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First day of self employment

Started by Crossroads, April 05, 2021, 08:42:56 PM

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Crossroads

Friday was my last day at Katerra, it was a bittersweet ending. I left on good terms and was told that I will always have a job to come back to. They even threw a small going away party for me. Now it's time to sink or swim, I have enough work to keep me busy for the next 2 months and the phone is still ringing. Today I milled some black walnut slabs for a guy who saw me milling for his Nieghbor last fall. He was going to burn his logs for firewood because he didn't think they were any good. After he saw what was inside, he had a change of heart.



With the right fulcrum and enough leverage, you can move the world!

2017 LT40 wide, BMS250 and BMT250,036 stihl, 2001 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, l8000 Ford dump truck, hr16 Terex excavator, Valley je 2x24 edger, Gehl ctl65 skid steer, JD350c dozer

thecfarm

Good luck to ya!!  I hope it all goes well and the phone will keep ringing for jobs.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Polish Hammer1

Awesome congrats!! Couldn't imagine that feeling being your own boss good for you!

ellmoe

Best of luck! It's always good to have a fallback position. 8)
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

Bruno of NH

You will do well.
You have the work ethics needed.
Use FB market place it's free and helped me alot.
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

YellowHammer

Good for you.  There will be lots of up and downs, but just keep your standards high and be fair, and in this day and age, that's so unusual for a business, you will do very well.  

  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Magicman

Congratulations and I wish you the very best with your "new" venture.  8)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Brob1969

Congratulations!  One thing I can tell you from being self-employed for the past 25 years is you can still have a jerk for a boss; he'll make you work longer hours than you ever did at your job, it may be years before he lets you take a vacation!  That said, knowing that you control what you do is certainly rewarding...and sometimes daunting.  
1990 Woodmizer LT40, 18 HP Briggs Twin II
1980 Ford 555 backhoe
1996 John Deere 4475 Skid-Steer

SawyerTed

Congratulations!  I was complaining the other day about the "so and so" I have for a boss.  Then it dawned on me, I work for myself.    :o >:( :D
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

trimguy

Congratulations on this new chapter, and yes , sometimes the boss is a jerk.😁

mike_belben

Best of luck on your voyage to wherever it ends up going.   Ive had a few successes and a few more failures.  Youve got to balance out a certain amount of faith that itll work, with the fear that it wont.


Dont focus on making more, focus on wasting less.  And never ever ever count on next thursdays customer.  They always fall through so dont spend that last 50 bucks until the next 50 arrives. 


God Bless. 
Praise The Lord

richhiway

Woodmizer LT 40
New Holland 35 hp tractor
Stihl Chainsaws
Ford 340 Backhoe

Crossroads

Thank you for the encouraging words! Today was another good day. The cut list started all over the place, but by noon we had most of the odd stuff cut. Then switched over to 2x and 1x and started making some headway. Should be able to finish this job tomorrow afternoon, then it's off to the next one. 
Thanks again! Seeing your success, shows me that this is real and possible. 
With the right fulcrum and enough leverage, you can move the world!

2017 LT40 wide, BMS250 and BMT250,036 stihl, 2001 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, l8000 Ford dump truck, hr16 Terex excavator, Valley je 2x24 edger, Gehl ctl65 skid steer, JD350c dozer

Raym

I still remember my first day of self employment (5/5/14). It was a somewhat easy transition as I was already earning about 75% of my real job pay working my side gig, however it was still a little nerving. Here are some important things I have learned....

1. The harder you work, the more money you make.
2. Don't borrow money for anything. This has served us quite well. As my mentor Dave Ramsey always says.....Every time he reads the book, the turtle always wins the race.

'14-LT40 super, nyle l200m kiln, vintage case 480E loader.

It's not the fool that askith, it's the fool that agreeith.

longtime lurker

The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

jbjbuild

Woodmizer LT35HD, John Deere 790, Logrite Cant Hook

petefrom bearswamp

I wish you all the best in your adventure
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Crossroads

Thank you again, the last couple days have been pretty busy and the boss had me work over a couple hours yesterday to finish the job and not mess up the schedule. Showed up at today's job and the logs were in a ditch below to road and the owner has no equipment to move them. So, I went home and got the excavator to move the logs into a workable position. Ended up only working 2 hours and still made more than a 12 hr shift punching a time clock. 
With the right fulcrum and enough leverage, you can move the world!

2017 LT40 wide, BMS250 and BMT250,036 stihl, 2001 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, l8000 Ford dump truck, hr16 Terex excavator, Valley je 2x24 edger, Gehl ctl65 skid steer, JD350c dozer

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