'Nother career question

[Zookeeper]

I am just trying to brainstorm about sort of a new career for DH. Please tell me your thoughts, things to consider, things to do/not to do, etc. He has spent the vast majority of his adult working life in construction...it of course has always been unstable but now it's crazy if you can even get work.

So our plan is for me to go to nursing school this fall, will take 2 years to become an RN. DH will continue to do what he's doing until I am done with school and working. My income as a new RN plus my child support will be more than we are living on now. So if we had to, we could do fine on just that.

Currently, he is superintendent/project manager for a company which does mostly government housing. No, he does have any kind of degree. He is not a state licensed contractor. He has owned his own businesses (before licenses were required) and knows everything there is to know about construction. I am not biased here, he has just done pretty much everything there is imaginable to do in construction and he's quite good at most of it. I would say his specialty at this point is consulting on problem-solving, helping people arrive at ways to take something from a blueprint to reality...despite all the myriad of obstacle that are always found when doing construction. This goes for both residential (new) construction, commercial, and remodeling/repairs.

Once I'm situated, DH wants to just do drafting/design/consulting. He will be in his late 40's, doesn't want to do the physical work any more, and wants to go back to working for himself but this time he'd like to feel like he can charge what he's worth for his expertise. He has never been in that position, has always had to just take what work he could get at the time and sometimes did not even get paid or due to problems with the jobs ended up making no profit for himself after paying everyone else.

Soooo...what I want to know is how much work do you think a guy like this can get freelancing? We actually don't want him really working full-time, the idea is I will work for a while making the majority of our income, and it will be DH's turn (after my being home for 10 years) to be the one with the more flexible schedule to pick up kids from school, work on things on the homestead, do dinner, etc. We're more concerned about his making good money for the time he does work. He could EASILY make twice the hourly rate he's making now (I think more) working for a boss and could therefore work half as much.

It would be drafting original house plans or making customized changes to existing plans, design consultation for any type of project, and also a service where DH could be hired to oversee a residential construction project where he represented the customer to make sure the builder is behaving himself Also DH is interested in possibly doing seminars or packages in which he walks people through the entire homebuilding process if they want to do it themselves or if they want to become knowledgable enough to contract it themselves.

How exactly would you market a business like this? What would you offer and how would you set it up (i.e. strictly hourly rates? different fee schedule for drafting only vs. design/consultation?) What types of adertising you think would work well? Would YOU use any of these services? (I am assuming most people on this board would be less prone to use these services than your "average Joe" since most on here are more self-reliant) Or do you think the general public would use them anyway?

TIA!!

[Tricky Grama]

I wanted my DH to do this but unfortunetly building things is not his forte.
Have you seen the boxes that furniture stores use for pretend TV sets? They set them on stands/armories, etc & pay a pretty penny for them. They do look real but are some kind of heavy cardboard. I would imagine your DH could build this easily. I used to have a website that sold them & if I can locate it, I'll post it.

Patty

[Tricky Grama]

http://www.boxprops.com/Catalog/Prod...roductId=bp42B

This is it! DOn't you think those could be made cheaper? I think it would be a great at home biz.
Patty

[Witterbound]

I think it will be difficult to make much money at this. Architects design plans for higher end homes, and there are so many plans out there on the internet for a very low cost, it seems to me that few people will want to hire a freelance drafter to do plans. Most plans these days require architects stamps, don't they? I'd be most companies who remodel do their own plans. Perhaps he can find work from home working as a draftsman for a remodeling company or architect?

His idea about seminars is a good one, if you can find people who want to build their own homes. Unfortunately, few people really fit in this category, and homebuilding is going to be depressed in the near-term. Overseeing construction from the customer's stanpoint is interesting. My hunch is that folks want to trust their general contractor, and don't want to pay someone to look over his shoulder, unless there is a problem. Isn't that what they are paying their general contractor 20% to do, watch over the subcontractors?

[wwubben]

No one in this area does this, the contractor is expected to do this along with everything else.It may work in a city, but not in a rural area.He may be able to get hooked up with a building supply company or large general contractor and contract his services.

[Darren]

Flexibility might be key. With your husband's knowledge he could possibly work as a building inspector/appraiser for folks interested in a property. Some school districts hire construction managers or a clerk of the works to bird dog new construction. Same with remodeling an older school. Working as a fire marshal or inspector might be a possibility.Think about inspection or supervision possibilities that are allied with his fields of expertise.

[ldc]

But to add to what Darren, the poster above said, in most areas he will have to become licensed to do these jobs. Maybe he could start looking into the requirements for the area you live in, now. ldc

[Zookeeper]

Let's see, this is what I know about your questions.

DH has done both high-end homes and "starter" homes, and none of the homes he has worked on have been designed by architects. Builders hijack plans from wherever they can get their hands on them and either use those (without permission), have DH design them from scratch, modify existing plans they have copies of, whatever. None of them have been sealed by an architect. I guess the banks don't care? I just know that they have not been overseen by architects. It is just small builders who do a few homes a year, who...honestly...do not do things the right way...but one of DH's jobs for them was to "custom design" the customers' homes and then DH is actually the one who oversees the jobs from start to finish, sells the houses, designs them, knows/hires/supervises all the subcontractors, etc. It's called a Construction Superintendent (some call them Project Mgrs.). If a builder is very big at all, they will have to have at least one of these, even if they DO know their business, there is just not enough time in the day to micromanage all the aspects of building that need to be done if you have more than a couple of projects going in more than one location. That is what DH does.

One reason they need DH seems to be that there are lots of good ol' boys here whose wives and daddies make lots of money and the husbands pass the general contractor exam but don't have a clue about how to actually build a house so they have money to start a company but no know-how (the GA exam has very little to do with actually building...) so a lot of it is that the GC's don't even know how to run their businesses.

DH has looked into working with larger companies, but has no college degree, and most BIG builders around Atlanta require a college degree (or a relative who owns the company ) to even get hired as a receptionist.

And the emphasis here is that he only wants to be working part-time for the next few years anyway. Needs flexibility. Doesn't want to travel a lot, wants to work local (within a couple hours from home anyway).

Personally, I don't think the classes/seminars on how to build your own home will be in demand. I think he could stay busy enough between contracting as a superintendent for builders and doing drafting/design from home for individuals who want to do their own remodeling/building as well as overseeing those jobs (he's doing some of this on the side right now, but it would not be enough to constitute a good part-time income at this point).

So what we're trying to figure out is...whether he's going to try and parlay his expertise into this business...or whether to possibly go to some kind of trade/technical school and do something else entirely. Part of him is SICK of the construction industry, but part of him hates the thought of just trashing everything he already knows how to do

[Zookeeper]

Originally Posted by Darren

Flexibility might be key. With your husband's knowledge he could possibly work as a building inspector/appraiser for folks interested in a property. Some school districts hire construction managers or a clerk of the works to bird dog new construction. Same with remodeling an older school. Working as a fire marshal or inspector might be a possibility.Think about inspection or supervision possibilities that are allied with his fields of expertise.

He has thought of these. May still consider becoming an inspector of some sort, but it does require school that he does not have as of right now. He has already tried to get hired by the school system here for exactly the position you mentioned, but the design/build co. that is doing the new high school has their own guy and was not interested in him. But I think these are good ideas. The only other drawback to the inspector positions he has talked about is that they require a lot of travel, which is what we are trying to avoid for him. Need him to be around home more once I go to work. That's part of what we're trying to juggle

[TedH71]

How about cnc machining? He would have to learn Catia programming (google it) and cnc programming and I would highly recommend manual lathe/mill work be a requirement in his college courses. I think it would be a good fit for him. Ga has lots of aerospace work and need people who can do Catia and cnc programming. He would be on a desk quite often but then he would have to go to the machinists and be sure it's been done right, etc. Which is what I'm doing right now. Am in school. It can be 1 or 2 yrs of schooling depending on what he wants to go for. Not expensive since the courses are often offered by community colleges or technical schools.

[Joshie]

Originally Posted by Zookeeper

So our plan is for me to go to nursing school this fall, will take 2 years to become an RN. DH will continue to do what he's doing until I am done with school and working. My income as a new RN plus my child support will be more than we are living on now. So if we had to, we could do fine on just that.

Have you been admitted to nursing school? In our area there's a pretty long waiting list. Have you completed prerequisites? I'd be hesitant to make any changes unless you have written admittance into your chosen nursing school.

[CocalicoSprings]

I suggest he do something completely different than what he has been trained to do.
Do you know how much money you need to live on? Could he afford to work for half of what he was making in order to get started in a new business venture that might make him very well off in a couple of years?

[bill83]

Sounds like he wants to be a general contractor to me. A couple of years ago we were able to put on a somewhat significant addition to our house and we hired a builder that while he had his own crews for framing and such, subcontracted other crews to do our work. One for excavating and foundation, one (really good) one for the frame, one for the HVAC, one for the plumbing and one for the electric. None were 'his' employees. and, oh yes, he hired the architect to do the blueprints get the project past the county. Sounds like hubby can do that part. All the GC did was go around to his different projects to check progress, maintain quality, and he certainly kept up with his bookwork. At any rate, Good Luck!

[ovsfarm]

Is there any work in your area with the banks that are foreclosing on houses? Around here those homes are often pretty trashed by the time they are vacated and have to be assessed and repaired, then reassessed for the banks that own them.

What about doing custom additions? It seems to me that while new home starts will be down, lots of folks will just have to make their existing home bigger to hold their growing families (or for when other familiy members move in to share expenses). Could he focus on the challenge of making the new blend in with the existing in a fully functional way that would also happen to meet the necessary codes? That seems to me like a niche market that is looking for a place to happen! Perhaps even coming up with "packages" like a Home Energy Retrofit package to make you home more energy efficient, a Professional Home Office package to add on space with a private entrance and professional look (maybe soundproofing in families with lots of kids) for those wishing to downsize offices, or a High Function Kitchen package for those who are looking for bulk food storage, actually eating at home now, or even dabbling in a food related business like catering or baked goods for the farmers market? And for those who still have the money to be trendy, dh suggested a Green Retrofit package which could be as minor or as major as the client wanted.

[cwgrl23]

I would look at what it takes to become a home inspector! All the home inspectors in my area are self employed. This is something where he could set his own hours and how far he wanted to travel. I would look and see what it takes to get that licence! Than I would contact every real estate company in his desired traveling area! I think with the current economy that people are going to be much more careful as to what is wrong with a house before they buy it

It sounds like with his knowledge that passing a test for this licence wouldn't be too hard for him.

I hope he find what he is looking for! Congrats on getting into school! I am going to visit one of the local admin offices to see about going back as well!
Just my two cents.

Carrie in SD

[65284]

If he's going to do this as an independent he needs some framed paper to hang on the wall. Drafting, design, anything construction related. No matter how competent he may be that piece of paper with fancy lettering on it impresses a lot of folks.

[Zookeeper]

Originally Posted by Joshie

Have you been admitted to nursing school? In our area there's a pretty long waiting list. Have you completed prerequisites? I'd be hesitant to make any changes unless you have written admittance into your chosen nursing school.

Yes I have, and yes I have

But as I said in my OP, we are not making any changes whatsoever until I am actually done, licensed, and working...just trying to plan ahead...

[Peace n Quiet]

DH's uncle is an on-call maintenance guy for a senior housing complex. It provides him with 20-30 hours of work a week. He goes in for a few hours regularly m-f to make repairs, mow lawn, plow/shovel snow, etc. Then he is on call for things like snow clearing, urgent repairs - like burst pipes or power failures.
The residents love him and he says the job is very rewarding. When the kids were little, he even used to take them with him once in awhile. The residents loved the company and the kids felt like they lots and lots of grandmas & grandpas.

[Curtis B]

I'm goin to second the Home Inspector idea, that would be the easiest way to make his own hours. Anything that has to do with constructon or remodeling is very demanding and you are almost always working on someone elses schedule no matter how hard you try not to.

[TedH71]

In Texas, you have to shadow a home inspector and PAY him! It won't say that on the brochure that the licensing office gives you but verbally they will tell you that the home inspectors will expect to be paid because you have to earn a certain amount of hours and so forth in order to earn your license. The home inspectors expect to be paid because in other words, you will become their competitor so in their mind, they've got a right to be paid otherwise you're up the creek with alligators biting your butt.