Full timers - How did you decide to go full time?

I am seriously considering quitting my really good full time job in an industry I've worked in for 15+ years and going full time scrapping. I love the work, I believe I can make a living doing it, and I'm very, very, very tired of my industry and job (read: I'm not happy at work and haven't been for about 4 years.) My question to you successful full time scrappers is how did you know it was time to jump in full time? Or was it a matter of necessity?

You are facing a tough decision. I am lucky, I took early retirement from education because I was fed up with the gig. Therefore, I knew I would not starve to death if I did not meet my goals. My retirement will feed me, provide clothing on my back, and housing, but not much more like insurance, transportation, or recreation. More importantly I knew I would not live to enjoy retirement if I stayed in education. Therefore it was not necessity, but interest that led me to this direction. I had done some limited scrapping in the past and lots of iron work.

Now that I am scrapping full time I know what retirement should be like. Doing what you want, when you want, and pissing off the boss as much as you can. Today my skid steer slid off the trailer with me in it, because of ice on the beaver tail . Instead of worrying about being written up for stupidity, I just said "what a ride" and found another way to load it. I could not go back to the profession, much less working for someone else.

I am more conservative than other people and had to have a safety cushion in place before I decided to do what I wanted. Besides my pension, I had a lot of the equipment I needed before I started. It has been one year to the day since I became a full time scrapper and do not regret the decision. Because of my safety valve I could reinvest all of my profits into more tools and equipment. The learning curve has been steep, but a great ride.

Last December I asked a local scrapper, whose family has scrapped for three generations if a person could make a living doing it in this part of the country. He said there was no way a person could do it. I hope to prove him wrong.

My recommendation would be to have six months expenses in the bank and good recommendations from your present job before even considering it. If you have the option of taking a leave of absence from your present job, take it. Then give it everything you have for six months and see if it was the right choice. The knowledge on this sight is valuable, if you can find the inventory.

My brother just got laid off from a high profile sales position. He is interested in starting his own business and wanted my advice. I told him I do not have money tied up in inventory, control my own hours, get paid to destroy equipment, learn something new everyday, and work with nature. The cold scared him off so he is going to buy a franchise. He is in the same position, money in the bank for the unexpected.

Time to cut to the chase. Everyone's situation is different. Available scrap, competition, family dynamics, risk tolerance, etc. enter into the picture. I would only recommend that you have a safety valve, not because of the profession, but because of uncertainty. Many on this site start out supplementing their income and evolve into full time, if it works. Please keep us informed of your decision and results.

Well said. I have thought hard about going full time. Right now, I am a manager for a town recycling center and making good money plus insurance and retirement. The only reason I stay is because of the last two. When I had heart surgery in 2004 I was lucky enough to have insurance. I paid $650 to the insurances $255,000 cost.

I have enough contacts in New Hampshire to take over most of the ewaste business in the state and compete with the big guys. If I didn't have the heart issue I would take a gamble just to see how big I could get.

Well said Patriot, Mick an Bp.

As Patriot mentioned were all different in how we got here. I'm not retired, but I do it full time. I came from running my own business online, an started scrapping on the side, an it snowballed from there. I started to hate what I was doing, an parlayed the scrapping into a full time gig. I was doing wholesaling, an selling online. Before that I did all kinds of retail/sales gigs. After several years of doing wholesale an the website, I got burned out to the point I was tired of dealing with people.

I got into ewaste mainly cause 110 tv's fell into my lap. I was already a member here when that happened, an listened, to the old hands here, read so many posts in the archives I still see them in my dreams. The info I gained from here, an my own research led me to believe I could make it doing this full time. An I have. My wife works, but we basically bank her checks, an pay the bills with mine. I can yell at the boss, cuss him out, refuse to work, an still have a job. I may not get rich doing this, but it pays the bills, allows me to care for the wife, an the facemunchers, an best part..I LOVE IT. I break things for a living. I don't have to deal with idiots day in an day out..well I do but not as many.

I can pick an choose who I deal with for the most part, an that in it self was worth the risk of going full time. I do it all from my house(soon to expand to a warehouse in 2014) an with a mini-van. I can work as hard as I want..or not. Living on a sandbar..I love that ability. Long as I get my pickups done when I need to the rest of the day is mine. I have issues with sleeping, so it leaves me plenty of time to work an play. I couldn't do that with a normal gig. I'd be miserable..living at the beach an never getting to enjoy it. Also..like Patriot..I could never go back to a regular gig. If I ever decide to leave this work, I'll go work for myself in something else. I do have plans should that day ever come.

I didn't have a cushion like the others suggested when I took the jump, but I don't suggest someone doing it like I did unless you like to take a gamble now an then. I chose to roll the dice, an I regret not a day of it. It takes time to build up your clients/customers, an it takes plenty of hard work to keep it all flowing, I'm willing to do what it takes, even if it includes 18 hour days, working in crappy weather at times, etc, etc. Are you?

I go by the motto, go big or go home. I chose to go big. I got plans to go even bigger in the next year. An as corny as it may sound..I owe most of it to the folks here on this forum. Without their advice, experience, hints, a swift kick in the pants when needed..I'd not be where I am now.

As said in other posts..only you can decide if your ready to make that jump. Plenty of folks on here have, others do a regular gig an do this on the side. No shame in either option. I got just as much respect for the part timers, as I do the people who do this full time.

Bleh..another book, but let me add this last bit. Have some funds for your cushion set aside, read, read, read, an when you think you've read it all or know it...read some freaking more. You never stop learning in this game. It's easy to want to do this full time after a couple scores, but it's by no means a easy gig. Hard work, ability to deal with changing markets/conditions, the ability to adapt an over come are all paramount in this business.

Either way..good luck with whatever you decide.

One last thing..

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. - Bill Cosby


Sirscrapalot - Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. - Dale Carnegie
\

You can make a good living at doing it depending on what you get into i guess.I have done this for 7 years and have also done a few other things while doing this lol.I mainly just mess with automotive stuff only from converters alts,aluminum wheels and whole cars.
Here the last few years i have just messed with buying whole cars only.I buy them mainly from auctions and a few here and there from people.

I became full time in 2010 after my employer of 13 yrs decided i was of no use to them after injuries sustained due to the job. It hasnt always been easy and ewaste was paying alot more 4 yrs ago. I do manage to make enough to support our 8 kids and rent a 1800 sq ft shop. I admit, theres usually not a lot of extra at the end of the month.

Almost exclusively ewaste. the steel i haul is usually thrift store appliances, office desk, or computer carcases. Curbco dont work for me. I live in a very small village and dont have the time to go out and hope to find something.

The biggest challenge is always having the extra cash on hand when someone calls. You dont want to tell them maybe i will have money next week, They may not come back.

Thank you all for the wonderful advice and stories. I haven't really heard any suggestions I didn't already intuitively know but it does help to see them from others with experience. I hate to say though, I don't feel an closer to a decision. My wife just shared with me her fears about it and that is weighing heavy.

Thanks to all.

My .02

Profitability should be your reason for going full time. You should be able to supplement or increase your standard of living by switching jobs and that normally means you should have 6 months of steady income. If you are really serious about this, I would encourage you to read Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey. He answers this exact question in this book. My personal thoughts are you should try a temp or hire someone before you go full time. I think you could learn a lot about yourself and your business if you bring someone on for 10-20 hours a week to free up your time. If you can't afford this option then you probably haven't grown enough to make the jump. Being said, I really like the piece of mind that diversified income brings. Having a safe amount of income each month no matter what happens is worth it to me. I teach, run a test prep service, scrap and write for income and until recently ran a landscape company. The hours are hard, but I never fear the next paycheck and being taxed for time forces me to become more efficient and allows me to say no to jobs that are not profitable. Best of luck to you!

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Well said Patriot, Mick an Bp.

As Patriot mentioned were all different in how we got here. I'm not retired, but I do it full time. I came from running my own business online, an started scrapping on the side, an it snowballed from there. I started to hate what I was doing, an parlayed the scrapping into a full time gig. I was doing wholesaling, an selling online. Before that I did all kinds of retail/sales gigs. After several years of doing wholesale an the website, I got burned out to the point I was tired of dealing with people.

I got into ewaste mainly cause 110 tv's fell into my lap. I was already a member here when that happened, an listened, to the old hands here, read so many posts in the archives I still see them in my dreams. The info I gained from here, an my own research led me to believe I could make it doing this full time. An I have. My wife works, but we basically bank her checks, an pay the bills with mine. I can yell at the boss, cuss him out, refuse to work, an still have a job. I may not get rich doing this, but it pays the bills, allows me to care for the wife, an the facemunchers, an best part..I LOVE IT. I break things for a living. I don't have to deal with idiots day in an day out..well I do but not as many.

I can pick an choose who I deal with for the most part, an that in it self was worth the risk of going full time. I do it all from my house(soon to expand to a warehouse in 2014) an with a mini-van. I can work as hard as I want..or not. Living on a sandbar..I love that ability. Long as I get my pickups done when I need to the rest of the day is mine. I have issues with sleeping, so it leaves me plenty of time to work an play. I couldn't do that with a normal gig. I'd be miserable..living at the beach an never getting to enjoy it. Also..like Patriot..I could never go back to a regular gig. If I ever decide to leave this work, I'll go work for myself in something else. I do have plans should that day ever come.

I didn't have a cushion like the others suggested when I took the jump, but I don't suggest someone doing it like I did unless you like to take a gamble now an then. I chose to roll the dice, an I regret not a day of it. It takes time to build up your clients/customers, an it takes plenty of hard work to keep it all flowing, I'm willing to do what it takes, even if it includes 18 hour days, working in crappy weather at times, etc, etc. Are you?

I go by the motto, go big or go home. I chose to go big. I got plans to go even bigger in the next year. An as corny as it may sound..I owe most of it to the folks here on this forum. Without their advice, experience, hints, a swift kick in the pants when needed..I'd not be where I am now.

As said in other posts..only you can decide if your ready to make that jump. Plenty of folks on here have, others do a regular gig an do this on the side. No shame in either option. I got just as much respect for the part timers, as I do the people who do this full time.

Bleh..another book, but let me add this last bit. Have some funds for your cushion set aside, read, read, read, an when you think you've read it all or know it...read some freaking more. You never stop learning in this game. It's easy to want to do this full time after a couple scores, but it's by no means a easy gig. Hard work, ability to deal with changing markets/conditions, the ability to adapt an over come are all paramount in this business.

Either way..good luck with whatever you decide.

One last thing..

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. - Bill Cosby


Sirscrapalot - Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. - Dale Carnegie
\

SirScrapaLot, You won't regret the warehouse at all. We have 2500 sq ft and some times rent storage trailers as temporary overflow for incoming stuff. Pallet racking can also add a lot of extra space for gaylords once you get to point where you can' t spread out anymore.

Alekwb - as for going full time, I went into it fulltime when the RV business went south in 2008, I started in my garage at home in the spring. When fall came and my wife wanted to park in the garage again, I moved to a small, shared space warehouse with a leaky roof. After a year there, the owner want to expand and I had had to move again. Rented a 2500 sf nice dry facility which cost me almost 4 times what I was paying and it was scary at first. However, it was the best thing. We are still there and loving it. As I said to Scrapalot, you can always rent temp space.

Also, as others have said, wife's support is essential. Mine at first was skeptical, but soon realized it had potential, as she worked for our accountant and saw the sales figures regularly. About a year and half ago, she got tried of the accounting business and decided a change was necessary. I was fine with that and told her that while she was looking for something else that I could use some help. She is still there and loving it - went from using computers to destroying them!! We also employ 3 other part-time helpers as well as a couple of kids from time to time. Health insurance is the biggest problem (expense) right now, but Mr. Obumbler has promised to take care it - Yea, right.

A desire to succeed is probably the most important requirement - When I say desire, I mean a burning desire to be in control of your own future, and all the uncertainty that goes along with it. Believe me, there WILL be times when you question your own sanity for doing this. But, when the outlook isn't good, if you look up to heaven and pray, incredible things can happen. Also, as others have said, be prepared to work long hours in sometimes less than desirable conditions, but it can be worth it.

The second most important thing is getting your name out there, ie: selling yourself and services. You have keep the stuff coming in before anything can go into the bank.

Finally, don't get over extended financially. We buy used trucks and equipment for cash and make them work for us. It is a great relief to not have a bunch of loan payments to make when things are slow.

Good luck in your decision making and I hope this helps.

Best of Luck and Merry Christmas.

Vance at The Recycle Bin

Quick update...I've decided.to give it a go. Based on the suggestion of one of the members here I've taken leave from my job so that I have something to go back to if it doesn't work out. That said, I already can't see going back. I'm just to darn happy and my wife is fully on board, mainly because she sees how happy I am. It's only been about a week and I've never worked so hard in my life. I've never enjoyed my work so much either. Thank you to all for your suggestions and sharing your experiences. I'll continue to keep you updated.