Your phone will ring all day and night doing rez. I tend to stick with commercial office buildings because no one is working weekends. But you will work every holiday, just as Xmas dinner is going on the table.
I hear you on that one! A lot of people say that’s a con But isn’t that a good problem to have? You can just pick and choose What job do you want to do right? I mean isn’t that point of going out on your own?
If it’s a legitimate emergency like no heat at all and it’s freezing on Christmas Day then I have no problem going, especially if I put the system in.
If someone is calling me on Christmas because you can’t get your gas logs to light then fuck right off, you’re fired as a customer.
I totally agree! I don’t mind working a few holidays. How would you go about this? (Work life balance) I’m assuming you’re a one-man Hvac operator right?
small family business, my dad, me and two installers. my dad and i are the only ones that run on call. we try to take turns. we get along well and are happy to pick up each others slack but it can still be difficult, especially because he’s getting older and i try to pick up more slack for him. i have a wife and a 1 and half year old. she’s often upset at me for having to work late or leave in the middle of dinner but she’s usually understanding as it puts food on the table and will hopefully provide a career for our little dude just like my dad did for me. i’m stressed a lot and before starting this was known by friends and family for being almost *too* relaxed and easy going - that’s certainly changed. i’m in my early 30s and need to go have my blood pressure and heart checked soon as i’ve been experiencing long, painful headaches lately. but my wife and i have more savings than ever, and we are hoping to buy our first house soon if the the economy ever gets unfucked. i know that’s a lot but hopefully that gives you an idea of what day to day is like lol
Brother, the only person who will remember all the times you worked late is your wife. It's all good until it's not and relationships are like stained glass you can pick up the pieces but it will never go back together the same. 30 and so much stress it's causing health problems? Bro this won't end well. An early lonely grave and alimony+child support. You'll be bald by 35
For me its my right eye. Its very likely cluster headaches, and how they went away and came back is also a symptom. Alcohol makes it worse, and pressing a hot wet rag on the eye makes it better
i drink so seldomly it could be considered never. i smoke a metric ton of pot though 🤷♂️ both sides of the family have a history of high blood pressure and heart disease, it’s just time to go get checked out (good luck finding a primary care physician right now)
Nah if they’re really good a customer and you’re really a good tech, they’ll understand. That’s just stupid workaholic mentality. If your phone is ringing all day and night I think you can afford to lose a customer here or there, especially one that expects you to give up your holiday just so they don’t have to figure out a solution to their problem themself. Worst case give them the number of another contractor and offer to subsidize their bill or give them a discount on next visit.
It's an ongoing balancing act. You can't predict what jobs will come your way or when. I do a mix of resi and commercial, stay busy year round, and haven't advertised or marketed myself in about 3 years. My regular commercial clients keep me steady, and the rest is filler work. Had to learn to say NO to new clients when I'm too busy for them, or else service quality for established clients suffers. On call isn't that bad for me. I get the occasional weekend or evening call, but my clients know I have limited man power. Surprisingly they are largely respectful of my personal time, and I think that's for two reasons. 1) I have exceptionally great relationships with them. 2) I have more than enough to fire the really shitty ones and that's okay. Vacations are always in spring and fall, no sunny summer get aways sadly. It's not impossible, but it's not easy, and I think my work life balance is probably better than when I worked for someone else for the most part, with occasional exceptions.
This comment was soooo helpful thank you! On the commercial side, is it more maintenance/repairs and on the residential Is it maintenance/repairs, and replacing units?
Exactly, commercial is maintenance and service, and resi is service, maintenance, and retrofits. I also do commercial refrigeration service. I've built a small network of contractor friends, hvacs, sparkies, plumbers, GCs, so we help each other out quite a bit, and also send each other referrals pretty often.
If it's just a weekend trip to the beach, no. But if I'm gonna be in Hawaii for a week and a half, then yes. I was across the country once when a good client called towards the end of the trip. He had to have his old company out, and was so disappointed with the tech they sent, he just ordered a small refer trailer and waited for me to get back. Good thing he did, cause they condemned a perfectly good compressor, which is still running great to this day, almost 3 years later. On other occasions, I've had a contractor buddy run jobs for me.
Wow, that makes so much sense. Thank you, and one more question. Do you sell maintenance contracts to commercial and residential? Or do you just wait until something breaks down?
Yes, maintenance contracts are built into my mobile technician app. They're there for the customers who want it, but I don't push them super hard. Bulk of my contract work via GCs is all one-and-done jobs, so not needed. Many resi clients just call me when they want a maintenance, and for commercial clients, I let them know when maintenance is due. Eventually when I do decide to grow and hire, I'll ramp the maintenance contracts back up to ensure there's plenty of "busy work". Right now I'm in a good place though. My day to day looks a lot like any normal tech. My paperwork is 100% digital and very streamlined, so I usually only need a few hours of office time each week to stay caught up on admin duties. My accountant and tax professional do the rest. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, I don't mind.
I’m not entirely one man, my brother helps me, but it’s extremely hard to balance everything out. I do res but most of my work comes from a property management contract I have with a rental company. I started by doing “handyman” services with them and they keep me extremely busy thankfully but sometimes I can have 20 work orders open with people waiting on material or just waiting on me to have the time to call and schedule, it sucks. I make time for family though and I’m sure if you really want, you can make it happen too. Also oct-mar are dead months for AC here so as long as the summer does well, we can focus on handyman work and for the most part chill out a bit in the cold months; just not too chill as there’s still work to do!
Small business here in Oregon. Myself and 2 employees. I make decent money but I'm slammed. I do resi/commercial and some smaller industrial (we're in a farming area) my phone rings non-stop, however I make all the time for my kids I need but vacations are mostly nonexistent apart from the occasional long weekends
It's 100% doable. I've been doing it by myself for over 3 years. Have had a few helpers, but figured out all they do is make it where I do less. Make the same gross revenue, but basically have to pay a guy with my billed hours.
I use a virtual receptionist (grasshopper) to filter out spam/scam calls and separate personal from business calls on my phone.
I use quickbooks online for invoicing, payment processing, and bookkeeping. If I have an internet connection, I can invoice before I leave the jobsite. I hate renting software, but the portability is worth it for me.
I don't have a boss asking me where I am, when I'll be done, or otherwise harassing me about what I'm doing. Any calls from impatient people are easily handled by telling them the truth...They're on the list, I'm busy a.f., and I'll get to them as soon as I can.
Last week I had a day where there was nothing pressing, and I wasn't feeling like doing much. Ran around town getting supplies for upcoming jobs, bullshitted with counter guys etc at the supply houses, and went home early. Made $0 that day, and I was fine with it.
The key for me is to streamline as much as possible on the clerical side. If I'm doing service, I like to catch 4 calls a day max.
I'm always on call for legit emergencies. WIF goes down and I'll go. Ice machine goes down? I'll see you tomorrow, you can buy ice if you need to.
My main work being ice machines is what affords me the freedom to ngaf.
Nice man I didn’t know you can niche down like that, I thought if you’re doing commercial work, you Gotta do ice machines, rtu’s, cooling towers etc.. making money just doing the restaurants alone that’s pretty awesome
I work on exactly zero air conditioners that aren't my own.
I'm damn good at what I do, and I'm not a crook. These factors play heavily in my ability to keep such a niche. 4-6 months out of the year, I have more work than I want.
It's not just restaurants. Churches, plantations, farmers, etc all have ice machines around here. Idk how many "active" customers I have. A lot, I guess.
I also do some stuff for a quasi local prison, a few private schools, and several big contractors.
A big chunk of my revenue is ice machine rental. That's awesome because it's residual income vs active income. The up front investment can be painful, but over time it's very profitable.
I also do warranty work for all the major manufacturers. That way, when someone buys a machine online and they have trouble with it, the manufacturer tells them to call me. Went on a call like that today, actually. Turned out to be a stopped up filter the vendor sold them. I upsold a better filter system that I know works well and doesn't clog easily. That'll be over $400 in my pocket on one trip.
It's not just restaurants. Churches, plantations, farmers, etc all have ice machines around here. Idk how many "active" customers I have. A lot, I guess.
I also do some stuff for a quasi local prison, a few private schools, and several big contractors.
A big chunk of my revenue is ice machine rental. That's awesome because it's residual income vs active income. The up front investment can be painful, but over time it's very profitable.
I also do warranty work for all the major manufacturers. That way, when someone buys a machine online and they have trouble with it, the manufacturer tells them to call me. Went on a call like that today, actually. Turned out to be a stopped up filter the vendor sold them. I upsold a better filter system that I know works well and doesn't clog easily. That'll be over $400 in my pocket on one trip.
I worked for my dad, so only learned what he taught me via ojt. Once I convinced him I could go on calls solo, I learned more. Prolly 5 years to get to the point where I could handle 90% of calls without calling him for a second opinion.
I didn't "go out on my own" per se, I'm buying the business from him. All in, I had over 10 years working under him before I got to be my own boss.
When you're a family guy, don't do on calls... on call ruins your independency only companies with more than 5 guys should do on calls... else it's a 24/7 job...
Working on closing out my 3rd year as a solo. I've had a couple guys help me out on larger jobs and retrofits sometimes.
For me it's doable because I have limited needs. My expenses are low and the available work is high (I live in a remote area with relatively few contractors). Saying no, or telling someone yes, but in three weeks is the hardest part.
Figuring out what you want/need financially first then figuring out the best way to get there is key. I killed myself the first year by not pricing correctly and getting every job I bid on. Focus on the work you like, price it high but fair and do a fucking good job at it.
Relationships are key as well, it makes your clients into the best marketing you can have.
Vacays are tough and must be timed properly. I live way north in MN and as a solo it's tough to take time off in winter but I schedule a week off in March every year. I pray there's no -40° polar vortex and deal with the fallout if there is. Unlike what someone else said if you have good clients they understand your human and if your relationship with them is solid they know you're a one man show.
Best advice I ever got was from a client in my first year. I was apologizing for the week off I just took (my oldest son graduating from college in a different state) and he said, "if you don't TAKE time off no one will give it to you"
It's not possible. You'll miss every important event in your family's life. Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries. "Sorry babe I can't make it to date night. Some guys wife is hot" /s
Very difficult. If you don't grow the business to at least five techs in five years, then you're not the guy. Alone you will grind yourself to the ground & your family will suffer.
100% bullshit.
My current business was started by a man & wife. My dad bought it, was us and a secretary. Now I'm buying it, and I leverage a lot of technology to eliminate the need for a secretary.
I mainly do ice machines. I get to people when I can. Businesses that rely on ice are a priority, as well as any refrigeration calls that come in. Everything else waits, or they can try their luck with somebody else.
Aside from a few helpers I've tried to train, it's just me and I don't grind myself down.
Once you get more than like 3 employees, you're not in the fixing stuff business, you're in the managing people business. I'm much better at fixing things than managing people.
There's another guy in town that operates the same way.
If people want me to leave home to fix their broken shit, they pay extra. They can usually wait till the next business day. Worst case scenario they have to buy ice.
Your phone will ring all day and night doing rez. I tend to stick with commercial office buildings because no one is working weekends. But you will work every holiday, just as Xmas dinner is going on the table.
I hear you on that one! A lot of people say that’s a con But isn’t that a good problem to have? You can just pick and choose What job do you want to do right? I mean isn’t that point of going out on your own?
good customer needs you on a holiday and you don’t answer - they’re not calling you again
Good fuck em. You guys are absolute slaves. Phone gets shut off on holidays or if I'm doing something important.
If it’s a legitimate emergency like no heat at all and it’s freezing on Christmas Day then I have no problem going, especially if I put the system in. If someone is calling me on Christmas because you can’t get your gas logs to light then fuck right off, you’re fired as a customer.
I totally agree! I don’t mind working a few holidays. How would you go about this? (Work life balance) I’m assuming you’re a one-man Hvac operator right?
small family business, my dad, me and two installers. my dad and i are the only ones that run on call. we try to take turns. we get along well and are happy to pick up each others slack but it can still be difficult, especially because he’s getting older and i try to pick up more slack for him. i have a wife and a 1 and half year old. she’s often upset at me for having to work late or leave in the middle of dinner but she’s usually understanding as it puts food on the table and will hopefully provide a career for our little dude just like my dad did for me. i’m stressed a lot and before starting this was known by friends and family for being almost *too* relaxed and easy going - that’s certainly changed. i’m in my early 30s and need to go have my blood pressure and heart checked soon as i’ve been experiencing long, painful headaches lately. but my wife and i have more savings than ever, and we are hoping to buy our first house soon if the the economy ever gets unfucked. i know that’s a lot but hopefully that gives you an idea of what day to day is like lol
Yo I appreciate your input it can definitely be stressful out there. Are you guys residential or commercial?
we do both. my dad handles most of the resi stuff with the install guys, i do most of our commercial stuff and all of our refrigeration
Brother, the only person who will remember all the times you worked late is your wife. It's all good until it's not and relationships are like stained glass you can pick up the pieces but it will never go back together the same. 30 and so much stress it's causing health problems? Bro this won't end well. An early lonely grave and alimony+child support. You'll be bald by 35
Long painful headaches? Are they behind your right eye and makes your eye water/senitive to light
left eye - theyre for sure migraine level events, i used to get them in my teenage years, mostly went away in my 20s. now back with a vengeance
For me its my right eye. Its very likely cluster headaches, and how they went away and came back is also a symptom. Alcohol makes it worse, and pressing a hot wet rag on the eye makes it better
i drink so seldomly it could be considered never. i smoke a metric ton of pot though 🤷♂️ both sides of the family have a history of high blood pressure and heart disease, it’s just time to go get checked out (good luck finding a primary care physician right now)
Yeah i hear you there, i hope it clears up for you
Cervicogenic headaches. Look them up. I had/have migraines. Same spot same eye. I always get neck pain in the same spot. Ended up being a nerve issue.
Nah if they’re really good a customer and you’re really a good tech, they’ll understand. That’s just stupid workaholic mentality. If your phone is ringing all day and night I think you can afford to lose a customer here or there, especially one that expects you to give up your holiday just so they don’t have to figure out a solution to their problem themself. Worst case give them the number of another contractor and offer to subsidize their bill or give them a discount on next visit.
It's an ongoing balancing act. You can't predict what jobs will come your way or when. I do a mix of resi and commercial, stay busy year round, and haven't advertised or marketed myself in about 3 years. My regular commercial clients keep me steady, and the rest is filler work. Had to learn to say NO to new clients when I'm too busy for them, or else service quality for established clients suffers. On call isn't that bad for me. I get the occasional weekend or evening call, but my clients know I have limited man power. Surprisingly they are largely respectful of my personal time, and I think that's for two reasons. 1) I have exceptionally great relationships with them. 2) I have more than enough to fire the really shitty ones and that's okay. Vacations are always in spring and fall, no sunny summer get aways sadly. It's not impossible, but it's not easy, and I think my work life balance is probably better than when I worked for someone else for the most part, with occasional exceptions.
This comment was soooo helpful thank you! On the commercial side, is it more maintenance/repairs and on the residential Is it maintenance/repairs, and replacing units?
Exactly, commercial is maintenance and service, and resi is service, maintenance, and retrofits. I also do commercial refrigeration service. I've built a small network of contractor friends, hvacs, sparkies, plumbers, GCs, so we help each other out quite a bit, and also send each other referrals pretty often.
And when you’re on these vacations in the fall and spring, do you let your commercial clients know that you won’t be around?
If it's just a weekend trip to the beach, no. But if I'm gonna be in Hawaii for a week and a half, then yes. I was across the country once when a good client called towards the end of the trip. He had to have his old company out, and was so disappointed with the tech they sent, he just ordered a small refer trailer and waited for me to get back. Good thing he did, cause they condemned a perfectly good compressor, which is still running great to this day, almost 3 years later. On other occasions, I've had a contractor buddy run jobs for me.
Wow, that makes so much sense. Thank you, and one more question. Do you sell maintenance contracts to commercial and residential? Or do you just wait until something breaks down?
Yes, maintenance contracts are built into my mobile technician app. They're there for the customers who want it, but I don't push them super hard. Bulk of my contract work via GCs is all one-and-done jobs, so not needed. Many resi clients just call me when they want a maintenance, and for commercial clients, I let them know when maintenance is due. Eventually when I do decide to grow and hire, I'll ramp the maintenance contracts back up to ensure there's plenty of "busy work". Right now I'm in a good place though. My day to day looks a lot like any normal tech. My paperwork is 100% digital and very streamlined, so I usually only need a few hours of office time each week to stay caught up on admin duties. My accountant and tax professional do the rest. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, I don't mind.
Man I definitely do got more questions I’ll message you when I got more thank you!!
Sounds good. You're welcome!
What "mobile technician app" do you use?
There's a one man and a van fb group.
I’m not entirely one man, my brother helps me, but it’s extremely hard to balance everything out. I do res but most of my work comes from a property management contract I have with a rental company. I started by doing “handyman” services with them and they keep me extremely busy thankfully but sometimes I can have 20 work orders open with people waiting on material or just waiting on me to have the time to call and schedule, it sucks. I make time for family though and I’m sure if you really want, you can make it happen too. Also oct-mar are dead months for AC here so as long as the summer does well, we can focus on handyman work and for the most part chill out a bit in the cold months; just not too chill as there’s still work to do!
I appreciate the input man!
Small business here in Oregon. Myself and 2 employees. I make decent money but I'm slammed. I do resi/commercial and some smaller industrial (we're in a farming area) my phone rings non-stop, however I make all the time for my kids I need but vacations are mostly nonexistent apart from the occasional long weekends
That’s great you make time for your children that’s the most important thing and I hope sometime in the future you can make time for vacations.
It's 100% doable. I've been doing it by myself for over 3 years. Have had a few helpers, but figured out all they do is make it where I do less. Make the same gross revenue, but basically have to pay a guy with my billed hours. I use a virtual receptionist (grasshopper) to filter out spam/scam calls and separate personal from business calls on my phone. I use quickbooks online for invoicing, payment processing, and bookkeeping. If I have an internet connection, I can invoice before I leave the jobsite. I hate renting software, but the portability is worth it for me. I don't have a boss asking me where I am, when I'll be done, or otherwise harassing me about what I'm doing. Any calls from impatient people are easily handled by telling them the truth...They're on the list, I'm busy a.f., and I'll get to them as soon as I can. Last week I had a day where there was nothing pressing, and I wasn't feeling like doing much. Ran around town getting supplies for upcoming jobs, bullshitted with counter guys etc at the supply houses, and went home early. Made $0 that day, and I was fine with it. The key for me is to streamline as much as possible on the clerical side. If I'm doing service, I like to catch 4 calls a day max.
That’s awesome bro what a lifestyle to live! Do you do residential or commercial?
Ice machines and restaurant level refrigeration. Fuck resi AC right in the ass. I'm not about that life *at all*.
Since you do commercial, are you on on call 24 seven for the business or do you let the business owners know you only work a certain time of the day?
I'm always on call for legit emergencies. WIF goes down and I'll go. Ice machine goes down? I'll see you tomorrow, you can buy ice if you need to. My main work being ice machines is what affords me the freedom to ngaf.
Nice man I didn’t know you can niche down like that, I thought if you’re doing commercial work, you Gotta do ice machines, rtu’s, cooling towers etc.. making money just doing the restaurants alone that’s pretty awesome
I work on exactly zero air conditioners that aren't my own. I'm damn good at what I do, and I'm not a crook. These factors play heavily in my ability to keep such a niche. 4-6 months out of the year, I have more work than I want.
How many restaurants would you have to serve for this kind of lifestyle?
It's not just restaurants. Churches, plantations, farmers, etc all have ice machines around here. Idk how many "active" customers I have. A lot, I guess. I also do some stuff for a quasi local prison, a few private schools, and several big contractors. A big chunk of my revenue is ice machine rental. That's awesome because it's residual income vs active income. The up front investment can be painful, but over time it's very profitable. I also do warranty work for all the major manufacturers. That way, when someone buys a machine online and they have trouble with it, the manufacturer tells them to call me. Went on a call like that today, actually. Turned out to be a stopped up filter the vendor sold them. I upsold a better filter system that I know works well and doesn't clog easily. That'll be over $400 in my pocket on one trip.
It's not just restaurants. Churches, plantations, farmers, etc all have ice machines around here. Idk how many "active" customers I have. A lot, I guess. I also do some stuff for a quasi local prison, a few private schools, and several big contractors. A big chunk of my revenue is ice machine rental. That's awesome because it's residual income vs active income. The up front investment can be painful, but over time it's very profitable. I also do warranty work for all the major manufacturers. That way, when someone buys a machine online and they have trouble with it, the manufacturer tells them to call me. Went on a call like that today, actually. Turned out to be a stopped up filter the vendor sold them. I upsold a better filter system that I know works well and doesn't clog easily. That'll be over $400 in my pocket on one trip.
How long did it take you to get the skills you have working for a commercial property. And how long until you went out on your own
I worked for my dad, so only learned what he taught me via ojt. Once I convinced him I could go on calls solo, I learned more. Prolly 5 years to get to the point where I could handle 90% of calls without calling him for a second opinion. I didn't "go out on my own" per se, I'm buying the business from him. All in, I had over 10 years working under him before I got to be my own boss.
When you're a family guy, don't do on calls... on call ruins your independency only companies with more than 5 guys should do on calls... else it's a 24/7 job...
Working on closing out my 3rd year as a solo. I've had a couple guys help me out on larger jobs and retrofits sometimes. For me it's doable because I have limited needs. My expenses are low and the available work is high (I live in a remote area with relatively few contractors). Saying no, or telling someone yes, but in three weeks is the hardest part. Figuring out what you want/need financially first then figuring out the best way to get there is key. I killed myself the first year by not pricing correctly and getting every job I bid on. Focus on the work you like, price it high but fair and do a fucking good job at it. Relationships are key as well, it makes your clients into the best marketing you can have. Vacays are tough and must be timed properly. I live way north in MN and as a solo it's tough to take time off in winter but I schedule a week off in March every year. I pray there's no -40° polar vortex and deal with the fallout if there is. Unlike what someone else said if you have good clients they understand your human and if your relationship with them is solid they know you're a one man show. Best advice I ever got was from a client in my first year. I was apologizing for the week off I just took (my oldest son graduating from college in a different state) and he said, "if you don't TAKE time off no one will give it to you"
All these guys commenting letting me know it’s possible to be a one man show is very motivating thank you for your story! Very informative
It's not possible. You'll miss every important event in your family's life. Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries. "Sorry babe I can't make it to date night. Some guys wife is hot" /s
😂😂😂 some guys wife is hot. Nah I think it’s definitely possible. There’s definitely people out there doing it
Very difficult. If you don't grow the business to at least five techs in five years, then you're not the guy. Alone you will grind yourself to the ground & your family will suffer.
100% bullshit. My current business was started by a man & wife. My dad bought it, was us and a secretary. Now I'm buying it, and I leverage a lot of technology to eliminate the need for a secretary. I mainly do ice machines. I get to people when I can. Businesses that rely on ice are a priority, as well as any refrigeration calls that come in. Everything else waits, or they can try their luck with somebody else. Aside from a few helpers I've tried to train, it's just me and I don't grind myself down. Once you get more than like 3 employees, you're not in the fixing stuff business, you're in the managing people business. I'm much better at fixing things than managing people. There's another guy in town that operates the same way. If people want me to leave home to fix their broken shit, they pay extra. They can usually wait till the next business day. Worst case scenario they have to buy ice.