The Madness has begun

[PAXFREON]

The temp on the east coast is finally on the rise and I can honestly say"THE MADNESS HAS BEGUN".

My wife now calls me "Service Call Paul"

I mainly wrote this thread today to thank the two moderators:
HereFishy and Aiyub for the help they have given a new guy.

One more point..I AM ADDICTED TO THIS SITE!!!!!

[herefishy]

Originally posted by PAX*****
..I AM ADDICTED TO THIS SITE!!!!!

DITTO!!!


By the way, what's the going rate at PAX***** Refrigeration Co.?

[condenseddave]

I got really slammed with work today, I can relate on all points!

[herefishy]

Dave, are you in God's Country (W. Pa - Pittsburgh)... or are you on the coast too?

My "other" is from Sharon, PA. I knew I was in heaven, when I was watching a mud race with a beer in my hand, and the Volunteer fire Dept. was raffling a shotgun !!!!

[condenseddave]

Northeast, PA, actually. I have been to Sharon, for a meeting for the Eagles club, years ago.

We still have volunteer fire company's doing things like that, yearly carnivals with gun raffles, block shoots in the fall, etc. nice dirt track a few miles from me, too! But, for better or worse, our population is growing superfast, due to our close proximity to NYC and NJ.

It's still a beautiful, relatively quiet area, though.

[PAXFREON]

Originally posted by herefishy
DITTO!!!


By the way, what's the going rate at PAX***** Refrigeration Co.?

65.00 bones an hour, Beleive or not a few customers said I was really cheap compared to other companies they used after my Pop got sick and could not service them anymore. I won alot of his clients back this week alone. I just stopped in introduced myself and bango won them back.

The customers were pleased I had stopped by because the majority of them were clients of my Dad's for 20 + years

It's Good to be in business!

[herefishy]

Originally posted by PAX*****
It's Good to be in business!

When I first became self-employed, I learned two things....


#1 - ....What a sh*tty employee I was



#2 - .... and those poor people that I used to work for.

[condenseddave]

Originally posted by herefishy
When I first became self-employed, I learned two things....


#1 - ....What a sh*tty employee I was



#2 - .... and those poor people that I used to work for.

What was that phrase? DITTO.

[PAXFREON]

Originally posted by herefishy
When I first became self-employed, I learned two things....


#1 - ....What a sh*tty employee I was



#2 - .... and those poor people that I used to work for.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS? IF YOU CDON'T MIND ME ASKING>?

[herefishy]

October, 1996

[PAXFREON]

Originally posted by herefishy
October, 1996

Was it tough at first? Did you gain any customers from previous employers?

[herefishy]

SOOOOOOOO many questions.

Actually, after I got my State Contractor's License, I left the refrigeration service company that I was employed with at that time (after my Christmas paycheck bounced at the bank, I didn't feel like lettin' the feller hang his shingle over my license!!) and worked as a service tech for a company that only did commercial cooking appliance repair. After about a year of repairing fryers and grills, I set off on my own.

Since I was going into refrigeration (and would NOT do cooking appliances) there was no conflict of interest, and some of the customer base from the previous company was eager to engage me in refrigeration service. As a matter of fact, my previous employer referred business to me!!!!! And he still does, after 7 - 8 years. He is a good friend.

My first job, the very first morning of my new endeavour was a service call at Hooters ! LOL

I still have my first dollar....... wait a minute, let me go check.....

..... yep... still got it

[Abe]

Pox..............ahem.......Pax, my SOH is going to get me into trouble again !! Sorry, couldnt help it!!

Listen matey, think of the Fish and I as your good freinds, or as they say in the US of A, good buddies.

Any problems, dont hesitate to ask, ok. Its easy to get excited, but be careful too, there is a learning curve in business too and sometimes I get anxious, have stress, especially when I price a job wrong and lose money because an install goes wrong, or the client doesnt pay. Sometimes I have trouble with employees, they become moody or demotivated. And its very hard to get good decent engineers these days.

Also, I burn the midnight oil sometimes which doesnt do my family life much good, or my health.

Sometimes it is better to turn down a job if you have a negative vibe about it.

Feel free to send a private message if you come across a situation you dont want the whole world, ie: forum members to know about.

I am no expert consultant, but I will try to help ok. So good hunting and prosperity.

I admire a kid who got guts and is proudly flying the flag for his dad!!

Good on yer mate.

[herefishy]

Originally posted by Aiyub
Also, I burn the midnight oil sometimes which doesnt do my family life much good, or my health.

Very good point Aiyub.

PAX, you better be sure to let your wife in on everything. You're not the only one taking the risk, she's at risk too!

There is no better way to alienate your woman, than to alienate her.

It is very rare that a couple can work together (My wife and I are not rare in that regard). I've lived through some real grief at the house, and it's hard to live it down. You should really sit down and talk with your "other" about the interaction regarding the business. And if the two of you are going it together, you really have to set the lines straight... all of 'em. #1 is who's the boss?..... It's hard to have two Captains steering the ship in syncronous.

One's the boss at the house, the other is the boss at the shop... and don't bring the shop home!



I remember my little poem from a previous post...


Who's gonna pay the guy that writes the paycheck?
Who's gonna pay the guy that takes the risk?
Who's gonna pay the guy, that pays all the stinkin' bills?
then when it goes tits up.......He's on the bricks!!!!


see ya'