Unusual Behavior? 4

[michfan]

OK, I'm on my lunch time so I can post this without feeling like I'm taking away from my work...sorry this is so long.

I've worked at this company for about 4 weeks.

I'm a structural CE, 5 years out of college. I started my own non-engineering business a couple of years ago when I was laid off from a really great engineering job. I've found it necessary to keep a "day job" to pay the bills (3 years for a business to show a profit is not unreasonable...trust me). I went back to work in engineering full-time last Spring. I worked at a small steel fabricator for 3 months doing work that didn't really require any engineering background, coworkers weren't all that welcoming (one of the cad people kept slamming into the back of my chair every time she left the room-she scared me a little) & the business was financially shaky (the bankers kept "visiting" the office) so I kept searching and switched mid-summer to a concrete company. The manager talked me into an estimating position rather than the open engineering position I applied for. I figured it was more money than at the unfriendly financially unstable place so I switched. A little bump in pay, benefits were worse but right now, keeping my business going is my main priority so the cash was more welcome than benefits would have been.

Anyway, long story short, they planned to fire the other estimator once I learned the job. This guy knew everything there was to know about precast - more than I could ever hope to learn. They hired an engineer right after I took the estimating position. When I found out, 3 months after taking the job, that Estimator #1 was getting fired I raised a stink and got myself fired instead. That had been the manager's plan all along - he had it in for Estimator #1 and he acted like Napoleon, firing and hiring whenever he felt like it. Come to find out, it took them over a year to get me in there and right after I got canned, the new engineer quit, too--"conflict with management" was what I heard.

OK, so now I'm at business #3 for the year. Been here a month. Have had absolutely NO training, which I've found is normal, even had to install all the software I need on my own computer. Whatever, I'm smart, I'll figure it all out eventually. Pay is better than the estimating position, so that's a plus. I live in an area with the second worst unemployment rate in the country, so I'm grateful to have work, right?

Well, I was hired in with the expectation that I'll get my PE right away and start stamping stuff. Hmmm... so far, in 4 weeks, the "designer" that sits next to me has made 2 rather large errors on jobs and I've spent my time trying to clean up that mess. The boss, who wanted to pray over hiring me to see if it was the right thing to do, turns out to have a vocabulary of a trucker (no offense to truckers) and just wants the "problems" to go away, which is why he hired me. I don't get to actually check jobs before they go to production...I'm just expected to fix things after the mistakes occur.

The designer next to me has a chip on his shoulder about me being hired - so far I've ignored it but the comments are getting more hostile.

And, he sits and watches DVD's on his second monitor all day, while he designs. He really likes Stargate:Atlantis.

Is it just me, am I finding poor places to work, or is the entire world like this now?

 

[MikeHalloran]

In forty+ years, I've never been able to gauge a company from the outside.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[HgTX]

Maybe a new rule for the next job: don't hire on with family-run business. You're always at a disadvantage as an outsider.

(I'm a little prejudiced here--an acquaintance of mine was run off from her last job because a family member decided he wanted her position, and she wasn't willing to take the demotion to work under him.)

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[michfan]

Wow, I kind of feel like that is where I'm heading. The owner has been gone a lot lately - Comes in for just an hour or two and then leaves again. The two sons would rather sit and play with their ipods, and they are pretty open about it. The DVD guy is back from vacation and he's told everyone not to bother him today because he's just back from vacation. I'm just avoiding the nephew whenever possible...

It's good to know, Mike, that maybe it's not that I'm a bad judge of character- maybe I just need to get out of the manufacturing/small company format. When the owner mentioned he needed to pray over the idea of hiring me, I figured it couldn't be such a bad company. I don't know how I get myself into these situations...it's so frustrating. There are a few jobs in the classifieds that I've avoided sending resumes' to because I know how high the turnover is at those companies - not good. Maybe I'll just try sending a few resumes out cold to some of the bigger engineering firms in town. Can't hurt!

 

[HgTX]

"When the owner mentioned he needed to pray over the idea of hiring me, I figured it couldn't be such a bad company."

Huh. If the owner mentioned to me the need to pray over the idea of hiring me, I'd probably run FAST in the opposite direction.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[michfan]

You don't believe in divine intervention?

I pretty much count on it, the way my life's going... ;-)

 

[HgTX]

If I believed in divine intervention, I'd probably still be scared--someone with the gall to ask God to perform an ordinary HR function is asking for a lightning strike and I don't want to be around when it happens!

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[michfan]

Small company, no HR. So I can see why he's askin' for help from above... he's sure got a bunch of winners here already.

I'm past the point of no return, I'm afraid. After the staff meeting this week where my plea for a checking process went on deaf ears, I'm praying every day to find something new before I crack.

And checking the job listings faithfully, because He helps those who help themselves, I've heard...

 

[csd72]

Always look out for your professional integrity, being the only PE in the office means that you are the only one that officially should'know better'.

In other words cover your arse, dont compromise on structural issues, and dont stamp anything if you are not 100% happy with it.

 

[plasgears]

Small family owned company can be a tour of madness. This one company was owned by two brothers who combatted each other. At the time of my leaving, one brother stole talent from the orig company to staff a competing company. In the old days there would have been murder/mayhem, but the offending brother and his progeny were summarily dismissed from the company.

 

[csd72]

Michfan,

Why have you got people working for you if your company is not pulling a profit? Wouldnt it be more economical to do the work yourself until the company?

 

[michfan]

I make much more at my "day" job than what I pay out to have people helping me at the store.

They are there about 6 hours @ minimum, I work 8 hours at more than 3x that...several of them are family, so they help just to have something to do one day a week.

Go to the SBA website and read the statistics on small business - it would scare most people away from starting one if they read it before taking the leap! 50% fail in the first year, 95% fail before the end of the 5th year. 95 PERCENT. Wow. And most businesses don't see a profit until well past the second year, that's fairly standard. That is why the IRS allows business losses to be claimed for 2 out of every 3 years.

This isn't a "work out of your home in your spare time" business, either. It's a retail shop with inventory, thousands of $$ in fixtures, a $150 electric bill and $200 gas bill each month, $100 for a phone, $3500 rent, etc. The overhead is huge. Just cleaning the carpet will run $150. And do you realize that while you pay fed, state and SS taxes from your paycheck, your employer is matching those contributions??? You are only paying half of what is required-they pay the other half.

Most people don't have the slightest idea of what it costs to run a business. People come into the store and say, oh, you must be raking in the money - this would be such fun, I've thought about doing this... oh, if only they knew! My business plan to obtain financing ran 40 pages.

But it is completely dependent on sales. If people aren't buying, I won't make it. And many businesses are seasonal - we have good months and bad months. I could go on and on, but I've probably bored you to sleep by now! Plus, it's time to go to my next job, at the store for 4 or 5 hours.

 

[csd72]

I thought that you would say that about earning more than youpay out.

I realise the costs and risks, I am looking at starting one up in a couple of years.

 

[michfan]

Well, I have lived through it, by the skin of my teeth, so I can try to give you a few pointers.

Cut your personal expenses to the bone. Drop anything you don't need to survive - cable tv/satellite (you won't have time to watch it anyway - my brother tapes some stuff for me and I listen to it on Sundays while I work at the store - I've kept up on my sci fi channel that way!) If you can't live without a cell phone, drop your home phone. Plan to eat cheaply, give up eating out. If you can't make your mortgage payment & utilities by working a part-time job, find someplace cheaper to live. I fell behind in my payments and it is really hard to catch up. I managed but it's not been an easy road.

Start now cutting back. Bank anything you can - you will need it later. Get used to not going out to movies, out to eat, etc. Two meals in a restaurant now can be a week's groceries when times are lean.

Pay off your credit card debt. All of it. Get rid of any cards you don't need - your store cards like Gap, Sears, etc. They drag you down if you need to get financing from a bank. Send a letter and close them and instruct them to put "closed in good standing by card holder" on your credit reports.

Start writing your business plan now. There are good books out there to help.

Document your real expenses now. Do it for at least a year - sounds hard, but ask for receipts for everything you spend and start an excel spreadsheet and break it into categories - food, gas, clothing, utilities, etc. You need to know how much you spend and what you spend it on. That way you know truly how much living expenses will run you and what you will need to make off your new venture to survive. This will give you a basis to decide if you need to work part or full time in addition to your business. You also need to document your expenses in your business plan if you hope to get financing.

I could sit and tell you every mistake I made. If I could do it over, I'd do a few things differently. I'd have kept an engineering job the entire time I ran the store. I'd have rented a less expensive storefront and had more to spend on advertising. A lack of advertising can kill your business - it is probably the most important thing you can do to promote your start-up. I would have cut up every credit card and kept just one small one for emergencies. I put way too much on cards and it will take me years to pay it off, which means I continue the extra full-time work until it all is paid back. Learning to live well below your means is a good way to start to get ready for going out on your own in business.

For me, I started all this in 2004 and had no idea the economy would tank the way it has. You can't plan for every eventuality, but you can tighten your own finances up as much as possible to help you get through whatever happens.

Thankfully, I'm employable and was able to get a job again before I lost everything, and I've got friends and family members helping me at the store or I'd be likely in bankruptcy right now.

Remember, 50% of small businesses will fail in their first year out. If that doesn't stop you, nothing should!