you just need to do the 3 "g's" get up,,,, get out there..... and get going....! get your first job it will be fun and you just learn from that one and apply to the next one. I don't know if you read my article in
www.thisiscarpentry.com page 118 on how to make money on built-ins. if not check it out it will be helpful for you. and If you have any questions you can email me directly, glad to help.
but every journey starts with the first step so take the first step !
Before (many/many/many moons ago), before i took my two year vacation with my Uncle Sam, I had been learning the building trades. I did everyting (translated >>. I was primarily a laborer or "go-fer". But my employers just could not keeep me away from picking up and using the tools of whatever trade I was working at.
Fast forward>>. during my 'vacation', I spent some time @ Ft. Lewis as I was heading for my 15, or so, months in the Orient. I loved the area. When I goy back home to Connecticut, I decided I would get back out the West Coast, but I needed money. Before my "vacation", I had built a rep as a very hard and dedicated worker and had no problems finding work in the building trades when I got back home. I still worked at everything, but gravitated to carpentry and masonry. After about two years, the builder I was woorking for was finishing up his latest house and temporarily laid me off till the house could be sold.
I stead of being upset, I was full of joy. i had enough cash on hand to finally head back west where I planned to get into serios carpenter work. I knew an archetect out there and we had been communicating since we had gotten out f the military. I was so excited, I just had to stop at local watering hole to spread the good news before I could get home to start loading my car with the tools and sleeping bag I would need for my journey and would need wherever I might land. By the time i actually got home, the phone was ringing. A friend had heard I was out of work and he needed some stone steps to be built. I told him I would do the job, but did not know how to estimate the job. His reply was for me to just have at it. He knew how hard I worked and had seen some of my stonework. I had at it.
Before I finished that job, I got another call to do a garage foundation on a very steep hillside. That turned out to be a very difficult project, and the owner insisted of an estimate. Again, I had no idea how to figure that one either, but sharpened my pencil and worked something out. When I was finished with the numbers, I looked at the job again and got nervous. I decided, what the h---, if I don't get this one, I will head west anyhow. I tacked on and extra 15% and wrote up a contract. Before i got to the customer, i got a little more nervous, so I tacked on another few %%%'s. I ended up with the job. Before i was finished, the owner came up with another project, one that was a lot easier to do and way less problems to estimate. I worked up an estimate, knocked off a few %%%'s because I had done real well on the foundation.
The owner took one look at the new estimate and went ballistic. Why was this one so high? I did not tell him how much I had knocked off but did discuss. After some discussion, I found out my estimate was right on the money, maybe $10 or so above the next bidder. What's your problem if I am right inthere with the other guys.
"Well, you were so high on the first job, I thought you would give me a big break on this one>"
"How do you figure I was way high on the foundation?"
"Well, I had six other estimates. you were the highest bidder and so much higher, I figured you were the only one who knew what he was doing."
I ended up with the followup job, plus some other little projects on the same property. Before I finished there, I had 3 other jobs to do. Some 40 years later, I finally got back to Washington for a vacation trip with my wife. i never did get back into carpentry other than form and scaffolding construction, but along the way, i found out a whole lot about bidding. One of the main lessns I found, was that If I start loosing bids, I am to expensive. If I get every job I figure, I'ma bidding to cheap. either way, there are adjustments to be made.
clev 1066, If you want to start your own cabinet biz, keep tight records on time spent on EVERY one of your home/family project, small, or large. Keep records on everything you do in relation to each project. Keep track of materials AND labor. READ/READ/AND READ SOME MORE. You are a teacher. You no doubt have developed some good habits already. you have probly given same advise somewhere along the way. If you enjoy the work, you will find ways.
Good luck
Tinker
Well, maybe not ever...but close to it.