Hellobee Boards

No but my dad is a plumber owns his own company. A family member owned a company, my dad worked for him and bought it later on.My dad does like plumbing but he has to work constantly to survive. I feel awful that he is never home. I wish he worked for someone else so that he could get health insurance, retirement, and other benefits. I would not recommend it.

Not my husband, but my Dad is a trades person with multiple tickets (plumbing, gas fitting, steam fitting, and refrigeration mechanic). He has had his own business for 30 years. It has had anywhere from just him to now about 10 employees. He much prefers running his business to working for someone else. It is definitely not without its stressors. He runs his business as a union shop so he and his employees have union benefits and pension. Running a trades business becomes like a 24/7 job, so you have to really love what you are doing. If you want to keep clients happy you need to be available at the drop of a hat, especially with his trades. Now he has employees to share on call weekends and holidays with but for many years he had to be available all the time. I think it depends on the kind of person you are. He thrives on it, but between bidding jobs, the actual work and billing I feel like he worked 18 hours a day 7 days a week for a lot of the years I was growing up. I think in the trades that's really how you build a long standing, reputable business.