What's A Good Trade To Specialize In?

ron schenker

A good friend of mine who works at G.M. fulltime and is a flooring contractor partime is worried about his future. G.M. here in Oshawa is supposedly in financial trouble and rumors of thousands of layoffs within the next 2 years abound. Anyways, he is a very handy guy and is looking to prepare himself for the worst by learning a new trade. He asked my advice and it got me thinking about what will be a profitable business to get into. Painting, flooring, bathrooms, kitchens, landscaping? He's 47 yrs. old and feels he's too old to spend 5 yrs. learning electrical or plumbing, so he wants to hone his handyman skills into a business. He's not really "gung ho" on flooring and wants something different. I'm kinda stumped, what would you recommend?

maj

To make it in any business you must enjoy what you're doing!
So my advice to him would be to take that hobby or desire of whatever he likes to do and run with it. Start small, do a little here & there, if that doesn't work out or he decides he doesn't like doing that full time, try something else.

My DESIRE is to have a cabinet/woodworking shop, but I learned construction as a teenager, and now 25 years later I'm still doing construction! I guess my niche kind of landed in my lap when I was a teenager. I still want to do cabinets/woodworking in a few years, but for now construction is putting food on the table & offerings in the plate on Sunday!

thepawnshop

My "knee-jerk" reaction was straight to plumbing, but I see he has ruled that out. Electrical is a goldmine as well but since neither of those tickle his fancy, if he is good and detail oriented, he could do quite well painting and also have only a minimum investment to start. If he hates it, he has a few ladders to sell, and if he loves it, the sky is the limit.

My biggest advice to him is to find something he enjoys and make a go at it. The biggest problem I have with subs though is that A LOT of them like to get paid and dissappear until they are broke again. If he proves to be skilled AND dependable, he'll wonder why the hell he ever worked for GM in the first place!

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Doug Brandt
Class "A" Contractor
Brandt Custom Homes
Roanoke, VA

Sider' Brian

Siding and Windows but perhaps I'm a bit biased...
Seriously though I would do home improvements and take the less physical jobs at his age. I wish him and all the soon to be ex G.M.ers lots of luck the economy is already terrible in MI.

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pwrpapa

HAHA, the economy in Mi. is so bad you can't even buy a pine float.
A pine float is a glass of water and a tooth pick. lol......

I guess we missed out on the big construction boom that everyone esle is making a killin on.

The last one out of Mi. please turn off the lights.
That's all we need is more GM people taking our work.
But I guess if there's no work it does'nt matter.
Now does it...........

jvcstone

I have to weigh in on the side of picking something that provides some enjoyment.

Knew a guy once who was always chasing the big bucks. In fact he was the fellow that got me into the masonry trade when he convinced me to go to work with him since he needed to show up for a new job with a helper. Trouble was, he wasn't a mason and got canned the second day, but the crew kept me on as labor since I showed up to work. I stuck around, and learned a few things, found that I had a passion for the work, and that passion has carried me to where I am today. Ran into the guy again a few days later, and this time, he was bragging about how much money he was going to make roofing. Trouble was, he didn't know anything about roofing, so again he was looking for a money making trade.
Point of this story, A) to get good at anything, you got to pay the dues, and B) you best enjoy what you choose to do.
Otherwise, just go fishing.
JVC

__________________
John VanCamp
www.jvcstoneworks.com

pwrpapa

There's no trade any better then another for making money.
If you're good at it you will make money.
If you're not good at it, you're going to fail.
Pick what you are good at.
I love framing and am good at it.
I don't mess with trying to be a jack of all trades and master of none.
But you should locate to an area where the economy will support what you want to do.
It's not Mi.
I hear FL. is going great guns right now.
Even a hack with no experience can make it there from what I have been told. Two drunk lazy asses that I know went there 1-1/2 years ago and are still there making big money. Figure that one out,I'm still confused about it.

nadonailer

Ditto on what he said - New Orleans would be a great choice also, don't ya think? If I had to pick, though, I'd say kitchen and bath remodels. Sub out the plumbing and electrical.

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"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Teetorbilt

pwr, it doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. We have been whacked by many major hurricanes in the last few years, have significant damage and our population is about 60% retirees. If you are willing to work, somebody will pay you.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

pwrpapa

Teetor,

I can send you all the geniuses you want.

Hurrayconst.

Hi,
If he live's in an urban area he's got to figure out what market he wants- high end jobs or low end quick blow and go jobs. The easyest trade is painting but there is alot of competition. You need to master the trade which will make it easier. You also need to perfect customer service. If I were him I would do a painting and handyman service. I have a friend that use to install gutters. He found that there was more money in maintaining them in rich neighborhoods. 3 things, try to master the work you do, keep up good customer service, and find your market. Oh, and pay your taxes, lol. Good luck,
Tom