Working on the side: Pt.6

Over the last week or so, I've been talking about my side business. Yesterday I wrote about how I learned to leave emotions out of the equation, and simply get a full-time job, and work my business on the side. Today, I'll talk about someone in an opposite position.

I have a friend whom is a plumber. Likely the most friendly guy I have ever met in my life. He is an entrepreneur, and fixes pipes and fixtures for a living, driving around in his company van, logo emblazoned on the sides. He is very good at his job, and has new, clean tools that perform any task he needs to do excellently.

At this point, he has little to no work.

Is it his fault? It he going about his business wrong?

I don't believe so. He's run ads in the newspaper for years, always kept his clients happy, and even hands out business cards at the parties he holds for his friends (and friends of friends.) He's been a mentor of mine for years, always giving me words of advice when I needed them.

But none of this has allowed him to stay successful.

He is suffering, much like I was when I tried to grow my 'little business' into a full-time endeavor. And he has watched his 'large business' shrink as time went on, and profit margins dwindled.

I know that it eats away at him inside, the losses, the lack of work. But he knows that it's not him. It's not his sparkling personality, or fine workspersonship.

He is in a reactive industry, where work is reliant on people's willingness to call for him.


They know he does a good job, and he is well priced for his service. But if a toilet isn't exploding, he doesn't get a call.

And this means he can't afford his mortgage payments, or put any money aside for his children's education. Christmas is a struggle.

This is really the point of this post:

Don't put all your eggs in one basket with a self-employing business.

• Work a full-time job that you can comfortably deal with.
• Work a side business that doesn't have a conflict of interest with your full-time job.
• Learn as much as you can about finances, frugal-living, investments, stock, shares, bonds, etc.
• Read financial blogs, and learn as much as you can.
• Learn a variety of skills (How to change oil, fix a toilet, paint a wall, etc) so you don't have to pay someone else.

These tips help me stay in a strong, independent financial position where I am able to live comfortably, but also save considerably for my future.





Do you know someone that has watched their business disappear before their eyes?
Have you had the duty of telling someone that they can't do their dream full-time?
Let me know! :)

Working on the side: Pt.5

Over the last couple of days, I have written a fair amount about how I overreached with my business, and allowed my emotions to get the better of my business sense.

Today, I'll look at a few general tips that worked well for me, and helped me cope with my business 'underperforming' in my mind.

1)  The big one was taking my business performance too personally, and trying too hard.

I've found that this is a big mistake for a few reasons:

• You can't make people buy things from you. You can only make your 'product' as appealing as possible.
• In 'service' industries, you are called when you are needed, not when you are broke and need work to pay the rent.
• People often wait a very long time before having their belongings serviced - Often because they believe it can be more cost-effective to buy a new one, and throw the old one out.
• People may like you, and give your card out, but that doesn't guarantee any work, ever.

It's part waiting game, and part painful effort, made all the more difficult if you sit around and worry, or sweat every single second that you don't get work/calls/sales.

I realized that I was stressing myself sick, sounding desperate on calls, and advertising door-to-door, which I didn't want to do in the first place. So I made a decision.

2)  Start applying for jobs.

Not just any work though - I only applied for jobs that I could reasonably see myself doing, longer term, and without a ridiculous level of stress. I didn't want to burn out.

Part of the reason I had went to self-employment was a string of jobs at places where employee satisfaction was valued lower then the muck we swept off the floors. Staples was one such place.

So, I finally got my interview for my current position as a key & inventory management support specialist, and for all intensive purposes, it is leagues better then anything I've ever had before. The stress level is also manageable, so I can still take work on the side, and not let it frazzle me too badly

3)  A full-time /side business split means less money stress, more stability, and better earning without the risk.

I can't describe how great it feel to be able to put away that extra money from my side business, and place it in my 'future savings' account.

The strangest thing about the entire arrangement is that I am getting more side business work now, after I started a full-time job then ever before.

It's seems to be very true, at least in my case:

4)  People call more and pay more to busy people.

I have a friend that I will talk about tomorrow that is in the opposite position, through no fault of his own.




Do you have a side business that you enjoy?
Do you trust busy people more?
Let me know! :)

Working on the side: Pt.4

Last-day, I was just about at the bottom of my side business venture, or at least it sure as heck felt like it.

I had called in nearly all my prospects from my back-list of clients, without a single bite. I felt incredibly rejected, and din't really know what to do. My grandpa, one of my major mentors, had suggested that it was because I was in a 'reactive business'.


That is, 'Don't call your customers, they call you'.

I still wasn't satisfied with that. I still felt as through they had 'betrayed' me, and went with other service providers (pizza techs that work for nothing).

But then, out of the blue, a few days later, I get a call from one of my oldest clients. Seems he had 3 units that needed work done, and a 4th one built. I took the call, and made an appointment as professionally as I could, trying had to sound unsurprised that he had called me back.

He actually thanked me for calling him, and offering him such a good deal - He had recently had someone else do work for him (a bit cheaper then my rates, he admitted), but the work was shoddy, and he wasn't at all satisfied.

In fact, the other tech had up and disappeared on him when he had an issue, taking the money with him.

I honestly couldn't imagine doing that, considering how I was trying to make as good a reputation as possible. So, went to his home office, and performed the job. It took nearly 2 days with all the things that needed to be done, and he was positive during the whole thing, even when I handed him a healthy invoice.

He was happy to pay me because he knew I did good work.

I also handed him a few business cards, and asked him if he knew anyone else that needed work done. He said he did, and I should expect a call in the coming weeks.

So, I felt like a true entrepreneur again, a fat cheque in hand. It seems I was making my business much more dramatic then it had to be.

And that's really the secret of owning a business. It's not about emotions, or personal grudges, or feeling like you're being cheated.

For me, owning a successful business is about doing a solid, reliable job, and slowly growing your client base through excellent referrals and excellent workspersonship. This is the best way.

Today, I do not perform my business full time, or even what I would call part time. I simply get a few calls a week, and schedule them in when I am able to get to them. Most of my clients are more then happy to wait a bit longer.

Quite frankly, if you look busy, people will wait longer, and pay you more.

I tell my clients that I am booked up during nearly every day, and that I am only able to get to them after 5:00PM (When my day-job ends, but I do not tell them I have a day-job.). They always are very understanding, and we come to a compromise on when and where is best.

Tomorrow, I'll throw out some general tips about how I make my side business successful.





Do you have any tips for prospective entrepreneurs?
When was a time you let emotions over-run your business sense?
Let me know :)!

Working on the side: Pt.3

Last time I wrote about my side work, I had just bought my 'first pair of professional shoes' and was busily calling all my previous clients to drum up business.

It was at this point I was getting nowhere, fast.

I combed through my phone lists, categorizing people by the last time I had served them, and how much I charged. I attempted to recall if they seemed to like me or not. In my mind, it seemed like everyone liked me, as I was pleasant and helpful, and I gave them a good deal.

Yet, every person turned me down, and shied away from my services, even when I offered them for nearly free.

What was my problem? I couldn't believe that people wouldn't want to have my do work for them for free. I looked good, I brushed my teeth, and even brought magnets for their fridges, so they would always have my name and number.

I talked with my grandpa. He's basically about the nicest guy on the outside, but he dishes out the cold hard truth if you ask.

"You're trying too hard. People don't want you right now, and by pushing, you're pushing them away. Don't bother people when they don't need you. They'll bother you when they need you."

So, I was trying too hard, and pushing too hard. I was coming off like an overbearing salesman, trying to make a quick buck. I worried that I had ruined the few client contacts I'd had, crushing the tenuous lines of communication under my giant boot of irritating salesmanship.

But if I was offering my services for free, then why did they turn me down?

I wasn't going to make any money on the deal. In-fact I was going to lose money in gas and travel to go to these people's houses.

And if I didn't call people, how would they know I existed to request my services?

It was a catch-22.
I couldn't get work if I didn't contact them, and if I did contact them, I wouldn't get work. I was understandably distraught.

But most of all, I felt like a complete failure.

Where could I go from here?
I'll let you know tommorrow :).






Have you ever felt like a failure in your business?
How do you cope with the tough times?
Let me know :).

Working on the side: Pt.2

Yesterday, I wrote about how I use my side businesses, and how I had some rough beginnings.

Actually, we'll say I was rough for a long time, working hard to promote my business, but getting basically nowhere. I couldn't beg people to let me do work for them.

Then I realized:

Begging is not professional.

In order to have people recognize me as professional, I would have to show it in every iota of my appearance and candor. This must be the secret of the 'pros'.

By walking and talking like a duck, I would, in-fact become a duck.

So, I went out and bought some very nice new clothes. Fine-spun golf shirts, not that different then the ones I had worn when I worked at Staples. Well-tailored dress pants, and new shoes. Even a big bag of fine-threaded dress socks. I scraped off the white golf-logos from the sleeves with a exacto-knife, and stood in the mirror, admiring the 'professionally cut' figure that peered back at me.

I was absolutely ready to make money.

I felt a run of 'professionalism' in my blood, and called up some of my previous customers that day, to offer them a new 'service special'. I smiled while I spoke, and said more 'pleases' and 'thank yous' then I care to remember. I called over half my back library of 'clients', most of whom were family friends, or referrals from them.

By the time I was through, I was beat, like a I had run a marathon. Not a single new lead. Not a single person wanted me to work on their unit, even for free. I had been brushed off, in the most polite ways, of course, that they had 'already taken it elsewhere' or 'didn't need any more work done'.

Now, it is very reasonable to think that they really did simply not need anything done.  But we are talking about people that haven't had me (or anyone else to my knowledge) work on the unit for a year or two. I offered a 'annual tuneup/clean up' and they were strongly not interested.

What did I do wrong?

There were a few reasons that I didn't get the resounding response I wanted, and to give you a hint:
It had nothing to do with my shoes.




Have you ever been brushed off by a client?
What did you do to solve it?
Let me know! :)

Working on the side: Pt.1

I am a key & inventory management support specialist. This means that I install and support these systems in-person, over the phone, and with remote access on my PC.

It's a pretty decent job - I don't have to travel away from my family much, and the money is decent. I work at a small company, so I see the owner several times, every day. This can up the stress level a bit, but inside, he really is a decent guy, even if he tends to get overcome with some of the daily challenges of running the business.

My side work is what tends to 'drive' me more.

My first business is fixing computers, that is, laptops, desktops, and most consumer electronics. It makes good money, when there is work!

My second business is a store on e-bay. I am in the process of handing this over to my parents, as my mother has nothing to do with her days (she is retired), and my dad can generally get through any technical stuff that she gets caught on.

Between these these two side businesses, I am kept pretty busy. I tend to have some computer repair work a few times a week, so I'll spend my evenings working on laptops, taking them apart (which satisfies the part of me that is creative and curious), and when I'm not doing that, I'm writing here on my blog.

My suggestion to anyone that is looking at starting a side business?

Do it.

But my grandpa once told me (being self-employed for over 25 years now), in order to make it, you have to be excellent at what you do. You have to have to be one of the best, confident to a fault, and strong in your convictions.

Most of all, you have to have patience.

You won't make it in a week. Or a month. Or a year. Maybe not even ever.

You have to accept that you will have months without a single 'call' or 'order' or 'sale'. Maybe even a string of many months.

When I was first starting out, I couldn't even beg people to give me work, even for pennies on the dollar of what I wanted to charge. People didn't trust me, didn't see me as a professional.

And really, they were right.

I hadn't realized what one of the most powerful forces is when you are starting a business.

Tune in tommorrow, and I'll let you know ;-).



Have you ever run a business?
What are your thoughts about how to start?
When did you realize it was 'for you' or not?
Let me know! :).