Winter is Here

As all contractors know, winter is here, business is slow, and you don't even know if you are going to make it financially. It's the same thing year after year. As with everything else you try and save all year round for the winter, but everytime you do something comes up and there's the money flying out the door. Everyone that knows me thinks because I own my own company that we are so "rich". Well to tell you the truth we are just like every other working stiff. We still live paycheck to paycheck, especially in today's economy. Many many times we as a family didn't think we would pull through. Hopefully that never happens. Every day my wife search's companies to work for. You see I do alot of subcontracting work for the main companies. What does that mean, well when you call a contractor he calls me and we do the job. So my company is not the one making the big bucks. If you think that being self employed is all that like the news state the other day boy are you wrong. The NJ taxes, insurances and everything else will drain you dry. It was better a few years ago that's for sure. But like so many of you out there many times my company has been screwed. Not getting paid, has happen not once but a few. There's contractors out there that hire you and then take off with the whole payment from the homeowner or commerical properity owner. Guys like this shouldn't even be in business. Sometimes I even wish I had never even started a business. I have to pay my own health insurance that doesn't even cover jack. You train people to work then they go off and start their own business. Or you hire people and they don't show up to work. Speaking of that, a few months ago I needed sub's to help me out. I placed a ad online with a popular place, well everyone and everybody called. The problem, they said anything to get hired. Reason, the economy is so bad people will lie just to get a job. This is the only thing I could figure. One guy told me on the phone he had so much experience, had tools, had this, had that. Well when he showed up in the dead of winter, he was in shorts, and didn't even own a ladder. I of course had to tell him there was no way he was touching my job. The funny part was I told him to bring a copy of his insurance, "he did" a print out of something on the computer that was far from insurance. But you can't blame a guy for trying. I even felt bad after telling him to leave.