Re: Life Sucks, Then You Move On

[JoeRaisin <joeraisin2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

JoeRaisin wrote:
> Effenpig1 wrote:
>> On Dec 4, 9:22 pm, Jim <alarmi...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> On Dec 4, 2:10 pm, JoeRaisin <joeraisin2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Oh yeah... My NICET Certification is good to 2012 but how do I go about
>>>> getting and documenting recertification requirements? That used to be
>>>> done by my supervisor and at the time I wasn't interested in the
>>>> process
>>>> - I just filled out what they told me to fill out and went back to
>>>> work.
>>> Someone else here will have to answer that, I don't have a clue.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Did I mention that I'm one of those guys who has never really wanted to
>>>> work for myself 'cause it scares the shit out of me...-
>>> You know what that reminds me of? A long time ago I hired a kid as a
>>> helper to run wires for me in this residential job that had some
>>> pretty tight attic crawl spaces. He had no experience but he was built
>>> slim and wanted the $10.00 an hour that I was offering. We get to the
>>> job and I take him up to the attic and show him what I want him to do.
>>> He's up in the attic on his belly and I'm down below snaking up. After
>>> about 15 20 minutes he's coming down the attic hatch all upset and
>>> really distressed. I ask him what's the matter. Almost in tears, he
>>> says ... I can't do this job. I gotta go home right now. I said,
>>> what's the matter. He says, I must be allergic to the insulation, I'm
>>> itching all over. I gotta go home!  I told him get the hell back up
>>> there EVERYBODY itches from insulation. I took some and rubbed it on
>>> my arm and said Wow, that shit itches like crazy. See how I ignore it?
>>> Now get back to work. You'll get over it in time.
>>>
>>> The moral of the story is ...... WHAT? do you think your the only one
>>> who'd ever been scared shitless to start their own business?
>>> EVERYBODY is afraid of what could happen if they fail. Just like war
>>> heros. They're no differen't than anyone else. They're afraid too.
>>> It's just that they get past the fear and do what has to be done,
>>> regardless of the possible consequences.
>>>
>>> I started my business when I had a chance to move ahead in the company
>>> I was working for at the time. I knew that if I stayed with them I'd
>>> probably be with them for a long, long time because I wouldn't be able
>>> to make the same money working for someone else and I'd be stuck
>>> working for them, whether I wanted to or not. . I was always the one
>>> who wanted to do things my way and did, much to the distress of my
>>> employers. But it turned out I was right more times than they liked to
>>> admit. Since no one in my family ever ran their own business, I had no
>>> idea that my attitude was one of the attributes that an entrepreneur
>>> needed, but I  decided to turn them down, quit and set the goal of
>>> getting 100 monitored accounts in one year. (actually I already had
>>> 35). I did it with a few to spare.  I often say that when I started on
>>> my own, so many years ago, that's when I learned to live on 4 or 5
>>> hours of sleep a night. Even if I was in bed for 8 hours, half the
>>> time my mind was racing 100 miles an hour trying to cover all the
>>> things I should be doing or didn't do and the possibility of failure
>>> and what the consequences would mean for me and my family and where
>>> was the money going to come from.............. I was just too damn
>>> stubborn to quit a let everyone see that I had failed at something. I
>>> worked hard, day and night, had a good work ethic, used common sense
>>> and picked and chose who to listen to and who not. It worked, and here
>>> I still am, 40 years later and still loving it .... every day.
>>>
>>> Once you're past the start up hurdles and you meet another
>>> entrepreneur, you begin to sense that feeling of camaraderie that we
>>> have. It's a great club to belong to. Put's you in a special category
>>> of people. Certainly, not everyone is cut out for it. You have to have
>>> some special attributes to do it. And by the way, keep in mind that
>>> when one door closes, another one has to open somewhere else. How you
>>> look at it is important. It's an opportunity to change your whole life
>>> but you have to commit to it and have the backing of your family too.
>>> Thanks to my wife who worked and also took care of and raised the kids
>>> during that time, it all turned out ok. Today I work only because I
>>> want to. I could have retired years ago, but this is mine. Something
>>> that I created, nurtured and made grow all by my will to succeed. I'm
>>> not the richest guy you know but you'd be hard put to find someone who
>>> enjoys what they do, more than me.
>>>
>>> By the way, I think that saying is true. Find what you like to do, do
>>> it and you'll never work a day in your life.
>>>
>>> Hope it works out for you too.
>>
>> Also, I would use a lawyer to find out exactly what the non-compete
>> entails in your area, so you can get as close to the edge as possible
>> without getting in trouble. Make good use of all the insider info you
>> have. I'm not encouraging anything illegal, I'm just saying do what
>> you have to do to get your foothold in the market.
>
> To be honest I really don't want to compete with them in the area of
> alarms.
>
> Over the years I've heard a lot of electricians griping about pulling
> the low voltage stuff - mainly cat-5 & RG-6.  I'm hoping they hate it
> enough to sub it out.  I already did it on and off for one guy but at
> the time I didn't really NEED the money (it was basically a hobby that
> put a few bucks in my pocket) and most of his jobs were an hour away or
> more so I stopped.
>
> I should probably give him a call...
>
> The main hurdle for me is going to be money.  There were a lot of money
> related issues after my son died (dying is expensive - but some of it, I
> must confess due to my own inattention) and I'm still trying to repair
> my credit.
>
> So I'm still gonna spread around my resume and beat the bricks, but jobs
> are pretty scarce in Michigan these days - gotta make that mortgage...
>
> Say, Jim...  You wouldn't happen to be looking for a consultant or
> subcontractor up north would you?

Never mind, Jim - I got my ng's mixed up again - in my other ng there's
a 'Jim' who owns a business in Michigan.

Unless of course you are in Michigan...