Congratulations, that is quiet the achievement. Do you have any wisdom to impart to the rest of us about the business?
Wisdom? HA! I have a degree in history of all things, and when my brother and I got into this we had absolutely no clue how to operate a business. Beleive me, I have made my full share of mistakes over the years and it cost me plenty.
A few pearls (take them however you see them):
Look after the customer. Don't cheat. HE is the one paying the bills, and the happier he is, the easier you get paid.
Don't lie, or exagerate.
If you make a mistake own up to it and try to make it right.
Make sure you keep a tidy site. Fabulous workmanship coupled with a messy site: the client only remembers the mess.
PAssable workmanship and tidy site, with everything put away every day and garbage cleaned up: the client can't tell you enough how neat the men were.
PRice a job to make money. Don't give it away.
Keep your overhead down. Don't let a little success go to your head. DOn't incure too much debt. At one time I had 6 brand new trucks that I was making payments on. one summer 3 of them sat unused for weeks at a time.
Don't let pride get in the way of common sense.
Don't take shortcuts on the work. Sooner or later it catches up to you.
The absolute biggest thing: don't forget your family. When my 3 boys were little I went to clients instead of school events or birthday parties or movies. Now I have grand children and I am determined to see them grow up.
On my deathbed, will I regret that I didn't work enough? Of course not. That I never built my dream hot rod, and didn't spend enough time with the kids, different story.
I could probably write a book about this. Suffice to say: common sense, common sense, common sense.
If it looks too good to be true, it is.
