It's About Time for an Update I Suppose

Well, after two long years of silence, it’s time to bring a little life to this blog again.  Though this blog doesn’t attract a ton of readers, it is apparent that there are several people out there considering this line of work, or who are already in this line of work who drop in for a visit from time to time.  After receiving a few emails from inquiring minds wanting to know if I am still in this business and how it is going, I have decided to make it a priority to provide a long overdue update.

Yes, Jason’s Services is still very much open for business, and business is going as well as I could ever have hoped.  Things have been a little slow since the end of October, but this is more by my own intentional doing as opposed to business dropping off against my hopes.  To tell you the truth, I have been attempting to slow down for well over a year now.  In my attempt to slow down, I pulled my advertising out of our local paper at the end of October 2012.  In the early days, pulling my advertising was enough to slow things down when I desired some time off.  But after three years in business, pulling my advertising no longer guarantees me time off.  Though it is a good problem to have, I have developed a strong base of customers who use me as there go-to guy for most of their household to-do list.  Well, these customers don’t rely on the newspaper for finding me; they have my contact information elsewhere.  And while I have picked up a few new customers here and there through word of mouth, a phone book listing and some internet exposure, for the most part I have stayed busy with projects for my established customers.  It is only recently that my phone has slowed down enough to allow me to take some time off in order to accomplish a few things at home that need to be accomplished.  

Regarding income, things are pretty much the same as my last post.  If I recall correctly, 2012’s taxable income was pretty much the same as 2011 (around $36,000).  Because of my recent slowdown, and because some other out of the ordinary things in 2013, I think our taxable income will be quite a bit less this year (I am guessing $25000 -$28000).  

Some of my readers who are considering going into this business may find it discouraging that my business does not seem to be growing and that it is even decreasing, but keep in mind that I am the one who is holding this business back.  If I was willing to advertise a little more and work 50 hours a week 50 weeks out of the year, then I could realistically earn $70,000 in a year.  But as it is, most of the time I am pretty content to work at a slower pace and earn a little less.  While it is sometimes unavoidable, I just don’t enjoy my work when I am working at a crazy pace.   Sure, it’s kind of cool when your earn $7000 - $8000 in month (not uncommon during the summer months), but when I am working that hard and earning that kind of money, I find that I have some inner need to spend money on things I typically don’t desire and things I don’t really need.  I think the psychology behind this is that I am attempting to justify all my hard work by purchasing something tangible to replace the satisfaction that I normally have in my work when things operating at a more reasonable pace.  You see, when things are operating at a reasonable and steady pace, my satisfaction comes directly from my work.  I have time to enjoy my work and enjoy the results of a job well done.  During these times, I have no inner need to spend money just for the sake of spending money.  But when I am backed up with several jobs and I am racing to keep up, I don’t have time to really enjoy my work as I normally do.  So I think that in order to compensate for the lack of satisfaction I have during these busy times, I attempt to find that satisfaction by spending some of the money I worked so hard for.   Unfortunately, spending my money on things I don’t really need is nowhere near as satisfying as being able to work at more relaxed pace and find true pleasure in the work I am doing.   So yes, the potential to earn $70,000 a year is certainly there, but what is the point in that if you don’t break out in songs of joy several times throughout the day because you know that you must be the happiest man in the world?