Turning my job into a learning tool

[GoodluckChuck]

Old Title: Turning Down a Partnership to Pursue Entrepreneurship

Ill make this brief. I've been Remodeling homes for a long time. Three months ago I was hired by a General Contractor with the possibility of becoming a partner some day. So far I am blowing away expectations because I am business minded and driven to succeed. I'm also really good at building stuff.
When I was hired I thought progressing in Remodeling was my dream. I've always wanted to be a business man. When people have asked me what I want to do with my life I've always said I would like to have a business that can operate without me. They always laughed. I took this to mean it wasn't achievable, so I dreamed of self employment.
About two months ago I picked up TML. It changed the way I view business. It's also affected my perception of time. Time is now my most precious resource and my vision is taking me in a direction that frees up my time. I want to enjoy life and spend as much time as possible with my family.
Because of my performance the owner of the company is demanding I become a partner now. He wants my help getting his business to grow. He wants me to be the key operator. I tell him I only want to be part of a business that is moving towards being structured in a way that employees can handle major functions so the business can stop being over reliant on any one person. If you know anything about remodeling, due to the complexity, there is usually a key operator in the business in which it would not run without them. It's usually the Founder. I hate this aspect. If that one person gets sick the business struggles. If they decide to quit, production halts. That seems dumb to me.
With my changes in perception and vision of freedom driving me, I'm about to give up the highest paying position I've ever held with a promise for business ownership to pursue my own endeavors. I'm not exactly sure what they are now and it's scaring the shit out of me. The only thing that scares me more is committing to a partnership with someone that doesn't share my vision.
When I lose this job it will be back to the hustle. I have to believe in myself that I can find a way. Sink or swim.

Here goes nothing.

TLDR: I was given an ultimatum to become business partner. I can't in my right mind do that so I'm thinking it's the end of the highest paying job I've ever had. Sink or swim time.

 

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[KSR]

Is there absolutely no way you can do that part-time?

 

[GoodluckChuck]

Is there absolutely no way you can do that part-time?

It would require I work 40-60 hours per week depending on what's going on. Total commitment.

 

[jon.a]

It sounds like he was trying to live your dream using you as the one that allowed him to step back

 

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[GoodluckChuck]

It sounds like he was trying to live your dream using you as the one that allowed him to step back

Spot on! Had he asked me 6 mo ago I probably would have gone along with it.

 

[GoodluckChuck]

Little update.

This last week has been kind of brutal for the business I am employed by.

Last year was the best year ever for the business but this year has been kind of a struggle.

I explained to my boss the many reasons why I am not interested in a partnership at this time.

• Lack of control
• Lack of sellable business system
• My reluctance to commit to someone else's business

After a few days he has accepted the reality he is in. He has a business that is a really good job. It's not an actual business as we would understand it from the fast lane mindset.

I have been really worried about losing this job, I'm not gonna lie. While I fully intend on pursuing my own businesses, I plan on doing it while keeping the income from a job. Losing this one would put a lot of pressure on me and my relationship and force me to run before I can crawl, or take a much lesser paying job. Though that is kind of exciting, I don't think it's optimal for me.

Anyway the results of the last week are better than I could have expected. I decided to make a go at having the best of both worlds, business and job.

I spent the last month building a website for the business with no prior knowledge. I've been ankle deep in researching all avenues of marketing, sales, business systems, etc. I want to learn this stuff for myself and my job is affording me the opportunity to test out my knowledge on an actual business without risking my livelihood.

I work in construction, so my past is full of building stuff. To be getting paid to learn the business side of things that can be applied to any other business is a blessing. In the last month I have changed my job from a carpenter into a businessman while keeping the same pay and benefits. It's great for the owner too because he is getting some cheap business consulting. I don't pretend I am an expert but you don't have to read many business books to realize that the main things are pretty simple. If it's complicated you're doing it wrong.

My goal now is to make myself as valuable as I can by bettering my skills in all areas of business success. It's like a case study in business. I learn and get paid to do it. How cool is that?

TLDR: A week ago I was about to leave the company because I was under pressure to become a business partner. Through honesty and hard work I've managed to keep my job and change it to give me the opportunity to learn the business skills I will need to run my own future businesses.

 

[G-Man]

I have been really worried about losing this job, I'm not gonna lie.

I once had a job that I was really worried about losing. It was, to this day, the highest paid slowlane job I have ever had. I made a good living because I worked probably 80 hrs a week if you included all the weekends I was glued to my phone and laptop. The owners loved me because I'm a naturally responsible person and I treated their business like my own.

When I finally inevitably quit, it was about the most relieved feeling I've ever had.

I have this feeling that when you finally get to the end of this, you're gonna think "I was worried about this? I feel so much better"

Good luck.... and don't be afraid of shit that isn't that scary. You're not gonna quit your job then wake up the next morning as an orphan in South Sudan. It's a job, not a real crisis.

 

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[GoodluckChuck]

Thanks @G-Man. You're right. I've had a similar experience as you with most jobs that I've had. Your words gave me a little better perspective than I had before. The transition from the slow lane mindset to the fast lane mindset comes with some growing pains.

Mind if I ask what kind of job you were doing?

 

[G-Man]

Mind if I ask what kind of job you were doing?

I was a controller who somehow ended up doing the logistics management too.

 

[GDalf]

Old Title: Turning Down a Partnership to Pursue Entrepreneurship

I tell him I only want to be part of a business that is moving towards being structured in a way that employees can handle major functions so the business can stop being over reliant on any one person. If you know anything about remodeling, due to the complexity, there is usually a key operator in the business in which it would not run without them. It's usually the Founder. I hate this aspect. If that one person gets sick the business struggles. If they decide to quit, production halts. That seems dumb to me.

Hey OP,

I know nothing about remodeling, but do you think you could start a similar type business to the stuff you want to do, where the business does not have to run through a key operator?

What if you spent extra time hiring the best employees who you gave more extensive training to, so they didn't need you every day? What if you paid them well to keep them motivated, perhaps giving them a small percentage of each deal as well? Don't just remodel the houses, remodel the business

 

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[GoodluckChuck]

Hey OP,

I know nothing about remodeling, but do you think you could start a similar type business to the stuff you want to do, where the business does not have to run through a key operator?

What if you spent extra time hiring the best employees who you gave more extensive training to, so they didn't need you every day? What if you paid them well to keep them motivated, perhaps giving them a small percentage of each deal as well? Don't just remodel the houses, remodel the business

That would be the goal for me If I started a Remodeling company. The problem with Remodeling is that it's so complex. It takes a combination of a lot of experience and a lot of troubleshooting skills. There aren't a lot of employees out there that are qualified to be relied upon for this. The people that are qualified typically own their own small remodeling business.
A similar business that is scalable is something like a fencing business. If you only build fences you can easily hire and train people to build fences consistently. Grow this to 10 crews building 10 fences at a time and you can earn as much if not more than remodeling whole houses. Remodeling whole houses requires sufficient experience in all the different trades and building situations. Every house is built a little different and each one has hidden surprises waiting to be discovered and dealt with on the fly as you don't find them until the house is torn apart. Add homeowners (people) to this mix and you have a balancing act of emotions, expectations, and construction to deal with. This is why 9x% of the industry is key owner operators.

I am hesitant about sticking with Remodeling because of its gigantic barriers to scalability. Also, large Remodeling firms are succeptable to changes in the overall market economy so if a recession happens, business can come to a halt.

For right now I believe full service Remodeling (General Contractors) is best suited to self employed long term Contractors. It's difficult to build a staff that is qualified to handle this stuff on their own and if you did build a staff like this, keeping them would be the next challenge. It's so easy to start a construction business because all it takes is a license and insurance. A lot of states don't even require a test for the license. Because of this a lot of people get some skills and then start their own company. They end up self employed and a lot of people are happy with this. They are their own boss even if they just earn an average wage.

I think it's possible to keep a good staff but only by giving them very high pay and sacrificing owner profits. With an industry standard of 10%net profit their isn't a ton of wiggle room.

The times are changing and less and less people want to work a hard labor job and get paid a wage. As we transition into the Information Age from the Industrial Age businesses will have to adapt to the changing mentailities of people. I see more coop style businesses where the employees are all part owners.

Interesting times. Robots are coming too...