I worked as a plumber for over 10 years. The company I was with got acquired by a larger one, and after a few years, they shut down the entire plumbing department, laying off around 10 workers, including me. I was faced with the choice of either finding a new job in a small(ish) town, competing with 10 other plumbers for the same position, or finally doing what I’d been thinking about for years: starting my own business.
I didn’t want to focus solely on plumbing, so now I’m essentially what you’d call a handyman. I take on a variety of home improvement projects according to my skills, and I absolutely love it. Not only is there no one telling me what to do, but the variety of jobs I get to do is immense. No two days are ever the same.
On top of that, I actually receive gratitude for the work I do. Practically all of my customers so far have been visibly satisfied with the quality of work and service they’ve received, which makes my job extremely fulfilling. I actually feel like a useful member of society now. To be honest, I’m quite surprised by the amount of positive feedback I’ve gotten. I’ve always known that I have extremely high standards for the quality of my work, but I never considered myself a particularly likable person. I might need to reconsider that as the evidence to the contrary keeps piling up.
Of course, there are downsides. I took a significant pay cut, and the long-term success of my business remains to be seen. But so far, things look promising. I’m not looking to get rich, grow my company, or hire employees, but if I can maintain my current standard of living and never have to go back to working for someone else, I can safely say this has been one of the best decisions of my life.
That’s a great motivational story! I wish only the best success for you!
I’ve always wondered about the floor that goes under the floor. It’s nice to see it in your photo
It’s the original vinyl flooring in this case and even though it’s not generally recommended to lay “luxury vinyl planks” on top of it, it usually is not a problem and the customer didn’t want me to tear out the old flooring due to how much extra work that would cause.
As someone who also recently layed a lot of vinyl planks: Take care of your back, otherwise good luck! 😊
Congrats! People recognize good, honest work. Your business is definitely on the right track.
Awesome! No idea where you live but if you were near me I’d hire you. I always try to do little projects but end up failing at them because I suck at working with my hands lol.
I applaud your courage. What interesting jobs you’ve done and what skills other than plumbing you are confident in doing rn?
I’ve only been doing this for around 6 months so I haven’t had any that special jobs so far but I did a small kitchen remodel to one customer where I tore down the old and build a new one for her which was quite enjoyable job.
My favourite jobs are ones that require creativity and problem solving. When ever I can fix something instead of replacing it is fun. This is a recent example of such job:
It’s honestly easier to list what I don’t do which is building something bigger than a shed, electric work, work inside tanks / wells, challenging tree fellings, jobs that require more than one person such as roofing, asbestos demolition and jobs where I need to deal with refrigerants.
