Business Owners

[kburd]

Hey all this was a great idea it is interesting to read about everyones background.

I personally just finally got my own buisness Ag Assist LLC off the ground in the end of feburary. I specialize in welding and fabrication and service all industrys and residential. I really enjoy blacksmithing and ornamental work but dont ever seem to have the time to do it as just practice. I also offer through my buisness farm and facility maintanace repair and renovation. This helps to keep me busy constantly. I hardly say no to a job and consiquently have an azz load of tools. I primarially use a 16 foot enclosed trailer loaded to the hilt with construction and welding equipment to work on site with. Guys really like the fact that they call me to come weld something and then i can jump on the roof and screw down loose sections etc.

I spent the last 10 years full time on my familys farm www.windyknollview.com doing all things farming and maintance related as well as animal husbandry of course. so i know when things need fixing and how they should be done. I get alot of work just by stopping by to bull **** and offer a cold beer then get to pointing out things that should be taken care of before they become a big problem. like cracked welds on new machines and old stuff that just needs fixed up. It is amazing that you point this stuff out and guys have never thought of it or noticed it needs done. Then when you give them a reasonable quote to fix it and tell them then it wont break when you need to be using it they usually go for it.

anywho i love running my own buisness one thing to keep in mind is YOU DONT GET RICH OVERNIGHT i make decent money right now but i leave some on the table so i get called back for future buisness to many guys take to much to often then wonder why after three years they have lost there clients it is because they are greedy anyway. keep posting it is wonderful to read about you guys.

oh yeah i forgot i still go to work everyday at 4:00 am to feed at the farm for 3 hrs before i go do my own stuff and i often work there in the evenings the supplemental income really helps with the getting rich part

[kburd]

i just read my post my punctuation sucks sorry

[A_DAB_will_do]

That is the $64,000 question. I'm following a word-of-mouth advertising route, along with a simple web page. I've done work for other contractors who work with larger corporations. All have said they'd recommend me to their clientele if the opportunity arrose. I'm waiting for these 'seeds' to bear fruit now. In the meantime it's a string of small projects.

Bob, I'm trying to stay away from the type of work that Craigslist generates. I'm not suggesting that I refuse all of it; but if you get wrapped up too many of those small projects, it eats into your time for finding profitable work. Do'em for favors, if they're easy, and if there's nothing else you can be doing to find better work.

Otherwise, you need to be working for somebody else fulltime during the day(like me), or selling your services. Call local companies who might a welder, and find out who makes those decisions. Cold sales calls are hard, because of the rejection rate. Bite the bullet and make them anyway.

Get web page going for your business.It's like having an unpaid salesman working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Showcase your work and your capabilities on your website. Convince the people viewing it that you're a competent welder. My own website needs work in this area....

Microsoft's Live Office makes it very easy. I know almost nothing about websites, and their web page was able to walk me through settting up my website in a couple hours. A couple more hours with a buddy who knows the web and web advertising, and I had my webpage showing up in the major search engines. Now I'm getting a couple calls a month from people who found the website. Some are private individuals, and some are business people. It's the latter I'm hoping to catch and retain as customers...

How do you guys find these large or ongoing projects?

Since I have not been selling myself as a welder I have no clientele built up. Also since everything else I know how to do seems to be at a dead stop I need to push the welding. I need to get some cash flowing in.

I am getting small (very small) and sporadic jobs from craigslist. Stuff like welding a lamp or fixing outdoor furniture and other small stuff like that. Obviously that is not going to go to far towards the bills.

If there is a method to the madness that will get me talking to the correct people, I sure would appreciate you guys pointing me in the right direction.

I have no certifications of any kind.

[David R]

Its been 5 years for the word of mouth thing for me. Its working and what I get is really good. Some of the best jobs I have done are from a small sample of my work or word of mouth. I have no sign and no business cards. I do have nice pens with my # on them which to me is the same or better than business cards. TODAY I welded s brass lamp thing for a guy. He has more and will sure spread the word. He is a private individual, not any kind of business, but.......

By the way, my local LWS sent him to me. They said I was the only guy they could think of that could weld this brass (?) part. I charged him my usual "a dollar a minute" I was joking with the customer and told him if it was an antique it would be TWO dollars a minute. He just smiled. I gave him a "free" pen.

Just a note about cold calls. They do work and screw the rejection. Its a numbers game and that is all. Stop in 10 places in a day, introduce your self, ASK QUESTIONS and leave your number. It might take a month or a year, but if their regular guy screws up or they need something they will find your #. Stop in ONE place a day for a month, Take a slow day and stop here and there..... It works. I was a salesman for 3 years and even graduated the Dale Carnagy Sales course.

Some things you need to do when making sales calls. Talk to the person that makes the decision, or the one that writes the check. It can be a pain in the ***, but if you are talking to the wrong person its a waste of time. Talk quality and delivery, not price. Find out what their needs are and see if you can satisfy them. If you can't SAY SO. Be honest, everyone likes that. A weldor they can trust..... Hmmm..

IF you are on call 24/7, say so. I take my rig if making sales calls. Sometimes you might get a job right then. Maybe they are checking you out or maybe they need something and you just happen to show up at the right place at the right time. I have walked in when the prospective customer was pissed at their present vendor.

If you aproach them as cheaper all you will get is cheap sh*t work.

David

[Hammack_Welding]

My name is Jackson Hammack. I started my business, Hammack Welding part time back in 96 when I was in college. I have a small business located in rural southwest Georgia, and my specialty is in repair of Agricultural, industrial, and timber equipment. We do a wide array of work from repair, to fabrication, to structural to pipe, and most basic machine work. 90% of my work is in the field off of the truck. I have never actually been schooled in welding or machine work. I learned for the most part in the trenches behind a hood by doing it. It definitely didn't hurt to have a father with an engineering degree at my disposal. I started part time with one trailer mounted moblie rig, and just myself, and at our high point I had two full time mobile rigs, and one part time guy in the shop. With the economy I am back to myself and one part time helper, but the bills get paid, and everything I own, I actually OWN. I run on the principle that if I can't pay for it then I don't buy it. I may never have a huge shop, or make a fortune, but the bills get paid and if the time came I could close the shop doorsput the equipment under the shed and not owe a penny on any of it. Up until the last few months I ran completely off of word of mouth. Honestly I did not want anymore new customers. The ones I had were steady, dependable, and never had to worry about getting paid, and best of all they kept us working even when we just needed the work. Ofcourse now Everyone is feeling the crunch, and I am back to passing out business cards, but I am keeping a little more work than I can do for me and my helper. It's good to read about others businesses. Good Post!

[app-ironworksllc]

OK, here is what I need help with. Over the years I have been collecting " toys". But now that I want to open my own shop, I have no where to open it. I have been storing my toys almost any place I could find. Now everybody wants them out. Where I live trying to find a place large enough to rent that I can afford is like hitting lotto.

How do I try to gets jobs when I have no place to work. I do not have a mobile welder, and feel I would look like an idiot pulling up with a generator on my truck and then plugging in my welder to it to do the work. So how do I go about this???????
Any help would be great.

Hi
I used to work at a foreign car garage in Troy, many many moons ago.
I'll bet rent is high in town, maybe try looking on the outskirts of town, start asking everyone about buildings for rent. Drive around in areas that are suitable for what you want to do and hit the pavement. I realize out here in the middle of nowhere of western NC things are "a little different" than Troy.( that's why I live here now) but I've been seeing lots of space come available in the last year or so. Good bad or otherwise it seems the current economy is weeding out businesses that may not be financially stable. Every closure is another facility looking for a way to pay a mortgage.

[app-ironworksllc]

Things are looking pretty good here. More calls for bids are coming every day. This week I sold 3 new jobs for a total of 5 in the shop right now. Let's see if this trend continues, I certainly hope it does. If I can stay steady for a while and build up some $ I'll be looking for some help soon.
Current jobs
1)double door fire screen
2)wrought iron chandelier
3)stair and porch rail
4)stair rail
5)spiral stair
I signed up with a lead referral service when I opened, and their market report shows all construction sectors in my market area on a substantial increase this month. I'm sure a lot of that is due to weather getting warmer, but that's still a pretty good economic indicator for my shop.

[David R]

Another opportunity for me. I got a call from a guy that has a bobcat excavator. Its a small one and he broke the thing that holds the boom on. Its part of the frame, so I cut it off and he is going to have a new one cut out so I can weld it back on. Simple job. I also repaired his broken cutting edge on a small bobcat bucket (no guarantee). While I was there, he told me he was building a foundation for a new ride at an amusement park. He asked me if I was certified. I said yes, bare wire, Co2 gas, vertical up unlimited thickness. He said he might need some one to do the welding.

Ya never know. A small job may have found a BIG one.

David

[Bob Warner]

Good to hear David. Hope it turn into you doing it all.

[ol' Stick Guy]

I 'm just starting up my own business luckily I have health insurance (through US Steel from where I am laid off ) or like a couple of you fellows were saying a broken leg or whatever could really nail you.
So far I have found most people receptive to a rate of $ 50 /hour once they see what your capable of and some people take a lot of ear bending to understand the concept of overhead. I explain it like this someone fixes your computer they charge $ 65- $70 /hr. they could carry their tools on a bicycle and chances are that computer is in a landfill in 2 years. However if I charge you $50/hour to fix the welding on your bulldozer or whatever and you dont suffer major down-time you've made money.

By the way Jackson Hammack is that you in the picture welding bare-armed? ( bacon arms and skin cancer are in your future if it is)

[A_DAB_will_do]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread with a followup question:

Do any of you have standard 'boilerplate' contracts that you have customer's sign off on? If so, what's your threshhold for asking for a contract? Is it a cost minimum? Or does the type of job determine whether or not you ask for a signed contract? Do you insist on contracts, engineered drawings for every job? How about repair work?

I use a standard quotation form for bidding jobs that includes some vague language about work being high quality. If doing code work, I'll make sure the relavant AWS/ASME/API code(s) are listed. I'll ask if there are relevant drawings for structural work(unless I forgot to, like I did on a recent job I discussed in another thread).

If I'm preparing drawings for the work, I'll make sure the materials, filler metals, processes used, and welding specs are spelled out on the drawing, along with dimensions. I'll also mention any finishing that will be done(grinding, painting, etc)

As small business operators(not relevant to big fab shops) how many of you have welding procedures and qualification records? At what point do/did they become necessary if you do have them?

[mark8310]

I didn't read this whole thing, so I don't know if anybody said this already.

Having decent and competent business sense,,,, is a far better indicator, of future business success, than being the best weldor (or any other skill) around. I started back in the mid-80's,,,,, plenty of guys better than me around then, all gone long ago. Weld circles around me,,,,, but no idea how to run business. I can think of three guys, like me, started up since, that are still around ..... like me,,,,, excellent business sense, still around,,,, we are both competitors and we help each other out. I can also think of twenty to thirty other guys, started up over the years,,,, excellent weldors,,,,, no business sense,,,, all working for somebody else today.

Think about it.

[David R]

A_DAB_woll_do,

I have not asked for a contract yet. I do the work the customer asks for to his specs. If its a code job, I ask for drawings with specs. Most customers that are good ones and want something done right will leave me with a drawing, or blueprint. I will not do a job until I know the whole job. Cell tower jobs just send me the whole set of drawings including a lot of stuff I don't do, but they just email the whole package to me the way it comes from the engineers.

Mark8310, I agree. Some people have business sense and some don't. 8 out of 10 new business fail. I have heard this many times. This time I have been in business for 5 years today actually. I have been stiffed for $59.00 once. The rest of the customers just pay me.

Here is a good example. I have 500 "spikes" or 15" nails I made for a customer sitting on a skid at my shop. I stopped by there today with a bill. They gave me a purchase order. I smiled and said when you have a check I will deliver the product.

David

[Scott Young]

i owned a residential construction company that i closed down due family needs. i moved into welding and fabrication by happenstance and have loved learning a new field of building. i weld with smaw, gmaw (hardwire, dual shield, and fluxcore), braze, and some tig. i prefer smaw, but have grown to really appreciate gmaw. i weld part time doing repair work on agricultural equipment. i also fabricate custom trailers, implements, and what-nots.

[A_DAB_will_do]

thats good to know David. Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary. That's a real milestone, and I'd say you're well established at this point.

The railing project I posted about in Hatfield's thread was the first time I've had someone give me pieces and say, just install them. Turned out the contractor had never used that railing fabricator before, and normally used mechanical fastening to join the railing sections. The fitup on the pieces I had to weld was horrendous, and in retrospect I shouldn't be surprised that the railing height was off as well. I doubt the contractor will order railing from that source ever again...

In regards to billing, I've only taken a P.O. once, and I waited exactly 30 days for payment. If I'd allowed 60 days, I'm sure they would have waited 60 days.

Normally I take a check when the work is done. For a few customers, I'll allow them 14 days to mail me a check. But payment terms are always discussed upfront and spelled out on the bill.

A_DAB_woll_do,

I have not asked for a contract yet. I do the work the customer asks for to his specs. If its a code job, I ask for drawings with specs. Most customers that are good ones and want something done right will leave me with a drawing, or blueprint. I will not do a job until I know the whole job. Cell tower jobs just send me the whole set of drawings including a lot of stuff I don't do, but they just email the whole package to me the way it comes from the engineers.

Mark8310, I agree. Some people have business sense and some don't. 8 out of 10 new business fail. I have heard this many times. This time I have been in business for 5 years today actually. I have been stiffed for $59.00 once. The rest of the customers just pay me.

Here is a good example. I have 500 "spikes" or 15" nails I made for a customer sitting on a skid at my shop. I stopped by there today with a bill. They gave me a purchase order. I smiled and said when you have a check I will deliver the product.

David

[Tony D]

I started my business in Michigan back in 1991 was home improvement/ roofing and there was plenty too much work had 10 guys under me and running nuts all day and night couldn't keep the sheets on the bed at night... I was that consumed in the business restless unless I was running ........

Well I put a stop to it all up there in 2002 helped some of my guys get jobs and gave a few some clientel called all there debt even they all owed me money....and I came to Oklahoma wanting to work for someone else tired and ready to have a stroke or just go insane done some work for the school district and now everyone in town wants stuff done...

and the word of mouth thing is all that will get me work in this small town anyhow I stopped all wood framed construction when I came here...
now it's metal buildings,barns,carports, metal house roofs,some Tornado shelters,stairs,ramps,repairs etc. and I actually make good money working by myself most the time "My Ten year old boy is a good hand though"

and I have a couple roofs lined up to keep me busy for the summer... till about lunch time now it's summer oh boy... and some little repairs for the evening if I want to go out to the shop.

now last year it was a rough few months from Nov.-Feb as I had 6 jobs lined up and the credit crunch put a halt to all but one and that was a life saver the one though...

Now I don't persue work like the days when I had to feed the crew....I can take it easy and wait for the town folk to call... and they will keep me busy enough to get by and make a decent living. I gave up the get rich thoughts when I threw in the towel on the crew and stress involved in making all the calls on the jobs up there...I had 6-10 different jobs going all the time and I couldn't think straight or sleep let alone give my wife and kids the attention they deserved...I mean I eat sleep drink work work work and it about destroyed me as I will never have that big a crew or business again ...

But now I'm pretty content with the way things are going I've purchased some equipment this year a log splitter I'm not getting younger...powermax 30 cuts roofing easier,a tapco Pro 19 brake making about a grand a roof bending trim...above about five thousand a roof profit, and a ingersol rand 60 Gal. everything is paid for but debating on a new truck and can't save enough to just buy it this year...so I may have to borrow one or wait till next year and stop buying stuff and buy the truck!!!
oh and the kids got a new Polaris 4-wheeler for Christmas so were doing pretty good down here in the middle of nowhere,
I'm glad I left Michigan when I did we sold the house up there and took the kids on a 3 month vacation and bought this place down here cash.. and never ever wished I was back there..as were all happy and healthy and making it through these hard times even if I feel like i'm retired getting off at lunch and going a week or two between jobs but if I get bored there is always the shop LOL.. the wife and kids to


OH ya I have liability that cover the range of things I do and always put everything in writing no matter what every detail...no weldin certs but enjoying the things I can do without and the most I weld on the job maybe some plates for feet on the car ports all the rest are bolted...

[gclamp]

Hey, my first job was pickin pickles and bailin hay on a farm in the summer 12=13 yrs old. The next was pumping gas at a marina for 12 hrs a day, but I started welding on my grandpas rental boats at age 11. I had machine shop in high school and was welding and building stuff with my grandpa all the time during my high school yrs. I did a stint in the air force and had nothing to do in life, so I went to Fla. Cold in Ohio in the winter, I worked for a carnival for a couple of yrs as a welder/mechanic. Quit that, got a job in a truck body shop installing dump bodies and truck accessories. (great education). Quit there to install/service garbage compactors / cardboard bailers, Quit that to Join the millwrights union as a apprentice. Now I went from making 8.50 a hr - 70 hrs a week to a 35 hr week @ 7.11 a hr. I had to make up the difference somehow. I bought a welder and scraped together some power tools and started part time welding business. I finished my apprenticeship and worked 1 more yr out of the hall, put my book on the shelf and went full time. 15 yrs later I laid off 14 great guys and a awsome secretary due to divorce. After taking off a couple of yrs and doing nothing I started toget back into the business mode, but nooooooo employees. I am now a licensed fire suppression guy. I do comercial kitchen ventilation. Exhaust hoods, service, install, clean, and fire suppression.

About 10 yrs ago I fell through a rotten wood roof, bounced off a pallet rack and hit the ground. Screwed up my left knee really bad, It has gotten alot better and doesn,t hurt at all any more. Reading this forum sure makes me miss working off the back of a truck. And since my knee doesn't hurt any more, I might just do that.

I am sorry I am not doing it now as my experience tells me that when the economy sucks, I did awsome, Cheaper to repair than to replace. My first few yrs in business when I was alone with a part timer were the best, My saying is or was. I am the guy you love to hate to see. I will be posting pics as I dig them up and scan them into the computer. Lots of repairs, ladder racks, a few of various trucks I owned. I also did alot of pipe thawing in the winter. Does any one do that.

We did what ever walked through the door in the shop, Miles of railings all over the east coast, mostly hotels, gyms, ect. Lots of equipment repair in the field. I think that was my favorite. Repair work, by the hr. Actually all road work was by the hr. Usually COD.

Sorry about all the rambling on, but welding has pretty much been my life and it's cool to communicate with others of the same mind set.

[David R]

A_DAB_will_do said

************************************************** ******************************

payment terms are always discussed upfront and spelled out on the bill.

************************************************** *******************************

I ask about payment on the first phone call. Or I know the customer.

When I first started (in 1985) I gave 2% 10 days, Net 30. Do you know how many people took the 2% and paid me in 30?

I also learned you can wipe your azz with a purchase order. It aint no check.

I too had a mechanic shop with 4 employees. It was OK, but the welding is much better for me. I have pretty much worked alone for the last 5 years and I KNOW every job. If i a screw up goes out the door (which it doesn't) I did it.

David

[MoroneysWelding]

Well I love seeing all these posts... I am a part time owner myself... I started out welding at my Family buisness. (www.packagesteel.com) they make steel buildings but as we all know it sucks working for family. So now I work at AZZ / CGIT and do my thing on the side. I don't really put very much effort into this as I am going through a divorce right now and the econmy sucks. But I have a lot of friends that do construction work so I am always very very busy. I can't imagine having time to do much more. The money is good and I love every minute of it. I repair a lot of buckets and plows during the winter months espically.

As a matter of fact last winter I setup some signs around the city were the subcontracted plow guys hang out saying how I do mobile repair 24/7 and got a lot of work from it. Even not welding stuff just cause I kept silly stuff like hoses and plow pins / bolts on hand. whod of thought that the plow repair store wasn't open all night. LOL anyhow I love seeing all this and I hope they make our own thread just about this. I think it would be a great tool to have in our pockets.

[aslippy]

I have owned my welding fabrication shop for 6 years. I have been doing a lot of fab work for the oil field. My shop is 140’ by 50’ I had 5 employees as of 5/09 and we had to work 6 day a week some times. Since the economy has gone downhill I’m down to 2 employees. Hope time get better fast. I just started a mobile welding rig it is starting to pay for itself. KEEP BURING ROD

[Ken Dennis]

I guess I better add myself to this list!

I was a truck driver for years, done all my own welding and fabricating since my early teens, mostly garden tractor and farm use stuff.
Dad taught me a lot, but my best mentoring came when I was in my late teens, when my brothers father in law took it upon himself to show me the ropes of real shop work including welding, he owned his own business as a weldor since he was a teen himself.
He had a full machine and welding shop.
It started out when he had a contract to maintain the tanks at our local fuel storage tank farm, he hired me and my brother to shovel the snow off the tops of the tank during winter, this was back during the recession in the early eighties, I spent several years working and annoying the crap out of him with all my questions about welding and fabricating, and I am sure I gave him a few of the gray hair's he had on his head, I suppose I would have followed that route of work, but he retired and sold off his shop and equipment, and I had to find something else to do!

My dad got me into truck driving with a company he worked for, the money was good, so I just kept on truckin!
About a year ago I had my first mild heart attack, followed by a second one last fall, and finally a stroke this last Feb, that effectively put me out of the driving business.
over a year ago, I started making and selling some specialized garden tractor stuff and adding to my tools I had, most all sales where done on line, so I didn't need a special license or permit.
The economy has kept the sales down and forced me to get more aggressive and take this further and add to what I do, so I applied and received my business license a few weeks ago under the name of D&D Welding and Fabrication, I had still been adding to my tool and machine lineup, and am now open for business for mobile and shop general welding and fabrication.

I sometimes wish I had followed this path years ago, but I don't regret taking up the trucking life, if I hadn't, I probably would have been like most of the people who live around here and had never traveled more than a few miles away from home!

This is the short version of how I got here, if anyone cares to hear it, I could go on and elaborate, but I am afraid this thread might have a melt down due to an over post over load!

[stymie001]

Hello all you business owners.

I have been welding since 1991. I went to welding school from 1991-1993 and from then on welding was good to me. I went to work in South Texas and hired on with a contractor that worked for Exxon. I did repairs in the oil field and build whatever was needed. That was a singlehand job. From there I came to Oklahoma and worked for 7 years at a little place called Charles machine works (ditch witch). 4 years as a special products weldor and 3 years as a special products coordinator in sales and marketing.

In 2003 I decided to go to college and four years later I got my Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Oklahoma State university. It was during my first semester in college that I decided to open up my welding business. I had already done contract welding work in several rock quarrys in central texas and worked as a boilermaker. I had gained plenty of experience in repairing road equipment, asphalt plants, farm eqipment and alot of general fabrication along the way. So I had some contacts and it worked out all by itself.

Right now things are slow, the town I live in is saturaded with welders due to the largest employer here in town is only working every other week and they employ roughly 300 welders if that. since they only work monday through thursday and every other week, they are picking up alot of work that I usually would have gotten. They are working for $8-$20 an hour. I had been working for $65.00/hr so many farmers are getting a deal in this down economy.

I am insured, mobile and do shop work. This is my 6th year in businesss and I am greatful that I own everything I have. So overhead is low and life is good.

thanks for reading.

[henrinaiara]

full of bussines man

[app-ironworksllc]

Ugh!

Been filling out insurance papers for 2 hours.

Ugh!

That is all.

[Mandau]

hi... I guess I do a variety of business , now into oil company service, piping and off-shore platform fabrication... joint venture with old established company...

Thats all I think...