Apparently I am a company

[Rahmota]

Oh yeah being self employed is fun. Noone to report to, work on your own pace, if things screw up not too far to look, can deal with customers/clients/whatever you want to call them in the manner best suited to their attitudes.

Whats really funny is this guy was only like the second person I've had an issue with. Having said that I've probably zoinked myself but oh well.

As for the gender of a person I'm talkign to. I dont care whats in their pants its whats in their head that matters. If they know what their talkign about and are the ones I need to talk to then by golly guess what thats who I talk to. Too bad more people cant realize that. I personally know2 female truck drivers, farm/country women are not exactly soft ignorant girly mushes, one of the females from my high school class is a NHRA Drag Car race driver, one of the feed stores I deal with is family owned so the wife runs the place doing all the office paper and government stuff while the husband does the lifting and grunt work. But she can get out there and toss a hay bale or truck load with the guys when need be.

I drove by where the guy lived today as it was on the way to another job nearby. Apparently one of the farms in the area got sold (its on a part of the couty I dont deal with as its towards cincy and I usually pay attention away from cincy side) and they are turning it into noodle farms. (So called because they are 5 acre long 1 acre wide lots, the minimum zoning will allow.) The guys house was this big cookie cutter house (the 2 story from holiday homes) that was set back from the road a ways. There was a lincoln blackwood (The lincoln pickup, basically a fancified f150) in the driveway and some fancy yard decorations so yeah city guy moving to the country to try and be a "farmer" I bet. At least the person who I worked for today was nice. They had moved out from cincy as well but they are trying to assimilate into the country a bit more than some do.

And smiley. heheh Yeah I'ma company but not a company. A company of one.

[edible_hat]

My brother recently started his own business, all his advertising says he's a one-man operation. Still he gets this kind of thing from time to time.

"Hello, this is Bob*"
"Hi, can I speak to your personnel department?"
"Just a moment (puts caller on hold for a few minutes) Personnel, this is Bob"


*not his real name

[Gurndigarn]

I think it would be great to own a small business, but my mom is a banker so I hear all kinds of statistics about success rates, surficing to say they aren't that great.

Most people need to work in either the field they want to start a business in, or management that invovles a fairly wide set of responsibilities (including HR, ordering/receiving, customer service, marketing, etc-- or at least a fairly representative sampling of all of them). This way, they have at least some clue what pitfalls to avoid. And possibly have an idea of how big a bankroll they will need.

The problem is that too many people just jump in without having any clue just how much work is involved in being your own boss, or just how much money will be needed, or what traps catch you. I was going to start a business fifteen years ago, and am now glad that I didn't, because now I know just how bad I would have screwed up. I might have succeeded, but it would have been a very hard struggle, and I probably would have underestimated just how much money I really needed for startup.

Not to mention that my uncle is self-employed with an arcade business and will be out of debt in a few months after 7 or 8 years of debt, including spending his retirement money to keep him out of bankruptcy.

Managed to get out of debt in this business? Starting around the year 2000? Not a bad accomplishment, considering the state of the industry. Is he looking for techs, by any chance?

[Rahmota]

Hello, this is Bob*"
"Hi, can I speak to your personnel department?"
"Just a moment (puts caller on hold for a few minutes) Personnel, this is Bob"

I have got to use that sometime. I'm sorry you'll have to talk to bob in resources, I'm sorry you'll have to talk to bob in accouting, Its the armny of Bob!!!

Sorry for anyone named bob (I've known three) but that is a very funny sounding name. Especially if you say is Blues brothers style.....

[Gurndigarn]

I drove by where the guy lived today as it was on the way to another job nearby. Apparently one of the farms in the area got sold (its on a part of the couty I dont deal with as its towards cincy and I usually pay attention away from cincy side) and they are turning it into noodle farms. (So called because they are 5 acre long 1 acre wide lots, the minimum zoning will allow.) The guys house was this big cookie cutter house (the 2 story from holiday homes) that was set back from the road a ways. There was a lincoln blackwood (The lincoln pickup, basically a fancified f150) in the driveway and some fancy yard decorations so yeah city guy moving to the country to try and be a "farmer" I bet. At least the person who I worked for today was nice. They had moved out from cincy as well but they are trying to assimilate into the country a bit more than some do.

Just out of curiousity, which county do you work in? I probably pass by the areas you're working in regularly.

Come to think of it, can I talk to the HR department? I'ld like to send my resume....

[smileyeagle1021]

Hahaha true.

BTW, you're a reservationist right? I APPLAUD you. I just wouldn't last 3 days doing that without getting extremely short with people. Same goes for the rest of you out there.

reservations is actually quite easy once you get it down... especially if you learn how to use the mute button (i'm not sure I could ever do face to face again... I NEED my mute button).
I think you don't give yourself enough credit... though my sociology professor did explain why it is such a tiring job, that every time you change roles you must expend emotional energy and when you are changing your role based on whether the person is calling to make or cancel a reservation, when they are staying, where they are staying, it is very draining. Interestingly enough he also pointed out that 9 out of 10 callers will consider me the reservationist guy while 9 out of 10 will consider the girl behind me the girl reservationist, sad but true probably.
oh yeah, back on topic... actually, I don't know where this post is going so i'll just cut it short.

[Dips]

We are no longer a one man company [the owner ran it by himself for many years, worked his ass off], we are still very small after 32 years in business [and, even with employees, he still works his ass off]. However, it can be quite amusing when scammers try calling or emailing multiple time in the hopes that the next person they talk to will give them what they want and they keep getting ahold of the same person.

I also hate it when customers insist I give them a price quote when they won't give me the information I NEED to calculate the correct price for them. Some of them are too lazy to find out the information (like the purchasing agent who told me it wasn't his job to get the information; I guess it was my job to magically know it). I also suspect some of them are hoping to scam their way into an undeserved discount (like I suspect Attic Guy was doing).

[Primer]

Apparently one of the farms in the area got sold and they are turning it into noodle farms. (So called because they are 5 acre long 1 acre wide lots, the minimum zoning will allow.)

So that's what they are called! Around here, they can be as narrow as possible, as long as they have road-front access. My 5 acres is about a third of a mile long, and about 45 yards wide, but it's mine, dammit! And I have NO zoning restrictions, so if I did want to have a pig farm, I could. Actually, my plan is to leave almost all of it wild (cedar, elm and oak woods; first growth). Only about a half acre at the road/house end has been cleared out a bit.

[Rahmota]

Gurn:[QUOTE]Come to think of it, can I talk to the HR department? I'ld like to send my resume....
[/QUOTE]hehehe. if I ever develop one I'll let you know. Right now its me, occasionally my two eldest sons if the job is big enough or they want some extra fold and thats it.

Primer: Yeah. Cool the american dream to own your own place. Congratulations. Although the dimensions you stated are one of the reasons why we have zoning. It was originally going to be 10 acre minimum lots but for some reaon that got changed between the original reading and the time it got into law. Wonder how much money changed hands on that one? Anyhow cool. Even 5 acres can be a bit of work so good luck and have fun.

[BookstoreEscapee]

"Hello, this is Bob*"
"Hi, can I speak to your personnel department?"
"Just a moment (puts caller on hold for a few minutes) Personnel, this is Bob"

Does he really do that? Cuz that's awesome!


ams - who is known in some circles as Bob

[wolfie]

I drove by where the guy lived today as it was on the way to another job nearby. Apparently one of the farms in the area got sold (its on a part of the couty I dont deal with as its towards cincy and I usually pay attention away from cincy side) and they are turning it into noodle farms. (So called because they are 5 acre long 1 acre wide lots, the minimum zoning will allow.)

Just curious, but how many gallons of chain link do you need to fence a lot that's 5 acres by 1 acre? Also, how long does it take before aspaghetti tree is old enough to start producing a crop (after all, these are noodle farms)?

Seriously, from context, my guess is that it's a 5 acre lot, but long and thin (same as some farms in Quebec - the old family farm got divided among the sons, but into strips so each piece would have access to the river, repeat for several generations). What are the linear dimensions of these "noodle farms"?

BTW, spaghetti trees were the subject of a BBC newsreel on April 1st many years ago (don't know the exact year, but it was filmed in black&white). Thought that it would be an appropriate thing to bring up in dealing with "noodle farms".

[Rahmota]

Just curious, but how many gallons of chain link do you need to fence a lot that's 5 acres by 1 acre? Also, how long does it take before aspaghetti tree is old enough to start producing a crop (after all, these are noodle farms)?

Ummm if you are buying your fence by the gallon there might be the problem.

Oh and usually it take a spaghetti tree a couple years to start producing the short spiral stuff but after the first two crops of that you start getting the good long angel hairs......

But seriously it aint cheap to do a chain length fence.

Seriously, from context, my guess is that it's a 5 acre lot, but long and thin (same as some farms in Quebec - the old family farm got divided among the sons, but into strips so each piece would have access to the river, repeat for several generations). What are the linear dimensions of these "noodle farms"?

Well as defined in the zoning regulations 1 acre is defined along the traditional measurement of 4 rods by 40 rods giving a linear circumference of 88 rods and covering 160 square rods. I can get chain link in 3 and a third rod rolls for about 50 bucks each and posts for 15 bucks each. So to do 1 acre alone would be around 3 grand in just materials.

And to translate into something more "modern" a rod is 16.5 feet long. So an acre is traditionally 66 feet on the narrow end and 660 feet on the long end. Though some areas do not legislate what the dimensions are as long as the area inside is defined as 4840 square yards. So you could wind up with a 33 feet by 1320' long lot.

[edible_hat]

I have got to use that sometime. I'm sorry you'll have to talk to bob in resources, I'm sorry you'll have to talk to bob in accouting, Its the armny of Bob!!!

Sorry for anyone named bob (I've known three) but that is a very funny sounding name. Especially if you say is Blues brothers style.....

We're on a mission from Bob...

Does he really do that? Cuz that's awesome!


ams - who is known in some circles as Bob

He did it once, the caller turned out to be a telemarketer for a recruitment company. For most people the fact that the only contact phone number is a mobile is enough to tip them off that it's probably a one man operation.

[Geek King]

... one of the females from my high school class is a NHRA Drag Car race driver, one of the feed stores I deal with is family owned so the wife runs the place doing all the office paper and government stuff while the husband does the lifting and grunt work.

You didn't happen to go to Madison, did you? If so, I think my folks live accross the road from her.

[Rahmota]

You didn't happen to go to Madison, did you?

Sorry nope. LCHS is my alma mater. Madison High school up by Cleaveland is where wife(1) graduated from though.