To break it down simply, the Cleaner magazine readership probably largely falls into one of two categories — employers and employees. Either you’re the boss, or you have a boss. And some people currently in the latter category will one day transition to the former category.
That journey to entrepreneurship always looks a little different for every person. Sometimes it starts despite a person not even considering business ownership initially, as was the case with the two contractors profiled this month.
Colin Luttrell, owner of Colin the Plumber in Rochester, New York, says he never planned on starting a company. Only a few years ago, he had left his job as the manager of another company’s service plumbing division and was doing small plumbing jobs on the side in the interim as he prepared to move his family to North Carolina and shift careers. But one of those side jobs required him to pick up some liability insurance. Then another customer called. And another.
“Things sort of kept snowballing from there. I suddenly realized we had to stay in New York to capitalize on all the business potential,” he says.
He officially became a small-business owner.
As with Luttrell, owning his own company wasn’t something initially on Joe Fuentes’ radar either. It took a comment from a business agent addressing a class during Fuentes’ plumbing apprenticeship to spark the idea: “Some of you guys in this room will become contractors.”
“Becoming a plumbing contractor had never crossed my mind,” Fuentes says. “When he said that, it sort of awakened something inside me. He planted a seed in me personally and it took root and stayed in my mind that I should become a contractor.”
Eight years later, Fuentes left his job as a union plumber, purchased a used service truck, and set up shop in his garage as owner-operator of S&J Plumbing in the Chicago area.
The stories of Luttrell and Fuentes got me thinking about the pathway to entrepreneurship. It doesn’t just happen. It requires having the thought to do it and then actually acting on that thought. Some may think from time to time about starting their own shop, but they never do anything about it.
There’s obviously a lot that goes into starting your own business, and it’s important to not make any rash choices. But overthinking can also lead to inaction, and if you want to become a business owner, action is what is required at some point.
Maybe the stories of these two entrepreneurs can be part of the push you need to finally act if owning your own business is something that interests you. Even if it’s not the only important factor, action is a crucial step. You’ll never be able to perfectly prepare in advance, and that’s OK.
“I’m still learning about what works and what doesn’t,” Luttrell explains. “There always seem to be a million things to learn. I’m trying to figure out how to work on the company, not in it.”
Enjoy this month’s issue.
