Expanding Business, Balancing Life/Work

Redhorseshoe · November 11, 2020, 03:03:24 PM

So here's the story. We bought an lt15 this spring and thought we'd use it mostly for projects around the place and maybe make a little extra pocket money on the side. What's actually happened is I've sawn hardly anything for myself and have been filling orders every night after work and on weekends for the last three months. Not a bad problem to have, but now we are moving our humble operation off of our property (county code issues) and will be leasing an industrial lot. So as far as the little business goes things are looking pretty good. All that being said, my wife and I already have really good, full time, "regular" jobs that we have no intention of quitting to pursue a mill business, and we have a toddler who I don't want to spend all my free time away from. I'm hoping I could maybe just get some advice on how to balance all of these things and hopefully how some of you have done something similar yourselves. Also, at this point I'm not sure how much more I can realistically have the business grow. So far it's just been me, the lt15, our tractor, and an occasional self loader full of logs. But if things keep going the direction they have been, I don't know if I should try to keep growing or just keep things as they are and be satisfied with that. It's very hard to turn down opportunity, especially when it's come so unexpectedly. Thanks for any advice and apologies for the rambling.

stavebuyer · November 11, 2020, 03:13:14 PM

Happy to hear of your success! As you are finding out; it can be easy for a business to consume you. Personally the only time I had balance was when I wore someone else's cap. If you are happy in your "real job" I would park the mill back behind the house and learn to say "NO".

longtime lurker · November 11, 2020, 03:55:43 PM

What he said ^^^

Sawing isn't a career it's a disease. You got two/three choices here:
1. Stay hobby and put your family first
2. Buy a bigger faster mill so you can do more in your "off time" which might then turn into a full time gig once you've got gear that will make that do-able.
3. Trade in the wife and kid.

I didn't say you'd like the choices - I just wrote them down. And I'll tell ya.... I made the wrong choice first time. I tried to go commercial with gear that wasn't big enough and actually did well enough to support the wife and kids but the hours it took cost me the wife.

I have since traded up (the female) but am ever mindful of the fact that you need commercial level equipment to run a commercial level business.

WV Sawmiller · November 11, 2020, 04:14:19 PM

Raise your prices till you reach a balance as to what you feel comfortable sawing. If they keep calling, keep raising prices till they quit or slow down.

richhiway · November 11, 2020, 04:17:36 PM

I agree above. I don't see how it could pay you to pay rent for a side business. you would need a fully hyd, mill to produce enough in limited time.

If you are going to be in business you need a sound plan. The actual profit in run of the mill lumber is very low. You have to produce volume. If I was doing something part time I would find a nitch market were the profit margin is very high.

terrifictimbersllc · November 11, 2020, 04:54:49 PM

Also how much time is taken going to and from leased lot, securing things there, having ability to fit work into schedule, seems hard.

Tom King · November 11, 2020, 04:56:01 PM

Doesn't sound like you need more to do. I like the raising prices plan the best, but the only way to do that is to move.

Redhorseshoe · November 11, 2020, 05:34:53 PM

A little more info: one lot we're looking at is about 3 miles from work and 15 from home. The other is about 15 from work and probably under 10 from the house. I've thought about the niche market stuff or doing side projects like furniture and such but honestly my time has been worth the most money with the saw running through logs. My most popular sellers have been pine lumber in pretty much all dimensions, though 1x12x8's are king, and juniper 6x6x8 posts which the local farms stores buy as fast as I can cut. I'm clearing a pretty healthy profit on those things and don't want to expand into anything else really. BTW the rent on both lots is around $500/month for just bare level ground within an industrial park.

GullyBog · November 11, 2020, 05:41:09 PM

I like having the mill down the road. There's enough chaos at home already.

DocGP · November 11, 2020, 05:55:55 PM

My opinion, from someone who has been on 24 hr call 7 days a week for 30 years, something has to give. Don't make it the family.

When they put you in the ground at the end of this earthly sojourn, you won't be wishing you had spent less time with the family.....well, at least I won't.

Doc

jeepcj779 · November 11, 2020, 06:20:59 PM

Is there a building where you can store and secure the mill and other needed equipment? If not, hopefully it is bare level ground with good security.

Bruno of NH · November 11, 2020, 06:27:37 PM

First
Don't let your family suffer
I did and have a 28 years old and can't stand her Dad and that's me.
I inherited a bad family trait work comes first.
Second
I started with a manual mill.
Get yourself a mill with hydraulics.

moodnacreek · November 11, 2020, 07:11:50 PM

Be advised that dried and dressed lumber prices will drop dead at some point [soft wood]. When I started and for quite some time I sawed the most from a log like the books said. Also tried hard to have everything people said they would need. If you know what you can sell for sure, saw that even if it is wasteful and pay no attention to the talk. The balance between work and family is complicated , my wife was satisfied to know where I was when I worked night and day but many girls walked in this case. You started at a good time, good luck.

Tom King · November 11, 2020, 07:18:11 PM

That would be too much commuting time for me. I've spent my working life within 10 miles from home, at the most, and the majority within a couple of miles. Even 10 minutes one way is 20 minutes a day gone.

Southside · November 11, 2020, 07:19:53 PM

Retirement, paid leave, insurance, secure income all come with the career. Pride, satisfaction, splinters, sore muscles, bad weather, log supply, economic ups and downs and broken parts come with the mill operation.

10 miles is a long drive after running a manual mill after working all day in January.

$6K rent a year means you need to clear that much profit, before you pay yourself or any other bills, just so you can go and work after work. Fairly decent truck, boat, or camp payment.

I don't regret the choices that have led me to where I am, but I wouldn't recommend the path to someone with a family.

Keep the mill at home and make it a very quiet hobby that puts a few $ in your pocket.

mike_belben · November 11, 2020, 07:31:45 PM

Either double your prices and hire a worker if the market is still calling, or park it out back and take the family out on weekends. That kid will be swearing on the back of the bus before ya know it, and you wont say 'i sure missed out on those sawlogs.'

Btw i speak from experience on this. I paid $94k in shop rent but lost two houses and wound up living in a camper. Thats some stupid decisions right there. Trust me. Run away from renting yourself a headache.

Walnut Beast · November 11, 2020, 07:42:32 PM

Your a lot happier now! And you make your own decisions not someone else 👍

WV Sawmiller · November 11, 2020, 08:22:27 PM

Guys, re-read the OP. He has to move the mill due to code issues so continuing to work from home does not appear to be an issue unless he can get the county to re-zone his place and I don't know if he can even saw there as a hobby.

I agree to the preference to sawing at home for cost, convenience and security of the equipment issues but it looks like his choice is move or stop sawing. Since he seems to be doing well and enjoying sawing the issue is whether moving to a new site will take too much time from the family. I can't answer that and hope he can find a happy compromise.

mike_belben · November 11, 2020, 09:25:00 PM

When the town tells me i cant do the work that makes me happy, i tell them they cant have me. Thats a whole other big expense, but another thing im glad i did.

Redhorseshoe · November 11, 2020, 09:42:03 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 11, 2020, 08:22:27 PM
Guys, re-read the OP. He has to move the mill due to code issues so continuing to work from home does not appear to be an issue unless he can get the county to re-zone his place and I don't know if he can even saw there as a hobby.

I agree to the preference to sawing at home for cost, convenience and security of the equipment issues but it looks like his choice is move or stop sawing.

Yes, this is correct. I can own and run the mill at home for personal use but the issue came about when one neighbor saw my advertisements online and took some kind of personal offense to me "running a business" on my property. So anyway, at this point it's either move the mill to properly zoned property, or stop making money with the mill.

Southside · November 11, 2020, 10:03:04 PM

Option 3. Don't comply, just be smart about how you do it. Is the neighbor "working from home" due to mandates put in place? Well - that's running a business too. 14th Amendment speaks to the equal protection for all, if your town allows folks to work from home then the same applies, the town leaders just have not become aware of that reality yet. All it takes is one person to stand up.

Personally I will be a good neighbor, but there is no way I will allow some busy body to tell me what I can do on my property when it does not impact them.

donbj · November 12, 2020, 01:50:26 AM

First off, where's the wife in all this? If you both have full time jobs AND a small child your time gets pretty limited with the present responsibilities.

Just don't turn it into a "business". If you don't have intentions of leaving your full time job you have enjoy it as a side line gig from home with your family when time permits. Time goes by so fast!

YellowHammer · November 12, 2020, 06:47:10 AM

I started with an LT15. It's a great mill. If you saw with it a lot, it will break you down. A thousand bdft of logs weighs 16,000 lbs, all of which must come off the mill by hand, manually. Before long, you will be hand moving hundreds of thousands to millions of pounds of wood a year, by hand.

As part of the business plan, if you want to keep going, put a down payment on a hydraulic mill. Even the slowest hydraulic is 5 times faster than a manual. So now instead of sawing after work every night, you'll be sawing one or two days a week, after work and spend the rest of the time doing something else.

Or just fill orders one day a week on the weekend. With a fast mill, that's doable because I've done it.

Then raise prices, once you are worth it, and that will allow you to saw less and make more.

Bruno of NH · November 12, 2020, 07:57:08 AM

Great advice by YH

Raym · November 12, 2020, 08:03:02 AM

My advice would be "if I were in your shoes" keep your current mill at home if possible and use it as intended for personal use. When/if the time comes you would like to continue to generate income, upgrade to a hydraulic mill and do as MM does and saws them and leaves them. This gets the county off your back. However if you upgrade, try and do it with cash since then there is no added pressure to "make money" and you can make wiser decisions whether or not to saw of take the kiddo fishing.

Trust me on this. There was a time I would borrow money for anything. Nowadays I absolutely don't do anything unless I can write a check. Now I make money when I want and go fishing when I want....and when I make money, I make more of it because I don't have any payments. It can be done, you just have to have patience.