My advice is to not get all worked up about having a "plan" just go out and do it, work hard, when you get knocked down get back up, treat people fair and you'll be fine. I've been on my own for 15 years now and I wish I had jumped when I was your age. What works for some may not work for you and vice-versa, gather as much intel as you can but at the end of the day it all falls back on you, it's the most rewarding feeling being in total control of your future success/failure and building something to support your family instead of relying on someone else.

From what I see in my area the residential guys are killing it, they have all gone to flat rate pricing for service and the they get paid daily when the job is done. I do all industrial/commercial work which means I wait at least 30 days for my money.

Don't listen to the nay sayers who will have a million reasons why you should not do it, most of them never had the balls to do it anyway. Good luck

 

yup, hardest part for me was leaving the guaranteed paycheck every week and making the leap. Just keep tight check on the local codes, my city just changed to require a master mechanical contractor license to pull permits. Really screwed me up inside the city limits, since you need a permit to change a coil here.

 

Agree with Chillr...
Just do it!!!

What you might want to do...

Get your post count up, apply for PRO status here at H-talk...
There is a section behind the PRO door (you will be vetted to verify you are indeed in the industry)...
Called Business and Marketing...
Lots of good stuff there!

When you apply for PRO...
Explain what your plans are.

 

On thing I did was join my towns chamber of commerce, and also joined a local B.N.I group, they will allow you to visit a couple of times before you have to become a member, got a lot of work from that group. Also they will be willing to help you grow your business, it is a national group and they have chapters all over the states. Good luck, Service was all I did in my business until I had a stroke which left me disabled, but I still like to keep up with things for when I am fully recovered I can get back into it....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

A week ago yesterday my company went live. Just jump in. Too many details will blunt you


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

OP,just what does "made 10K-15k & 20k" mean as "profit made" mean??? No insurance, no truck,no office,no secretary,no inventory,no salary?
Then, just wait until that GC holds back some money, again and again. Then you "cannot be all that good" if you are worried about "someone else" taking your GC away from you. Are you talking about a price war just to keep the customer? Then, do you have THOUSANDS of $ to pay the supply house for the HVAC equipment while you wait for the GC's check to clear? Then 1 guy can install 1 system in 2 days?? Then while you are doing your install just how the hell do you run service calls?

Please take all of this as a POSITIVE input. If you do jump into your own business,give it your all!!! I did and I am glad that I did.
I have some Good Reading material on being in Business if you are interested.

 

You can send me that material of opening a business.

 

I do plan to build my service clientele as quickly as possible but I really don’t wanna sit around waiting on the phone to ring and going off of bum leads from cheap advertising. I have a family to support and a mortgage. I can’t leave my job and go for it based on “clientele” I’m gonna have to over come cash flow in the beginning. I receive about one service call per week now. I can’t sleep in my work van and eat Ramon Noodles until the phone starts ringing on a regular bases. I’ll go in the hole quicker than I can lend. I need advise on how to over come this struggle. The profit I mentioned was after “all” expenses. That’s insurance and all over head and I own my work truck out right and everything I mentioned in first post as well.

 

Knock! Knock!

 

May want to have a back up plan if or when you have a accident or illness/surgery and your laid up in bed for upwards of a few weeks. Not necessarily talking income to fall back on, but to answer customers calling. I’m not talking potential customers, but a customer calling under a labor warranty period, or a install job that’s half finished, or an emergency call at 2AM.

 

Knock knock? You think I don’t know this is gonna be hard and an around the clock adventure? Just need sound advise! What’s that reading material you mentioned?

 

Knock on doors,door to door,house by house,store by store, building by building. I'm gunna give a guesstimate here and this is from way back in 1980.My knocking on doors and talking to everyone I met,led me to believe that around 50% of the people that I met were "dis-satisfied/unhappy" with their existing HVACR person. Thats a lot of possible customers for me as an upstart Co.


And I would tweak your thinking just a little, I AM GOING TO DO THIS, I AM GOING TO SUCCEED, I WILL NOT FAIL,MY BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS WILL MAKE THIS SO. SO THEREFORE EVERYTHING WILL BE DONE PROPERLY,MY WAY, THE EASY WAY. Something like that.

 

OK...
SOLID advise:

Do NOT go out on your own, without:
At least 6 months of bills AND 3 mos equivalent of rainy day funds IN savings!

There... does that help???


Seriously...
Thinking you are gonna be able to just make enough $$$ to live on, starting the Monday after you leave the shop on Friday...
Is kinda (well very much) a lofty expectation!

Now if it was the springtime... in a HOT southern climate... maybe...
But in August/Sept... we are just going into swing season...
And work is slow in swing season!

Better to have that cash stuffed away!

One more thing...
When do accidents happen???
When one is stressed out!
What happens when you are under the gun to hustle some $$$ to pay the bills...
Stress happens... (whoops)

 

No you’re telling me things I already know! And sounds like you’re trying to talk me out of it? You did it. Am I just supposed to let my youth go by before I make the leap? Yeah that’s not advise that’s intimidation. I’m already clearing on average $25000 a year. I have no dept other than a little $700 mortgage. My wife works too! I have $30000 in the bank that’s in a personal account and my business started 2 years ago. I’m not stupid I just need advise on getting my business out there for real instead of on the side. I’m leaving a $45000 a year salary behind. That’s it, $45000.

 

Sounds like you are in good shape...

I did what the guys noted above...
Went out on a wish and a prayer...
Worked my fool @$$ off...
And was VERY lucky... both in getting enough work to pay the bills... as well as avoiding getting laid up. There were multiple times I 'almost' got hurt bad enough to be out for a month...

Your comments about a family and mortgage...
Just wanted to be sure you had a plan and some reserves.

IMO you will be fine...

Now for the other part...
The part about changing your thinking... is IMO good advise!
Attitude is a significant part... so keep it positive!
Come back here to H-talk when you are down... we will encourage you to get back up and out there!

There are currently multiple threads I am in... about going out on ones own... not sure if I posted this in your thread:
Your post count is high enough... apply for PRO status... and specifically tell them you are going out on your own and want access to "Business and Marketing" in the PRO section!
There is a bunch of stuff over there... which would be good for you to have access to!

One more thing...
Running a business is a different skill than doing HVAC/R...
Be SURE you learn that skill, as well as the skill you are selling to your customers.
It is said that between 80-90% of small businesses fail in the first 2 years... the reason is ALWAYS the same... the boss was great at the product, but did not know how to run a business...
So learn how to run a business!
B&M forum in the PRO section has some good stuff on this!

Now...
Git off your @$$... and GIT to Work...
Grin

 

Honestly. I walked away from a $56,000 a year salary last Tuesday. My own company has been in existence for 7 days now. No savings, no plan. I’d just gotten talked down to for the last time by someone who supposedly respects me. I’m making it, and I will make it.

You aren’t getting younger, you aren’t going to suddenly be paid what your worth, and you’ll never know until you try.

You’ve already got a hell of a base, in this trade with low overhead being able to recoup your $45k won’t even feel like work.

 

Nothing like owning your own business. Go for it.

 

One other thing I recommend is get in touch with a good tax accountant, have them steer you in the right way and set up your books it will not only save you on taxes but give you peace of mind, you should also look into joining the group online Service Roundtable, they offer marketing tips and tricks and you can download items from things they produced, I did a coloring sheet that when I went to a service call if they had children there I would leave a couple of sheets for them to color and one time I made it into a completion for the best coloring with a praise of a guilt certificate to a ice cream parlor, built real good customer relations!!!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

That should read prize not just praise. When I started my business I was not as prepared as you are, I just got tired of being treated like dirt by the people I was working for so I went on my own and did just fine, bought all my tools and made a profit!!!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

My 2 cents worth...... IF you show up when you say you will, and IF do good work, and IF you treat people fairly then then work will be there.

No need for a big advertising budget, or having to undercut your competitors. Just be honest and do good work. My sales pitch has always been "A fair days pay for a fair days work." I tell them right up front that I am NOT the cheapest guy around, or the most expensive, but we a quality job for a fair price.

When I started my residential remodeling business, in 2001, we taped flyers to mailboxes. That was it. We KNEW that most of them get tossed, but 1 call will pay for the flyers and the time to pass them out. We only had to pass flyers out for the first few months we were in business. After that all of our work has come from referrals and word of mouth. Now, my new partner and I are starting up an new company that is focusing on maintenance and repair for the food service industry. Back to passing out simple flyers with a business card stapled to it and a "50% off on your first service call" coupon. Less than 3 weeks in we have a couple of restaurants firmly in the fold with maintenance contracts, and the phone is starting to ring with service calls.

I think one of the hardest things I had to learn was to not focus on getting EVERY job, but instead to focus on getting the good jobs. I used to spend a lot of time chasing small stuff until a buddy of mine explained it....in the same amount of time it took to chase the $100 job I could have sold the $1000 job. I'm NOT saying to turn work down, just keep in mind to not just "get work", but get quality work that will give you the most profit for your time spent.

Also, I would stay away from the SEO crap and marketing gimmicks until you understand how YOUR business is going to progress. All of that stuff is either VERY expensive or is completely worthless. I looked at those "ValPak" mailers; the company that sends out those envelopes with 50 coupons; and their minimum is in the $1500 range. Ignore the calls from so called "lead sourcing" companies, ALL scams. Also, be VERY careful with thing like Home Advisor, Thumbtack, Tackle, and other "pay to play" services. There are a TON of pitfalls in those. With Home Advisor, you pay for the lead whether you get the job or not.

The advice about seeing an accountant to help you get your books started out properly is a good one. The things you MUST stay on top of is entering receipts, and expenses, and other stuff EVERY day! If you do it at the end of every day it will only take a few minutes. If you don't, then you will spend HOURS doing it later and trying to remember what receipts go with which job.

Anyway.....my 2 cents turned into $5......good luck and stay positive!

 

Nice to hear, good work! First, plan your work and act accordingly.

 

My advice, get in the yellow pages and make sure the book is out before you bail on present job. I wouldn't worry to much about other advertising because of the expense. Quickest way out of business is trying to be the cheapest guy out there. I've seen that a lot. Depending on the size of your community, the first 5 years is going to be rough in small population area's. But keep your chin up and do good work and you'll be fine.... Try your best to get paid before you leave the customer. Sell decent equipment. You don't want to spend your time having to come up with excuses for it. Have a decent looking vehicle, I've found people don't want to have the neighbors looking at a beat up old van outside their house. Good luck to anyone trying it. Don't take every job... look for uh oh's ... If the last 3 guys were worthless, your going to be the next one. You don't need that. Some jobs are better to walk away from.

 

I disagree with going with yellow pages, as my experience they are a big money expense and do not pay for themselves, there are other alternatives that will cost you less. Just my 2 cents worth of advice!!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Sparky is right.....the yellow pages are a dead end and WAY too expensive. In this digital age nobody even thinks about them any more. Create a Facebook page where you can post picks of your work, even if you don't post very often you will at least have SOME kind of presence that people can find. Next Door is another good place to get your name out, especially if you do good work.

 

Depends on your market. Yellow Pages work great for me. I cancelled my web site because I was getting zero return on it. My SEO guy had me on Googles first page.

 

I have no idea where your market is since you have chosen to hide your location, but in a large city like Atlanta it's completely worthless.....and now days most people go straight to the internet to find what they are looking for.

That SEO crap is worthless too......almost as worthless as the BBB. People skip those ads because they know that those companies PAID to be placed first, and the cost is ridiculous. you'd be better of with Home Advisor or Angie's List.

 

Have to advise against Home Advisor and Angie's list, as you pay for their leads even if you do not get the jobs, a good Facebook page and even a website is a better way to go, ask for referrals from your customers and post them on your website and Facebook page, the exposure will bring in more business, one other thing I did was to buy fridge magnets, the customers will advertise it on their fridge and their neighbors and friends will see it and you will start to get more calls especially if your customers were happy with your service, word of mouth is the best advertising and a small fridge magnet will help to remind people of your company and your service, that was how I grew my business!!!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Have to advise against Home Advisor

Just to add, the issue with lead sellers like HA is the leads are not exclusive. You have to be quick (and first) to dial, because it's a race to contact once the lead comes in.

 

I think that you meet a some kind of new world. In this world you must cross from specialist to all-in-one manager.
First of all its your people, for whom you can delegate most important part that you do it now.
Effective management, marketing and ability to check the quality of working by your people.

To start something new, you must you have to give up something, but that takes courage.

If i answered for your question in few points. i w'll do next.

1. Find a people who can do your work (which takes away from you all the time)
2. Find more customers (use search engines, social networks, recommendations of your customers, local directories, craig list... e.t.c.)
3. Find a people who can quality checking a complete your orders
4. Find a tool that can help you manage it
5. Decide all formal questions

Delegate all of your time consuming tasks
Create a brand that you can trust
Looking for good executors

 

Good luck with your start up!

 

Started my business in the last year and to be honest my biggest issue is good help. I live in a relatively small area and pay an excellent salary but the good techs are with the established companies that offer 401k etc which I'm just not ready to do.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

Go start your own business. It fails just go back to working for someone.

 

Truth! I did the same thing in July. I went took my state tests and went out on my own with no safety net. I made 40,000 in 6 months by hard work and pushing. I'm 35 with a 12 year old and a 1 year old, so it was now or never.