Never want to go back to working for someone else

I was at a large bakery today and over-heard the employees talking. The manager was short handed and was talking to an employee who had called in sick. The employee stated that she had a fever and was vomiting all morning, yet the manager was still telling her to come in and at least help out by washing the pans. It sounded like she agreed to come in to work.

I can't count the number of times that I did the same thing as this ill employee while working for others....and for peanuts as well. I can't imagine going back to that kind of life where someone else dictates your life by waiving a paycheck in front of your nose. Not much different than being a plow horse really.

It was good motivation to keep making this business work for me instead of me working for it.

I've been there too, both times when I was making peanuts managing subway and when making pretty good $$ managing carpet cleaning company, the worse I would say at carpet cleaning company cause he ( my boss ) just couldn't take no for an answer, he would beg and whine until I say yes.
I would have to say though that now it's actually worse because now I would not want to get a bad review on the Internet just because someone is pissed off I wasn't able to make it, repeat customers are different story, especially the older ones, they wouldn't want your flu germs anyway, so they are quick to say "let's reschedule" lol.
That's the part that I hate about this industry, although if I put myself on customer's shoes, I can understand, they already moved everything out of the way and / or they already take time off of work to have us come and clean and to reschedule they would have to do the prep all over again, lose lose situation for both of us.

That is good point about the re-schedules being a hardship. I guess I have just been lucky or maybe the market is that much different around here, but I am given the garage code and let myself in most times.

I guess this area can still do that without fear of being robbed. I show up, clean, and lock up when I am done so they are not inconvenienced much at all.

J.O.B JUST OVER BROKE. If you are lucky.

Self employment give you freedom and you cant put a price on that

Wish I understood this 20 years ago.

I like the freedom to make decisions. If I want to expand into another area, such as high overhead cleaning, I just have to do the research, save $, then buy equipment.

Well, things are looking a little better this month than last month, still not anywhere near last few holiday season, I found out some of the reason why, there are a lot more competition out there on Yelp, and increasing my ad budget seems to drop my organic position down a bit, so I emailed them a couple of days ago and dropped it back down from $ 1550 / month to $ 300 / month, the sales people tried hard to keep me on that $ 1550 / month by telling me all the numbers at their end, my reply was all those numbers are good but my own numbers in my bank account doesn't match those numbers, lol.
I'm hoping to stay afloat ( break even ) from January through April but even if we're in the hole a bit, I always save in the summer for the possibility of a hole in the winter.
I'm still not closing the possibility of working for someone else if I can be a consultant of some kind and make $ 50 k or more, I might just try and delegate the business to my wife. My part timer will be a full timer and that will cost about $ 25 k more / year.

It is a tough situation for you Dp, because you have other skills. A lot of cleaners stay cleaners because they don't have any other skills that can net them a better paying occupation.

My December is finishing strong although this week is pretty slow with the temps never getting out of the teens. January looks better than previous years, but have no idea for Feb. and March.

I didn't have a great head start to the year, so the reserves are not very substantial at this point, so I have to keep pushing hard getting to Spring.

The number in your bank account is what matters DP. I still thing the election slowed thing down a bit judging by my numbers from the last election. It didnt have much of an impact on the entire year but it just killed my last quarter.

You've been in business long enough DP to be able to ride out the slow down.

Are you sure you're just not suffering from burn out? I know I am.

I can ride the slow down for sure, I enjoy cleaning carpets but my back is not enjoying it, I'm not hurting, I just can feel it sore the next day and if I'm off for a couple of days it feels great, I'm not even pushing the wand, just bending over to move hoses, move some light furnitures around, bending over to clean filter, etc.
I'm not even sure an office job will be good for my back since I'm used to be active moving around all day.
But if the opportunity arises, I will definitely give it a shot. See how long it takes me to flip my boss, lol

You could return to an office job if you enjoyed it. If not, you would be racing back to the truck very quickly. I can see doing a lot of things other than cleaning, but it would have to be a job that I find interesting, challenging, with good managers and a cute redhead.

Until then, I will stay with cleaning.

I say you get a hot tub and soak every night. Remember inaskws that old time? I forgot his name he's 75 and still cleaning carpet. I asked him  what his secret was and he sits in his jacuzzi every night

Jacuzzi would be a nice touch.....someday that might happen. I do have a small sauna in my basement where I thaw out on a daily basis, but it is a dry sauna which isn't quite as nice.

Yeah I prefer a steam room over sauna.

I understand a hot tub is good for your heart, joint and muscle pain, stress

The only problem with a hot tub is the maintenance. A sauna is much easier to deal with and it keeps your coffee hot while you relax.