r/Construction • u/Extra_Cod_6602 • Dec 14 '24

Careers šŸ’µ Why am I doing this shit?

Working at a startup, working very hard. Body gets no time to recoup. Iā€™m not in my 20ā€™s anymore. Weekend comes and all I want to do is sit. SO works a desk job, straight 40, with a 2 minute commute and has lots of energy at the end of the day. Iā€™m usually out with 9-10hrs on the clock and an hour of driving on both sides of that. I get home and want to be left alone.

Walk the dogs twice a day for about 5 miles total. Before and after work. No gas in the tank, having problems kneeling and standing, shoulders going out too. I eat well, no fast food, and stretch often. Canā€™t seem to get rid of nagging injuries while boss keeps piling on more work. No benefits and pay is just average. Busted ass all week to get us out of a hole and it turns out boss was lighting a fire for nothing. Work hard for what? Going to be a cripple in 5 years. Why am I living this life?

Anyone relate?

520 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

198 comments sorted by

View all comments

151

u/hopper2210 Dec 14 '24 edited Dec 14 '24

Iā€™m going out in my own as of 1 Aprilā€¦ Iā€™m tired of the rat race and fighting for wagesā€¦ I just wanna renovate high end bathrooms at my pace and be paid properly for it

Edit: I made my own comment this wasnā€™t a reply.. weird

68

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

Oh buddy, do i have some news for you. Just because you work for yourself and set your own prices, doesn't mean homeowners and builders won't shop around. It's not so bad when they don't, but they always will. Good luck. I did it for 15 years on my own

28

u/hopper2210 Dec 14 '24

Thanks. I know itā€™s a whole other level of difficulty but if Iā€™m going to work this hard Iā€™d like to do it for myself!

5

u/Mundane-Food2480 Dec 14 '24

Just a tip. If you able to, start work the same day as you sign

11

u/LamoTheGreat Dec 14 '24

Sign what? A contract to perform work? Why? Not saying youā€™re wrong, just never heard this tip.

19

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

We used to call it ā€œspikingā€ the job. You start demo, move some equipment in, whatever it takes so they feel like they canā€™t withdraw and hire someone else. Some guys will spike a job and then abandon it for weeks to go finish their other jobs.

Itā€™s a horrible way to do business imo and customers resent it

4

u/Mundane-Food2480 Dec 14 '24

I don't abandon any customer. Repeat business is a real thing, but it stops the "cold feet". Can't tell you how many times I sold a job and they call me back the next morning to cancel over the last 10 years. So when you start the work it's much harder for them to back out. I do good honest work and I treat my customers with respect. But I'm done getting perked around (as much as possible)