4 Lessons from 2 Years in Business 

20 years as my own boss and my advice is never do something because you think you need the money. Do it because you like the job and the people you work for. Be prepared to walk away from situations that dont feel right and trust your gut!!. The most important thing is the people always surround yourself with good people.

My lesson after 13 Years: Nobody cares, whether you are happy or not. So keep on beeing happy and enthusiastic, it makes it easier for you.

Still surprised that you can run your business without a garage/shop to store all your tools and material. Impressive that you can run it out of your apartment and van, albeit a super well equipped van.

Congratulations on two years. Really enjoyed this vid.

Love your vids man, keep em coming & congrats on 2 years

Great info Scott. I have been self employed for going on 8 years in a month. One thing i would add to the "you don't work for yourself" point is that is true but also if the "boss" is not happy you have more of a responsibility to meet their expectations. I would also say that if you are going to work along with someone else it helps to have someone experienced like Pareau. Congrats!

Always enjoy the way you present the material. Well done!

Lesson 4, 100% truth, some days you will have a good boss some days you don't, you only ever truly work for yourself when doing your own projects, any project for a client you are working for them, how do you go about charging for family, my family expects me to do everything for free !! keep up the good work Scotty.

SBC Congratulations on 2 years in the Bis... keep bringing us the wonderful video footage...

Happy birthday!! I hit 4 years last week it's hard but worth it working 6 days a week so must be doing something right.

Spot on Scott. People think it's easy being self employed, they are very wrong.

As a self employed flooring installer of 3 and half years I can say these are true of most trades.

happy birthday SBC may you grow up and be strong

Great advice Scott, wish I had known them things years ago before my carpentry buisness failed in 2012, but life goes on, im am so happy now with two small children and working for somebody else, still doing carpentry though😊

This was good, Scott! Thank you. I've been part-time and on-the-side in the building trades for around 20 years, but finally started what I call a "professional handyman" (i.e. contractor or builder) business about four months ago. It's going really well overall, but I'm learning some of what you talked about in this video. I have a lot to learn regarding business and customers and book keeping (I HATE BOOK KEEPING), but I love the work and meeting new people! Cheers!

Your words resonate with me here on the "mainland" I don't have a problem spending peoples money, I just make sure the service I provide is at the highest standard. The occasional lull day, I use for quoting & chasing up work, but you are spot on about never working for yourself. Every client is my boss.

I feel you, watching/listening to this while cleaning out my 16 foot box truck. I have tons of stuff in here!

Well done Scott. Thanks for the great advice! I've been watching your videos for half a year now and you've helped to give me confidence in starting my own business. Cheers, from the deep South ;)

Nice work Scott. Coming up 20 years self employed maker of things. Good take on the lessons. I would add #6 Keep your radar well tuned to potential client hiccups and sort them quick. #7 Ditch anybody who buggers about with payment. They're not worth the emotional investment. I've never not been paid in full using this and your lessons. Still getting used to valuing/charging for my skills sufficiently.

Well done mate, I bet two years has flown by. Your honest, work hard and do a good job so you will always have work !

just started my own business this year, really needed these tips today haha thank you.

Could not agree more. Great job!

I'm so upset, I found this channel 2 weeks ago and now I've watched every exciting episode. Damn now I have to wait. Great stuff fella. I'm in Auckland so I may need to find a reason to use you for something

Great lessons brother. When I started my technology company here in Hawaii these were definitely lessons I learned wether I liked it or not. I would say one thing I would add is the internet is your friend, if someone doesn’t know something, don’t guess look it up!

Great channel. Good job mate. You've already earn your reputation in town. Keep it up! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, thanks for the invite! Another important aspect of running a small business are those interpersonal relationships. I reckon it counts for a lot to actually enjoy working with those around you. It appears when you work as a team you guys have a good relationship. It really sucks when you end up working with on of those persons best described as difficult and devoid of humour. Once working on a slab I stopped work to confront our resident king of verbal abuse, and sometimes physical apparently. I told him he would refer to be by my name and if he wanted something instead of a torrent of abuse he could use the word please. Worked a treat, the main contractor told me for some reason I had completely got into his head.

Congratulations Scott. I've been running my own landscaping business since 2012. I keep it small and stay on the tools. And I totally agree with your points. Thanks for posting!

Happy birthday SBC 🎂

Well GZ to you my friend. I especially liked the unofficial 5th lesson from your 4 lesson video. Also a very appropriate ending with the cake thing. Looking forward to many great videos. Greetings from Holland

All very true and well told. Great videos and very helpful. All the best for the future.

Grats on 2 years and good advice.

#6 Don't be afraid to say no to a client, what they want isn't always feasible, or the way they want it done isn't always feasible. They call you because you're supposed to be the one who knows what you're doing, act like it. #7 I learned this the hard way, trust your gut when you are meeting with a client especially for a large project, you need to be able to get along, some clients are completely unreasonable and it can be a nightmare to get into a huge project with someone like that.

Great tips on how to start and own a biszo. Alot of truth in this video. I love the vids man. HAPPY BORN DAY... 🤙🤙

This is dense and excellent!

SBC=SECOND BIRTHDAY CAKE...Just something that suddenly occurred to me. Happy birthday mate, well done. Really enjoy all the videos. It is my birthday as well! Yayyy

Congrats! Haha, I was not expecting that mallet at the end! I've been on my own doing remodeling for 7 years now, all my jobs I get via word of mouth and I always have work. A tip I'd add is to have a can-do attitude.

Hello Scott...2 Congrats 4 Buisness and You Tube...and Hammer On...!

Thanks for the wisdom, mate

Happy 2 years in business @ScottBrownCarpentry

My first boss always told me, to give of your best. Don't slap things together... Golden rule - give to someone what you would like. 👍

Great video cheers. I've been doing it for myself since August. Finding it a bit overwhelming sometimes and need to find my pace.. Great tips though cheers Scott 👊

Love it, typical auckland fashion cream sponge.

Neat advice as always!!

Thanks for this.

Don't ever let customers dictate your rate or your prices. They are under contract when they hire you as a pro. If you charge not enough, you will go out of business.

Well done mate, once again some good content keep it up !!

honest ,good and truthful advice ! good video mate !!

And of course, when you start new project let your brain wake you up 2am. Because that is the best time to thinking about it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts mate.

Come to learn how to cover some walls with plywood, stay for general life advice. What an awesome channel! Cheers from Spain!

Mean cake bro, I look forward to the Christmas function 😂

Hey Scott, new sub to the channel bro been watching alot of building work on youtube to upskill myself as a Nz Licenced Builder in the making 😁 Love the vibez, can't stop watching your content. Keep it coming!

You are doing great bro.

Interesting, what I learn in 8 years of being in business is to never work for friends and family or neighbors because. 1. You feel guilty if you charge them to much; 2. They will absolutely call you back to touch up some stuff even if it occurred from different reasons unrelated to your work; 3.They will beat you on price even after discount.9 Luckily in my case all my family is in Europe 😜 First years of being in business I think are the best. You are building something from scratch and you see it growing and you feel proud. 100% agree you are not your own boss my boss changes every 2 days. Here is a recent complain: “Your crew only shifted one digit on the lock box, somebody could get in” That could be the case if the potential breaker knows that other 3 numbers are correct, plus house was empty. Other than that, still feels darn good to somehow be your boss,work as many hours you want and most importantly do something you enjoy doing. Happy Birthday SBC!

Thanks for making this video! I've been thinking about starting my own business and wanted to hear what insight you had.

Well done SBC. 😎

Congrats man keep up the good work

Keep up the good work bro. Keep ya chin up.

Great advise 👌

yess it is still usefulll. even 3 years later ! Thanks mate :-)

This video spoke volumes to me. My hardest thing is quoting out jobs. I know that I am in this to make money but I also don't want to ever gouge a client.

Good stuff Scott.

the sad truth but if youre into it and knows about the + and - . im sure youd be one happy contractor... keep it up scott.

Good work at a fair price will keep you busy always.

You're awesome. So proud of you and all your hard work 😁

Wonderful words of wisdom. They definitely can apply to more than running a busines, too. Haha, life lessons by Scott Brown Carpentry! Anyways, always love the editing and soundtracks. Looking forward to the next video and thanks for bringing us along.

The only fundamental difference between working for a boss & working for yourself. Is the freedom to choose how you do your job. You choose what materials & methods vs being told a specific way. Artistic freedom.

Very happy to watch your every episode. Learn many skills from you. Hope your business will be better in 2019.

merry Christmas Mr. brown!

Well done !

Great advice mate, I also struggle with number 2! Regularly pare things down to the bone only for people to say “wow I was expecting it to be twice that!” 😫

Thanks for sharing experience hope to meet you soon..

good job! Congrats!

You should have more videos like this

Thanks scooter!

Very creative. Nice job man

congratulations our work is feast and famine so while you can work work work lol another great video ,, respect ,,,ray lawson joinery

Thanks Scott! Big fan of your work mate. I just started my own building & construction company. My background is in Civil Engineering and so I have been more engaged with the designs, inspections and general overseeing of construction work and not really hands on like tradies. But, I really admire your skills and they way you document your projects for RU-vid. I have indeed learnt a great deal from your videos and I am looking forward towards integrating some of this into my own projects! Thank you Scott! From Papua New Guinea🇵🇬

I think it would be a really interesting video idea for you to show off some of your tricks in the trade, the little things that a lot of apprentices that watch you might not know or things you got taught early on by some old wise guy that have stuck around and you still do.

Good video, really like the lesson about money

Congrats on the 2 years Scott, awesome content, any advice on attaching a ribbon plate (for a deck roof) to a corrugated external house wall?

Well done on 2 years, you'd be my go to guy if and when I move to Auckland bro.

Great tips bro thanks ;)

Number 3 has got to be the most important ... it's all about the level of finish that the customer wants

So True Scott USING THE OLD Anology You hit the nail on the Head Having been Inn the industry 40 Years If YOU HAVE SPARE MONEY sPECULATE TO aCCUMULATE aS WE As you say are workink for some body But if you do the latter With a bit of home work you will reap a little extra award

Thanks Man

Good stuff bro!!!! I hope u get to enjoy xmas with the fam bro!

Wow. These were really spot on. I have had one troublesome family out of all my very happy clients. Bloody hell they told me they had taken their previous builder to court and lost the case when I was looking at the job. So maybe another point. Learn to trust your gut if you think people are going to be a problem. They probably will be. 99% normal 1 % mental. That is the composition of society. But yea your points are very spot on.

One thing I've got to get used to, not feeling awkward about asking for payment at the end of a job...

There are two facettes of your job: carpenter and vlogger. It is quite interesting, and you are one of a kind. There are not that many people around that has your generalist although very extended knowledge. Unless you make money with RU-vid, and I hope you do, you will eventually need to let go the camera to concentrate on your carpentry work. Because your most precious material is... time.

Would love to see a video on that initial conversation....."What it's gonna cost". do you charge by job only? or by hourly?

Gratz on 2 Years Scott! 14 years next September for me. You forgot the most important lesson of all my man! Get good before you go out on your own. Confidence is king which comes from experience eigh. The work to a degree can talk for itself.

Good advice and all true ive been self employed for over 15 years ive never advertised its all recommendations and I still stress abuot spending clients money and the whole tool thing I'm now driving a lwb hi top Renault master and I think that's to small

thanks!

Congrats on the 2 years 👍🏻. Every time I see you driving in your van I have to double take because I thinks it’s a festool systainer behind you when it’s only a green button or something 🙈

Love the videos, don't you ever get the customers who always want more or the ones who want to pay less, i remember working for Indian family and I basically lost money in the end from them , lovely videos

Word of mouth can make or break you. There'll be times when it'll be better to turn a job down and walk away with your head held high, rather than be at odds with a client. A few bad words from a difficult client can sour your reputation.

Others peoples money is a hard one for me too. I even struggle to request the money owed to me.

More.more.more

As a general contractor the most important thing is contracting good tradesmen. A bad plumber or electrician hire can ruin your reputation.

at the start it is always hard, once u get more experienced, jobs will come to u.