re: Small business startup

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I've got a golf buddy that was a welder as a profession previously. He seemingly struggles financially and I wanted to help him with a welding job he got. A local course needed some light welding done. It was a one hour drive for me, and a 10 min drive for my buddy. I tried to get him to go get me pictures of what we were doing and this dude wouldn't put in 20 min of effort to save me a 2 hour round trip to the supply house which I ended up needing. I went from thinking this dude would be a good person to have on a team to thinking, oh hell no, I won't even offer to help him do another job. I told him to keep the paycheck because the course gave us a free round and it was a one hour job. He still hasn't sent them an invoice and this was done 8 months ago.

You're 100% correct, people matter. I have met guys in the trade with an awesome work ethic though, some are better at having the job laid out for them and telling them what to do, and some can think through the job with less oversight. But there's a big difference in working with educated professionals and the rough blue collar types.

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There is a meme on this site (OT and Poli Board mainly) about "going into the trades" because they know a guy who started there and opened a business and prints money. They use these outliers to show why going to college is stupid (sometimes bragging about how they convinced their college-capable kids to go into trades instead of going to college).

What they fail to realize is the people in trades who are capable of running a business successfully are almost assuredly college-capable themselves. I imagine historically many just came from the wrong family/background but their light shined through and the cream rises to the top (whatever metaphor you want to use).

Those kids who fell through the cracks in the 50s-80s no longer do on the same scale (because schools are much better at identifying LDs and other issues to help kids and they're not just discarded like in the past).

I have a personal theory that this is why the hyper-skilled trades (think higher-end carpenter types) are in such low supply today. I theorize this specific population was most affected by the shift in education and a very large chunk ended up going to college.

Most people in the trades have no ability to run their own business. They can make a good living in the trades working as a tradesman, but there is no real management potential. And the ones who do try to start their own thing end up just like the guy you posted about. I'm sure we all have friends, acquaintances, or tradesmen we know who fit this meme perfectly.

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Well that's fricking dumb. In that case... Marketing/consulting firm for medical, law, and CPA practices.

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What a fricking douche

Starting a small business can be exciting, but it’s also a lot of work! One thing I’d recommend is making sure you have your business structure figured out early on. Choosing the correct setup can make a big difference, especially regarding taxes and liability.

This is super random, but wholesale flowers. I know for a fact there is very good money there, and it's a product I like.