Tradesmen in the Fastlane

[lukeymacca]

After a few beers last night I was pondering, are there any tradesmen on this forum? Im a sparky by trade and have no longer wish to exchange my time for money, but still wish to stay within the electrical industry. My thoughts are that a trade/services business can be fastlaned by systematising and scaling (and then selling).

Would love to here how the trades out there have "fastlaned" their lives. Have you stuck with your trade, and managed to fastlane your businesses by scaling or changing direction or have you decided to jump ship to something that better meet the 5 Commandments.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ChickenHawk]

Alas, I don't think there are many tradesmen on this forum. My husband is an electrician/electrical contractor though, and we've pretty much decided that there's no obvious way to "Fastlane" his business. But maybe there's a way to use that electrical know-how to pursue something related -- such as inventing a new tool or system that solves some electrical problem.

I'd be interested to see if anyone else has any thoughts on this.

 

[DKNJ]

Hey I work for the plumbers union. I am a journeyman but am turning my back on the business for now. I still have to bust my tail for 1 to 2.5 years on the job hours to get my license. To fastlane for electrical trades, hmm maybe start an online course or program that covers all aspects for people that want to learn at home rather than pay an arm and a leg at lincoln tech? Manufacture electrical supplies? I'm looking for a way to fastlane plumbing. Online content and affiliate marketing go well together.

 

[Jinxus]

Checking in, if you consider it a trade. See avatar for trade.

The time off and money feels like Fastlane already. Only work 6 months out of the year and clear $60k. Going back to work is brutal, though.

Too bad ships are multi million dollar assets, very much fits the entry barrier requirement.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Milkanic]

I'm a software developer/architect but used to work for a building products software company (and now a large marketing saas).

I'm currently vetting an idea a bit - It's a huge market that will only get bigger with the baby boomers retiring and a more tech savvy generation coming in. Do you own your own business today?

I suggest reading the book Blue Ocean Strategy and then brain storming what other businesses you could apply to the trades.

A couple companies to check out
http://craftjack.com/
http://www.homeadvisorpros.com/
http://www.redbeacon.com/
http://porch.com/

 

[Andy Black]

Love this thread.

I'm not a trademan myself, but married into a BIG family of tradesmen.

I actually got started in my current line of work by helping an electrician too (you can read that here).

I've run lead generation campaigns for pretty much all the trades to a call centre in the UK.

Whenever a tradesman is round my house fixing something, I'm always probing to find out how they plan on retiring themselves out of their company and still having the company grow. Non so far have thought about it. It's fine... they're happy just to have a steady stream of work.

Some people to study:

1. Joe Polish (cleaners)
2. Yvonne Halling (B&Bs)
3. Some dude who was a limo driver, then ended up selling leads to limo businesses... can't remember his name...

 

[LightHouse]

Yes a very well respected member of the forum is/was a tradesman and transitioned out or at least hit the fastlane...

paging our good friend Randy @million$$$smile

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

For the non-Fastlaner and in today's economic climate, I'd rather graduate high school and pursue a trade rather than go to college and get put into the college/debt/degree/no-job-for-you scam.

 

[Goobii]

I think if done structured correctly, you could turn a trade business into a fastlane venture.. think franchising. As long as you have enough leads to sustain and maintain your network and a proper system for your system.

 

[DKNJ]

Yea true. Plus becoming an electrical contractor is a pretty high entry level business. It takes years of school and on the job hours. The only thing is, you are the valuable asset. You can hire experienced guys that are willing to break their backs under your license but I'm not sure how it works exactly, I think there are certain types of jobs that the mechanic has to be licensed. Just try not to grow too quick. I've seen a contractor grow quick and then during slow times have to lay guys off and liquidate.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[jazb]

How to transition to the fastlane as a tradesman?

Get the money, make a marketing plan. get the work and put others in charge of implementing it. You can do as many projects as you like independent of time....

 

[timmy]

I discussed Building Contracting some time back on someone's thread here. As a carpenter myself I think it's a hard task, and it's often better to reach for the low hanging fruit. Using a trade to create a successful fastlane business requires a great team of supervisors/formen who work on a profit sharing arrangement. There are countless success stories but most are at it for decades and are still involved in the daily duties there. That doesn't pass as fastlane in my opinion.

 

[Andy Black]

get the work and put others in charge of implementing it

I think this is a good route. Work out how to consistently get the work for your own business, then do the same for other businesses in different locations. Polish your own systems for growing your own business, then maybe franchise the whole lot out. IMO, it all starts with being able to consistently get leads in the first place, then having processes in place to grow repeat business and referrals. If you know how to do that for your own trade and location, then you can scale to other locations, and also to other trades/businesses.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[stevethe bungee]

Hi all i am an Electrician too, i have worked for money all my working life, yes it has paid the bills but has never given me any real money, It's back to that old mantra, selling time for money. Here in Cyprus i now have a slowlane business but it is still time for money!

If you can establish a reasonably large company with some good profits and get someone else to run it then maybe it could become Fastlane but you need to rely on employees who are generally unreliable and do not have the same interests as you. Personally i am looking to get out of it but it pays the bills for now.

MJ where was your book 30 years ago when i needed it.

 

[lukeymacca]

Loving the conversations this thread is generating!
Here is my thoughts….
I believe that almost all businesses can be fastlaned. It doesn’t matter if you provided cleaning services, SEO, import goods and sell on ebay, run a car wash or write code. If you have the right mindset (and understand business) you can scale, systematize, engineer yourself out of the day-to-day, and then exit with a nice lump sum in the hand. While this may not be the easiest or quickest way to build wealth within a few years of hard work you will reap the benefits.
Maybe I’m wrong and missed the entire point of the book (might have to go back and re-read haha) but for now this is my plan! Promise to keep you all update on the progress.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I believe that almost all businesses can be fastlaned.

Yea, in the case of tradesman, the method of scale would be a human resource system. You hire the electricians which work for you. Probably, IMO, the most difficult system of scale involves the scaling of people, or employees. In this case, more employees equals a higher ceiling of revenue.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[lukeymacca]

Yea, in the case of tradesman, the method of scale would be a human resource system.

Fully agree, I guess this is the case with any services business, the limiting factor will almost always be the number of people actually doing the work and the hours in the day.

 

[wilddog]

A RESOUNDING YES!

I know a couple of millionaire tradesmen, one in HVAC and the other in exterior siding. They both have the same story.
They got tired of working for someone else and started their own trade businesses.
They leveraged the relationships they built with builders during their slowlane years. This gave them an "in" to understand how builders operate and allowed them to bid on jobs. Builders are tight-knit so word-of-mouth helped grow their businesses.
Now they spend most of their time managing employees and cultivating builder relations. Although they both still love going to the job site and working with their hands when they're free.

 

[RazorCut]

I think we are missing a trick here.

There is always more than one way to transform a trade into a Fastlane business. If you think latterly working in a trade can be a goldmine.

Many years ago I used to be a carpenter and joiner. Recently I have been putting those skills to use occasionally in my friends business. Within days I came across several pain points while helping install high end fitted furniture in customer’s houses like these:



The problems did not just exist in this niche though, it existed in everyday construction. Instead of ignoring them it was easy to think ‘what’s the solution?’ I’m currently researching a patent application on the first product.

Carpenters and Joiners

While at a trade fair last year I was chatting to a guy called Cliff Petit who invented these:

http://www.space-plug.com/

He was a carpenter and wondered why no one had any sort of product that allowed cabinets to be easily fitted with variable wall gaps. He decided as there wasn’t one on the market he would invent one. Going to make use of his contacts regarding injection moulding etc. Really nice guy.

Electrical Contractors

Peter Moule was an electrician and, because of his inside knowledge of a change in electrical safety regulations, invented a little plastic box to connect cables safely. He was doing pretty well with them then went on Dragons Den (the program Shark Tank is franchised from) and has become a multi-millionaire from it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-bright-spark-nets-25m-deal-Dragons-Den.html

Painters and Decorators

Currently we have only to look at Sal’s @Likwid24 thread on the inside to see how one idea seen through the eyes of professional painters can become an amazing success story:

http://www.thepaintbrushcover.com

Millionaires in the making, and very soon too it seems.

I’m sure there are loads of similar transformations out there in many different trades.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[LibertyForMe]

One thing that I have found working for a mid sized company that's main offering involves labor, and one tactic is to branch out into more emergency type situations. If a business has the health dept or some inspectors breathing down their neck, they will pay a premium price for someone who can do the work immediately.

So maybe try to isolate instances where there is a lot of urgency, and become the go to guy.

 

[Mbc]

Innovating a product in the industry.
Or hiring people to replace you.

Innovating a new product can also just be a different way of doing things.
For example a formula correction to account for barometric pressure changes in an instrument that measures emissions because a sneaky government inspector knew the instrument would exceed the allowable error on days with a big change in weather. Simple things can save companies in industries like oil & gas a lot of money.

New regulations (e.g. environmental, safety...) present opportunities.

 

[Pete799p]

For the non-Fastlaner and in today's economic climate, I'd rather graduate high school and pursue a trade rather than go to college and get put into the college/debt/degree/no-job-for-you scam.

100% this. - sorry a bit off topic

Read an interesting article today that broke down the true earnings for an average doctor, which included the opportunity costs associated with college, internships etc. and it came out to roughly $29 per hour for the average surgeon.

Anybody thinking about college vs. trades should read this article.

http://www.quora.com/Is-becoming-a-doctor-the-only-way-to-ensure-a-safe-financial-future

That being said looking back I would have dropped out of highschool to get my GED so I could start working in the trades sooner. Then work my a$$ off for 10+ years while saving as much cash as possible to retire by 30. Not "fastlane" but financial independence by 30 is still a pretty solid way to go plus I would have never had to set foot in a cube.

The trades also have a lot of advantages for aspiring fastlaners, hell even slowlane college goers.

-First you have a skill that you can always use to earn money.

-Tradesmen, especially if you are really good, are often able to work more like freelancers picking and choosing the jobs you work on or better yet doing your own side jobs. This can be a great way to bring in extra income while building a business. You need some cash go do a side job to keep the lights on and it will certainly be a better bang for your time buck then serving coffee at Starbucks.

-Tend to be cheap businesses to start. Bad because there is a lot of competition due to the low barriers to entry but good for cash strapped treps. They can also be rather profitable.

-Potential to earn a solid wage much younger then the college path. Touched on earlier but it will be alot easier to fund your startup when your making $30 hour vs. $10. I have had many tradesmen friends, some of which dropped out of college, who were making six figures by the time we were graduating college and taking unpaid internships. I even know many who were making mid six figures in their 20's. I know I missed a bunch of opportunities when I was younger because I lacked the funds.

- For the college folk it's a lot easier to pay your way through college at $30 hour vs. minimum wage.

Obviously not "fastlane" but a solid alternative to college slavery.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Did anyone watch last night's Barrett Jackson? There was a HUGE Fastlane tradesman success story mentioned there, briefly, you'd to pay attention to catch it. Hint: It was the guy who was selling off his huge collection, must have been worth about $25M in cars.

Did anyone spot it?

 

[Shdreams]

After a few beers last night I was pondering, are there any tradesmen on this forum? Im a sparky by trade and have no longer wish to exchange my time for money, but still wish to stay within the electrical industry. My thoughts are that a trade/services business can be fastlaned by systematising and scaling (and then selling).

Would love to here how the trades out there have "fastlaned" their lives. Have you stuck with your trade, and managed to fastlane your businesses by scaling or changing direction or have you decided to jump ship to something that better meet the 5 Commandments.

I'm a carpenter/Framer going on 13 years. I haven't figured out how to fast lane my skills yet. But I genuinely appreciate this thread. My goals now are to create a fallowing and carry quality products also tips and tricks to my Niche. working on a how to video as we speak. And to create a somewhat passive income through rental properties. I'm absolutely incapable of remaining hands off. For now. I can hardly sit still for 20 mins when I do have spare time. Hense rental property. I have no fear of sweat equity.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Did anyone spot it?

I'm a carpenter/Framer going on 13 years.

OMG, how ironic...

Anyone?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Milkanic]

I had my roof replaced this past fall and did some research on the roofers for lawsuits, reviews, etc. Nearly all of them owned 500k+ custom homes.
I went with the guy who could actually return a phone call and had a professional website.

The day of the scheduled replacement, a sub-contracted crew of 15 Mexican guys in unmarked trucks showed up and knocked it out in 8 hours.

So basically the guy I hired never lifted a hammer and made a few grand for sub-contracting the bid and covering the insurance.

 

[Shdreams]

OMG, how ironic...

Anyone?

hahaha! I'm on my way out the door.Driving my wife to the gym. All I want to do is find this episode of barret jackson.

 

[Shdreams]

I had my roof replaced this past fall and did some research on the roofers for lawsuits, reviews, etc. Nearly all of them owned 500k+ custom homes.
I went with the guy who could actually return a phone call and had a professional website.

The day of the scheduled replacement, a sub-contracted crew of 15 Mexican guys in unmarked trucks showed up and knocked it out in 8 hours.

So basically the guy I hired never lifted a hammer and made a few grand for sub-contracting the bid and covering the insurance.

I work for a family business. I'm a nephew to the owner. He is that guy who subs it all out and collects the check. I the nephew, am quality/damage control. Sure a bunch of shinglers can't do to much damage. But that kind of fast lane is unacceptable in my eyes. I have this arguement with my uncle all the time!!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GuestUser113]

Did anyone watch last night's Barrett Jackson? There was a HUGE Fastlane tradesman success story mentioned there, briefly, you'd to pay attention to catch it. Hint: It was the guy who was selling off his huge collection, must have been worth about $25M in cars.

Did anyone spot it?

Ron Pratte. Boyd built him a 57 Bel Air that is one of my favorite hot rods.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Ron Pratte.

BINGO. For anyone curious, Mr. Pratte started as a framer for a construction company. Then started his own business and framed himself. Then hired a crew to frame for him. Then expanded regionally employing as many as 4,000. Then in the housing boom, sold his company to Pulte for $350 million.

The announcer made mention of his tradesman goes Fastlane story and I thought of this thread.

Who is Ron Pratte?

Simple put, he is an american success story. An entrepreneur who started making money right after high school by pouring foundations and framing up new houses. His company grew and, at one point he had more than 4,000 employees, who were building as many as 60 houses a day during the building boom in the Phoenix area and in Las Vegas. Than at the height of the market he sold it all to Pulte Homes and retired.

Over 140 meticulously restored and stored classic automobiles and 1500 pieces of automobilia collection will be sold this week.

http://www.thevegastourist.com/blog/ron-pratte-vegas-connection-collection/