Your Past Professions Before You Owned Your Own Business?

Flimmer

Hey guys, I asked this at another board and it went over well, kinda fun to see where everyone came from before they started their business.

Just curious as I have more of a office backround(Estimating, Sales, planning, and marketing) Although I worked one year with a contractor doing concrete slabs and foundations, framing, roofing steel and asphalt, of course and mostly the grunt work. The one thing I am thankful for in that year is that I have a great appreciation for the carpenters, masons, plumbers, electricians etc., etc.

So I am just curious, how your past professions got you to where you are now?

Flimmer

mdshunk

I'm not sure exactly how any of these got me where I am today, but here they are roughly in order: morning newspaper delivery boy, bellman, buss boy, dishwasher, college student, door to door vacuum cleaner salesman, union sheet metal mechanic, refrigeration technician, union electrician, non union electrician, business owner. I guess each one was a step above the one before.

Teetorbilt

Worked for Dad (GC), boat builder, marine tech, dishwasher, salad maker, busboy, custom mattress assembly, bar remodeling & custom cabinet manufacturing, boat builder, municipal utilities engineer, diesel tech, small engine tech, power grid engineer, marine tech/manager, marine service/ships store manager, own marine business starts, sub to 2nd largest manufacturer of yacht stabilizers and am VP in 2 yrs., lucrative offer to develop stabilizer system for another co. taken, help friend of girlfriend move and wind up back in construction. I left out a bunch of other stuff, I played just as hard.

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

Albert Einstein

Flimmer

Md, The vacuum cleaner salesman had to be the one that prepared you the most in dealing with people.

Teetor, That's an impressive resume! Boats seem to be something your around alot.

Flimmer

nadonailer

Janitor, school bus driver, electronics plant assy line, concrete worker, surveyor, struggling rock 'n' roller, swimming pool service guy, multilevel marketing, you get the drift.....

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

Teetorbilt

Flimmer, I'm from the Bahamas, moved to Ft. Laud in '68. I'm much more comfortable out of sight of land than on it.

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

Albert Einstein

mdshunk

You betcha. Nobody learns to close a sale as well as a sweeper salesman. (well, maybe a few others). I actually made really good scratch doing that. I had many, many 3,000 dollar weeks (my pay) back to back, when I wasn't used to making that much in a whole month. It was long hours, and I was newly married at the time. I'd have been divorced if I persisted. I learned a lot of needed skills as far as sales presentations, asking the right questions to get to the core of an objection, and ultimately closing the sale. Oddly, these same skills help me on troubleshooting calls. You can often have 80% of your electrical troubleshooting done by asking the same sorts of questions of the homeowner/building manager in a logical progression. Of course, those skills help with upselling and change orders too. CHA-CHING!

shopdust

Lemmme see now.
Gofer for my Dad's biz till High school, nailed off roofs for two summers, drilled wells for one summer, sheet and towel man for NV's second largest "house" (buddy lost his wallet) *just kidding Bob*.Two years 6 months and 27 days; US Army. Partner and RMO for million dollar concern while playing C&R, former chief enforcement investigator for builders board. Now cabinets and residential design.

Robie

Barback, wash boy at Cadillac dealership, worked through all the departments there, college (architectural engineering), musician most of the time for 20 years (3 years full time), car salesman, delivery person for car rental company (that was fun...towing a car behind you and delivering on the Balt/Wash beltways), body shop manager at Chevy dealership, furniture salesman, grunt with a concrete contractor, into the country club business at entry level, working my way up through all departments, Club GM for 6 years. Got a case of the Popeye Syndrome and quit country clubs. Woodworking and home repair for the last 8 years. Lots to learn, but having a great time without that silk noose around my neck everyday.

__________________

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters. ~Alan Simpson

mdshunk

Curiousity will kill me unless I ask. What is "Popeye Syndrome"?

Eric K

Started working when i was 12 as a paperboy for 3 yrs then - 1 summer as a car washer, worked at dads shop from 16 on grunt - installer - cabinetmaker - fabricator - office b!tch, - manager - vice president - at 21 quit and started home remodeling business till now.

Robie

"I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more"
Popeye, circa unknown

__________________

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters. ~Alan Simpson

MinConst

Butcher apprentice, Meat wrapper, Furniture reupholstery (Dads buisness) for 3 years. Took over Upholstery business for 27 more years, Computer Production Engineer, went back to SE in my remodeling business. Oh I painted houses for a summer back in HS. Live is a treat. SE is the only way to work.

__________________
Paul
Minichillo's Construction
Website
I will never leave you hanging!

chrisherk

hey MD, what happened between being a union elec, to becoming a non union elec. just curios because i was a union elec, and the difference in pay was drastic . i would never start a union co. though. Profit margin too small

chris

AAPaint

Let's see.....dishwasher, line cook, telemarketing/management, pizza delivery, garbage man (sanitation engineer, haha), water filtration/regen tech, auto sales, alarm sales, vaccum sales, cctv security system sales, painter, bus owner.

__________________
-AAPaint

AA Quality Painting & Pressure Washing LLC
Jacksonville Painters
Jacksonville, FL.

Grumpy

helped my father remodel various houses as a kid, never liked it.

"free lance" lawn mower boy most summers for my neighbors as a kid.

Worked at a hardware store for a few sumemrs during high school.

Also worked door to door sales selling chicago tribune subscrtiptions during highschool. I tried telemarketing for about a week, what a bore!

Graduated high school and thought about going into mechanical engineering so I decided to get shop experience. Worked as a tool and die apprentice for about half a year. Didn't like it.

I started up a on man web design company but had no money so at the same time I went to work for a roofing & gutter company and did the webdeisgn on the weekends.

I started as a cleanup guy then moved onto the roof. I did that for a few years before decided I didn't like it. Moved into the office for one of the largest roofing companies in Chicago, after a couple weeks of being an administrative assistant I was promoted to scheduling mgr. I did all that for about a year before I moved to another company to do sales.

I worked at that company about 4-5 years. It was a small company so I got to do alot more than sales. I literally ran the company when my boss went on vacations. I handled all the marketing for the whole company and managed the production on all my projects. It was incredile experience, and though I wasn't paid top dollar I made enough and learned a ton.

I decided why make someone else rich and I started my own company.

Woodcrafter74

Paperboy at age 9 (always had cash in my pocket), Burger King manager through college, financial analyst for a Nuclear utility, and now building decks, cabinetry and home remodeling.
I would never have thought that a masters in finance would qualify me to operate a table saw--who knew? Just doing what I enjoy.

RobertCDF

started my first business when I was 8 selling candy I bought at sams club to all my friends I was cheaper than the store that was 1 1/2 miles away and I would deliver. then I was a caster at a metal art studio, maintenance assitant, forklift driver at sams club, stocker at best buy, loader at pepsi, audio tech at a church, back to stocking at best buy, pizza driver for papa johns, maintenance assitant again, started a CD production company, pizza driver at dominos, (every time I go in there they want me to come back and drive for them) grunt on a framing crew and moved up and learned quickly did that for a short time and now here I am building custom decks and other assorted stuff.

__________________
Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Flimmer

Grumpy,
your past is very simular to mine, I sold web pages, worked as a grunt for a small contractor in roofing and new construction, I presently work for a contractor in sales, advertising, marketing, planning. The only difference is I own a small rental biz and I am only about to take on the hassles of owning my own new construction contracting biz. Thanks to this web site and a couple others I am moving in the right direction.

Thanks for the replies people, Flimmer

Flimmer

Hey Robert, Sams club sure has been good to you. LOL