What does having a welding business involve?

[user 9328330]

I just got in from the day...while some of you lucky ducks were slacking, I was working -- and most of it non-paying. On a Saturday. Tomorrow I'll be back at work on a paying job at 8 a.m.

I want to put out a list of what sorts of things are fair game for this subforum. I'm cheating and copying this list from the old sticky, but it's good info and nothing has changed as far as relevance. Questions about any of this stuff are what I and other business owners are here for, and this forum isn't just for newbies, it's also for peer-to-peer questions and head-scratching.

Cut and paste follows below this line. Enjoy!

1) Insurance
2) Salesmanship
3) Estimating
4) Licensing
5) Taxes
6) Vendors
7) Customers
8) Safety
9) Personal Finance
10) Business Finance
11) Regulations
12) Invoicing
13) Accounts Receivable
14) Accounts Payable
15) Bookkeeping Programs
16) Short, Medium, and Long-Range Goals / Planning
17) Flexibility
18) Business Life Cycle
19) Balancing Business vs Life
20) Hours Worked: Reality Check
21) Gross vs Net: Reality Check
22) Likelihood of Getting Rich: Reality Check
23) Dealing with Employees
24) Handling Screw-Ups
25) Judging Readiness to Jump In by Questions Being Asked
26) "I'm starting my own business, what welder should I buy?"
27) Working in the Residential Sector
28) Overhead, Fixed and Variable
29) "How much should I charge?"
30) Working for Friends
31) Business Classes, Are They Dumb?
32) "Should I blindly trust business advice given on the interwebz?"
33) "Who is Stick-Man, and why does he steal from tbone550?"
34) Working for Farmers
35) Net 60, or, "Why don't I have my money yet?"
36) 2%10/Net 30, or, "Why should I pay some of my bills promptly?"
37) "Why do you guys own your own businesses if all you do is complain?"
38) "It's 12:05 a.m., why is tbone550 typing this crap instead of sleeping?"
39) Vacation Time
40) Sick Time
41) Personal Time
42) How to Quit Working for the Man Without Burning Bridges
43) Politeness: Is it Important?
44) Skill at Welding vs Skill at Business
45) The Golden Rule Applied to Business
46) Mobile Work vs Shop Work
47) Timeliness
48) Hiring and Firing
49) Drug Testing
50) USDOT and Other Regulations on Mobile Welders
51) How to Figure Break-Even Points
52) Buying Equipment: Used vs New, Basic vs High-Tech
53) Understanding Your Market Segment
54) Advertising, or, "Did I just smell a Unicorn Fart?"
55) Reputation, or, "What you do and say Matters."
56) How to Deal with your Competition
57) Doing More with Less, or, "Was my old boss right sometimes after all?"
58) Why Isn't the Grass Greener Over Here?
59) Statistics, or, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure."
60) End of the Year Quandary: Spending to "Save" Tax Money
61) Emergency Funds
62) Risk vs Risk Aversity in a Business Owner
63) Cash Flow, or, "Will I eat today?"
64) Budgeting vs Blowing Money on Frivolous Crap
65) Retirement Savings, or, "Do I want to be doing this when I'm 80?"
66) Entrance and Exit Strategies

[Oldendum]

tbone55, How you doing these days?

[lars66]

I just got in from the day...while some of you lucky ducks were slacking, I was working -- and most of it non-paying. On a Saturday. Tomorrow I'll be back at work on a paying job at 8 a.m.

I want to put out a list of what sorts of things are fair game for this subforum. I'm cheating and copying this list from the old sticky, but it's good info and nothing has changed as far as relevance. Questions about any of this stuff are what I and other business owners are here for, and this forum isn't just for newbies, it's also for peer-to-peer questions and head-scratching.

Cut and paste follows below this line. Enjoy!

1) Insurance
2) Salesmanship
3) Estimating
4) Licensing
5) Taxes
6) Vendors
7) Customers
8) Safety
9) Personal Finance
10) Business Finance
11) Regulations
12) Invoicing
13) Accounts Receivable
14) Accounts Payable
15) Bookkeeping Programs
16) Short, Medium, and Long-Range Goals / Planning
17) Flexibility
18) Business Life Cycle
19) Balancing Business vs Life
20) Hours Worked: Reality Check
21) Gross vs Net: Reality Check
22) Likelihood of Getting Rich: Reality Check
23) Dealing with Employees
24) Handling Screw-Ups
25) Judging Readiness to Jump In by Questions Being Asked
26) "I'm starting my own business, what welder should I buy?"
27) Working in the Residential Sector
28) Overhead, Fixed and Variable
29) "How much should I charge?"
30) Working for Friends
31) Business Classes, Are They Dumb?
32) "Should I blindly trust business advice given on the interwebz?"
33) "Who is Stick-Man, and why does he steal from tbone550?"
34) Working for Farmers
35) Net 60, or, "Why don't I have my money yet?"
36) 2%10/Net 30, or, "Why should I pay some of my bills promptly?"
37) "Why do you guys own your own businesses if all you do is complain?"
38) "It's 12:05 a.m., why is tbone550 typing this crap instead of sleeping?"
39) Vacation Time
40) Sick Time
41) Personal Time
42) How to Quit Working for the Man Without Burning Bridges
43) Politeness: Is it Important?
44) Skill at Welding vs Skill at Business
45) The Golden Rule Applied to Business
46) Mobile Work vs Shop Work
47) Timeliness
48) Hiring and Firing
49) Drug Testing
50) USDOT and Other Regulations on Mobile Welders
51) How to Figure Break-Even Points
52) Buying Equipment: Used vs New, Basic vs High-Tech
53) Understanding Your Market Segment
54) Advertising, or, "Did I just smell a Unicorn Fart?"
55) Reputation, or, "What you do and say Matters."
56) How to Deal with your Competition
57) Doing More with Less, or, "Was my old boss right sometimes after all?"
58) Why Isn't the Grass Greener Over Here?
59) Statistics, or, "Figures don't lie, but liars figure."
60) End of the Year Quandary: Spending to "Save" Tax Money
61) Emergency Funds
62) Risk vs Risk Aversity in a Business Owner
63) Cash Flow, or, "Will I eat today?"
64) Budgeting vs Blowing Money on Frivolous Crap
65) Retirement Savings, or, "Do I want to be doing this when I'm 80?"
66) Entrance and Exit Strategies

Yeah, I am 80 and still doing it... reason, see # 28 above.