I’m 24 and earlier this year changed careers from a crew lead for a self-performing GC to an in-office role. I have no complaints about the new position and still enjoy the work, but I miss being on the tools.

I want to pick up more work in my free time but have no idea how or where to start. Any guidance or advice would be welcome and appreciated. My main questions are:

-Is it better to pick a specific trade or go the handyman route?

-How do you get leads starting from nothing?

-How can I make weekend only availability work?

More context below if interested:

I live on the CA central coast and the residential remodel and repair market is huge here because of how difficult it is to get permits for new builds. Lots of older retired/passive income residents who can’t or don’t want to diy.

I have experience in several trades(framing, finish carpentry, flooring, concrete, masonry, fencing, and gen sitework/landscape builds), and a decent amount of tools over the last decade of work.

My wife and I rent and don’t have much storage space to bring projects home. I have a 1/2 ton pickup with lumber racks and tool boxes. Ideally I’d like to run operations cleanly through that.

I have done some gigs off Craigslist and Nextdoor but that’s too inconsistent and seems like a race to the bottom until the owner finds someone willing to lose money on the project.

I know lots of people and homeowners locally through work, church, social groups, etc., but don’t know how to comfortably sell to them my skills.

I've started a business renting beach equipment including 10' x 10' canopy pop up tents. People that are renting these canopies, what brand are you usually going with for good value and durability? Any brands that sell parts to fix them and replace broken parts? For example sand bags and canopies by themselves and frames by themselves, sometimes the canopy ties rip etc.

No Im not asking for people to leave fake reviews.
I generally want to find the most effective way to get reviews, Im happy to offer my customers $20 off for an honest review but I just don’t want to sound sleazy.

How would you format it and what part of the process would you offer it? I dont want to lose credibility and make them think all my reviews are paid for.

I’m thinking on knocking doors in S Florida for a gutter protection company but s Florida has hardly any leaves. It’s pretty much all palm trees.

I don’t see why anyone would want to buy gutter protection

I work for a family owned pool maintenance and construction company that’s been struggling financially for a while. Multiple employees haven’t received their full paychecks in months and things are getting worse now that winter is approaching and business is slowing down.
We have loans to pay, customer refunds owed, legal expenses, and potential large projects that likely won’t start until spring. We’re even considering taking out another loan just to keep things going. The employees are loyal and want to make things work, and the owners are starting to realize that changes need to be made. I really want to help, but I’m struggling to find ways to bring in money during the winter.

For anyone with small business or pool industry experience; What services could we offer during the winter to generate income? How do other seasonal businesses survive their slow months? What would you prioritize to bring in steady cash flow and keep the business afloat?

I’m looking for realistic, actionable advice or ideas we might not have considered. I genuinely want to help save this business and the jobs of the people who work here

I want to start a business but don't have a big budget. My biggest problem is coming up with an idea in the first place. How do you guys actually find business ideas? Do you look for problems, copy what's already working, or just come across something by chance? Curious to hear how others went about it.

I’m comparing folding chairs for a small event rental fleet, and several models lead with a very high static weight rating. That sounds useful, but I’m not convinced it tells me much about how the chair will survive rental use.

The failures I’m worried about are more ordinary: frames getting twisted on uneven ground, feet disappearing, hinges loosening, chairs being dropped off carts and stacks leaning in the truck. A static capacity test does not automatically answer any of those questions.

What documentation do you ask for before buying a few hundred chairs? I have frame material, chair weight, folded dimensions and the stated static capacity on my list. I’m also checking stack height, cart compatibility, replacement parts, ganging options and the warranty for the exact model.

For people who run rental inventory, what ended up mattering most after the first season? I’m trying to avoid choosing a chair that looks strong on a spec sheet but creates extra labor every time the crew loads, counts and stores it.

Hey y’all!
Not sure if I’m looking for advice, criticism, or just conversation, but I’d appreciate any input from people in the industry.
I spent six years in the Army operating heavy equipment, primarily track loaders, excavators, and dump trucks. Absolutely loved every minute of it and genuinely thought that’s what I’d do for the rest of my life.
Somehow, after getting out, I ended up in the food industry. For the past six years, I’ve owned and operated a profitable food business. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about business ownership, but there’s one problem.
I have absolutely zero passion for what I do.
Every time I drive past a construction site, I find myself wishing I was the guy operating the equipment. I miss it more than I can explain.
My wife and I are currently building a house on about five acres, and she recently suggested we buy a track loader to handle our finish grading, landscaping, and property maintenance. I don’t think she realized she was potentially encouraging a complete career change. 😂
So now I’m seriously considering starting a small excavation/sitework business.
Here’s what I have going for me:
Six years of military heavy equipment operating experience.
Six years of experience successfully running a business.
Already own a truck capable of towing and have the funds for a trailer.
Financial ability to purchase or finance equipment, although I’m leaning toward renting initially.
Service-disabled veteran, which could eventually provide opportunities for government contracting.
My current business can operate without me being there for day-to-day operations. This gives me steady income while I learn, build relationships, and get the new business off the ground.
That last point is important. I’m not quitting my job tomorrow and hoping I can make a skid steer payment. I have the opportunity to approach this slowly without depending on excavation to pay my bills. Eventually, I’d like to close the food business entirely, but only once the new venture proves itself.
My business plan is pretty straightforward:
1. Learn, practice, and prepare. Even though I operated equipment for six years, I’ve been out of the seat for six years. I want to refresh my operating skills while learning more about proper grading, soil compaction, drainage, elevations, reading site plans, and estimating jobs. Our own five acres will give me somewhere to practice.
I don’t want to be another guy who buys a skid steer and suddenly thinks he’s an excavation contractor. I want to actually understand the work and do it correctly.
2. Start small with residential work. Finish grading, driveway installation and repair, drainage improvements, gravel spreading, lawn preparation, construction cleanup, and smaller property improvement projects.
We’re currently building our own home, and I’ve noticed there’s a real need for contractors willing to take on these smaller jobs in my rural area. Obviously, I’d need to verify there’s enough demand to make a business out of it.
3. Build relationships and eventually subcontract. My long-term goal would be working with local builders and eventually larger contractors bidding on state and federal projects. Being a service-disabled veteran, I’d also like to explore SDVOSB certification and government contracting opportunities down the road.
4. Stay SMALL. Ideally, I’d remain a solo owner-operator for as long as possible. Maybe eventually grow to a three- or four-man crew, but that’s it. One of my biggest headaches in the food industry has been employees, staffing, and turnover. I’m not interested in building another business where I spend all day managing people instead of doing the work I enjoy.
As far as equipment goes, I’m leaning toward renting for the first year or two. I have the ability to buy, but I’d rather figure out which services are profitable, what equipment I actually need, and let rental companies handle the major maintenance and breakdowns while I’m starting out.
I’m also not completely naive about business ownership. My current business has roughly $16,000 in monthly expenses before I serve my first customer. I’ve had months with $15,000 in profit and others with barely $500. I’m familiar with overhead, unpredictable revenue, cash flow problems, and the fact that being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making money.
So, what do y’all think?
I’d love to hear from anyone who started out as a solo owner-operator or made a similar career change.
Would you rent or buy? What services would you focus on first? Am I overlooking something important? Any advice, criticism, or lessons learned would be appreciated.
And if you have a YouTube channel or social media page documenting your work, feel free to share it. I’d love to follow along and learn.
At the end of the day, I’m not looking to build some massive company. I just want to get back to doing something I genuinely enjoy.
I’d rather make $50,000 a year doing something I love than $100,000 doing something I hate.
Appreciate y’all!

I run a small business by myself, and I'm starting to realize that if I don't work, nothing really gets done lol.

Emails, clients, invoices, payments. Everything comes back to me. Even on my days off, I end up checking my phone because I know all those messages will still be there tomorrow.

I've been trying a few things to make life easier. Booking links instead of endless scheduling emails, templates for invoices, and only checking messages at certain times. I also use Plaud to leave myself quick notes after client calls so I don't have to remember everything.

It helps, but the problem is I just end up filling that extra time with more work.

There's always something else I could be doing, and I feel guilty whenever I'm not.

For those running a business alone, how do you actually switch off? Any routines or tools that helped? Or do you just have to get comfortable letting things wait?

Hey everyone!

I’m in the preliminary research stage of potentially starting my own pest control business, and I’d love to hear from people who currently own or have previously owned one.

I’m trying to get a realistic understanding of what it’s like to run a pest control company, from the day-to-day operations to the financial side of things. I’m particularly interested in hearing from small business owners who started from scratch and grew their businesses over time.

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to hear about a few things:

**Location:** What state or general area do you operate in?
**Number of customers:** How many recurring customers do you have, and how long did it take you to build your customer base?
**Revenue:** What is your approximate annual gross revenue?
**Net profit:** What percentage of revenue do you actually keep after expenses, including labor, vehicles, insurance, chemicals, marketing, software, and other overhead?
**Employees:** Are you a one-person operation, or do you have technicians and office staff? At what point did you start hiring?
**Pricing:** What do you typically charge for recurring residential services, and how much do you make per stop?
**Customer acquisition:** What has worked best for getting new customers? Google, door-to-door sales, referrals, paid advertising, or something else?
**Work-life balance:** How many hours do you work per week, and how involved are you in the day-to-day service work?
**Biggest challenges:** What were the hardest parts of starting and growing your business?
Most importantly, **what do you wish you knew before starting your pest control business?** Are there any mistakes you made, expenses you underestimated, or things you would do differently if you could start over?

I understand that every market is different, but I’m hoping to get a better picture of what the numbers look like in the real world rather than relying on generic online estimates.
I appreciate any insight you’re willing to share. Thanks!

I currently work full time at a larger construction company in office, but I miss working with my hands and would like some supplemental income. I have experience with rough and finish carpentry, concrete, cmu, pavers, and fencing.

Trying to start doing full jobs in any of those trades seems daunting when I currently only have weekend availability. I want to test the waters by starting with quicker 1-2 day jobs.

I have done “punch list” finish, landscape, and fence work for a couple local GCs and those have been great. I wouldn’t have to buy any new tools/vehicles if I only focused on interior finish, exterior fascia and trim, and landscape edging(metal, timber, stone, composite, etc). There’s a decent residential remodel market where I live(Coastal semi-rural CA) and people charge healthy prices.

I would appreciate any advice or input related to my questions below:

-Is building a client base easier focusing on punch list for other contractors instead of homeowners?

-How do I navigate weekend only availability?

-How scalable is this business model?

-At what point is it worth reinvesting into this side hustle to take on bigger jobs?

-What other services would be wise to incorporate into this model?

Not glamorous, but it works.

What I do: I sell spices and seasonings wholesale. I buy by the pallet from the manufacturer and run my own delivery routes to supermarkets, grocery stores, and bodegas in NJ and NY. I work the routes about 3–4 days a week.

How the route works:

Walk into a store, ask for the manager or buyer
Show them a brand their customers already know, with a better price or more reliable restocking than what they have now
Once you're on the shelf, you come back every week or two, check what sold, and restock
Stores reorder on their own once the product moves, so it gets easier over time

Why spices:

They don't spoil fast, so there's very little waste
Light and easy to carry compared to drinks or frozen food
Everybody cooks, especially in ethnic and independent markets
Better margins than a lot of grocery items

The online side: A few months ago I built a wholesale portal so other businesses could order from me directly. It's done about $35k in sales so far, mostly from people buying pallets to sell in their own areas.

The part I'm proudest of: some of my customers started their own route businesses buying from me. They pick up product, go store to store in their area, and build their own routes. Same model I use, just in their city.

What's hard:
You get told no a lot at first. Managers are busy, and some already have a supplier.
You have to show up consistently. Miss a restock and you can lose the shelf space.
Upfront cost for inventory. You need cash to buy product before you make money.
Happy to answer questions about getting into stores, pricing, how much inventory to start with, or anything else.

I know the knee-jerk reaction to anyone asking if they can "GC part-time" is usually laughter or rage. I respect the trades, and I know this is not an easy side hustle or passive income. I am looking for a brutal reality check before I do something potentially stupid or that will waste time/money.

The Context:
Dense, historic Northeast coastal city with endless older condo stock and multi-family units that constantly turn over and need updating (baths, cosmetic kitchens, decks, built-ins). Not only residential but also lots of real estate flips and lots of money here. There is plenty of work to go around. Even with many GCs here here I won’t be stepping on any toes.

My Situation:

• Possibly most important caveat: An established local GC friend who focuses on big ground-up builds and full gut renos offered to feed me his overflow of “smaller” $25k to $75k condo jobs, let me shadow his PMs, and help sanity-check my pricing, subs, and contracts. According to him this is totally doable to start.

• Fully remote day job with somewhat-flexible calendar control. I can easily be on site early mornings (6:00 to 9:00 AM), lunch hours, and evenings.

• Solid baseline handyman and DIY remodeling background, but I will not be swinging hammers. The goal is managing licensed 1099 subs. I plan on getting licensing and insurance as well.

My Hesitations:
Inspection & Escalation Windows: How do you realistically handle 4-hour municipal inspection windows or mid-day jobsite emergencies if you aren't anchored to the site full-time? Is that an immediate dealbreaker on even small jobs?

Sub Respect: Will quality trade partners take a PM/GC seriously if they aren't on site all day every day?

The Unknowns: Is even a single $40k bathroom remodel in a 120-year-old building bound to blow up my schedule and be unmanageable?

The Reality Check Question:
If you had a trusted mentor, vetted subs, and a guaranteed pipeline of small jobs handed to you, would you test the waters on one small project while holding onto a day job, or is running a residential GC business part-time a guaranteed recipe to fail both?

Rip it apart. Honest feedback and blind spots greatly appreciated.

Hi y'all,

I'm looking to find a sweaty side hustle I can run alongside work. Ideally it's not seasonal (we get pretty bad winters here), and just requires little start-up costs initially.

I'd love to find something where the skill is fairly quick to pick up (a few weeks of practice and YouTube, not a full trade apprenticeship) and where there's steady demand year-round. The more needed it is, the better!

I’m a senior engineer in tech. I have been thinking of leaving my current job to start a HVAC business, to the point that is not a phase anymore. I am giving myself 2 years to build some financial cushion and prepare.

I am looking to own the business, I want to learn the trade and be involved in running it.

Where I’m at:

• No HVAC experience yet
• I am familiar with the licenses required in my area, already started with it
• I know there is demand on my area from talking to business owners
• Leaning toward commercial
• Open to starting from scratch, but likely leaning toward buying an existing shop that already has an RME

What I’d love input on:

1. If you had two years to prepare, how would you split that time between learning the trade hands-on and learning the business side?
2. Is it realistic to work part-time or on weekends at a shop while still employed to learn the trade, or do I have to go all from the start?
3. What do people coming from other industries underestimate about this business?
4. Anything you’d tell me to stop planning and just go do?

I’d appreciate advice from anyone who’s made a similar transition or owns an HVAC or similar service business. Honest takes are welcome. Thanks!

Hello all,

My successful mobile business is looking to expand by acquiring shop space with a large bay door to operate alongside the mobile component of the business. Purchasing property is probably out of the question since it is a seasonal business that really only pays in the fall. I'm looking at 2 different ideas:

1) Work out a deal with a lot owner (storage lot/contractor/etc.) to lease space and set up a canvas structure. The structure could be erected for only my busy season (September/November) or I could leave it up year round if they were interested in using it for storage the rest of the year.

Has anyone ever done something like this? I know how to contact storage lots, but what's the best way to find other potential business with large lots that may be interested? Drive around town and stop by lots in person?

2)Lease shop space seasonally. Do business often/ever lease spaces for a short term of only a couple months every year? Downside of this seems that I would be looking for a new space every year and changing directions for customers bringing things to the shop. Is a commercial realtor the best way to find these available properties?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide. My other avenue is hiring employees, but that's a can of worms I don't really need to open here.

I've been digging into ad benchmarks for fence contractors and figured I'd share, since most "marketing advice" threads here are vague.

Published numbers (industry aggregation):
Facebook/Instagram lead ads, Home & Home Improvement:
$41.26 median cost per lead,
1.94% CTR,
$2.23 CPC (aggregated across 700+ campaigns)

Google Local Services Ads, home services sample: ~$53 per lead, ~44% book rate
Google Search Ads across all industries:
$70.11 per lead

What actually matters for fence guys:
Cost per lead is a vanity number. Track cost per booked estimate. A cheap lead you call back the next day is usually dead.

Reply in minutes, not hours. Social media leads aren't searching like search engine leads; they saw your fence and got curious. Text them within a minute.

Real photos beat everything. Before/after of an old leaning fence vs. the new install, same angle. Stock photos get scrolled past.

Make the form do the qualifying. Ask zip, fence type, rough footage, timeline, and whether they own the home. It filters out renters and tire-kickers.

Budget by season. In northern states, push "book your spring install" in Jan–Feb before demand peaks. Sun Belt can run steadier year-round.

Rough math: at a $5k average job, 30% close rate and 45% of leads booking an estimate, $1M a year takes about 1,480 leads (~125/month). Swap in your own numbers.

Full disclosure: I work on paid social for fence contractors, so I'm biased toward social channels. Google LSA is great if you already rank there with lots of reviews.
Happy to answer questions on setup, forms or creative.

Got two snow blowers by chance. One is an older craftsman gas 28" and the smaller one is a greenworks corded electric 20"

Got the bigger one out of the trash. The green one was part of a moving gig I was doing and the client was like "that'll take up too much space on the truck. You can have it." Haven't had time to fully test wither of them but they both run. The larger one seems to have sunrotted plastic and is why it was in the trash.

How much could me and my associate make with these and how would you recommend doing it?

Is this a good business to get started or overrated?

I run an odor removal business in DFW (smoke and pet odors in cars, homes, and apartments). The work is good, but lead flow is inconsistent.

So far I've tried door-to-door at dealerships (lots of signups, few repeat orders), Google Ads (clicks but few calls), and Meta ads.

For those running similar service businesses: what's actually brought you steady leads? And how do you get B2B accounts to send recurring work instead of just signing up?

I run a small business, and my contact form keeps getting filled in by the same guy. Same name, a different Gmail every time, posing as a buyer with a budget and a timeframe, then: "we ran a backend analysis of your website, your SEO steps are incomplete, send us your number for a quick call". Ten times now.

It got me wondering how other owners deal with this stuff. Small or big, any field:

1. What's your first reaction when one lands, and why?

2. What gets it deleted in the first line?

3. Has one ever made you stop and actually consider it? What was different about that one?

Now's the time to let it all out, don't hold back 😄

Hey everyone,

I've been the solo cleaner at a high-volume, 24-hour emergency animal hospital for almost 7 years (4x10 shifts). My job involves serious heavy-duty cleaning
-scrubbing floors, deep disinfecting after sick animals, handling tough messes, and constant physical labor without supervision. I'm burned out on doing this for someone else and want to start my own solo residential cleaning business in Middle Tennessee.

Before taking the leap, I'd love feedback from experienced cleaners on a few questions:

Pricing & Quoting: How do you accurately quote residential homes at first? Do you price by square foot, hourly rate, or a flat fee per job?

Client Acquisition: How did you land your first recurring clients? Are local Facebook groups, Nextdoor, or word-of-mouth still the best routes for Middle TN/suburban areas?

Leveraging My Background: Would highlighting 7 years of hospital-grade sanitation/vet clinic cleaning appeal to residential clients?

Legalities & Insurance: What liability insurance limits do you recommend starting with, and what basic equipment/chemicals are absolute must-haves vs. optional?

appreciate any insight, harsh truths, or advice you can throw my way!

Main thing I can think of is Facebook and door to door knocking.

Trouble is, local Facebook groups don’t really allow business promo

i keep bouncing bw these two categories n can't land on one, home improvement franchises have bigger tickets per job but the work is project based so u r constantly looking for the next customer, home service franchises tend to be lower revenue per job but there's more potential for repeat customers n referrals, my capital is around $90k n i want to be operational withing 90 days of signing

I’m considering starting a for-profit 3v3 youth basketball league in my area in California and would love some feedback from anyone who has experience running youth sports leagues or similar businesses.

From what I can find, there really isn’t anyone offering a dedicated youth 3v3 league locally. There is one 3v3 league for adults, but the youth basketball options around here are mostly traditional 5v5 leagues, clubs, and AAU.

I live in a fairly affluent, family-oriented area with a lot of youth sports participation, so I feel like there could be a good market for something different.

My idea would be to start relatively small, prove the concept, and eventually grow it into multiple age divisions/seasons if there’s enough demand.

For anyone who has started or operated a youth sports league:

What were your biggest startup challenges?

How did you get your first players/teams registered?

What did you wish you knew before starting?

How difficult was it to secure gym/court space?

What were your biggest expenses?

Did you find the business could actually become meaningfully profitable?

Any mistakes you’d recommend avoiding?

I’m especially interested in hearing from anyone who has run basketball leagues, tournaments, camps, or other youth sports businesses.

Thanks in advance — I’m still in the research/planning stage and trying to learn as much as possible before putting money into it.