I'm working on hitting the fastlane but I'm not there yet. I'd like to amp up my slowlane business as well and turn it into something that I could eventually sell.
I own a plumbing company which consists solely of me right now. I do everything. It's hard nasty work. I work long hours and then come home and still have to do paperwork, figures estimates, etc, etc. I don't make that much and the "freedom" of owning your own business doesn't apply when you're self employed. I have a job with no benefits. If I'm not working I'm not getting paid. I want to change that.
I don't know if owning a plumbing company could ever be fastlane unless I franchise or something, but I'd like to make the most of it and there can be pretty good money in it.
I'm about to change my pricing structure to a flat rate rather than time and material which will make me more profitable and I'm also about to start selling maintenance agreements to get a more consistent income. Once I get a system in place and have some cash reserves I plan to start hiring plumbers, then office staff as needed. My goal is to transition from plumber to business owner and then probably eventually sell out.
One thought I had though is that if I spent the time and energy that it would take to grow this on a fastlane business I may end up way ahead. On the other hand I do have something with this and hate to just give it up. As far as CENTS it meets or can meet every requirement. Scale will be the hardest. Adding plumbers will do it somewhat but franchising is the only true way I see to get scale.
As usual I have a list of questions:
I own a plumbing company which consists solely of me right now. I do everything. It's hard nasty work. I work long hours and then come home and still have to do paperwork, figures estimates, etc, etc. I don't make that much and the "freedom" of owning your own business doesn't apply when you're self employed. I have a job with no benefits. If I'm not working I'm not getting paid. I want to change that.
I don't know if owning a plumbing company could ever be fastlane unless I franchise or something, but I'd like to make the most of it and there can be pretty good money in it.
I'm about to change my pricing structure to a flat rate rather than time and material which will make me more profitable and I'm also about to start selling maintenance agreements to get a more consistent income. Once I get a system in place and have some cash reserves I plan to start hiring plumbers, then office staff as needed. My goal is to transition from plumber to business owner and then probably eventually sell out.
One thought I had though is that if I spent the time and energy that it would take to grow this on a fastlane business I may end up way ahead. On the other hand I do have something with this and hate to just give it up. As far as CENTS it meets or can meet every requirement. Scale will be the hardest. Adding plumbers will do it somewhat but franchising is the only true way I see to get scale.
As usual I have a list of questions:
- Do you have any suggestions/ideas that you'd like to see your plumber do?
- What should I focus on now to grow the business and make it worth something?
- Is it worth spending the time and energy on?
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