OK. Here we go. I’ve identified a need that I am passionate about fulfilling. At first I was worried about posting this due to thievery. But, if someone else can make it work better than me – so be it. They will enhance the lives of people that I want to reach.
First, a little background about myself. I am not a young lil pup. I’ve climbed the corporate ladder at a young age (mainly at fast paced manufacturing facilities in a leadership position –plant production manager, quality manager, VSM, etc…) and have gotten knocked off of it a few times as well due to downsizing, plant shutdowns, etc… I took a severance package and parlayed it into running a residential painting franchise full time. I had 3 months of “free†money to build my “empireâ€. I had purchased the franchise about 2 yrs prior to the severance package. Built up the business through networking (BNI, Chamber of Commerce, HOA, Realtors) and turned the franchisor onto a real website creator. I actually got a kickback for each franchisee that used these guys. I lost my a$$ the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 years – mainly due to some stupid advertising adventures and taking on some jobs that were out of my league. I own those mistakes and don’t regret taking the risks – well maybe a lil bit.
I never actually performed the task of physically painting. I hired painting contractors for that. I did the estimating / sales / follow up. Long story short – I failed. But, I went into this knowing failure was a definite possibility. My logic was: I don’t give a F*ck – even if I fail, it will provide me a ton of learning experience and it did. However, I am in debt up to my a$$ – no make it my shoulders. But, damn I had to give it a shot. Again, no regrets – not so sure the wife agrees but…
Fast forward to today. Went back to manufacturing (slow lane) and making a decent salary. Still trying to recover from the debt I created. Still not regretting my adventure. Now, it is time to go fast lane. Why – cause I can learn from my failures and really help fill a need.
This is what I am gonna do - just not sure how to get there. The business end I can handle but not sure about the politics. During my painting contractor days – I networked with a lot of other trades (landscapers, plumbers, electricians, general handy â€menâ€, home cleaners, etc..).
The government forks out money for unemployment like there is no tomorrow. Don’t you find it kinda disturbing that your grandma / grandpa, disabled friend, or wounded vet struggle to stay in their own homes? My grandma lives 2 hours away and I have to travel there on my days off to trim her roses, move stuff to the attic, drive her to the grocery store/ doctor’s office / pharmacy. The list goes on and on. I do this because I love her and she deserves it. But here is the rub. This woman has worked her entire life and if she didn’t have me, she would be in a nursing home just because she is not physically able to maintain her home. THAT’S NOT RIGHT. BTW, I’ve got nothing against nursing homes. But, she should have options. She has earned that much.
I want to create a company / network of contractors that will fill this need. The critical part that I don’t know how to address is I want the government to subsidize or at least pay for the cost of this service or a portion of it. To me this is a no brainer. Let our country help people that have actually contributed to society. Yes, there would have to be a qualification process but my goal would make that process as seamless as possible and get them the help they need as soon as possible. In essence, my company would be a general contractor dispatching qualified (background checks) contractors to aid folks in maintaining their current homes.
My biggest barrier is how do I start the process of “selling†this to the politicians??? I don’t know where to begin. How do I even proceed with this? Who / how do I contact anyone in the government arena? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I would truly appreciate your feedback on this plan. Thanks for reading and I will make this a progress thread if I can figure out how to move forward. Awesome forum – I really dig this place and hope to contribute real soon.
First, a little background about myself. I am not a young lil pup. I’ve climbed the corporate ladder at a young age (mainly at fast paced manufacturing facilities in a leadership position –plant production manager, quality manager, VSM, etc…) and have gotten knocked off of it a few times as well due to downsizing, plant shutdowns, etc… I took a severance package and parlayed it into running a residential painting franchise full time. I had 3 months of “free†money to build my “empireâ€. I had purchased the franchise about 2 yrs prior to the severance package. Built up the business through networking (BNI, Chamber of Commerce, HOA, Realtors) and turned the franchisor onto a real website creator. I actually got a kickback for each franchisee that used these guys. I lost my a$$ the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 years – mainly due to some stupid advertising adventures and taking on some jobs that were out of my league. I own those mistakes and don’t regret taking the risks – well maybe a lil bit.
I never actually performed the task of physically painting. I hired painting contractors for that. I did the estimating / sales / follow up. Long story short – I failed. But, I went into this knowing failure was a definite possibility. My logic was: I don’t give a F*ck – even if I fail, it will provide me a ton of learning experience and it did. However, I am in debt up to my a$$ – no make it my shoulders. But, damn I had to give it a shot. Again, no regrets – not so sure the wife agrees but…
Fast forward to today. Went back to manufacturing (slow lane) and making a decent salary. Still trying to recover from the debt I created. Still not regretting my adventure. Now, it is time to go fast lane. Why – cause I can learn from my failures and really help fill a need.
This is what I am gonna do - just not sure how to get there. The business end I can handle but not sure about the politics. During my painting contractor days – I networked with a lot of other trades (landscapers, plumbers, electricians, general handy â€menâ€, home cleaners, etc..).
The government forks out money for unemployment like there is no tomorrow. Don’t you find it kinda disturbing that your grandma / grandpa, disabled friend, or wounded vet struggle to stay in their own homes? My grandma lives 2 hours away and I have to travel there on my days off to trim her roses, move stuff to the attic, drive her to the grocery store/ doctor’s office / pharmacy. The list goes on and on. I do this because I love her and she deserves it. But here is the rub. This woman has worked her entire life and if she didn’t have me, she would be in a nursing home just because she is not physically able to maintain her home. THAT’S NOT RIGHT. BTW, I’ve got nothing against nursing homes. But, she should have options. She has earned that much.
I want to create a company / network of contractors that will fill this need. The critical part that I don’t know how to address is I want the government to subsidize or at least pay for the cost of this service or a portion of it. To me this is a no brainer. Let our country help people that have actually contributed to society. Yes, there would have to be a qualification process but my goal would make that process as seamless as possible and get them the help they need as soon as possible. In essence, my company would be a general contractor dispatching qualified (background checks) contractors to aid folks in maintaining their current homes.
My biggest barrier is how do I start the process of “selling†this to the politicians??? I don’t know where to begin. How do I even proceed with this? Who / how do I contact anyone in the government arena? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, I would truly appreciate your feedback on this plan. Thanks for reading and I will make this a progress thread if I can figure out how to move forward. Awesome forum – I really dig this place and hope to contribute real soon.
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