Life change

[GerryS]

This is tough. A job is about making a living, no doubt. The problem becomes when making a living is sucking the will to live out of you. A good boss and team helps, but if at the end of the day you just have enough energy to sit and drool....are you making a living or not? I'm not so sure. Also, at 45 if it takes 5 years to build you still have time for a ROI. If you wait, that time diminishes and so does your ability to put the hours in....entrepreneurial activity is not and old mans game.

I've owned businesses before, part time ones, but still the same...and butcher, you're right. People have no concept of how much work it is. Corporate schmucks think that money just comes in....It certainly doesn't even if it looks like it does. One day I had a show, and had $1700 in 4 hours of sales. But, from setup to tear down took 30 man hours labor, and about $500 in expenses before we sold bag 1 of kettle corn. Nor the $1000 damage that came out of my pocket the week before from an uninsured accident, and 72 man hours of labor, and $1300 in sales....so much for big profit. All in all that was a money maker, but a lot of work for a low hourly return. Overall, we did OK....but definitely not a get rich quick scheme it looked like....

The thought of part time barber shop, also ties into the energy question....see my first paragraph...sacrifice to be sure! Also, The hard part is finding a hiring shop that wants an entry level barber with very limited hours of availability, who might be called away at any moment, and has no guarantee of being on time. The surprise 2 or 3 our emergency at 5pm isn't uncommon. Serving two masters has a LOT of obstacles.

Food business...agains, doing both my current job and food is nearly impossible due to the life sucking nature of IT...the on call and immediate availability precludes me from so much! All of the foods I am looking at are low cost, high profit with little waste. How did ray croc do it? Is it even possible today with oppressive regulations and competition with Madison Avenue? Ken-taco-huts are on almost every other corner? But they all have patrons. Dunkin donuts is still adding stores. There is opportunity....buy at $25 a sq foot, for $1500 sq foot, you're talking SERIOUS coin....

There has to be a way to do this....without selling your soul to schitibank....

[GerryS]

It's too bad the OP doesn't live near me in Maryland. I'm an IT guy like him who had my own company for 15+ years going through the same problem -- 48 y.o. and needing to make a change. Thing is, I know what I want to do -- something in the area of disaster-proofing against loss of old photos and video/film by scanning/transcoding them to a thumb drive. You always see after tornadoes how homeowners lament their lost memories. I just need a partner to motivate me and share the work...plus some marketing money would be useful.

Hey, the Internet has shrunk the world! I know a guitar trio band that rehearses regularly....one is in California, one in Brussels, and one in Japan...

[PaulC]

This is tough. A job is about making a living, no doubt. The problem becomes when making a living is sucking the will to live out of you. A good boss and team helps, but if at the end of the day you just have enough energy to sit and drool....are you making a living or not? I'm not so sure. Also, at 45 if it takes 5 years to build you still have time for a ROI. If you wait, that time diminishes and so does your ability to put the hours in....entrepreneurial activity is not and old mans game.

I've owned businesses before, part time ones, but still the same...and butcher, you're right. People have no concept of how much work it is. Corporate schmucks think that money just comes in....It certainly doesn't even if it looks like it does. One day I had a show, and had $1700 in 4 hours of sales. But, from setup to tear down took 30 man hours labor, and about $500 in expenses before we sold bag 1 of kettle corn. Nor the $1000 damage that came out of my pocket the week before from an uninsured accident, and 72 man hours of labor, and $1300 in sales....so much for big profit. All in all that was a money maker, but a lot of work for a low hourly return. Overall, we did OK....but definitely not a get rich quick scheme it looked like....

The thought of part time barber shop, also ties into the energy question....see my first paragraph...sacrifice to be sure! Also, The hard part is finding a hiring shop that wants an entry level barber with very limited hours of availability, who might be called away at any moment, and has no guarantee of being on time. The surprise 2 or 3 our emergency at 5pm isn't uncommon. Serving two masters has a LOT of obstacles.

Food business...agains, doing both my current job and food is nearly impossible due to the life sucking nature of IT...the on call and immediate availability precludes me from so much! All of the foods I am looking at are low cost, high profit with little waste. How did ray croc do it? Is it even possible today with oppressive regulations and competition with Madison Avenue? Ken-taco-huts are on almost every other corner? But they all have patrons. Dunkin donuts is still adding stores. There is opportunity....buy at $25 a sq foot, for $1500 sq foot, you're talking SERIOUS coin....

There has to be a way to do this....without selling your soul to schitibank....

Gerry,
This may upset you but here goes anyway. You can always find arguments against doing something. I'm too old, it's too expensive, it's too hard for example. What you need to do is change your thinking and look at the benefits of doing it. What I'm seeing is a man who has a wish tree but is too scared to pick the fruit.
Cheers
Paul

[Roo Dog]

Gerry,

I put some money into a nice sailboat when I quit the rat race.
On days when I wondered if I had done the right thing by quitting I would climb aboard set her free and sail close inshore so all those poor sods who were still in the rat race could see me sailing by.
My wife used to remark what a picture I set, she was often out and about when I did this. She said it was a beautiful sight, sparkling water, sun shining, pretty yacht and this smug looking bastard in the cockpit with a drink in his claw.
The boat is gone but the mind set still exists.

Take it easy.

RD

[Verna]

Gerry, we talked at Shakamak about some of the changes I've had in my life. One of the biggest ones was changing my job inside the company at age 51. It was for a highly technical job, involved driving over 112 miles to and from work every day, but I was happy and had fun learning. I stayed until they offered a nice retirement package at age 58. Sometimes you just have to quit worrying and go ahead and make yourself happy.

I quit my wonderful part time job yesterday. Sure I'll miss the money it brought in, but my father is sick and I couldn't help other seniors knowing he needed help. So, a re-retirement, a redirection, and hopefully a rekindling of my woodworking business, no matter how small that may be. Follow your heart--it doesn't lie.

[GerryS]

I hope you Dads situation improves...

No offense taken, in fact that's exactly my situation....I'm making too darned much money to leave. This, I guess, is a good problem to have. I know cuts are coming, maybe the decision will be made for me.

[pmowers]

I know where you are coming from. I spent 23 years as a medical technologist until I developed a latex allergy. Luckily, I had picked up a lot of statistics and was able to find a job in managed care for 15 years. That will probably be going away in about another year. I am too old to start over, and too young to retire.

How do you feel about teaching? I am talking about at the Community or Technical College level? Depending on your area of IT, there was some money available for HiTech training for IT people in healthcare. I am currently teaching online for a local college.

Good luck.

[stumphugger]

The town barber died. So, the little town to the west is advertising for one to take his place. Interested? It rains a lot here, and it isn't a very prosperous area.
The main employment is at two sawmills. The other employers are logging, a hazardous medical waste incinerator (yuckers) and probably the schools and hospital.

The place made the news a few years ago for having roofs caved in from a heavy snow they got. It seems to be a bit chillier in that drainage than here.

[jstrubberg]

The way things are now, you'll be lucky if they LET you leave...

IT demand is ridiculous right now. The estimates show it getting worse for the next ten years, at least. Millions more jobs than qualified people to fill them...

I bring this up to say that you have another option. RIght now, you have the ability to change your work experience without leaving your job. Figure out what it is that's eating you up, then figure out how you change or leave that aspect behind. I can just about guarantee your employer will bend over backwards to accommodate you.

I do networking and virtualization. I'm on call constantly. It's hard to step away, but I enjoy the work enough that the only time I feel stressed is when those around me go on and on about how I work too much, deserve more time off, etc, etc. So I simply stopped listening. No more stress.

Narrow down what is wearing on you. See if there's a less radical step you can take to make things better for yourself. I guarantee you, trading work stress for money stress is not going to improve your daily life.

[GerryS]

Washington state and I probably won't get along so well....first I hate rainy weather, two I don't deal we'll with liberal politics...and sadly, Seatac area is probably slightly (ahem) to my left even if the locals are pretty conservative.

There's actually a shortage of barbers everywhere. The number who as retiring and assuming room temperature is staggering and like most trades (hvac, plumbing, electrical....) the number of people stepping into those roles is diminishing as well.

IT has been good...it's not that I HATE it. It's just the nature has gotten too specialized and cutthroat. It sounds like the IT market where you are is much different than mine. While its not a wasteland, it isn't great either. I'm just kind of done with it all. I'm heading back to my alma mater tomorrow, to see about picking up a couple weekends...just to knock off the rust. My wife's job is ending in 6 weeks, after she gets a new gig, I think I'll hang my own shingle out some place where rent is cheap...turn it into a man cave, and at the best make some extra money...at worse, enjoy some new friends while playing pinball and maybe putting a little hair of the floor.

Nice part about barber shops, is the build outs don't have to be incredibly elaborate....a sink, a shampoo bowl, and a few mirrors is all it takes.

This is what I want though...

derbycitychopshop.com

Or

www.redsclassicbarbershop.com


Yeah, I still use a straight razor....and I can shave with my pocket knife

[Todah Tear]

I got a text from my 50 Y.O. sister today saying that she is going to retire at the end of the month. She's had all that she cares to take in the criminal justice area. She said that her retirement check will only be $300/month less than what she makes working. She'll save $300/month in gas expenses by not having to commute from the suburbs into the city every day.

Todah

[Todah Tear]

Nice part about barber shops, is the build outs don't have to be incredibly elaborate....a sink, a shampoo bowl, and a few mirrors is all it takes...

How about a mobile barber shop in a teardrop. You could take it downtown like the sandwich trucks. It would be for the guys who rather get a quick cut during the work day. You could maybe have a brick-n-mortar and do the barber-on-wheels once a week or so. ...just a thought.

Todah

[Kens]

I worked a family run shop for 31 years 3rd generation ran it in to the ground. I left on my own 10years ago best move I ever made.
Ken

[Catherine+twins]

Nice part about barber shops, is the build outs don't have to be incredibly elaborate....a sink, a shampoo bowl, and a few mirrors is all it takes...

How about a mobile barber shop in a teardrop. You could take it downtown like the sandwich trucks. It would be for the guys who rather get a quick cut during the work day. You could maybe have a brick-n-mortar and do the barber-on-wheels once a week or so. ...just a thought.

Todah

I was wondering about that. My older brother's first SO did something like this. She rented a chair/booth in a shop for a couple of years, but didn't like the atmosphere or run-around, so as soon as she had a few regulars and some word of mouth she took it on the road. She went to her customers' homes for cuts, did wedding parties (styles and make-up), and had a regular route of senior centers and assisted living centers. (She was in Denver, so she had a large area to build on.) She was making a comfortable living without any brick-and-mortar presence or a chair rental.

Good luck with your new direction! (I'm 52 and fix computers, but even the super computers are coming with more disposable parts OR are so specialized that only the guys who build them can fix them. I hope my job sticks around until I can retire!)

Catherine

[bonnie]

I was laid off from a tech job at 50. Found another one before the severance ran out. Will not be sorry to leave the working world. I like the mobile hair chair idea. Catherine that's brilliant. I read somewhere that a woman had renovated a TAB trailer to hold a piano and gave lessons in the same fashion.