Let’s Talk About It Over a Cup of Coffee
It’s been a few weeks since Gene finally got his IRS payments set up. Normally, he’d be working today. God knows there’s plenty of construction projects and paperwork that need done, but Gene’s exhausted.
Instead, it’s 9:00 on a Saturday morning, and he’s sitting in a booth at the local coffee shop having a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee.
What should be enjoyable downtime isn’t. It’s hard for him to enjoy himself when all he can think about are all the problems over the past year. He can’t quit thinking about everything that he’s gone through.
All the headaches and problems that he’s encountered are causing him to have second thoughts about going into business.
There would certainly be fewer headaches if he were working for someone else.
Let them deal with all the long construction days and late nights of paperwork. Or projects getting behind when help doesn’t show up. Not to mention truck breakdowns and customers not paying.
If he was working for someone else he wouldn’t have to worry about owing more than $17,000 in income tax and not having the money.
As Gene wallows in his problems, his thoughts are interrupted by a familiar voice. “Can I join you?
He looks up, it’s his friend and past coworker, David. They hadn’t talked since Gene called him to ask about his truck transmission problem.
“You look pretty deep in thought. Can I sit down?”
“Sure, I was just wading through the mess that’s my life,” whines Gene.
David inquires, “I know about the transmission issue, but there must be more?”
Gene tells David the whole big messy story. He shares that he’s having second thoughts about the business. Maybe he should go to work for someone else.
As the two of them are talking through the problems of owning a construction company when Larry Morton comes in. David hollers at Larry and waves him over. David and Gene had both worked for Larry. After Larry gets his coffee he comes over and sits down with them.
“What are you guys up to?” asks Larry.
David explains Gene’s situation to Larry and asks if he can give them some thoughts and insights into running a construction business. After all he’d been in business.
Larry takes a sip of his coffee and shrugs,
“I don’t know what to tell you. I struggled with the same kinds of things the whole time I was in business.”
This isn’t the answer they expected. As the three of them continued visiting and Gene and Larry share stories about their struggles, David is surprised. It had appeared that Larry had it all figured out.
As the three of them continued talking, the bell on the door jingles and they look up to see Mike, a local, self-employed electrician. Both Larry and Gene used him on jobs before and had the same thought. They holler at him and wave him over.
Once he got his order, he brought his doughnut and coffee over and sat down with them. Almost immediately, the three of them start asking Mike about his business.
Mike puts his hands up and laughs, “Wait a minute, I didn’t know this was an interrogation.”
The three took a breath and in turn start asking him questions.
Before long, they could see that Mike was dealing with the same types of problems. After a little while, they all realize something important.
This isn’t just a Gene problem. It’s bigger than that.
They decide to reach out to some other people they knew who owned companies that did different kinds of construction work. Then, they would meet back here next Saturday morning for coffee and see what they had learned.
———
If this story sounds a little too familiar, you’re not alone.
If you’d like to talk through the struggles of running a construction business over a cup of coffee, we’re working on launching a virtual BUILDer’s Coffee starting in February.
If you would like to know more about that, our digital Business BUILDing Toolbox, or would like to discuss your struggles with me one-on-one, you can schedule a free 30-minute meeting.
Pull up a chair. The coffee’s on.
