No good deed goes unpunished(mini vent)

[Hammer spur]

Just found out the hard way that quiting your job and relocating to help a young company to make millions over the last five years at great personal sacrifice.
Being the most senior and experienced with a perfect work track record means nothing.
It is probably a good thing in the long run to be out of there but w.t.f?
Dicks

Funny thing is I was hoping i was called in for a long overdue raise or one of those bonuses I was promised.

[W101]

I couldn't agree more! 20  plus years for the same eastern
 company . Made them millions ! Reward ! Cut your commissions !

  A jobs a job ....

[LeverAction]

Very disheartening when this happens. Feels like you give it everything, then in the end your a number. Been there guys. I have been lucky now for the last 15 years, with the same company and close to retirement so I think I made it. But never say never. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" Hope it works out for you. Guess all a guy can do is keep swinging until the bell rings.

[Hammer spur]

Man if I was a little younger and single this would be a perfect opportunity to enroll in a  P.H course in South Africa.

[Hammer spur]

Ya you think having the most seniority would protect you more then the new young guy with constant f ups.
But not when you cost almost twice as much as him I guess.

[unclebuck]

I had a similar situation.  The company that I was working for was an Austrian headquartered company, with a Canadian head office in Toronto.  The pres was retiring and asked me if I would move to Toronto and take the position because I was fluently German(learned at home growing up).  In thinking about it, my wife & I could not see ourselves living in Toronto, being the people that we are, and the outside activities that we enjoy and have easy access to here in Alberta.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with the clientele that I had developed in my territory, and was making a good 6 figure living, expenses paid.  The boss asked another individual if he would take the position(knew not a word of German).  Buddy jumped all over it, however, rather than move to Toronto as was a condition, he remained in Grande Prairie.  From day 1 with the company, he & I absolutely despised each other, thus he became extremely vindictive with me, cutting my commissions 80%, cutting my territory, taking my largest accounts as house accounts, and increasing my quotas.  Needless to say, without the `biggies`, there was no way that my quotas were met.  I got my walking papers, however, not without a 6 figure payout, without even going to court!!!  The company did not want to go battle with a Harvard educated lawyer(my brother).  Buddy got his rock kicking papers within the year!!!  Reciprocity was served.

[sonny]

Sorry to hear that Hammer.

Hoping all the best for you.

[Walleyes]

Tough news hammer. I hope it works out for you in the long run, sometimes things are a blessing in disguise.

I learned a while ago look after number one because no one gives to hoots about you. Our middle boy recently quit with one company part way through a start up project in order to start with another company closer to home. We were chatting the other day and he felt bad about leaving the one outfit. I told him forget it kid you look after number one because them darn companies don't give two shits about you. As soon as it slows down they have no issues telling you over the phone to stay home because they have no money. It's good to have responsibility but make sure you are looking after yourself.

[Hammer spur]

Thanks guys.
Ya I'm sure we will be fine.
I know lots of people and that's half the battle.
Just got real comfortable being home every night and not at all looking forward to most likely working out of town again.
I guess worse case collect some of my E.I money back from the government for awhile but they sure are not generous with the amount you receive.

[AxeMan]

Tough one Hammer.  That is the way of the world though.
I busted my ass for the last 5 years as well building up my group that I supervise and we are very successful.  My only real reward for that effort is more work coming our way and even higher expectations with no monetary reward.

[Titanium]

 There is no real appreciation for the work that is done anymore. It seems companies will keep the doggers and get rid of the guy that busts his ass for the company. Like it has been mentioned always look out for number one, your just a number. Had a boss tell me once " put your hand in a bucket of water then pull it out what happens". The ripples disappear was my response. He said exactly!!

[Hammer spur]

Sadly that is true.
I can think of very few places I have worked that had any respect for employees much less a level of appreciation.
I have came to the conclusion I need to work for myself rather then waste another 25yrs busting my ass making some rich D.B richer.
Brains been in maximum overdrive since the layoff and i spend many hours everyday researching and let me tell ya a good business idea in this economy is hard to come by.

[BruceW]

You'll spot something Hammer.  Always Lot's of opportunity and once you start looking around you'll see them.

I only ever had one, "job";  within 3 yrs of highschool went on my own and wouldn't have it any other way.  Have started a few different businesses over the years, always on a shoestring.  A longtime friend always thought we should just do startups and sell them as soon as they're profitable, move on to the next project as that's the fun part.  Doing that's allowed me to do most things I've wanted to do in my life workwise.  When it's no longer fun, sell it and start something else that is of interest. 
We've certainly not gotten rich by any stretch of the imagination and have had many lean years but I'd do it the same even if I had the chance.

One thing I've found though, it's incredibly easy to make, "some" money in Canada, it's Very very hard to make, "lots".  With our tax laws I've had wealthy people tell me (20 yrs ago) that they could have never done what they did in the current (20 yr ago) tax climate and it's a lot worse now.
That being said, always lot's of opportunity.  Just have to pick what you want to do.

Personally I figure the reason so many new businesses fail is they vastly underestimate both startup expenses and expected revenue.
Expect not to profit a dime in the first 6 mo. and you'll be fine.  For lean years always have an extra iron in a different fire.  (for eg. back when truck campers were all the rage I'd pick up a couple needing work in the fall, fix them up over the winter and sell them in the spring, things of that nature)

Personally, if I was wanting to start another business in Ab right now I'd be checking out the repo business, plan on getting it going and selling it within about 4 yrs.
Most people need more stability and less risk than the life I described above.  Biggest thing you have to ask yourself is wether the freedom and independence is worth the risk, to You.
Oh, one last thing.  Never, Never Never have a partner.  If you need further investment form a ltd. co. and have shares.  I've never been in a partnership and have never seen one that ended well.  Ltd. co. with shares if you want to split the sheets one partner writes a chq, they shake hands and one leaves.

Best of luck.

[BruceW]

Brains been in maximum overdrive since the layoff and i spend many hours everyday researching and let me tell ya a good business idea in this economy is hard to come by.

Reread your post;  Have a friend who started a business raising mice and shipping them frozen all over N. Am. for people with snakes, etc.  Another who got into the pick a part type wrecking business - every weekend there was a steady stream of 20 dollar bills walking in his door.  Another who started a co. to clean windows on office bldgs really because he was bored and needed something else to do.  While racing dirttrack for a hobby sold parts literally all over the world over the internet;  paid for our racing and could easily be a business.  Never would have thought any of the above could be good businesses?
Point being, don't look for the obvious.  Niche markets can be tricky and fickle but they're there.

Again, best of luck, let us know when you're hanging out a shingle and maybe some of us can be some of your first customers. 

[Hammer spur]

Thanks for the reply with some Insight from someone that has been there Bruce.
Those are some interesting niches that I'm sure will help me look at things from a slightly different perspective.
I mean mouse ranching that's a pretty outside the box idea.

[Hammer spur]

Some things to ponder if anyone else is considering going down this road.
Apparently most small businesses are lucky to run on a 10% profit margin meaning if you want to net a meager $1000 a week which is very basic living now days you need to gross approximately $40,000 a month.
Of course that's just a general approximation and there is great variences.
Now to figure out what idea/plan has reasonable expectations to be able to eventually gross a steady minimum of 40g a month or operates at much higher then typical profit margins.
Kind of a daunting proposition hey?

[BruceW]

^^^Those numbers are Really high Hammerspur;  you'd need almost ludicrous overhead to need 40k to profit 4.
Markup varies by industry.  While we seriously considered buying an existing lumberyard at one time we always shied away from retail;  stuck more to service type industries.  Consequently I can't offer info on retail markups.  We bought lot's of things direct from wholesalers but didn't retail them.

Years ago I took macro/micro economics based on the Cdn economy and accounting by correspondence.  Learned a few things, mostly if you ran your small business according to economic theory you'd be out of business within a couple months.
By far the largest stumbling block to small business nowdays is an overbearing bureaucracy and ludicous tax burdens.

Contracting rather than having, "employee"s really helps.  Supply workers comp and pay them piecework or a bid scenario.  "Employee's" that catch on do very well, much better than if they were salaried and the one's who don't produce don't stay.......win win.

Keep workin' on it, you'll find something jumps out at you.

[Walleyes]

Yah been there tried the self employed thing for a few years. Owned equipment oilfield and logging. Got out of it never looked back. Everybody should be in business for themselves at least once in their lives, it changes your perspective on things I'll garunttee you that. I think hammers numbers in the end are pretty close, it's not easy on your own. Personally it will be a cold day in hell before I ever try it again. They pay me way to much money to look after someone else's stuff. Something goes wrong you just pick up the phone and get it fixed. Just about cost me my marriage and my family, nope not for me. For every one that really makes it, there's 20 that fail or never really make much out of it.

There's 4 of us brothers, oldest was self employed for 30 plus years got out of it, next older than me was self employed for 15 years got out of it, I was self employed for 6 years got out of it. My father was self employed for over 40 years and in the end he did alright, never made it rich by any meens but retired comfortably. There are some awfully good paying jobs out there this day and age. For the man that gives a damn and is worth a damn, they pay dearly for him because theres a lot of junk out there sucking money off of companies. Not saying don't go in business but don't get to discouraged working out. I know in the oil field industry ide have to own a crap load of iron in order to pay myself what I get paid to look after someone else and no headache compared to when it's yours.

Just my thoughts on it all as someone who's been on both sides.

[Hammer spur]

The more I look the more I see there is definitely a down side to self employment.
But there is a certain attraction to being responsible for your own destiny instead of disposable at the drop of a hat.
For instance I did not take holidays until year four at my last job and worked the last five Christmases, routinely worked 130+HR weeks and even used my personal vehicle a lot to help them out and for what?
Here I thought I was building a company and a future.
But out of no where a new manager comes in that feels threatened by your seniority and prefers mindless drones to self starters and none of your former sacrifices and accomplishments mean anything.
Lesson learned

Another thing I was considering is buying a few older mobile homes around the province and renting them out if anyone has been in those shoes.
Sounds like a lot of potential head aches but might be worth it.

[BruceW]

It's not for everyone.