Trades are a decent entry into owning a small business with higher barrier to entry than say a restaurant but still pretty straightforward and can be made revenue stable with a small team (sometimes no permanent team, e.g. some builders). Especially if you grind when you and the business are young, you can end up in a good place fairly predictably.
But mostly people are financially successful here mostly by being business people, not trades people - with all that implies. Sure, there are some people who do well in a strong union, but it's a small fraction of the market.
Many people actually working a job the trades are more likely to end up with health problems and a sketchy retirement outlook.
In many places if you run a (small) business _well_ that does craft stuff like plumbing, electricity and similar, you're going to have people lining up for your services to no end.
I don't know why that is. But I assume that the combination of excellent trade/craftsmanship and organizational skills is very attractive.
I always hear the same story from my friends who have been working in small service businesses, whether they are gardeners, carpenters, electricians or cleaners etc:
When it's bad (fairly typical) it's the boss being stretched too thin between too many responsibilities, or its a person that has no clue about the actual trade. They are the both the bottleneck for solutions and the cause of compounding issues.
It ends up in overworked, stressed workers, missed deadlines and mistakes that snowball into more such problems.
A trade/service business that is run well, treats their workers well (which is their major asset) and does good work can charge more and will never run out of work. It seems there is no simple formula for this so you end up with a lot of what you describe above.
It absolutely wrecks you body. You can make a decent living, but it isn't the easy money that a lot of people think. A lot of the older tradies I know made sure that their kids went to college if that tells you anything
You gotta get out of doing the work yourself as quickly as possible, it's a young man's game and if you've got the smarts you start your own business to avoid having to do 100% of the manual work yourself.
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I’d rather learn a trade like plumbing or electrical systems. Hell, the richest guy I’ve ever met ran a high-end masonry business.
I suspect you mean "owned" by ran.
Trades are a decent entry into owning a small business with higher barrier to entry than say a restaurant but still pretty straightforward and can be made revenue stable with a small team (sometimes no permanent team, e.g. some builders). Especially if you grind when you and the business are young, you can end up in a good place fairly predictably.
But mostly people are financially successful here mostly by being business people, not trades people - with all that implies. Sure, there are some people who do well in a strong union, but it's a small fraction of the market.
Many people actually working a job the trades are more likely to end up with health problems and a sketchy retirement outlook.
In many places if you run a (small) business _well_ that does craft stuff like plumbing, electricity and similar, you're going to have people lining up for your services to no end.
I don't know why that is. But I assume that the combination of excellent trade/craftsmanship and organizational skills is very attractive.
I always hear the same story from my friends who have been working in small service businesses, whether they are gardeners, carpenters, electricians or cleaners etc:
When it's bad (fairly typical) it's the boss being stretched too thin between too many responsibilities, or its a person that has no clue about the actual trade. They are the both the bottleneck for solutions and the cause of compounding issues.
It ends up in overworked, stressed workers, missed deadlines and mistakes that snowball into more such problems.
A trade/service business that is run well, treats their workers well (which is their major asset) and does good work can charge more and will never run out of work. It seems there is no simple formula for this so you end up with a lot of what you describe above.
"I don't know why that is. But I assume that the combination of excellent trade/craftsmanship and organizational skills is very attractive."
This. I'd say at least 25% lack one or the other. So many end up so over budget, very behind schedule, and do substandard or sloppy work.
Go hang out with some older tradies.
It absolutely wrecks you body. You can make a decent living, but it isn't the easy money that a lot of people think. A lot of the older tradies I know made sure that their kids went to college if that tells you anything
You gotta get out of doing the work yourself as quickly as possible, it's a young man's game and if you've got the smarts you start your own business to avoid having to do 100% of the manual work yourself.
Yes, if going this route, would be optimal if you own your own business so that over time you can hire help and just manage the business.
The nice thing about masonry is it's a skillset that never ages out. Not as long as entropy exists.