Business ideas

[polo1665]

the problem isn't that it's unskilled.
The problem is that they aren't paying their fair share and competing on the same playing field.

Should have implied in my statement that all applicable laws were followed. I guess I would assume that is a given. You are right though, it isn't a given. My point being, if the OP wants to pony up the cash to do the job (mowing) legally, I would have a hard time seeing it as a bad thing. He does have a responsibility (just like you and everyone else) to provide for his family.

here in Colorado you have to have license plates (registration) on your tractors. (yes, even if they never go on the road, use them commercially, must be registered, basically proof that you paid your taxes).

Try $500 a year per tractor.

Insurance. commercial vehicle (about double personal usage), liability, health.

Transportation laws. USDOT #'s, log books, drug tests, random drug programs, emissions tests (don't ask), DOT inspections, proper tie downs, working lights, etc, etc, etc.

Boy, you live in a tough state.

Sooner or later they get caught, but for the 1,2,3 years they are in business underground, they just bring the prevailing wage down.

Unfortunately they are not always caught soon enough. I could see being very frustrated with the uneveness of the playing field in this situation.
All good things for the OP to take into consideration.

Mark

 

[JohnDeere4300]

here in Colorado you have to have license plates (registration) on your tractors. (yes, even if they never go on the road,

I've never heard of that before. .... I thought you only needed plates in places like Canada, France etc.. etc..

But I'm glad they don't have that money racket here in Kentucky.

 

[Builder]

Should have implied in my statement that all applicable laws were followed. I guess I would assume that is a given. You are right though, it isn't a given. My point being, if the OP wants to pony up the cash to do the job (mowing) legally, I would have a hard time seeing it as a bad thing. He does have a responsibility (just like you and everyone else) to provide for his family.

Unfortunately they are not always caught soon enough. I could see being very frustrated with the uneveness of the playing field in this situation.
All good things for the OP to take into consideration.

Mark

The typical guy who moonlights until he gets his career job back is easy to spot. It would be really surprising to see him get a contractors license in PA, or a hauling license or contractors insurance, either. Those 3 things alone would cost him ~$700-$1,000 per year. I wouldn't think someone who was laid off would fork out that kind of $$ to work for a few months.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

This is not just seen in Blue Collar Jobs. I work both a White Collar Job as a pilot

Up until 5 years ago I could make $500 a day flying airplanes for dealers and corporations

Do you text while you fly ?

 

[Builder]

Do you text while you fly ?

 

[newbury]

The typical guy who moonlights until he gets his career job back is easy to spot. It would be really surprising to see him get a contractors license in PA, or a hauling license or contractors insurance, either. Those 3 things alone would cost him ~$700-$1,000 per year. I wouldn't think someone who was laid off would fork out that kind of $$ to work for a few months.

If the OP is mainly talking about things like mowing and moving dirt does PA draw a line somewhere between doing that as an "odd job", like the neighbors kid mowing lawns and digging holes for shrubbery? Or is the kid supposed to be licensed and insured?

 

[sld]

I am in the aircraft engineering field. Undercutting is common here also as other countries, mainly India, are trying to steal all of our work. But you know what? They have largely failed because their quality of work sucks.

If you are secure enough about yourself and the work you do and provide a high quality service undercutting will not hurt you in the long run. It may trim the fat from the easy pickin's, but won't put you out of business.

I wouldn't think that guys are doing fly by night construction work to get rich. They are doing it to provide for a family. I would never fault a guy for that. If I lost my job and had to put food on the table, you bet, I would do whatever it took. I wouldn't let my kids starve just because a few professional contractors were bitching about it. My family will always come first.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Builder]

If the OP is mainly talking about things like mowing and moving dirt does PA draw a line somewhere between doing that as an "odd job", like the neighbors kid mowing lawns and digging holes for shrubbery? Or is the kid supposed to be licensed and insured?

Yes, they do. They allow you to make ~$5,000 before you have to obtain a contractor's license. It would be easy to cheat and just collect cash, as I'm sure most fly-by-nighters do.

If you report more than $5,000, you have to get a lecense. To get a license, you are required to have insurance on your business and commercial vehicle insurance, etc. That would cost enough money to make it prohibitive for the fly by night guys.

I think it's the right thing to do. Keeps the riff-raff out and the guys willing to fly above the radar and carry insurance in.

 

[JoeinTX]

"Keeps the riff-raff out and the guys willing to fly above the radar and carry insurance in..."


Riff-raff, huh?


I think I know what you mean by that but do not clump everyone who has a tractor and decides one day that maybe they could try to make a little business out of it as some sort of undesireable. I am not "riff-raff." I would dare to say that very few here started their own business any other way than just as one guy with a tractor or a lawn mower or a new set of woodworking tools and a business idea. Would you consider yourselves "riff-raff" oh many years ago when you started out. I tend to think not.


Only guys with insurance are legit? Well, I've got biz liability insurance.......and legal tax I.D.....and a DBA certificate.......ya know, little things like that to make it all legal like and cost me some more money. Am I legit now? I've never unloaded the tractor for a single job but I got me some insurance. One thing I don't have are those magnetic door signs to go on the side of the pickup. But once I do, and combined with the insurance, I guess I'm a bona fide legit bidness man.

How 'bout guys, with insurance, that only do it on the weekends and vacations away from their regular M-F job. Are they riff-raff? Opposed to the guy to who does it full-time but doesn't and may not even have a current registration sticker on his trailer. Who's the riff-raff there? I know which one I trust there.


Again, I think I understand what you were saying but the mood of your post was, well, more than a little insulting. I guess I could lump you into the class of BTOs who are always too busy to mess with a small fry account like mine and seem to want the world for a small job. But I don't because that's not always the story.

 

[Willl]

Anybody else feel like moving in next to Builder and starting up a lawn and tractor biz ?