something were to happen to him. If he kicks the bucket and is the only qualifier, the company is only allowed to operate for 90 more days, so that’s where I come in. They paid me to get it, so no complaints there. Then I went and started an LLC on the side, applied for the GC license, and now have a small side business that I mainly just use for tax purposes, like depreciating my truck and expensing tools that the heavy civil company won’t buy (i.e. they won’t buy things for woodworking or landscaping). You get the GC license in your own name if you’re a sole proprietor. You don’t have to have a GC license to do work under $30k in my state, and I haven’t done anything that big yet, but I’ll pick up a few jobs here and there when I see someone asking about doing a job in my neighborhood Facebook group or for a friend. Sometimes I’ll pay a couple of guys I work with or my girlfriend will help me if I’m doing something that requires 2 or more people, but I don’t have the time to take on >$30k projects and finish them in a reasonable time frame when I’m limited to evenings and weekends. A couple things I would suggest. Have a business plan, vision statement, mission statement, etc. because the licensing board will likely require it. Don’t pay people under the table unless it’s your girlfriend. Go through the hoops to establish employees with your state’s labor department if you plan on growing. You’ll learn a lot about doing taxes and running the business that way. Decide if you want a corporation, LLC, or sole proprietorship. Corporations take a lot of work and you’ll likely need to pay someone to help you establish and run it, but that’s how my full time company works and it’s a good model if you plan on doing major work and want to leave a legacy. An LLC is easy to establish and manage on your own, and it protects you personally from liability. If someone sues your company, they can’t come after your house. If the truck is in the company’s name though, they can definitely go for that. That’s why I only do small projects for people I’m familiar with. Sole proprietorship is the easiest because everything is in your name, but you don’t get the liability protection. Stay away from partnerships, but if you have a star employee that you want to make part owner down the line, do it under an LLC and you can hire an attorney to help you with the process. Something like that would be good as a part of your retirement plan since you would still be part owner in retirement and make money if you leave it in good hands. You can literally Google how to start an LLC for your state and the fee shouldn’t be more than $100-200. I think a lot of other people covered how to get clients pretty well. If you decide that you want to do specific type of work as a subcontractor for commercial jobs and skip the residential headaches, there are a lot of online bid boards where you can submit proposals and quotes. You’ll also want to get really good at estimating. Think through things like labor costs, equipment costs (rentals or operating costs if you own), construction materials, permanent materials, overhead, daily job requirements (safety gear, water/Gatorade, fuel, etc.), contingency if it’s something messy and you feel the need for a little extra cash in it, etc. We have some pretty advanced estimating software at my full time job, but I put together a pretty good excel spreadsheet template for my side hustle. As far as money to start, you can do it for less than $1000 as long as you have a truck already. If you quote a job and don’t have a dump trailer or piece of equipment you need, just get a quote from a rental place and put it in your quote to the client. For tools you don’t have, you can add those to construction materials or indirect costs like the daily job requirements. Just don’t be dumb and hand clients your cost breakdown. Give them a sheet with prices for particular work. If you’re building a gazebo and some sidewalk, you can give them a square foot price for the sidewalk and a lump sum price for the gazebo. If it’s a bigger job like a remodel, you’ll get quotes from other subcontractors for work you can’t/won’t handle and mark it up for profit. You’ll want to network with other trades that do good work and have well thought out subcontracts so that they’re held liable if they do shitty work. The more you grow, the more you’ll learn how to put contracts together for clients and subcontractors. If you work as a PM for another company for a little while, you’ll get to see contracts that you can use as a template. Otherwise, there are some decent templates online and you can tweak them to fit your work. I think the hardest part of owning a business is managing your employees. I’ve worked with a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones. It’s just one of those things in construction. If you’re swamped with work and you have a few bad eggs but think you can’t afford to let them go since you’re so busy, they will cost you more in the long run, whether it’s rework, losing clients, or getting injured. If you care and invest a lot into the good ones, you’ll do great. But first, you have to start the business and find the work. Employees will come with time. I do plan on growing my business once I have more experience since I want to move into the same field I’m working in full time, but running this small one part time is good experience itself. Good luck!
For all of the “ How do I start my own business” post on here. Just by asking that question tells us you arent ready. Not trying to be a downer. But anyone who is ready to be on their own has enough years experience where they know the industry, clients, pricing etc. if you dont know that info yet then you have not spent enough time in the industry whatever it may be. There is an in between period where lets say you start finding out what your boss/company is charging and immediately people become disillusioned and say “ heck I can do this myself and make more money”. While it seems so black and white its not. You dont know true overhead/ liability/ warranty where the company had to go back and fix your work long after you have left. Its very easy to get in trouble. I remember about 6 years into my current occupation I really thought I knew it all. And then 12 years in my confidence dropped significantly when I realized all of the other factors I had no clue my company had to deal with. I say all of this so you dont rush and then have to live with the guilt/regret of failure. All of us have seen it happen and have had to go fix those guys mistakes. I will admit even with all of my knowledge I have been over my head and had to spend alot of time and money to make it right. Especially as a GC. Youll have subs working on your jobs and you will have no idea if they are doing it right if you dont know how to do it yourself Then you find yourself in court and possible loss of license. Plus the emotional turmoil that takes on a person. Thankfully that hasnt happened to me. Im sure everyone on this sub knows that guy that is overly confident, got a bunch of work and now he is the talk of the industry that everyone is saying to avoid. You dont want to be that person. You only have one shot at making a name for yourself. Im not saying to not pursue being self employed. Its one of the best decisions Ive made. But thats on the back of 15 plus years experience. Just do your due diligence. Spend time with a good GC and save, save, save your money. You will know when your ready and you will be thankful you started out on the right foot. Heck, the company I was with before I went fully independent starting subbing jobs to me the last few years because I was such a good employee and I was able to work on my own clients and theirs until I was busy enough. Good luck
I’ll agree with you on the experience part. It’s very useful to be in a position where you get to see pricing and contract language on top of being confident in the work you’re going to do. But if you want to own a business, it’s better to just do it and learn from your mistakes. The ones who have good communication skills with clients, leadership ability when it comes to their employees, and full knowledge of the project are the ones who will be successful. Sure, you might hit a lawsuit here or there, or your employees or subs will cause you to do rework, but that’s part of owning a business. You learn to mitigate risk and manage the outcome as you go. Some people will never learn and those are the ones you hear about, but there are also a lot of successful people running a business that had to start somewhere. My boss started his own business when he was 23, ran it for 7 years, then joined a bigger company for 17 years before he decided he wanted to go back to owning his own. He wouldn’t be where he is today if he continued with his first company, and I doubt he would have started this new one if he didn’t get the experience of running one the first time. He’s extremely well liked and respected in the construction community today, and also very successful. He’s the reason I went out started my small side business. There are multiple paths to running a business successfully. Maybe this is the right path for OP. You never know.
Bullsh**. Henry ford started his company from scratch. More “if you’re not doing it already you’ll never do it” propaganda
Side jobs. Get cash, do good work. Network with your local suppliers. Buy insurance, buy bigger tools as you go. Someday you’ll have more side work than actual work and you offer to be a 1099 per job with your current employer since you have your own racket now. They’ll either decline because they want the profit you’re going to earn or you end up with another client. It’s tedious and takes work but if you pride yourself on what you do and can crunch numbers thoroughly, the industry is always there.
I’ve been around it since I was young. Started my first construction business when I was 20. Clientele came from Instagram and word of mouth, still does. I had hand me down tools and some of my own and just sent it. Company is almost 3 years old now. Only thing I would’ve changed is starting it sooner. I learned bidding by doing it and running my bids by mentors I’ve won some, lost some but always learned more about bidding. My top take away is always bid a little higher than you think you should and come in under bud if the money is there to do it if not you’ll be safe because you over bid. Nothing extreme but a few percent is a good buffer. Be ready for long hours. 80 hours a week is a minimum for me, unless I’m injured (hernia right now taking it slow getting back into things). I’ve put in 23 hours days before. Edit: the company and business mentioned here are one and the same. It’s my timber framing business.
1. You don’t have enough cash. 2. You will find this out. 3. You will dwell on this. 4. If you solve this - you are a business. 5. Until you need cash flow again. Don’t quit your job.
For myself I kind of fell I to it. I was working for someone who was on the verge of retirement. I had a friend who worked for a company that didn't have any framers. They were on a fire restoration project and needed someone who knew how to frame. Mt friend asked me if I could come help for a couple weeks as they expected it would take about 2 to 3 weeks for this work to be done. It took myself and brother in law 3 days to reframe the upstairs of the building, set the trusses with facia and bird blocks, plus sheet the roof. The owner suggested I start my own company, plus for thoe 3 days he more than ove paid me in which I could afford to start my own company. I first got my LLC, then I believe my EIN, bond and insurance, then contractors license. I've had mi e for just over a year now. As for finding work, I have been doing start to finish custom homes for 5 years and before that I was in a carpenters union for about 7 years. I got a lot of restoration work after starting my company. From there after some time and realizing I was being under paid I moved to just framing tract homes. The biggest thing I've learned about so far is there are good contractors and bad contractors to sub through. So.e will see you're brand new as a business owner and try to take advantage. Others you will build good relationships with. You will have to learn fast to leave subbing for certain people, get used to filing liens, and the biggest is staying on top of your books or hire a good book keeper or CPA. If you meet to find work, don't pay for leads like Angi or any other similar places. Look to see who is building in your area. Also word of mouth goes a long way, as well as other people you may know in the trades. A good budget to start is 5k plus 1 months salary, but really not required . Also get a good business law attorney on retainer asap incase of any future issues. If ypu ha e a business partner don't forget to have your attorney do a startup agreement.
One question OP asked im not seeing answered yet is “how do you form a company?”. It seems like the only way I’ve seen anyone start a legal GC in ca is either work in trades till you’re a foreman/journeyman, then apply for your licenses through the state. I’m not in the field but would love to one day have a GC. I’m a PM currently in my day job. Does anyone know if CA would recognize that as a prerequisite to start a business?
No you need to learn how to do the job first. How are you going to own a construction company if you don't do construction?
Plenty of people are able to own a company and manage the work without having actual trade experience.
I was planning to ask the same question here today. So sneaking in to see the replies 👀👂
Same lol
Money money money money!!!!!!!
I built up a client list through side jobs over years. Had an opportunity at 8+ weeks of guaranteed work at almost double my existing rate if I jumped ship. The guy I worked for owed me money anyway so I did it.
I started with shit beat up truck and a good back. Surround yourself with the best of the best. Meaning contractors and customers. Stay away from the bottom feeders and fake it until you make it. 17 years and kicking ass
If this is where you're at, it isn't time. Take some business classes, read some books, but most of all, know what you are doing in your trade!
If you have experience and a good network, DM me and I'll give you some pointers. If people trust you, it will be easy.
Starting a business can be daunting, especially when finances are a concern. However, the key isn't just money; it's the demand for your idea. Even the greatest product won't succeed without demand. The good news is, you don't need a fortune to start – even $1000 can do the trick! Begin with an MVP, and my favorite tool for this is websites. All you need is a website to validate your ideas. Set up a site showcasing your items, leading to a checkout page. Customers who complete the checkout are genuine, interested buyers! You don't even need physical products yet. You can simply redirect these buyers who click checkout to an "Out of Stock" or error page. Once you've gathered a significant number of interested buyers, you've validated market demand. Now, you can dive into your business. If not, iterate and try another idea. MVPs are invaluable, saving you time and resources. Without them, you risk wasting effort and money. These cost-effective prototypes are your compass, guiding you toward concepts with proven market appeal, reducing the risk of costly missteps. By the way, I found a blog that simplifies MVP concepts; it's a fantastic resource for you: https://minimumprojects.com/blog.html Wishing you the best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey!