What's the single thing you've done that has slumped your income up the most?
 

For me, becoming a contractor and chasing the dream that I create.

I've had 2 really great years with pretty good years on either side, in 30 years. The rest were from just paying the bills to 3-4 years of a real struggle to keep up. I wouldn't wish this life on anyone, but it's been fun, nevertheless.

Let's hear of other boondoggles.

I'm confused :confused:

Why would you pay tribute to something you dont want?
Focus on what you DO want!

Milt,
think about and plan things "just" the way you'd like them to be, then give that your attention. See what happens then bud. ;)

Buying a Denny's franchise:mad:

Really? Man, I thought that would be a gold mine with hard work, of course. The MickeyD's franchise owners I've run into over the years have been workaholics, nasty managers, but swimming in money. It's not a hands on business.

I once thought about buying a bar. Then I found out how many ways there are to steal from a bar. Not for me.

"I'm confused

Why would you pay tribute to something you dont want?
Focus on what you DO want!"
Did this belong in another thread? Talk about :confused:

Going to an excellent University that no one's ever heard of. :mad:

Cabazon, CA, we developed the "dinosaur" property, 60 acres, nightmare, many years of litigation. Flood-zone, Govt' Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, next subject?:mad:

Ha, getting myself in all kinds of trouble sitting at the computer today. Doing my month end books for November.

Got the right thread Milt and I already admitted I was confused?
I had some tough years in business in my 20's and 30's. I had a rule then and I'm often reminded of it today with so much negative vib going around. My rule was if you had something negative to contribute to one of my seven companies at the time, you brought it to my attention on Tuesdays. I created a rule that I would focus on the positive solutions for 6 days a week and the negative (data collection) only one day a week. I stayed focused on the positive and came through many challenging circumstances; a lot tougher than this over due correction we're in today.

If I would've sat around listing to my accountants, lawyers and negative business partners 5 to 7 days a week; I woulda gone broke long ago!

Success principals have been around for 2,000 years man. So what I'm confused about is WHY would anyone want to focus on the negative? It's a simple decision that takes place between your ears; positive or negative; everything in life offers both, you decide.

Very few adversities that I have suffered didn't lead me to bigger and better things. There's a silver lining in every cloud.

How can that be?

Good, conscientious, reliable contractors (all of which I am sure you are, in spades) are so hard to find.

The few that I know in California have done well and stayed busy for years and years straight, with no advertising, just word of mouth and referrals.

Well said 911 ROB, I couldn't agree more. Life is what you make of it and being positive even when being shat on but learn the errors of your ways and moving on is definitely the way to go not to mention hard work. The only periods of time where I have been unsuccessful have been aligned with focusing on the negative and not treating it like a speed bump and forging ahead despite the setbacks. Oh I'm in the building industry as well but am rather busy at the moment despite being slower in past years. However I have learned how to be a better self promoter and understand how to promote my business and close a deal much better which boosts my confidence in these slow times.

IN LA, that's hard to find. Most people shop prices, and not service or quality. Is not their fault, it just that they don't know quailty. That's why many good contractors want out because they can't make any money. I think its better in No cal. How can one compete with the guy that lives in the back of his truck and have no credentials, insurance, and what not. He has a hammer and a saw and he's a contractor. Thankfully we have done OK in the past 10-15 years.

Wife #2

Changing Job.

working for a US subsidiary of a foreign company when the tech bubble was coming to an end

Well, the worst thing was not diversifying my client list. I basically have only one large, reliable client. However, should anything change, I'm screwed. I have to shake the complacency and develop more clients, but that means spreading my limited workforce thin, which means quality will suffer, which means I could jeapordize my relationship with the main client. Yeah, I can work around that, but I haven't been sufficiently motivated because things have gone so well.

That said, the BEST thing I did was become a contractor. It has it's headaches and is definitely not for everybody, but I love it.

Milt, you need to find a niche, like healthcare facility renovation. It's HUGE and there's no end in site. Also, I can give you a large, national contact if your interested.

I retired! Fixed income kinda sucks. Even though I don't have to get up and go to work every day, I miss the "walk around money". We are on a pretty tight budget until I get social security in 4 years. The band helps and I get a few restoration jobs on shotguns here and there, but I do miss the regular paycheck. I guess that's the price of freedom.

Partied too much at UT and ended up with a worthless economics degree instead of the engineering degree I originally sought. I went back for an engineering degree at UH, but I'm 6 years behind the curve, not to mention not going for a post grad professional degree.

real estate for me as well...bought some property that had me feeding the alligator for 13 long years...finally, the local economy picked up enough that I was able to sell at a nice profit. But...the waiting period was hell.

Rob is right about the silver lining. Selling this property gave us the springboard for better investments...

Contracting has fallen off with everyone I know.

I tell people that homeowners are more interested in keeping their houses instead of remodeling them...

I had to drop my price to 70% of normal just to get my last job and was still the high bidder.


KT

True, KT....Cindy had zero difficulties finding people willing to do her kitchen remodel earlier this year. She wanted it done a couple of years ago...but all the contractors were just "too busy" with new home construction.

Never used my MBA in a finance or banking type of way. Should have earned millions and then left Lehman Bros. in disgrace.