How did you handle the recession of 2007-2008? And do you take future recessions into consideration? Do you plan for them or watch out for them in any way?
It almost killed me. It got worse for me in 2010-12. Those were the years when the “mancession” began, that was when corporations were mostly only hiring women. Those were also the years when there became more employed women then men, and that was when more women were enrolled in college then men. Those were also the years when women became the new bread winners in the USA.
You seem to have some anti-feminist agenda and this makes me question the accuracy of your post about gentrification.
No i have no agenda like that. It is just what I experienced. A lot has changed in the past few years.
You will not ever worry about recessions because your dad will always give you everything for nothing.
I work harder than you.
$26,000/year is “everything?”
Red, yeah you do work harder then me.
A lot of factors were in play with my financial crisis, it was harsh, because I am not lazy, I was just jobless like millions and millions of other Americans were at that time.
I am better positioned today in case of a new crisis emerging. Personally i do not want to work hard anymore doing dirty manual labor. Ive slaved away long enough like that. Id rather hire people to do the hard stuff for me, you know? Its working smarter that i have been aiming towards. Working hard never made people rich as swiftly as working smart does.
I got a person to help me yesterday, trimming trees for half the price per hour my clients pay me. It was the greatest feeling having somebody do the work for me, i was not lifting a finger except making phone calls, and i was making money. Easy cheesy. Afterwards I was not covered with mud and didnt have cuts and scrapes on me, and i still made money because somebody else did the physical work
“To lead yourself use your head, to lead others use your heart”
“The essence of power and influence is getting the other person to participate”
From the John Maxwell book The Laws of Leadership
All-ears, I read lots of your posts here, particularly about reading plenty of books. For businesses involving manual labor, it often makes sense to get and pay a younger man do the job. You mentioned somewhere you are not in the best of health. What I’m getting at, paying others less money to do work is not mentioned in any book, but very common.
I myself done rentals for over 30 years, though I’m semi retired and sold most of them. In the beginning I painted my own rentals, but found a professional can do it a lot faster, and better. For instance, it took me 2 days just to do ceilings. A fast painter can knock off a 2 bedroom apartment in one day by himself.
Then for a while, I found a painting service through advertising, don’t remember if it was on line or print ad. From what I can gather, its a husband and wife team. They get the jobs over the phone and hire day laborers to do all the work.
About 10 years ago, up here in NY, contractors doing work price labor at $300.00/day. So a 2 day paint job runs $600 labor and $150.00 for good paint. When they quote me $750 for a 2 br apartment job, it sounds just about right.
What I can gather the service I use, the owners just get the jobs, and assign them to day laborers. Back then, day laborers cost $100.00/day or less. So for each paint job, they get day laborers to do a 2 br apartment, the painting service makes $200.00 a day just for taking the phone calls, and the laborer makes $100.00/day.
I learned this when they screwed up a paint job, wrong color. I called them, and they said they have the man redo it at no cost, and it’ll be out of his pocket. So I gathered they were using day laborers, and some poor slob will have to work another day for free.
What I’m saying is you can get into lots of different businesses this way, landscaping, painting, house cleaning etc. Heck, you can use an answering services to take the calls, if you don’t feel like sitting home and waiting for the phone to ring.
You are right, Frank. I had a friend who was a mortgage broker , worked his tail off for literally peanuts, except he was an excellent talker and closer.
He decided to use his talking and closing talent for landscaping and lawn services and made $160,000 his first year.
He never cut a blade of grass or trimmed a tree…day labor did all his work.
The first guy i hired to trim trees for me was from a craigslist ad. He acted nice but he was scary too. Probably a felon. I knew nothing about the guy. He talked trash about his previous employer. After a few days of work he flaked and stopped showing up. Probably just smoking pot instead of working. So i stopped calling him to work.
Then i posted another ad at craigslist. I got dozens of responses and I called them all back. I hired none of them and I scheduled none of them for work. For all kinds of reasons, i just did not want to hire them, and i did not want to work with them.
So then i printed the same craigslist ad on paper and put it on a bulletin board at a college. Now i have good responses. These kids are not on drugs and they are verifiable. They are responsible and like star employees. I am satisfied. My goal is to hire outstanding people. My goal is to hire great people that will be successful in life.
I can not deal with day laborers yet. To be really blunt I have a low tolerance for drug users and screw ups. If i had a choice between paying a day laborer (who is tangled up in all sorts of problems) $10 per hour, and paying a clean competent trustworthy and reliable person at $15+ per hour. I would rather pay the premium.
Leaders who develop followers develop the bottom 20%
Leaders who develop leaders develop the top 20%
I like what you guys are saying though. Being a referral service…
“Human beings, like plants, grow in the soil of acceptance, not in the atmosphere of rejection.”
-John Powell
A plumber I once used ran it as a referral service using cheap labor.
This most amusing thing that happened to me was when I have to get some plumbing violation corrected. The service I used, the expediter, then hired a licensed plumber to file the paperwork, get the work done, and then have it ready for inspection.
Turns out the licensed plumber has to be at the inspection, though the owner is not.
The plumbing service used 2 Pakistani’s who hardly spoke any English to work on it. Then inspection day came, the plumber of record showed up in a brand new Cadillac wearing a 3 piece suit. I was stunned and asked who he was. He said “I am the plumber.”
After I was over my shock, he told me the inspection had been cancelled and will be rescheduled. It was rescheduled for the following week. This 2nd time he called me again, and told me over the phone the inspection was cancelled again.
I then called my regular plumber, now of 30 years, to find out what’s going on. He explained that most of the inspectors were recently fired for bribery, but he know the inspector who handles my area, and there should be no problem. But he had to file paperwork to have the job changed to his name.
He further explained this guy does inspections by the book.
So inspection day came, the inspector showed up, met my plumber, and said “Hi Cliff, how’s your brother doing, and how was your vacation”. Then he proceeded to do a test to detect if there’s any leaks in the gas pipes, which involves inserting a mercury filled glass vile, and wait 30 minutes to see if any changes. Then he and my plumber talked about old times, and I was so relieved.
On completion, my plumber smiled and said “I told you it would be no problem”. My plumber explained that many inspections are signed off on via bribes, and that’s what the plumbing service relies on.
I only earned later the guy I first hired ran it as a referral service. He had a plumbing license and used cheapie labor to have the job done. So running a business a a referral service does have its limits.
When my wife ran to this plumbers office to get paperwork, turns out he operates out of a fancy office building, where he rents an office than includes receptionist and answering service. In all my years in the business , its the only plumber I ran into that works from a fancy office, and shows up for work in a 3 piece suit.
I have seen this before
You call XYZ House Maintanance Corporation and schedule them to come out to fix the carpeting
The next day they send a guy in a truck and tshirt that says Bobs Carpet Services.
Its like a switcheroo. Too sneaky for my tastes. Id be like who is this dude? This isnt XYZ…
Keep rental properties during that time frame.
Do you think there is another recession looming?
I think a recession is here, the question is whether or not it will turn into a depression.
Agreed real estate has not been hit super hard yet but unsure what the next few months will hold. And will this recession be a quick bounce back like the '01 recession from 9/11, or a longer drawn out recession like the '08/'09 crash.