Thread: give me your advice on what to do with my life

i have a really good mate who has a 3t excavator bobcat s185 and a tipper and ive spent time operating his machines and im not to bad at it, he is in the army reserves and was going to transfer to raaf full time and i was going to buy his buisness but his changed his mind and is sticking with the business this has given me the motivation that hey i can do this, i have done my reaearch and spoken to a local mob who contract out and keep there comission and they will be able to give me 1 or 2 days a week to start and there is heaps of work here ive been talking to heaps of blokes on sites and they are all flat out trying to find the time to take on all the work my mate rekons he could offload a few jobs to me every day so thats why i know that if i got equipment it would pay off

what would be a good approach to financially get into excavation

Develop a business plan. Speak to your local National Australia Bank branch. Every day nab helps Australians reach their dreams. A little word for a big life. To find your nearest branch, visit NAB - National Australia Bank

Second hand trucks and machinary may be cheap way into gear, but the cheaper they are, the more you will spend on repairs. Why did the last owner sell? Beyond financial viability? Not reliable enough? If you want to make a million dollars with secondhand machinary, start with ten million.

There is a small bobcat excavator in town.
We dry hire(our 20T excavator pilot hops on it) it from time to time when the owner is off working on minesites.
To tell the truth,the machine isnt that good.Its really only good for diging plumbers trenches etc,if you want to dig a deeper hole it suffers.
We just had a contractor in with a "Dingo" digging trenches(dichwitch attachment) for subsoil irrigation on the footy oval.A much more deversified tool,all goes on a trailer,has augers for drilling post holes,a bucket etc etc etc.
May be better off investing in such an item to start with,working weekends at first so your weekly job makes the repayments,then as you grow your bussines work the Dingo during the week then later buy yourself some bigger toys as the bussines can sustain them.
GOODLUCK,hope it works for you.
Andrew

I have had a few different businesses over the years and the one thing I consider most important is to have enough money in the bank to live on, pay all the bills Mortgage, car and so on for the first 2 years.
Why, working for yourself (contractor) you will find most people you work for (including Governments) will hang onto the money they owe you for work done for as long as possible, you can expect to wait up to 3 months to get money your owed. Also there will be the bastards that don't pay at all.
If you live on your savings (nest egg) for the first 2 years and just bank everything you earn, you will establish good relations with your bank.
It's not easy, but most business failures stem from lack of funds separate from the business, hard to do, but necessary, Regards Frank.

i looked at getting into it anather way and that was go onto centrelink newstart than try get into the nies program that way government pays for all my tickets, small buisness training help to get established and also for the first 12 months yo still recieve fortnightly payments but this meant enough money coming in to pay rent each week which also means enough in the bank to survive other than rent for 12months which means i would have enough money to go pay cash for some machinery

Mate

I hear you and can see your dilemma.

You are currently a Gyprock fixer/flusher.
They can earn good money.
Look from outside in.
If you just flush think about also fixing and vice versa.
Put add in paper for repair work and give builders your details that you do maintenance.
Repairs etc and can fix and flush.

You can charge call out fees and if need to go back twice even more.
You are young and cash flow is important and dare I say King.
Keep your current job to cashflow your possible future one in earthworks.

If you do want to do earthworks, remember that you will be a subcontractor and amounts that you claim will be much higher and builders do not like paying big bills quickly.
I am a supervisor at a adelaide builder and thats pretty much how it is with us.

Sometimes if the job does not work out or you have the levels wrong, you will not get paid at all or even worse have to pay to fix it or underground cables or plumbing you damage.

Our rate for a bobcat is $65p/hr and a 3 ton excavator is $90p/hr.
So money can be made but do remember running costs like fuel and repairs, rego, insurance and safety equipment etc.

Also, rent money is not really dead money as everyone has to live somewhere but ultimately your own place would be best.

Good luck and also remember that a lot of people in earthmoving would love to get into Flushing or plastering as when it rains or is too windy there is no work and its also back breaking as at times, you need to get on the shovel etc.

Good luck and live your dream, you want something bad enough you can do it, so don't loose focus but be realistic.

First thing, at 23 earning $700 a week with 2 grand in the bank you are not going to get a home loan unless your partner is also working and earning reasonable good money. a $200,000 home loan at 5.25% will cost you just over $1600 a month. Then you have water rates, council rates, insurance and maintenance it all adds up.

Second thing, going into business for yourself is not as easy as you think, there are a lot of hidden costs involved, a lot stress, long hours plus all the pressures from home and family. Anyone going into business thinking they are going to make big money straight away are usually sadly mistaken. You also have to remember that you are not going to get paid for up to 90 days from time of invoice depending on the size of the company you are doing the work for.Then you also have the risk that you will do all the work and not get paid at all because they have gone belly up, which has happened a lot in the last few months.

Third thing, if you really want to go into business do what you know. Start a plastering business, you already have the tools and knowledge and I would expect a few contacts in the building game already. Then when you have built that business up you can branch out into other area's. Or sell the business and then buy the equipment you need to start you next venture.

Having said all that being in business for yourself can be a very rewarding experience as long as you remember a few things, get a good accountant, pay your bills on time, invest in the future and what ever is left over is yours.