Fired my Boss, started my own business!

[FischAutoTechGarten]

B & B negotiations have stalled. Frustrated. We made an offer months and months ago. Had full down payment set aside and deposited $5K in earnest money with the realtor. Even paid 1/2 of the cost of an independant appraisal when the sellers decided they wanted $75K more than our offer (we offered what we were told they wanted). Well we have entered the B & B season now, so each day marks the passing of another day of revenue. Much as it pains us, we've withdrawn our offer. This is not the first B & B negotiations that have stalled (we had one stall in Arkansas last spring/summer too!). Culturally the South is very different than the North. I'm amazed at just how long it takes to accomplish things. So we were back to square one. No New Zealand, No B & B, No Fish Store (wasn't serious about the Fish Store...just put feelers out, so no loss there!)

This is the year my wife and I have determined we will do something different, we will get out of the corporate rat race. Ready to move onto plan B (or is that Plan F by now?). Go full time with Land & Aqua Scaping. Spring is here and it is crunch time for my wife and I to make a decision. Been meeting with a few partners for a few months. They're relieved I'm not moving after all and so we concluded some serious negotiations, struck up a contract between ourselves and secured allot of nice work from large commercial entities.

The Result: I resigned my Controls Engineering position of 13+ years on Thursday, April 1. Big leap. Burned out of all things Engineering & Computer. Pager on my waist 24/7 for over 10 years is a thing of the past. My last day of employment is Friday April 16, 2004. So a little better than a 2 week notice. I'll stay on a retainer basis with them for a bit, while my replacement is found, but other than that it's a clean break for me. I'll be installing water features (ponds, bogs, fountains), cutting lawns, pruning, trimming, etc... I have about 2/3 of my present income guaranteed with 3 days of maintenance work (Mon-Wed). The remaing portion of my income will come from my own endeavors on Thur-Fri and the long 18 week Winter break. So I'll let you folks know from time to time how it's going.

I did it! I met my goal of doing work I loved by 35! Now, let's hope I can continue eating!

[Discusgeo]

Good Luck and I hope everything works out for you and your wife. Hope your not to tired from the self employed rat race to maintain your Discus population.
George

I agree with Discusgeo. Best of success to both you and your wife. Please keep us posted with your journey, because it's another area of life that is new, and you live and learn. ;)

Best regards,

**Angie**

[yippy]

i fired my boss over 5 years ago, started my own business and have never looked back. i even have a couple of my own slaves now :D

Hope it all works out for you the way it has for me. :thumbsup:

Kerry

[brewmaster15]

Congratulations Peter!
I too fired my boss a short while ago.. October... and now do what I like to do for work and have only myself to blame for my short comings and to thank for my successes. Its a big switch , and at times , a few moths are all you will find in my wallet... but I have never been happier. The benefits far out weigh the loss in my wages.

I wish you the greatest success in your endeavors Peter!

-al

[fshngal]

Peter,

Congratulations, I hope the new business endeavor, whatever it turns out to be is fruitful for you and your family.

Mary

[FischAutoTechGarten]

It's amazing fulfilling my final two weeks. I'm expecting my fellow employees, contractors and vendors to hoist me up on my shoulders and carry me home singing "He's a Jolly Good Fellow". Other than a few personalities in senior management who are disappointed by the timing of it (they would have appreciated more than 16 days notice), everyone else I work with is very happy for me. This weekend It was necessary for me to work a last minute Saturday (which was a rare, warm beautiful day) until 2PM and Sunday I was paged at 11PM at night to come in to address a nonworking machine. I definitely made the right decision. Can't wait to leave this behind.

Working in the yard yesterday, my wife and I were deciding what to do with the driveway now that we aren't moving for a bit. And we thought, hmmm, we'll have to use our savings to pave it because we really don't have it in the budget with the new job, having to stow money away for the lean winter and all! Ah, nothing like a little stark reality!

[susankay1]

Best wishes on your new adventure!!! We fired our bosses about 11 years ago and through great good fortune and frugal spending, our business has been able to support us in the lifestyle we wanted to be accustomed to, not to mention paying for a home, business building, 2 vans and a lot of other stuff. Unfortunately, the slow economy and raising commodity prices have forced us to cut back to the point that we had to lay off all of our office staff. That is the downside of being the boss, along with all the paper work. But we wouldnt trade the experience for the world. Gonna try our hand at raising fish now. Enjoy the ride, its not the destination but the journey. ;)

[ronrca]

;) Congrats Peter! I envy you! I only wish I could have the courage and will power to undertake such a massive career and life change. I must applaude your decision and wish you all the best to you and your wife. Right now, I'll keep playing the 'slave' part and hope in the future things work out money wise. How do you guys do it? ;) I must be in the corporate rut I guess!

Take care and keep us updated! I would love to see pics of your land+aquascaping! ;)

[Multiclone]

GOOD LUCK Peter.
It is a great leap to go from slave to master of your own destiny which is now in your hands.
I have worked for myself since I was 21 (my-god 31 yrs ago :o ). I have experienced most things marriage bust up in 89' partnership bustup in 95'. However looking back I wouldn't have my life any other way. It has been a fantastic ride. Hang on tight and have the ride of your life.

All the best for the future.

Geoff

[Larry Grenier]

All the best!

[Ardan]

Congratulations and Best of Luck to you!!! 8)

[ChloroPhil]

That's great Peter, Congratulations!

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I'm enjoying it. Tough rewarding work. Love the customer interaction. Not a bad full first week (even if it was about 55 hrs worth).

BTW, haven't had a single headache since I quit my other job. This is from a guy who gets headaches almost daily. Coincidence? I think not.

[mikeos]

Congrats mate....

NOw the real work starts ;D

feels good to loose the stress tho 8)

[susankay1]

Only 55 hours??? Shew, short week...lol. Good luck and keep up the good work. The savings on Tylenol will be worth it.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Well my 3 days with my part-time employer quickly turned into 60 hrs a week, with no time for me to pursue my own business (I was salaried). So, I amicably ended the business relationship and am now completely independant. So far so good. Keeps me busy though. Have to admit, only doing 50% water changes on the Discus every 3 days or so. They're a year old now, so it's not affecting their growth.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Into my 3rd month being completely independant. It's going good so far...not starving. I have 3 Part-time employees and work clear up to Nov 15. I do a little engineering consulting on the side too. Whatever it takes to make sure I've got enough money stowed away to last through the Winter. Rains all the time this summer, so I'm told that this is as bad as it gets weather wise for this type of work and that I should have an easier time next year.

I've had to buy a mess of equipment. It has been a little scary laying out that much money. I'm taking a bunch of photographs in the next few weeks for my company brochures (LawnsMowed (Lawn Maintenance & Grounds Keeping) and ClearFalls (Landscaping and Aquatic Gardening)). Worst part has been finding a place to store all of the equipment. I have a very modest home on a tiny residential lot that is mostly deep ravine. In the process now of widening & lengthening my driveway, which has involved shoring up retaining walls and slopes with river stone.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Today marked the end of my first year in Landscaping and Lawncare. This afternoon I washed my Truck and Equipment Trailer, as they will be put away for the Winter. It was a great first year. All total I employed 7 different individuals throughout the season. Two of them I'm retaining for next season, which promises to be another fun filled year.


Tomorrow, I pickup my new (used) Dump Truck w/ Plow for the Snow Season, that will enable me to employ 1 person for Plowing of Commerical Lots. I will work alongside this employee from time to time, basically for free. We are being mentored by a very successful plowing outfit that likes my willingness to start my first year plowing with a focus on learing and no expectations of profit. Goal is simply to make payroll, fuel, insurance and truck expenses.

I will employ the 2nd person for Snow Blowing of Residential Lots, using my hardly used Snow Blower. That employee is being mentored by a friend of mine who does Snow Blowing in the Winter to supplement his Summer work (Sprinkler system sales).


Next season I will run the Landscaping/Water Features business (ClearFalls) with the Dump Truck and Dump Trailer. Have yet to locate an employee. Again, here I'm being mentored by the most succesful water features installation company in my area with a focus on learning and no expecations of getting rich. Goal is simply to make payroll for myself and one employee, fuel, insurance, truck and equipment expenses. Looking forward to being an exhibitor at a major Upstate New York Garden Show this Spring too!


My other two employees will run the Lawncare business (LawnsMowed) with the Pickup and Equipment Trailer. One of the guys will be getting schooled in Pesticide Certification and Integrated Pest Management, as well as Fertilization and Weed Control, so that we can expand the services we offer. We haven't found anyone to mentor us here, so we are working with Cornell Cooperative Extensions (Cornell University) to get trained and licensed. Goal with this expansion is to pay for the schooling and equipment investment. Mowings, Prunings, Trimmings, Cleanups will be the core activities that help us to make payroll, fuel, insurances, truck and equipment expenses.


I know it's a long post. Just wanted to share with you folks what's possible when you are willing to learn and sweat a little. This is our first year and we are able to enjoy the same standard of living we had after 13 years of all things computer/engineering. (True the business is caring tremendous debt, but we are comfortable with it.) If you are considering a change. Go for it. I've found the following helpful:


1. Find Mentors. People are willing to help you learn if they determine you are committed. A 'competitor' (actually a relative of a friend in the industry) was complaining about having too much work of the sort he didn't enjoy, I was expressing concern that I wouldn't continue to have enough work to keep my guys on. Long story short..I offered to buy one of his very large accounts and keep him on as a silent, minority partner through the season, if he mentored me and helped me secure the contract for next season. Best gamble I ever took! I put my money where my mouth was and I've got a knowledgable and well established, 'partner' who is commited to my success!

2. Do a variety of things to supplement your income as your core activities may not provide you with a living the first months/years out. The first few months out, I did engineering consulting, electrical construction (rigid conduit), telco and data wiring, and janitorial work. I didn't need the money from those services at the time, but I had no idea what the immediate future would hold (ie, could I keep finding landscaping installs?...could I continue to get new lawncare customers even as the season was well along?). Now that money has come in handy. I can put my employees to work this winter instead of having to draw a salary from the plowing/snow blowing activites myself.

3. Learn from your vendors. Everyone from Greenhouses, Customers, Equipment Dealers, Material Suppliers, Repair Shops, etc... have had a role in bringing me up to speed this year. I do not pretend to be something I'm not (they'd be able to tell if I were faking it). I let them know I'm in my first year, very inexperienced, scared to death and have never been happier. I joke about being a 'Bottom Feeder', 'Not Good, But I'm Slow', etc... I don't press for Discounts. I try to come across as what I am...a humble beginner. My enthusiasm is contagious (and genuine..I'm still very excited); you wouldn't believe how courteous folks have been and how much they are willing to instruct and explain. In time, they give you a break on pricing and terms.

4. Maintain a professional appearance. Everyone gives you the benefit of the doubt when you are well presented. I keep my equipment and vehicles clean (even if I use my wife's VW when visiting a customer, I make sure it's clean). My employees and I are uniformed and well groomed. We don't swear, use inuendo or speak in a negative manner at all. People like to be treated nice, even the most difficult and coarse individuals appreciate it.

5. Look for creative financing, tax breaks and special gov't programs to give you a lift. New York State also makes it very affordable for me to offer Health Insurance to my Employees (which will number 3 full time next year) and my Wife and I. My equipment debt is significant, but it's all at 2 or 3 years with 0% interest. I bought a very large F550 Dump instead of an F350 Dump because I was able to take a 100% write off of the vehicle because of the increased GVWR (happy that it's a diesel too).

6. Be willing to make material sacrifices. We cut out eating out and put off buying anything we didn't need. When we decided to get rid of the Ford Ranger and buy the F150 we put the Passat up for sale because we thought it would be insane to have 2 vehicle payments. Instead, we were going to pickup a used car for my wife. Our friends knew the business was doing well and that we were no longer overly concerned when the For Sale sign was removed from the rear of the Passat Wagon. We barley hesitated when buying the F550 this week. Why? Well because we can always put the Passat up for sale again right?

I definitely am not working any less, but I enjoy almost every minute of it (well okay...I don't want to rake another leaf for as long as I live). Can't wait to take that Jan-Feb trip across the US either!

[RAWesolowski]

A little caution for you Pete. You need to have a 1.2X debt service coverage on your debt service requirement. That is, your net income (after tax) plus interest expense and depreciation totals your debt service capacity. Your debt service requirment is the total of your loan and lease payments for the year. When you divide your debt service capacity by your debt service requirement the result is your debt service coverage.

A ratio of less than 1 to 1 indicates that your business is unable to make its payments. This shortage may be masked by your cash position but continued weakness is a good indicator of problems.

By the way, I do small business consulting, e-mail me if you would like some mentoring...

[Stephish]

Congratulations, Peter. I recently made a big career change myself (though there is still a boss in the picture), and I hope I continue to be as pleased about it after my first year as you are.

:juggle:

[jaydoc]

Peter,
You could always supplement your income with a little motivational speaking-The above presentation would go over great at business luncheons! Maybe you could even start an infomercial!

I jest! But really, you make some great points about work ethics, mentoring, committment and sacrifice that we all can learn from. I wish you well in your endeavours.

Cary the lesser

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Bob,
I'm sitting down with my accountant in about 2 weeks to review EVERYTHING. I will show him this email and get his honest opinion of where I stand.

[RAWesolowski]

Pete,

Always a good idea to have a check-up. You might also want to take your info to SCORE, they are a free service of the Small Business Administration.

Be sure to maintain good accounting records on an accrual basis with a program like Quickooks. The data that you collect will allow you to compare year over year gross revenues, expenses and net income. Since it sounds like you are "slowing" down, you might check with the local community college on courses that lead to strengthening "people" and "financial" skills.

Lastly, if you are a sole ownership become either a LLC or a corporation. The entities protect you from business liabilities. If you are a LLC filing taxes as a sole ownership have your accountant file a change with the IRS to be taxed
as a corporation then elect subchapter "S" status. The tax filing status has the potential to significantly reduce payroll taxes and permits you to p[ursue a number of beneficial tax benefit programs.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Currently, I am an LLC, that does business under several other names. My company owns all of the equipment. All checking accounts, credit cards & loans are in the businesses name (I only appear as a gauranteer on the two trucks, which was necessary because of the newness of the business.) I may change my status to an S-Corp this year. That's what I want to review with my accountant next week. Next step in near future is to spin each of the activities (literally designated by the dba that appears on the letterhead/invoice) that do business under the umbrella LLC as seperate and independant entities or subsidaries of one company.

I do a bit of Ebay & other sales work on the side. I get industrial MRO supplies and control equipment that is being tossed out or sold by manufacturing plants, distributors, wholesalers etc... and resell them to other manufacturing plants, distributors, wholesalers etc... . It's been slow this year, but I intend to pick it up a little in January. That is run as an arm of my Consulting biz (which is what I'm doing through December..a consulting gig), which has it's own State & Fed Gov't Tax EIN as well.

SCORE is a neat program. That's basically where retired/semi-retired CEOs, COOs, CFOs volunteer time to mentor small business owners?

Were putting effort behind my wife coming up to speed with the accounting aspects of the business. Really looking to see if she can cut back her time a bit more. She's part-time, cutting her time back when grandma got alzhiemer's, but it's been steadily creeping back up again to where she's a bit too busy to handle the business interest with all of the responsibility she has at work. Plan is to just have her quit in April or so and completely manage the finances for the business in the same way she does our household.

Thanks for the helpful information Bob. Well, I need to stop reading Simply and get back to running the electric for the new security lighting for the outside of our house (too much equipment parked in the driveway now to take chances).

[GrillMaster]

Hey Pete....I guess we are both in the same boat sort of speak... :D

[FischAutoTechGarten]

AH, Mystic CT, you're in a much more upscale market than I am. You don't have to worry about being too "Affordable" there.

[GrillMaster]

Like anyplace else there are the high end places. I have several, but I have several regular customers as well....

I am however one of the more expensive Lco's around. I diamond cut alot of the properties I do with the striping effect( like you see on the golf courses or baseball fields.) I lost all my pics when my computer crashed. I will be getting more since I am making a portfolio.. ;)

[FischAutoTechGarten]

enclosed trailers. sure does beat building a seperate garage and the added loading and unloading each morning (though I think the loading and unloading encourages the guys to clean the equipment more...I have to really keep on them about that.).

Switching gears now to the plowing. Got the first taste of it Monday with 4" of snow here.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Well, plowing is tough. This new used F550 of mine has broken down 4 times in 40 days / 600 miles I've owned it. These have been major breakdowns with it in the shop for days on each occassion. Disappointing as it only has 45K mi. Of the 5 Snow storms, it worked once! Well you know the outcome. It took food out of my mouth, as I lost all of the subcontract plowing I was doing. Actually, it took little food out of my mouth. The real victim was the employee I had to lay off. In dispute with the dealership now to fix it (presently it's broken down about 5 miles away for the last 9 days) while I'm out of town, so that I can at least sell it off as soon as I get back from vacation. The loss is huge, but I guess I can't hit a home run everytime. Good lesson for me. Thank goodness I subcontracted the work and only strained my relationship with the contractor and not my reputation with the end customers. I'm glad I do business as a different company during plow season! Also grateful that the contractors were able to absorb the extra work load and did not loose any of the customers either.

I'll plow again next year for the employees sake. However, I will have TWO
BRAND NEW F350s next time!

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Just an update. Business through 2005 was about 4 times greater than 1st year. Allot of large commercial and managed properties. Also, more debt as we had to buy more equipment to service the work. We employed at our peak about 10 guys. Had about 17 Employees throughout the year.

Met my goal of taking off for the Winter (Gulfport Mississippi and Mexico) and left the plowing business to my two best employees. They were fabulous and handled everything perfectly. Lesson here: Pay them well. Of course, it didn't hurt that we had a very warm, dry winter in Upstate NY. Yes, we did dump the F550 Dump Truck and get two F350s! No breakdowns!

So now I start 2006 and guess what? Looks like we will be 60% of the size of 2005. That's right...a small reversal of fortunes. Hence the danger in scaling up to meet new work. You aren't guaranteed a contract renewal. We are in a competitive business....I was undercut by more than half on many of my contract renewals. Surprised? You bet I was (how could someone do the work for 1/2 and make money?). Disappointed? Not really. Why? Let me explain.

The same large commercial and managed properties that I took on last year to grow the business, have become the same accounts that have caused me to loose the joy for the work. The accounts that I really, really liked...guess what? I retained. The ones that were troublesome for me? I lost. The employees that were a pain? Didn't keep them for plowing, won't call them back for lawncare season.

Here's what the business will look like this year: 4 Employees, as opposed to 8-10. Probably $140K or so less in gross revenues. Extra vehicles and equipment kicking around as we don't need all of it, but we'll keep it around just in case. $0 debt by November. That's right, $0 debt by November. I'll be taking a small cut in pay to accomplish this.

I'm no fool. Won't get caught next year relying on work that may or may not be there. So, we've laid out an 8 month plan (April-Nov) that will pay off every bit of equipment & debt the business owns. I'll still have some initial investment capital to re-imburse myself for, but I can do that by selling the Plowing or the Lawncare business if I like. Otherwise, I'll pay myself back that during the Plowing season...Dec 2006-March 2007 if I decide to stay in it for another year. By December 1, I'll be in a position to sell out, recoup all of my investment money, walk away with a few nice pieces of equipment and a nice some of money (helpful when we relocate to Mexico!!). Who knows what I'll do? Important thing is, I'll have options because I've addressed the current reality!

Lesson here: Don't go massively in debt to grow your business quickly. It robs you of your joy and puts a tremendous amount of pressure on you. You find yourself in a position of having to take every bit of work that comes your way...whether you like it or not. That's not why I started my business.

This year should be allot more fun. Few employees, no accounts from Hell (in fact, no new accounts either, it's all work we had last year). I'll let you all know how it works out.

[Ardan]

Thanks for the update Peter. Best of Luck this yr.
Yes, its always something new, isn't it? Constant adjustment. Sounds like you have a good plan!:)

Ardan

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I lurk here quite often, but haven't posted in a while. I split my time between Upstate New York running my lawncare company (www.lawnsmowed.com (http://www.lawnsmowed.com) which is for sale by the way..cheap) and San Carlos Mexico running my language school (www.espanglish.com.mx (http://www.espanglish.com.mx)). So Discus keeping is impossible. Moving the cats, Lucy and Ethel and our adopted mexican stray dog, Chupi, is hard enough.

Wild ride. I've gone from 13+ years of 60+hour work weeks as a controls engineer, to bailing out to start a landscaping busines, to selling my home and starting a school in Mexico. The landscaping business was retained in 2007, just to fund my school activities. Oddly enough, I also do a fair amount of consulting for my old boss of 13 years.

Anyway, once we are settled and aren't shuffling back and forth between countries....I'm getting Discus again.

Living in the Sonora desert isn't the obstacle you think it is. For instance, I use the water from the 2nd rinse cycle of my washing machine to water my citrus trees.

Peter

[Ardan]

Good to see you Peter:)

Discus never leave ones blood:D

Ardan

[Kindredspirit]

That is correct ~ we suffer, well actually you guys, suffer from DBI = Discus Blood Infection:D