What to do when your main guy quits

I'm a small 2 man plus me shop with other helpers from time to time, my main guy wants to scale back to 4 days with the plan of starting his own business. His shop and field skills skills are good enough that he will do
very well, I'm not sure how well he will do on the office side of things but doing the actual work as a portable welder is no problem.

When he told me about his intentions, all I could say to him is get a good accountant and that he is welcome back here if things dont work out.

Portable Welder said:

I'm a small 2 man plus me shop with other helpers from time to time, my main guy wants to scale back to 4 days with the plan of starting his own business. His shop and field skills skills are good enough that he will do
very well, I'm not sure how well he will do on the office side of things but doing the actual work as a portable welder is no problem.

When he told me about his intentions, all I could say to him is get a good accountant and that he is welcome back here if things dont work out.

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many a person couldnt care less if old boss thinks he will fail at starting his own business. actually often that makes the person want to try even more. either he learns and adapts or he dont. often many just want to be their own boss with nobody telling them what to do. and they often retire with little savings
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others learn to work under a boss and after 40 years got the money saved for retirement. as cnc operator i will make $70,000 this year and i easily got over $100,000 in 401K after 4 years at job as a cnc operator. this in addition to $1300/month i get from my old job for the rest of my life. old jobs retirement money. sometimes it pays more to NOT be your own boss. with social security i should retired make more than when i was working easily, with it easily growing faster than inflation. math is a most useful tool
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my father was his own boss and lived on $1100/month social security when retired. nothing saved to show for being his own boss
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my experience is often workers are not appreciated until they leave job. when boss sees other workers are far worse he appreciates the better worker he lost.
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some get bored. they want to work some where else. do a different job and be happier

Evaluate his worth and if it is worth pulling him in as a partner. If he takes on more responsibility in running the manufacturing side, it leaves you with more time to make the pie bigger. You might both be better off that way??
Just one more thing to consider...

Portable Welder said:

When he told me about his intentions, all I could say to him is get a good accountant and that he is welcome back here if things dont work out.

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I think that was a very honorable thing to do.

DMF_TomB said:

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.
many a person couldnt care less if old boss thinks he will fail at starting his own business. actually often that makes the person want to try even more. either he learns and adapts or he dont. often many just want to be their own boss with nobody telling them what to do. and they often retire with little savings
.
others learn to work under a boss and after 40 years got the money saved for retirement. as cnc operator i will make $70,000 this year and i easily got over $100,000 in 401K after 4 years at job as a cnc operator. this in addition to $1300/month i get from my old job for the rest of my life. old jobs retirement money. sometimes it pays more to NOT be your own boss. with social security i should retired make more than when i was working easily, with it easily growing faster than inflation. math is a most useful tool
.
my father was his own boss and lived on $1100/month social security when retired. nothing saved to show for being his own boss
.
my experience is often workers are not appreciated until they leave job. when boss sees other workers are far worse he appreciates the better worker he lost.
.
some get bored. they want to work some where else. do a different job and be happier

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And this contributes to this thread how?

Dualkit said:

And this contributes to this thread how?

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Obviously he's not cut out for self employment. Some are meant to punch a clock...

Is the "Main Guy" going to go after your existing customers?

Where in the hell (ny fellow) is someone working as an operator making 70-100K/yr? I'll be lucky to break 30K net. Is rent there at 2K a month on studios or land going for 200K an acre? I hate reading this shit.

Hardened said:

Where in the hell (ny fellow) is someone working as an operator making 70-100K/yr? I'll be lucky to break 30K net. Is rent there at 2K a month on studios or land going for 200K an acre? I hate reading this shit.

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I quit $70k plus to start my gig. And, now I don't make shit. Even though last year the business grossed a whole lot more than $70k
There is substance to TomB's post. But, that time-clock is not for me!

Hardened said:

Where in the hell (ny fellow) is someone working as an operator making 70-100K/yr? I'll be lucky to break 30K net. Is rent there at 2K a month on studios or land going for 200K an acre? I hate reading this shit.

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It's very possible to do. Usually large, global companies with small, captive shops. The problem is ( like WheelieKing71 points out ) that you have to deal with the time clock and a host of other things like politics, not to mention some of the jackasses one is supposedly subordinate to. Everything from misogynistic, to racist, to intolerance, to big company egos, to a general lack of modern skills or understanding how to use current tech. These are oft even more amplified in such environments.

Zahnrad Kopf said:

It's very possible to do. Usually large, global companies with small, captive shops. The problem is ( like WheelieKing71 points out ) that you have to deal with the time clock and a host of other things like politics, not to mention some of the jackasses one is supposedly subordinate to. Everything from misogynistic, to racist, to intolerance, to big company egos, to a general lack of modern skills or understanding how to use current tech. These are oft even more amplified in such environments.

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Exactly. Sometimes the fact that these places turn profits (big ones) blows my mind. And, that is part of the reason I can't do it.
Saying the time-clock is not for me is a figure of speech. I am a work-aholic. I aint afraid of no time clock.
Its all the B.S. like Zahnrad mentioned that I can't stomach.

Aesop 'The Dog and the Wolf' fable:


The Dog and the Wolf. Aesop. 199-14. Fables. The Harvard Classics

Zahnrad Kopf said:

It's very possible to do. Usually large, global companies with small, captive shops. The problem is ( like WheelieKing71 points out ) that you have to deal with the time clock and a host of other things like politics, not to mention some of the jackasses one is supposedly subordinate to. Everything from misogynistic, to racist, to intolerance, to big company egos, to a general lack of modern skills or understanding how to use current tech. These are oft even more amplified in such environments.

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Funny you post this... One job I had that led me to self employment was the opposite of that.. Things were so PC that you could never cross a female or minority, they were always right, even if it was not in the best interest of the company and employees. It got tiring, walking that tightrope of producing quality parts, on time to ship out, while trying to stroke the egos of the "Downtrodden"..

This PC stuff is fallacious, it doesn't make money.

Look around the world, the best motivator is hatred of the "other".

And, investigate the origin of "politically correct", you will arrive at the purges of Mao's China.

I just lost my right hand it's not any fun at all. My guy handled everything on the Biz side. He did it all from purchasing to shipping and managed the money. I think this is worse than any guy I ever lost on the shop floor.

Two years ago he was semi retired and I had just served my partner his walking papers. He is 63 years old and a very smart guy in electrical engineering so he knew how a manufacturing company worked. He took to the business like a duck to water and it was a good fit for us both. He had lost a long term job when the company moved to Mexico. A guy his age has trouble finding work even with his level of experience.

He needed something to bridge him to retirement and I needed his skill set. He wanted to work flexible hours and play golf, I could not afford a full time guy.... everything just fell together and worked for us both.

Last August an old boss of his came out of the wood work and offered him a one year contract at crazy money He could not say no and I couldn't ask him to. That money will help him a lot one he stops working.

I am struggling to replace him. He just naturally knew what needed to be done, I had to do very little training and hand holding we also got along great. I have been through two people in my search to find a replacement and it's tough for me right now. My guy allowed me to focus 100% on making parts and getting new order's.

I'm back to stopping machines and packing shipments by 3pm now it's hurting the monthly sales numbers.

Seriously forget about ever offering anyone to be a partner, You will lose more than you imagined and the guy will own 20-50% of what....Your debt ? Your old machines ? The 18 hour days you worked ten years ago to get your shop running are not something that he can appreciate or duplicate to your satisfaction. Just forget that option. There is more to what being a partner means than meets the eye to you both.

Make Chips Boys !!

Ron

You find a way to still get the work done. Everyone is replaceable.
He might be a decent guy to sub some work to when you're too busy, just make sure you make some $ on it.

Zahnrad Kopf said:

It's very possible to do. Usually large, global companies with small, captive shops. The problem is ( like WheelieKing71 points out ) that you have to deal with the time clock and a host of other things like politics, not to mention some of the jackasses one is supposedly subordinate to. Everything from misogynistic, to racist, to intolerance, to big company egos, to a general lack of modern skills or understanding how to use current tech. These are oft even more amplified in such environments.

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You forgot to mention nepotism.

Dupa3872 said:

Seriously forget about ever offering anyone to be a partner, You will lose more than you imagined and the guy will own 20-50% of what....Your debt ? Your old machines ? The 18 hour days you worked ten years ago to get your shop running are not something that he can appreciate or duplicate to your satisfaction. Just forget that option. There is more to what being a partner means than meets the eye to you both.

Make Chips Boys !!

Ron

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Quoted for importance! wise advice.

Hardened said:

Where in the hell (ny fellow) is someone working as an operator making 70-100K/yr? I'll be lucky to break 30K net. Is rent there at 2K a month on studios or land going for 200K an acre? I hate reading this shit.

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You seriously just making minimum wage? Machinists are hard to find. If you are just a button pusher, time to up your skill set and look for a different job.

Philabuster said:

You seriously just making minimum wage? Machinists are hard to find. If you are just a button pusher, time to up your skill set and look for a different job.

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It's called a "surviving wage" sir. Just enough to pay the bills, pray nothing happens, and never leave the house. Kidding - but, not really.
Where does one go as a starter machinist though? I've got a huge knowledgebase, graduated top of my classes, but everyone wants a guy with 5+ years experience doing machinist work for the machinist job. Out there looking now but it's all temp agencies and to leave my current stagnant operator job I took for experience (and got some, I've seen and learned a lot and have a brilliant boss to learn from) ... seems too risky. I love this stuff and expected to do, make, and be more than this.

Didn't mean to detract from the thread at all and I'm sure the OP doesn't appreciate it. Only possible contribution I could lend there is the best success I've seen and read of has come from finding someone who has a good brain, and giving them some room to make their own decisions with their own style. 100 ways to skin a cat, but far fewer if you don't have a knife.