The Case for Working With Your Hands

BYH does more work with one hand than we'll ever do with two.

 

That'll be $75.00.

 

Sounds like you've got yourself a pretty good gig, YF.

I'm terrible about repairing stuff with my hands. Couple of weeks ago, my lawn tractor battery died. It took me a while just to get the bolts unscrewed and I was getting pissed.

Of course, my wife kept asking me if I needed help, which annoyed me just as much.

 

My personality tests always tell me I should be working with my hands, and I am quite dextrous. (Those tests also say I should be a spy or a race car driver, which were my dream jobs as a child.) If it made economic sense, I would work on an assembly line. I love repetitive tasks, because the time just flies by while I think about other things.

 

So how capital did you have to have to get started?

Every sort of busines I have looked at requires far more capital than I have access to.

 

That was what was so appealing to me about this business.

I had originally thought about opening a coffee or tea shop, but when I realized how much time and money it took and that most of them lost money, I gravitated to the service side of the business.

It didn't take much to get started -- only a couple of thousands of dollars in spare parts, and not all of that was up front.

I do most of the repairs on-site (meaning at the restaurant or coffee shop) so I didn't have to rent commercial space* and I use the car I previously owned as my service vehicle.

As the business has grown and I've added customers I stock a lot more parts, but at first I didn't have very many. One manufacturer started sending me installation & warranty work, so I stocked their parts. Then I got work from a chain of about 30 coffee/bagel shops. They used two different espresso machines -- including the one I already stocked parts for -- and one kind of coffee machine, so I stocked up on parts for those machines.

My next account was a chain of about 30 bakeries/cafes. They had the same espresso equipment as the first chain, but different coffee machines, so I stocked parts for their coffee machines.

At first I didn't stock everything and would occasionally have to order a part. Now I'm pretty anal and stock most everything I think I might need. I also stock a bunch of plumbing fittings and electrical cords, plugs, receptacles, and connectors.

I have one technician working for me now and I had to spend some money to get him stocked up with parts, but that was two years into the business.

The hardest part at first was the cash flow situation. I've paid for everything up front and some of my customers take a while to pay. But once I got going that was ok.

I also thought I'd have to take a night job at first to pay the bills but I was lucky in that the one manufacturer started sending me business as soon as I opened and I signed up the two chains pretty quickly.

If you can fix commercial dishwashers, ovens, ice machines -- or espresso machines, you'll find work. And it won't cost you a fortune to get started.

* I actually live in what's basically a commercial building. I have a loading dock and freight elevator and I do have a work bench here so that I can do repairs here if necessary. I also buy -- or am often given for free -- old equipment that I fix up and sell. But I don't have to cover two rents, one for living space & one for the business.

 

The Times article is their "most emailed" article of the day.

I guess the subject is on a lot of people's minds.

 

In today's New York Post:

 

In an alternate universe, I would love to be a truck driver.

 

If I did it all over again, I'd do one of three things:
1. cut hair
2. massage
3. tend bar

Always a demand

 

The devil will find work for idle hands to do. ;D

 

And cannot be outsourced to India.