I worked as a plumber for over 10 years. The company I was with got acquired by a larger one, and after a few years, they shut down the entire plumbing department, laying off around 10 workers, including me. I was faced with the choice of either finding a new job in a small(ish) town, competing with 10 other plumbers for the same position, or finally doing what I’d been thinking about for years: starting my own business.
I didn’t want to focus solely on plumbing, so now I’m essentially what you’d call a handyman. I take on a variety of home improvement projects according to my skills, and I absolutely love it. Not only is there no one telling me what to do, but the variety of jobs I get to do is immense. No two days are ever the same.
On top of that, I actually receive gratitude for the work I do. Practically all of my customers so far have been visibly satisfied with the quality of work and service they’ve received, which makes my job extremely fulfilling. I actually feel like a useful member of society now. To be honest, I’m quite surprised by the amount of positive feedback I’ve gotten. I’ve always known that I have extremely high standards for the quality of my work, but I never considered myself a particularly likable person. I might need to reconsider that as the evidence to the contrary keeps piling up.
Of course, there are downsides. I took a significant pay cut, and the long-term success of my business remains to be seen. But so far, things look promising. I’m not looking to get rich, grow my company, or hire employees, but if I can maintain my current standard of living and never have to go back to working for someone else, I can safely say this has been one of the best decisions of my life.
I applaud your courage. What interesting jobs you've done and what skills other than plumbing you are confident in doing rn?
I've only been doing this for around 6 months so I haven't had any that special jobs so far but I did a small kitchen remodel to one customer where I tore down the old and build a new one for her which was quite enjoyable job.
My favourite jobs are ones that require creativity and problem solving. When ever I can fix something instead of replacing it is fun. This is a recent example of such job:
It's honestly easier to list what I don't do which is building something bigger than a shed, electric work, work inside tanks / wells, challenging tree fellings, jobs that require more than one person such as roofing, asbestos demolition and jobs where I need to deal with refrigerants.