6 ms·

He should start buying some cheap tools of his own (to start with) and do weekend/night jobs for himself. If he's working on 1.5m homes I guarantee you there ar

He should start buying some cheap tools of his own (to start with) and do weekend/night jobs for himself. If he's working on 1.5m homes I guarantee you there are a ton of homeowners who need electrical jobs done. Get on Yelp, ask his customers to leave good reviews, and build a business. There are a ton of niches and other opportunities. For example being available during late hours. In anything like a large or medium city you can charge $150-350 per hour and people will happily pay it. Doing this while working for someone else is a good way to survive the initial ups and downs. If he builds a reputation for doing good work his clients will start begging him to quit his day job.

HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
If there's one thing that I've learned hanging out on /r/freelance, it's that most people are not cut out to be business owners.
- incongruity 4y ago
  Seems like a startup niche - a more idealized Uber for electricians - abstract the worst parts, help tradespeople keep more of the money their work produces.
  - macNchz 4y ago
    That is basically franchising, you exchange some cash upfront and ongoing royalties for a brand name and some level of support with training/business planning/marketing/leadgen/software etc. There’s a franchise for just about anything you can think of, and a surprising number local businesses in the US these days are actually franchises, not just fast food restaurants. Some are excellent and some are scams!
- lionelw 4y ago
  Can you elaborate why?
  - michaelt 4y ago
    The self-employed plumber has to accept phone calls when they're in the middle of a job, has to do a whole day's work then spend their evenings lining up future work, has to manage their schedule a long way in advance, has to keep commitments even in the face of illness and family emergencies, has to go around giving quotes to people many of whom are just comparing prices, has to manage cashflow and deliveries, has to make nice even with homeowners who are a pain in the ass, has to be able to sell potential customers on the quality of work they haven't yet done, has to deal with complaints, has to chase payment and deal with nonpaying customers, has to keep accounts and business records properly, and so on. A jobbing plumber just needs to text his buddies asking if they've got any work for him this week, do the job and leave with cash in hand the same day. If you're good at plumbing but disorganised or don't have great self-discipline, the latter is a much simpler way of working.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
      Very well said!
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
    A very significant number of freelancers think of themselves as employees. They struggle with "asking for raises," instead of telling their clients "this is my new rate." They are extremely depressed when a contract isn't renewed, or is terminated early "they fired me. Why?" They are dependent on a single client, let themselves form close relationships with that client's employees, have their working hours set for them, etc. Going into freelancing, the first thing you should be thinking is "I am a business that employs one person: me."
sobkas 4y ago
> He should start buying some cheap tools of his own (to start with) and do weekend/night jobs for himself. If he's working on 1.5m homes I guarantee you there are a ton of homeowners who need electrical jobs done. Get on Yelp, ask his customers to leave good reviews, and build a business. > There are a ton of niches and other opportunities. For example being available during late hours. In anything like a large or medium city you can charge $150-350 per hour and people will happily pay it. > Doing this while working for someone else is a good way to survive the initial ups and downs. If he builds a reputation for doing good work his clients will start begging him to quit his day job. Did you think about possibility that his current employer will crush him like an egg for competing with him on weekends?
- dnissley 4y ago
  How would they even know? Assuming they keep quiet about it
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Yeah, once the employer finds out, they've got enough business to quit.
    - fires10 4y ago
      Licensing is different for trade employers vs trade people.
      - Scoundreller 4y ago
        it depends.... sometimes licenses are different between working for yourself vs someone else. Other times your employer can't take on jobs without you and your license present. Then there's insurance differences between self-employed and employed ______ tradesperson.
  - viraptor 4y ago
    Depending on the size of the town / city, it could be trivial. There's ~6 companies doing electrical work in my town. Not only are they commented on / recommended on local social media, they see each other's quotes all the time when people compare prices. If someone started a new business, I suspect they'd all know within days/weeks. From other specialist non-trade business I'm familiar with, people are normally aware of new employees coming to town before they even start working. People talk to each other.
bluedino 4y ago
If he's union he can't do side jobs
- bluSCALE4 4y ago
  Unions pay living wages and provide insane health care and retirement packages. So I supposed when people say side jobs, they imply those working non union jobs.

HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago

If there's one thing that I've learned hanging out on /r/freelance, it's that most people are not cut out to be business owners.

incongruity 4y ago
Seems like a startup niche - a more idealized Uber for electricians - abstract the worst parts, help tradespeople keep more of the money their work produces.
- macNchz 4y ago
  That is basically franchising, you exchange some cash upfront and ongoing royalties for a brand name and some level of support with training/business planning/marketing/leadgen/software etc. There’s a franchise for just about anything you can think of, and a surprising number local businesses in the US these days are actually franchises, not just fast food restaurants. Some are excellent and some are scams!
lionelw 4y ago
Can you elaborate why?
- michaelt 4y ago
  The self-employed plumber has to accept phone calls when they're in the middle of a job, has to do a whole day's work then spend their evenings lining up future work, has to manage their schedule a long way in advance, has to keep commitments even in the face of illness and family emergencies, has to go around giving quotes to people many of whom are just comparing prices, has to manage cashflow and deliveries, has to make nice even with homeowners who are a pain in the ass, has to be able to sell potential customers on the quality of work they haven't yet done, has to deal with complaints, has to chase payment and deal with nonpaying customers, has to keep accounts and business records properly, and so on. A jobbing plumber just needs to text his buddies asking if they've got any work for him this week, do the job and leave with cash in hand the same day. If you're good at plumbing but disorganised or don't have great self-discipline, the latter is a much simpler way of working.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
    Very well said!
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
  A very significant number of freelancers think of themselves as employees. They struggle with "asking for raises," instead of telling their clients "this is my new rate." They are extremely depressed when a contract isn't renewed, or is terminated early "they fired me. Why?" They are dependent on a single client, let themselves form close relationships with that client's employees, have their working hours set for them, etc. Going into freelancing, the first thing you should be thinking is "I am a business that employs one person: me."

sobkas 4y ago

> He should start buying some cheap tools of his own (to start with) and do weekend/night jobs for himself. If he's working on 1.5m homes I guarantee you there are a ton of homeowners who need electrical jobs done. Get on Yelp, ask his customers to leave good reviews, and build a business. > There are a ton of niches and other opportunities. For example being available during late hours. In anything like a large or medium city you can charge $150-350 per hour and people will happily pay it. > Doing this while working for someone else is a good way to survive the initial ups and downs. If he builds a reputation for doing good work his clients will start begging him to quit his day job. Did you think about possibility that his current employer will crush him like an egg for competing with him on weekends?

dnissley 4y ago
How would they even know? Assuming they keep quiet about it
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Yeah, once the employer finds out, they've got enough business to quit.
  - fires10 4y ago
    Licensing is different for trade employers vs trade people.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      it depends.... sometimes licenses are different between working for yourself vs someone else. Other times your employer can't take on jobs without you and your license present. Then there's insurance differences between self-employed and employed ______ tradesperson.
- viraptor 4y ago
  Depending on the size of the town / city, it could be trivial. There's ~6 companies doing electrical work in my town. Not only are they commented on / recommended on local social media, they see each other's quotes all the time when people compare prices. If someone started a new business, I suspect they'd all know within days/weeks. From other specialist non-trade business I'm familiar with, people are normally aware of new employees coming to town before they even start working. People talk to each other.

bluedino 4y ago

If he's union he can't do side jobs

bluSCALE4 4y ago
Unions pay living wages and provide insane health care and retirement packages. So I supposed when people say side jobs, they imply those working non union jobs.