What is involved to accomplish a ongoing income in this line of work instead of a “linear” income? Is franchising necessary? Building a system and your brand. I would love to get out of trading hours for money at some point in my life. Im guessing few to none here have made it that far but im hoping someone here has similar goals if your planning for retirement or hard times. Im starting young so plenty of time to build towards my goals but taking the right paths is what id like to learn more about. Im leaning towards a training systems, selling a line of chemicals, franchising and other things like this in the long run, focusing pressure washing businesses. Having another income thats more steady than once every 3 years is nice and ongoing income that is achievable with me in the picture as little as possible.
Something that i have thought about before choosing this line of work was.
Capital: which is something i took seriously i bought what i could afford and nothing i couldn’t afford to lose. No financing!
Risk: i kept a secondary job so if my self owned business failed it was not a make or break it kind of thing
Expertise: I’ve always gave a job my all and studyied up on all challenges that job envolved to provide professional results.
Time: im putting everything i have into this as responsibly as possible to be as successful as i can and to build my business as fast as i can and still enjoy time with my family when i can( hardest task for me)
This all came about from talking with a golf pro a few years ago and he is what made me look elsewhere from the industrial line of work and venture out into a self made career.
Im not the best at expressing what i mean in text or words but i hope yall are understanding what i would like to maybe achieve. Im not saying you cant land a steadier line of commercial jobs like other here have done. Im talking about doing that AND having a back up income that could be done at a old age or sick/hurt in a bed.
Rental properties. I’m not sure about your area but around me the rental market is strong. I, like you, don’t want to be sweating for all of my money after I’m 50. My wife and I are going to cash out some stock and buy one or two houses hopefully by the end of the year. It’s all in the works right now.
The easiest path (not necessarily the quickest) to financial independence I think is probably just working hard at what you do, charging enough, live way below your means, and save like mad into stock index funds.
If you save 50% of what you make, you’ll achieve FI in 20 years or less. Bump that up to a 75% savings rate, and you cut your time down to around 7 years.
(Did not scan this article for vulgarity; Triple M drops the occasional swear words):
For the record, that’s not my plan. I just want a little bit set aside in the bank for emergencies, live debt free, and make it through life trading as little of my precious time for sustenance as possible. (I know that’s the theory behind FI, but there’s a larger upfront investment of time and energy in achieving it early, that doesn’t jive with my family’s values)
Your heads in the right place. I plan on making another hire and work 1-2days a week on the important stuff or roofs within a year. Eventually I hope do be able to leave the business for weeks at a time in good trusted hands. I’d actually take a pay cut for this to be successful as my free time gained I could pursue other ventures. As @sgb stated rental is a great idea. It’s passive income until something breaks or you have to find tenants but that’s not as often as some make it seem. I have two right now and the goal is to get 3-4 more. Those rentals would pay the personal bills and keep money in my pocket. The two are paying a nice chunk as it is. If I had free time I would I wouldn’t mind flipping a few. Currently in school pursuing an MBA in finance and minor in marketing. Im just finishing up all the BS classes that don’t relate to anything like English’s, maths, etc. I should start seeing the beneficial classes soon. The thought of franchising has crossed my mind but I’ve never looked into it. I would assume that it’s no easy task or others would have done it by now. What we do carries a huge liability imo and franchising would be difficult. It’s not rocket science but you do have to have common sense and that’s not common. Think of carpet cleaning? It’s hard to burn a house down cleaning the rugs. On the other hand spraying sh and water on to a house without looking for hazards could be bad. I can’t tell you how many breaker boxes I’ve closed because the home owner didn’t close them completely. And let’s not get started on roofs. It’s hard enough finding an employee with sense much less doing it on a massive scale. I think it’s easier to franchise stuff with less risks like blending smoothies. I could be way off but that’s my 2cents. It’s good that you’re looking to the future. I’m 34 and wish I would have did it at 24 I could be retired by now. Still young enough to make it happen at a decent age. 2020 I’m going to start back contributing to my 401k. Good luck
Great info. Gives me some other things to think about. @Infinity ill read that when i get home tonight. @sgb i know a guy who pressure washes and owns 2 apartment complexes and he is loaded. Hes in his 40’s and has paid off his house and cars/trucks and even both of his big ocean boats lol. Him and his wife was truckers and saved up to flip houses. Then saved that to buy apartments. @Harold im sure it isnt easy and i know its possible. Pat Clark has only been in business 10 years and has franchised out. He start out like me with nothing. Slept in his car to attend conventions because he couldn’t afford a hotel.
Im not saying that would be my goal just want to hear some other options and ideas you guys that have veen doing this for a while have. Id hate to go to far in one direction with my business only to hit a dead end.
There’s also tons of money in trucking. If you can afford to start. We own two trucks and if you work then right you can make lots of money. I would rather be washing rather than driving. It’s hard on the family. But if you have a driver in your truck that you trust, you can do very well just brokering out loads.
@grizz, before I can take Mr. Sparkle to the next level I need to develop my niche market so that I have more to offer my franchisee than a clever name. Ultimately I intend to do the marketing and sales and take a commission from the job. My niche is home sale preparation, and my team and I are very effective at creating the illusion that the sun shines brighter on Mr. Sparkle homes than it does on the neighbors. It’s not unusual for our homes to sell quickly, with contracts within 24 hours of a listing.
The challenge is marketing, and I intend to start volunteering my time to speak at real estate agent’s meetings about staging the exterior and cleaning up before listing. I’m currently writing an article about the tasks that help sell a house for more money and in less time with an explanation of the task for the do it your self-er. I believe that the more folks know, the more likely they are to choose a professional.
Maybe as important to me as marketing to real estate agents is a rigorous on-line presence. The more I study and research, the more I’m convinced that creating internet content is one of the factors that causes Google to elevate search results.
So, @Grizz, to answer your question, I’m still in the working stages of having that goose that lays the golden egg.
Well Mr. Sparkle check on the name before you decide the franchise. There is a Mr. Sparkle window cleaning up in Michigan. Milford township Michigan Mr. Sparkles Window Pros.@MrSparkleVA
Mr. Sparkles are not uncommon. I recognize this, but I don’t think anyone will ever have a trademark on the name without embellishment. Mine is Mr. Sparkle, LLC registered in Virginia. I do business as Mr. Sparkle, Elite Window Cleaner and Pressure Pro. A clever name is good, but it in no way guarantees success. Only 5 star reviews that are earned with 5 star service and a good marketing mix can do that.
This is 98% of the reason why I’m part time as of this year. My dad has said since I was little, “If you can’t pay cash, you can’t afford it. Financing anything beyond your house is selling your time and effort to someone else.” I don’t owe anyone anything and as of this year, semi-retired at 35 years old essentially.
Start here: Get debt free ASAP if it means you have to deliver pizzas on Friday and Saturday night on top your other 2 jobs. Reduce your expenses to bare bones. You’ll realize you won’t miss a lot the stuff you were giving your money away for. Save 6 months of emergency reserves.
Every dollar above that after being debt free goes into something that makes you money for 10 years.
Nothing you invest in will give you the returns of a well run business. I do like stocks with Price-To-Book of under 2.0, annually increasing EPS, and dividends between 4-6%.
Here’s a list I made 2 nights ago: (Sunoco has a higher Price to book, but with a 10.47% dividend it’s worth the risk for me at least.)
ATT 5.44% 1.49 price to book
BP 6.66% 1.22
Chevron 4.20% 1.36
Exxon 5.05% 1.47
Ford 6.55% 0.94
Kraft Heinz 5.67% 0.63
National Grid 5.74% 1.42
Royal Dutch Shell 6.56% 1.19
Schlumberger 6.27% 1.18
Sunoco 10.57% 3.35
Valero 4.26% 1.62
Wells Fargo 4.15% 1.19 PB
Oh… here is my monthly budget totals including food:
One of the best things to ever happen to me was an old Sgt pointing me toward Dave Ramsey. We got debt free besides the house in my late 20s. But I didn’t watch our finances closely enough and we never amassed the surplus we should have. We owe about 50k on the house as our only debt and its getting sold as part of the divorce. So I should be starting over debt free. Do my best to stay that way!
