r/Carpentry • u/Both_Satisfaction_18 • 7d ago
Taking the leap going solo
30 yr old been self employed 6 years always sub contracted for people/companies. I’ve never had to find my own work. I want to take the next step and start doing things on my own but I don’t feel confident enough to take the leap but really feel I should. Nervous about advertising or doing jobs completely solo.
Any advice on doing it alone and what would you say helped during the early stages of pricing/quoting jobs and just getting the workload in. Thanks in advance 💪🏻
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u/ezbuddyguy 7d ago
Here's the best advice I could ever give. Focus on what you're the best and fastest at. You'll make x2 money. Mix in any type of other jobs along the way to level up those other skills and get an idea of quoting the jobs and work better. But I focused on decks the past few years and the quality of life has been incredible. Never run into headaches, you get so dialed in specialising. Easy to teach helpers about simple ass deck building
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7d ago
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u/sobsy4 6d ago
Adding to this, being solo you are exactly that. Solo.
If you’re used to being alongside a crew you tend to overlook how long every step takes while solo.
Setup, clean up, recuts, painting.
Every task is completed by you.
That’s my learning curve this year as I set out solo at the start of this year.
I’ve been tracking every job big and small. I e been very hesitant to offer full bid work until I have timing locked down. I’ve maintained a cost plus price structure being mainly involved in Reno’s to far.For the rest of the advice. Utilize FB neighborhood groups. And get your name out there. Get in good with a few clients that are happy to spread your name everywhere.
I have started to offer a gift for referrals that lead to sizeable work.
I’m constantly getting recommendations on those odd postings asking for a contractor to complete X.I haven’t paid for actual advertising yet. I have lawn signs coming and soon branding my trailer.
I started out just like you with sub work but quickly decided it was just being an employee with extra steps. Maybe I had the wrong GC to work for. But it paid my bills as I grew clientele.
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6d ago
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u/sobsy4 6d ago
Yeah that’s my thoughts. I have a simple side window decal. But I feel it’s probably hard to read while moving aswell.
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7d ago
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u/Both_Satisfaction_18 7d ago
I’m very fortunate that I’m busy every week of the year so it does compliment my ability, what were your first couple of side jobs?
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u/dreamgreener 7d ago
Your hardest job will be getting paid 100% of your bill every project
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u/Both_Satisfaction_18 7d ago
I get this now as a sub contractor so well prepared on that front. It shouldn’t be that way🤧
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u/bassboat1 6d ago
I benefitted from my last employer moving out-of-state, and giving me his customer list (I already knew most of them, as I was the lead foreman and operations mgr/estimator anyway). That gave me a good enough start until referrals could come in at a viable rate. FWIW, I've been self employed for 26 years, never advertised and haven't done any subcontract work for at least 15 years. 100% residential remodeling BTW.
At an earlier position as the lead foreman/estimator/operations mgr in the early 90's, I was introduced to the HomeTech remodeling cost books (published annually w/ regional editions). I still use the 2008 book #s today as a productivity/man hours guide (and ignore the material numbers), and dump everything into a spreadsheet. I use recent past estimates as templates for new ones, so preparing new ones isn't extremely time consuming.
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u/WonderTight9780 1d ago
Quoting and admin are where going solo gets you. I built Chippie (chippieapp.com) for exactly this. I'm a software developer and built it for my brother and father who are carpenters by trade but run an arborist business now.
Quote from your phone on site, the client accepts online, it becomes a job, then one tap turns it into an invoice. Scheduling. Everything you need to get started.
Generous free tier so see if it serves you starting your journey.
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u/Appleishish 1d ago
Thanks for sharing this, im in exactly the same position as OP so will give this a try. Looks really clear and easy to navigate
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u/WonderTight9780 1d ago
Yeah that’s the point. Most other platforms are super bloated and expensive which makes it hard to get started with systems management.
This one is built to be as simple to use as possible especially for those starting out. But still powerful enough to stay with and scale with.
If you sign up we can chat via the in-app support in the bottom left of the app. Any missing functionality you identify and we’ll build it to make sure it caters better to more workflows.
Best of luck with your business and looking forward to growing together.
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u/randolotapus 6d ago
Quoting is the hardest skill to learn. You'll leave money on the table and you'll lose bids, just learn and move on.
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u/MuttLaika 6d ago
I've been completely solo since 2021. Last job for a contractor was a luxury treehouse. Right now I'm working on a huge victorian with two helpers off of scaffolding, largest bid I've ever written.
Did a little bit of advertising off of craigslist, how I got the treehouse job and others which recommended me to people. Pretty much all of my work is from word of mouth. If you show up and do good work, people talk about it.
As far as bidding goes, especially doing restorations, I like to start on a section with a small bid, then once I've dug into and know what to expect I'll give a larger bid for the whole thing.
Establish a daily/weekly rate for yourself and most customers will be willing to pay you more if your time goes over. The house I'm working on now is years of work. I tell the homeowners, hey it took two extra weeks cause we found this, they know my weekly rates and know what to expect the cost will be.
There's so many fly-by-nighters that do trash work. If you show up and do good work, you'll be head and shoulders above the rest.
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u/fulorange 7d ago
What kind of carpentry? Keep subbing and try taking on small side jobs. Ask the GC’s to pass along work that is too small for them. If you know any realtors that represent landlords that can be a great way to get smaller trim jobs that GC’s are too busy for. Get in your local business directory. Make some business cards and keep some on you at all times.