Just another day in paradise

[HarleyHappy]

***! I thought only my neighbor ran his equipment with 10 PSI and an idiot light going off. Then wondering why I tell him his 6.0 motor is junk.

 

[Mike L]

This is my biggest and best customer. they have enough equipment that I almost don’t need any other customers except for the fact that I don’t want all my eggs in one basket. As long as they are in business I’ll never run out of work.

 

[Joe H]

Vetech thought the same.

Joe H

 

[Mike L]

This company isnt even trying to hire an equipment mechanic. They have a truck and trailer mechanic and hire me and my employee to cover the equipment. Field and shop repairs. No LMM here.

 

[Welder Dave]

It makes a huge difference if the people who own and operate the equipment at least try to look after it. Vetech had to deal with the opposite where nobody seemed to give a damn! Fixing legit problems is better than trying to figure out how the equipment didn't blow up 500 hours ago due to abuse and neglect.

 

[Birken Vogt]

My Case VAC tractor only runs 15 psi oil pressure, gauge only goes to 20. That is what the regulator is set at. Also it only runs 1425 RPM or something.

 

[Vetech63]

This company isnt even trying to hire an equipment mechanic. They have a truck and trailer mechanic and hire me and my employee to cover the equipment. Field and shop repairs. No LMM here.

Same position i was in my friend. It can crash at any moment, something I didn't think was possible either. Loyalty only goes as far as the next guy that will do it for less than you can.....and they are out there. Save as much money as you can so you are prepared.

 

[Mike L]

I try and not get too comfortable. While they are good to work for, I try and keep adding as many new customers as I can.

 

[DMiller]

Always had more calling for my hands so did not get too excited of clients taking other routes, until I got greedy and tried to do it all, have them all and burnt out. After the dust settled realized I sold my hands far too cheap is why they were calling me so often.
Raising rates may have dumped some but had consistent work even when did raise rates from steady clients but I was late to do that.
Burnout is sneaky, keep wits about you.

 

[Mike L]

I’ve been battling the burn out for a while now. When I left Texas and came home to Maine, my wife stayed behind with the dogs while we were trying to sell that house. I was back in maine for all of 36 hours when the phone started ringing. I had 2 mortgages and was flying solo so I just started grinding. Picked up most of my old, good customers and forgot about the mediocre ones. Didn’t take long for the 60-70 hour weeks to wear me down. but- the phone kept ringing. In July I bought a second truck and hired my first employee. So far he has been great and I’m getting a lot of good feedback from customers. I thought that adding him wouldn’t so much end my stress as change it and I would end up wrenching less and dealing more with the day to day stuff. we’re both working 50+ hours a week now but I’m still dealing with the office side of stuff as well. I’d like to get down to 40-45. Most of my burn out comes in the form of fatigue. i sleep like the dead but never feel rested. I guess the big dream would be to grow the business, add more employees, and slowly phase myself out of the truck. My shoulders are shot and i’ll be getting an MRI on them soon but I certainly can’t pull wrenches if surgery is needed. I guess that’s about all the rambling I’ve got for now.

 

[DMiller]

Keep that open mind Mike, and that consideration of expansion, is where I would like to have gone and stopped the wrenching by my late forties to fifties. I could not make it work where you are at least several steps ahead of where I stopped. Expense of a book keeper albeit the wife in your case and a phone answerer to mitigate interruptions to take messages to report at scheduled times of day can assist as far as I could see, just not ever stepped across that line either.

My fatigue came/comes from not being able to set it aside as I try to end a day, mind running, racing to configure tomorrow and the work I need to see done not necessarily get done. I sleep in fits still, up all ours of the night, have not needed a alarm clock for ages as brain activity sets me awake at almost fixed interval points. Will probably die fatigued, never ‘rested’.

 

[Vetech63]

I’ve been battling the burn out for a while now. When I left Texas and came home to Maine, my wife stayed behind with the dogs while we were trying to sell that house. I was back in maine for all of 36 hours when the phone started ringing. I had 2 mortgages and was flying solo so I just started grinding. Picked up most of my old, good customers and forgot about the mediocre ones. Didn’t take long for the 60-70 hour weeks to wear me down. but- the phone kept ringing. In July I bought a second truck and hired my first employee. So far he has been great and I’m getting a lot of good feedback from customers. I thought that adding him wouldn’t so much end my stress as change it and I would end up wrenching less and dealing more with the day to day stuff. we’re both working 50+ hours a week now but I’m still dealing with the office side of stuff as well. I’d like to get down to 40-45. Most of my burn out comes in the form of fatigue. i sleep like the dead but never feel rested. I guess the big dream would be to grow the business, add more employees, and slowly phase myself out of the truck. My shoulders are shot and i’ll be getting an MRI on them soon but I certainly can’t pull wrenches if surgery is needed. I guess that’s about all the rambling I’ve got for now.

It looks like you're at a crossroad as I was. I was in the exact same position years ago. 80-hour work weeks and no end in sight, money flowing well, and healthy as a horse. I made the decision that I also needed to expand, thinking that would take some of the workload and stresses down. Well, it didn't........I traded less work time and stress for other problems. I still ended up working the same hours and dealing with other problems I hadn't before. One thing I learned quick.....your employees' issues end up being your issues also. Divorce, deaths in the family, illnesses, tax evasion......the list goes on. It was difficult for me to keep customers happy because I felt like I was always having to dance around some issue with an employee that prevented them from working. Then...........the redo's started. Seemed like it was one after another for months because they couldn't keep their head in the game. Guess who paid for it?.....Yeah, it was me every time. I found myself making excuses to customers trying to keep them happy until I could figure something out.

The then next thing you know, you have that 1 guy that is really good at his job. He starts thinking he deserves more pay and benefits. You start feeling like you are held hostage by them...........that sucks bigtime. Now they are never happy until you give in, but the worst is when they find another job because you didn't give in and they leave you hanging without a care in the world. Again........and I can't stress this enough.....THERE IS NO LOYALTY. After 2 years of this crap, I couldn't wait til I was doing it myself again. When I added the numbers together, I lost money.

This all was 25 years ago. I decided to keep plugging along on my own.....still 6-7 days a week and minimum 80-hour weeks. Then.....out of nowhere, my (then) wife decided I was gone from home too much. It didn't matter to her that I was in debt up to my eyeballs with a new home, cars, work truck, and all the expenses that go with it. Now.......do I risk our financial future just to appease her? I did everything I could to adjust my schedule and run the business, nothing worked. Less than 6 months later I got handed divorce papers when I walked in late one night from busting my ass trying to keep up with everything.

Now, here I am today. Once divorced that almost bankrupted me, my shoulders are also shot and have been the last several years, skin cancer from working in the sun my whole life, and other physical issues from working my ass off in this business for 45+ years. I can no longer do the work I have trained for and done my whole life. I have no other skills to fall back on, and at 62 years old, I'm not considered a good hire even if I could do the work. I'm over-qualified, too old, whatever...........

All things considered, you have to decide what is important to you and yours. Don't let your customers' needs direct what is best for you.....thats where I ****** up. I was loyal to my customers to a fault, and I paid dearly for it. Don't put yourself in a position when you are at retirement age wondering "What the hell did I bust my ass for my whole life?" I remember an old saying that rings so true to me today its scary.........."Money makes you comfortable but doesn't make you happy."

Take the time to look around you. Do you have what you need? Does your family have what they need? If so, why are you killing yourself?

 

[Truck Shop]

It's one thing to constantly work in a shop with concreate floor and totally another to
work in the wild. Both will thrash you in the end, but every, every mobile repair guy I've
seen was thrashed early in career. And because of that, working in the wild--repair rates
should always be higher than shop. But it never has been. I know of two guys in separate
business doing repair here locally. Both thinking of the expansion deal, funny thing is they
are creating in the back of they're minds the very thing they ran from. In most cases
becoming the very thing that caused them to go wild cat in the first place. Stress--start a
shop and combine employees, book keeper, some parts inventory and so on. Best scenario,
stay small-have a brick/mortar business with one employee----you. And get out of the wild.
jmo.

 

[treemuncher]

I have been working alone since 1997 when I got into the mulching work. I was tired of the headaches and anchors that employees brought along. Life is not all about money. I treasure my freedom more than the money but I still manage to make decent coin through all of it. I think that the hardest part of a business is size. Too small and you don't make enough excess to compensate for the overhead costs for employees. Until you get large enough to have excess labor for fill in, I see lots of businesses taking losses due to the costs associated with employees.

For me, working alone improved my bottom line and de-stressed my life. Everyone else's results will vary but this is what has worked for me. There is one guy that helped my build up my truck bed a few years ago who I always considered hiring as he is very trainable as well as reliable. However, what I do is not what he wants to do so it is a moot point. Finding the perfect employee is not something that I have the patience for nor do I wish to be tied down with another anchor in life. As I reach retirement age, I would prefer to sell my business and stay on to train a new owner and continue working at my own pace.

If it was all about retirement, I could have quit a couple years ago when I hit the 59.5 age mark for the IRA. I enjoy what I do and I have to stay moving so why quit when the money is good and my health is good enough to not be in pain? My business plan is simple and has minimal stress so I continue to run with it as long as it is still enjoyable.

Like I said, this is what works for me. Every individual needs to assess what works best for them and their desires in life. Everyone has different priorities that dictate which path to follow for best preferred results.

 

[BC Placer gold]

I work alone, have purposely avoided partners, employees. (When available my wife runs washplant while I use 210
for tailings/dig—advance pay etc.). “Dont bash into the spraybars sweetie; I am watching lol!”)

Not interested in going bigger (the exact opposite of most in this industry).

It works for us….low fuel costs/low overhead/accountable to no one.

Happy enough with modest income.

I do realize this is not always a practical/or efficient way for most to run…

 

[DMiller]

As with today, Went to yard, went to pull truck in shop, derelict in there with a Aftertreatment system fault, so greased it on shop apron, retapped knocked off zerk hole from blowout and replaced that on Trlr RF S Cam housing. Has had a bent out of shape and unforgiving tarp swing bow, someone when I was not using hit it with a Loader or the dumped materials from a loader, finally made time to replace it with one the shop keeps on hand. Replaced a Hyd Tank Insulating washer that squoozed out and reset spring loads all way around on that then washed the big bugger. Two and half hours total, would take the Shop Techs all day where I work better alone.

 

[Mike L]

All good advice guys. It makes for a great discussion. I’m almost 45 and if all goes as planned (yeah right) I’d like to retire at 60. I spent a good part of my 20s as a hunting and fishing guide and I’d like to do some more of that after 60 to keep myself active and moving plus to keep a little income flowing. The grand master pipe dream would be to have something to sell at age 60 to help supplement the retirement. I hear all of the horror stories about employees and I’m sure I’ll experience some of those but I also know that I’d like to not be a cripple if and when I retire. I’ve got a really good thing going and I seem to have some momentum so I’d like to grow from here. At this point I try and keep my big customer running and send my guy to a bunch of the others with him helping me when I’m overwhelmed. It is a constant moving target and I’m learning everyday. I’ve never been anybody’s boss so I try to keep the perspective of -what would I want if I was an employee here. I try to pick up lunch when we work together and I try to get him home at a reasonable hour on Friday. I’d much rather grind out Monday through Thursday and quit a little early on Friday. Anyway, I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and advice so please keep it coming!

 

[DMiller]

I currently rush headlong to 69, beat up, surgeries, finally getting the confirmation body is throwing down the gauntlet and towel same time.

Have enjoyed my projects, somewhat enjoy the hauling, HOWEVER, know is time to back down a few notches.

 

[DMiller]

Will note, last 14 years passed like a runaway train. Fat Allis been gone over five, Big Blue has been complete for just coming to three, my old pickup is 26 and my Harley bumping 14.

We bought this place in 2011

 

[CM1995]

All good advice guys. It makes for a great discussion. I’m almost 45 and if all goes as planned (yeah right) I’d like to retire at 60. I spent a good part of my 20s as a hunting and fishing guide and I’d like to do some more of that after 60 to keep myself active and moving plus to keep a little income flowing. The grand master pipe dream would be to have something to sell at age 60 to help supplement the retirement. I hear all of the horror stories about employees and I’m sure I’ll experience some of those but I also know that I’d like to not be a cripple if and when I retire. I’ve got a really good thing going and I seem to have some momentum so I’d like to grow from here. At this point I try and keep my big customer running and send my guy to a bunch of the others with him helping me when I’m overwhelmed. It is a constant moving target and I’m learning everyday. I’ve never been anybody’s boss so I try to keep the perspective of -what would I want if I was an employee here. I try to pick up lunch when we work together and I try to get him home at a reasonable hour on Friday. I’d much rather grind out Monday through Thursday and quit a little early on Friday. Anyway, I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and advice so please keep it coming!

Employees in general are not really the problem. Sure there are administrative duties in the office but that's part of running a business. The real problem is finding the right people - that's the needle in the haystack part.

If you find the right people pay them well, treat them well and try your damndest to make it a business environment people want to work in.

Now a days there are all sorts of services and tech that will take some of the business admin stuff off your shoulders. For instance our accountant does our payroll including deducting the employee portion of health insurance and retirement contributions. At the end of the year they send out all the W2's. It's a very small sum for this service and it's worth every penny.

Our work week goes from Wed to Wed and they guys have their money direct deposited into their accounts early Friday morning. No running checks around like the old days.