# Business going south....call the quits or keep going?



## inthe6 (Mar 18, 2018)

KAP said:


> Sounds like onward and upward with extra coin to boot (as it should be)... :thumbsup:


So far yes! I'm taking it one day at a time right now, so I don't throw myself under a bus with my mental health and get super sick. I just have to keep reminding myself that everything will be ok, and that there is plenty of time left on this project to hustle some new projects. I was at Ikea the other day, dealing with the kitchen that my client ordered. Long story short, I did the design, her and her husband reviewed it and decided they wanted to do modern opposed to traditional (huge mistake but w/e) and they tried to modify the design with a rep and they messed it up. While I was there waiting, some guy came up to me and asked me for a quote for his kitchen. 

I just need to remember. There was once a time where I didn't have plenty of side work, and I built up enough business through my side work that was keeping me busy all the time and enough business that when my former employer went bankrupt it still kept me going. Point being I did it once, and I can do it again.


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## Deckhead (Dec 9, 2010)

I've stayed up on this thread and here is what I think everyone is saying without being blunt.

I'm just going to be blunt about it.

Stop being a pushover, man. You need to respect yourself more than that. If someone takes your design and gives it to someone else then **** them, there is no reason on God's green Earth you are fixing it. When someone is whining about not making money so just decides not to take on a certain part of the scope, it ain't your problem, make them stick to their scope.

Bro, find a specialty trade. Decent GC's have brass balls. Good GC's have brass balls and know how to make that work for them. Great GC's have brass balls and know how to make it work for everyone.

Sorry to be a dick but you gotta stand up for yourself a little bit here. People in every post are taking advantage of you. The most dick thing I could say would be keep on keepin' on, cause you are heading for a major disaster.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

inthe6 said:


> Majority of the stress disorder came from when I went into new construction. During the few years I was there, I was literally abused. *My site super would abuse me, verbally and physically. Every day from the moment I would step foot in the door. He would yell at me for the random things, he would hit me, push me, make me do things I was uncomfortable to do.* He got me on the roof of one 10 storey building, not sure how but he got me up there. I couldn't get down. He got me on a 2 storey roof, and I fell down. I'm still alive, but I tripped and fell off the roof and broke my arm. I got shoved into garbage compactors to do welding, and grinding. The fellow that I was supposed to be partners with, he would verbally abuse me when we were in front of the site super. I'm not sure how it would be my fault for others messing up. Like the kitchen cabinet installer installing the sink basin in the wrong location and the plumber not being able to connect the drain because the trap location would was not in the right box. I present a solution and it was big yelling at. The owner of the company would sometimes come around, and depending on his day I would get the what up buddy buddy bit while other days verbal abuse. They would make me feel worthless. I wasn't allowed to take my 15 minute breaks because I wasn't getting a beverage and a snack from the coffee truck. Majority of the time, I would have to hide to eat my lunch because I would get deprived from it even if I were to say something back I would get the come here for a few minutes and then go and eat, meanwhile it would come time to end the day and they would say go eat lunch now. Everyone else got to that their meal break. I started getting sick and sick, and scared of my own shadow. I ended up in the hospital, and the doctors told me I was a mess. I had two colleges that were around my age, they were always missing in action go figure and when they were around I was either getting made fun of about my tools being "used" or would get a few jokes here and there. This is pretty much where it all developed from. The depression started back sometime in middle school where I was getting bullied quite a bit, and carried onto high school. This is where the doctor are saying it all developed from. I still do have nightmare from it though. It always in the back of my head what happened.
> 
> 
> 11 month project was a great project realistically to work on. It was a time and material project. I gave a labour price for initial scope, client to provide me all the materials. Yard have the clients credit card information on file, anything I need just a call away. So I started doing my demolition, brought a bin and a few guys we did quite a bit in one day. Client wanted the points, and well I came to work on day and the yard had dropped skids of drywall, toilets, vanities, lumber, lights, kitchen cabinetry on the lawn. Client bought all the stuff for me and well I got stuck I saw moving stuff around for months. My scope was cosmetic, so no permit needed. However, the client decided afterwards to steer away from current electric heating, rewire the house, install a new furnace system, new drain with a back flow device. All without a permit. I advised against it. Her sub-trades all advised it was a good idea. I told her it was trouble from the start. New town homes being built right across the street, two house that were on the north side of property had building permits in the window, across from the towns, there were a few houses with permits also, across the school yard there were a few houses with permits, the street behind same thing. Inspector was always driving down the street, to the point where we became coffee buddies. Inspector comes, we have a chat, I explain to him my scope, I show him our contract etx he tells me continue my scope but if it changes permits needed. I get back to work, and this is where she made all the changes, inspector comes shuts the job because the trades were trying to do everything without permits. City inspector comes stop work order, electrical inspector comes, and same thing. I got caught up in this mess. Meet client with inspector, and well client took over a month to make up her mind what to do with the house. I kept working but I ran out of work to do without the permits in place. Inspector made us do all these things because he got upset at the other trades. I ended up waiting 4 months for a 2 week fast track permit, I could barley get away from the job without the phone ringing. I basically started getting harassed by her and all the subs, if I wasn't there. This is how I started loosing work, one commercial contract I had for 10 years, well I was working on it in the afternoons and nights, but the guy changed his mind and needed it done faster and well started hiring others and well I lost out to the point where I showed up one day and there was nothing left.


DO NOT EVER LET ANYONE TREAT YOU LIKE THAT AGAIN....

Construction is a very tough game and GC's and Supers will bark every so often but NEVER disrespect like what was done to you.

In one of your posts I believe you said your Grand Father taught you to basically be non-confrontational.

May have worked well in his life and at the time, but in construction you need a set of balls.

A job can be an ever changing project. SOW can change daily.

Always keep abreast of what is going on and keep owners informed, daily if need be.

Good to see you are sticking with it and you did survive showing up here.

Good Luck....:thumbsup:


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## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

inthe6 said:


> So far yes! I'm taking it one day at a time right now, so I don't throw myself under a bus with my mental health and get super sick. * I just have to keep reminding myself that everything will be ok, *and that there is plenty of time left on this project to hustle some new projects.


Another thing to keep in mind is you went through ALL the stuff you listed and are not only still here, but moving forward (onward and upward)... strength comes from challenge...

In other words, no matter what you went through, YOU won that struggle because you're not only still standing but in business for yourself (a victory in and of itself)... YOU came out the other side stronger for having done so... 

Going forward, do as your doing now, and build on it and let YOUR future be the ultimate victory over any challenges you faced in your past and watch them fade from memory... :thumbsup:

The past is the past, learn from it and then choose leave it behind... the future is what you're writing right now and based on your activity and outlook, it's looking brighter... :clap:


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