B&A Precision

I'm still here guys. Shop is still going. Joe is still here (although we are on break, 23rd through the 3rd).
Pretty much just a case of SSDD (same shit different day). Basically just surviving (barely) on repeat work I have been doing for years.
There is a little new stuff in the mix. Some from existing customers. A little from one new one. But, nothing that is a big deal.
Once again I find myself really close to B&A being debt free. Like, real close!
So either I will achieve that long-time goal, and sail off in to the sunset (LOL).
Or some random shit will find my fan and stir shit up all over again
Who knows?!
I did look for work pretty hot & heavy (in the beginning (of the end)), but got pretty discouraged, pretty quick!
Two reasons:
One: I absolutely will not join the "race to the bottom"! No way, no how, ain't fucking happening.
I probably quoted at least 30 parts where my quote was met with the response "I have a guy that will do them for $X.XX/ea."
My response every time was: "then you better use him". And simply quit responding to emails after that until they got the point and went away.
Two: It would take a pretty special customer to get me to agree to NET terms. I run COD. I know it limits me. And IDGAF. I run COD.
So yea, I have had a pretty serious case of the fuck-its for months now. Not a bad attitude. Not that I don't care. Not that I don't want to work.
Just that I want to work for people that appreciate a good vendor. Put value in that relationship. And, if I'm gonna bust my ass? I'm gonna get paid.
The ones that are only worried about the bottom line on each particular job can pound sand.
So I am back to my old MO of letting work find me. And vetting it accordingly. Screw pounding the pavement. And I am NOT! a salesman. YMMV

So yea, SSDD around here. Really been enjoying only working 40hr weeks (and 4-10's at that). I have had time to tinker with all my toys/junk!
And the big one: I don't stress about anything any more. Good, bad, or otherwise. I have decided life is too freaking short. And I was stressing myself to death.
Only time will tell what happens.

Good for you!

I've understood for awhile that it's important not to associate happiness with achieving distant goals, but lately I've felt like happiness is more like what happens when you live a meaningful life. Every person can define meaningful however they want, but working for less than your worth is definitely the opposite.

I think meaningful, happy and profitable can exist in business and sometimes that starts with saying fuck it.

Garwood said:

Good for you!

I've understood for awhile that it's important not to associate happiness with achieving distant goals, but lately I've felt like happiness is more like what happens when you live a meaningful life. Every person can define meaningful however they want, but working for less than your worth is definitely the opposite.

I think meaningful, happy and profitable can exist in business and sometimes that starts with saying fuck it.

Click to expand...

I've done a fair bit of machine work I thought felt meaningful that I didn't charge a nickel for, money is handy but there are better things sometimes, for this I got a hug and thank you from her husband and 2 sons. One should try and prioritize what is important to him and his family from time to time and expect these priorities to change.

^^That is beautiful work.

Tom

TDegenhart said:

^^That is beautiful work.

Tom

Click to expand...

That is the only one I've ever done twice. I think I have done about 70 of them to date

Families like them, up to now I have been able to get a good deal on material and donate them, usually about 4 hours in making one by the time I get done petting it to make it smooth and shiny. People that are not around this type of thing are amazed and very appreciative to receive something in a sad time that doesn't make them feel like they got bent over by someone taking advantage of the situation. It isn't much out of pocket and when you hand it over it makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, I don't get that from my normal work verry often and that makes it all worth while, I highly recommend anyone that can, try it, you may like it.

kustomizer said:

I've done a fair bit of machine work I thought felt meaningful that I didn't charge a nickel for, money is handy but there are better things sometimes, for this I got a hug and thank you from her husband and 2 sons. One should try and prioritize what is important to him and his family from time to time and expect these priorities to change.
View attachment 338320

Click to expand...

Agreed! Beautiful!

That stuff right there puts meaning in in your life! Very nice work!


When I find it I don’t need it
When I need it I can’t find it!

Well, I guess I have another update. Joe put his notice in on our first day back from break. We hadn't even started working.
We both walked in the door together at 5am, and he said "hey, I got something I need to talk to you about". I knew before he even finished the sentence what.
He gave "Two weeks, or more, whatever you need. I don't want to leave you in a lurch." Joe is a damn good dude, I'll miss him.
He is gonna hang out until we get through this time-sensitive 1,000pc order we are working on. And, call his full-time residence here over.
He wanted to leave the door open for maybe potential part-time? And of course leave on good terms. I simply told him the door is open for him in both directions.
I seriously do not think I will be looking to replace him any time soon. If ever!
So, I guess in a couple weeks that brings me full-circle back to an honest to goodness One-Man-Shop. And, I am perfectly okay with this!

wheelieking71 said:

Well, I guess I have another update. Joe put his notice in on our first day back from break. We hadn't even started working.
We both walked in the door together at 5am, and he said "hey, I got something I need to talk to you about". I knew before he even finished the sentence what.
He gave "Two weeks, or more, whatever you need. I don't want to leave you in a lurch." Joe is a damn good dude, I'll miss him.
He is gonna hang out until we get through this time-sensitive 1,000pc order we are working on. And, call his full-time residence here over.
He wanted to leave the door open for maybe potential part-time? And of course leave on good terms. I simply told him the door is open for him in both directions.
I seriously do not think I will be looking to replace him any time soon. If ever!
So, I guess in a couple weeks that brings me full-circle back to an honest to goodness One-Man-Shop. And, I am perfectly okay with this!

Click to expand...

Others have commented previously that this thread has been epic with twists and turns as it unwinds. Happy 2022 and ain't no doubt you will be prosperous!

nothing wrong with starting another chapter especially when it has a better work/life balance. playing with all the big boy toys again is worth it right there. at some point it gets old talking to people about all the toys you own that sit in the garage collecting dust year after year....

On another note Bill clean up some inbox space its full, looking to hit you up to talk about that BFH....

Just one small little (very important) update. My mantra from pretty much day-1 has always been "debt is bad".
Ever since I bought that first VF2-SS back in 2012, and was scared shitless not knowing how I was going to make the first payment, let alone, pay it off.
I have wanted to minimize debt with the goal always being zero. It has been a pretty crazy journey. I have purchased 10 machines total since 2012.
Three were bought with cash, both lathes I've owned, and one of the Brother pallet machines. The rest were financed in one way or another.
The smallest amount financed being $36k. The largest a tickle over $250k.
Of the 10 machines, 5 remain. The least expensive, and most expensive, have both moved on down the road to other shops, along with the other 3 of the 5 that are gone.
Lately ever since the finance company that did some unscrupulous things pissed me off, I have been hyper focused on paying everything off.
Well, I am happy to report, the goal has been met! As of right now, other than my mortgage, B&A is 100% debt free!
Mortgage excluded, we were already debt free on the personal side. It still costs a lot of money to run the business. Don't get me wrong.
But, if I run out of work? I can just leave the machines, and the A/C off so the power-bill isn't through the roof.
Rather than stressing that those notes need paid whether the machines ran or not! And when work is good, I will actually be able to see the bank account grow.
Just paying Joe for 4 days every two weeks, rather than 8, has made a serious impact already (he does 10hr shifts).
Now that those checks for machine payments wont be coming out? heaven! (we paid off 3 notes).
I've also noticed, I've lost almost 20lbs since Joe went part-time, Crazy!
I spent a lot of time driving the desk looking for work (and way to much time on the interwebs) just so Joe could get his 40.
I thought he needed it. And it was the ethical thing for me to do as his employer. Now that he has removed that burden? He is just a vise operator now.
I've done all set-ups, and ran lots of parts. Its like I got a big fat raise! Now with no machine payments? I got another big FAT raise!
Now I'm not going to say I will never put the business in debt again. But I will say, it would take something really special and LOW-RISK to get me to go there.
So, now what? Well, basically, I don't know, and I'm not going to worry/stress about it.
I do have a nice little back-log right now. Lots of the due-dates are out there. Which is fine. I told all the regulars:
With Joe going part-time, and the current situations with material, do-not rely on "just-in-time" ordering.
Send the POs now with delayed delivery dates. Give me time to get the material, and get the work done. Because lead-times might start getting stretched out there.
They are all understanding of all this. So for a while I'm just gonna cruise. Debt free baby!
With a literal shite-ton of capacity for a 1.5 man CNC shop (could be 1 at any time). The world would seem to be falling apart right now. But, somehow, I find myself in a good place.
Not gonna take it for granted. Not done, or ready to quit. But, I am done with the stress!
My attitude right now is absolutely nothing like it was 9 years ago. That is for damn sure! LOL

hard to explain the feeling to anyone that has never felt the stress, just weight it gets even better when the mortgage goes away.

good show!

kustomizer said:

hard to explain the feeling to anyone that has never felt the stress, just weight it gets even better when the mortgage goes away.

good show!

Click to expand...

After Canaderp seized that girls bank account because she donated to the convoy? Paying the mortgage off is my next hyper focus!
I'm thinking I would rather have the equity than the money in the bank! Crazy world right now.
Not to mention leveraging the dollar while its still pretty strong. Money is going to be worth a whole lot less not too long from now.

I am not totally convinced that you can't actually make money right now by borrowing big dollars now at 15% inflation and paying them back with little dollars later. I prefer not owing them at all but you might be better buying gold than paying off the loan.

You and your bride should come visit, I am stuck here a while but you folks seem interesting

I’m not sure what rate your mortgage is, if it’s really low like mine(2.5% on a 15yr), you would be foolish to pay it off early. I made 14% return on my investments in the stock market last year, and even if this year is worse I can easily make 6 or 7%, far better financially for me to invest my money and I have no plans of paying off my mortgage early.

Math of returns vs "math" of certainty vs fog.

Historically, over time, the stock market has beat inflation. But it's a very noisy pattern, so having big enough portfolio to cover a fixed payment like a mortgage through good years and bad can be hard. Until very recently, *real* interest rates were negative - even low inflation was higher can any safe (treasuries) market return and even some mortgages. That will change a bit going forward.

Which just means that if you have a bundle of cash (you retired, won the lottery, whatever) whether to pay down your mortgage or invest it requires some thought - that's all.

I can totally see Wheelie's point (as I've noted before) and totally see Alan's (and did something similar for a time.) Just be sure to think rather than react out of emotion. (But emtions count - if you can't sleep at night, that's an issue..)

I think in Wheelie's case, the point that he could shut down the shop and have nothing but a normal mortgage - meaning he could cover his expenses by going to work at some "normal" job - is key. Lots of people have mortgages on their dwellings - and pay them from their wages. Not so many people have personal debt on shops/machine tools/etc. So it's a rather more conventional risk.

alan speyrer said:

I’m not sure what rate your mortgage is, if it’s really low like mine(2.5% on a 15yr), you would be foolish to pay it off early. I made 14% return on my investments in the stock market last year, and even if this year is worse I can easily make 6 or 7%, far better financially for me to invest my money and I have no plans of paying off my mortgage early.

Click to expand...

It is around 3% I think. This is the best we have been able to do as self-employed (whole 'nother set of rules).
And I do NOT "market" my money. I am a financial dummy. I don't understand the stock market. And, it is way too late for me to start learning.
Nor do I have even one small iota of desire. Are my financial decisions always the smartest? Hell no, I'm sure.
But, they are the smartest when I am factored in to the equation. Anybody else? Probably not so much.
The bottom line is this: if I have zero control over the risk? (the stock market) The chances of me doing it are pretty much zero.
Investing in the shop? Much lower risk! I have a well rounded skill-set. There are hundreds of ways I can make money if I have to. Beyond the shop even.

Which brings me to this:

bryan_machine said:

I think in Wheelie's case, the point that he could shut down the shop and have nothing but a normal mortgage - meaning he could cover his expenses by going to work at some "normal" job - is key.

Click to expand...

I'm 99.9% sure I will never have a "normal" job again. At least not for any extended period of time.
To be honest, I'm tired. Real tired. Now, that statement needs some explaining. And, that is easy to do!
For the last 9 years, everything in (my) life has taken a spot in line behind work. And, a huge portion of it (as in most) has never been gotten to.
As I mentioned in the update, I'm not ready to shut down the shop, and have no desire to quit working.
But working a whole lot less, and not stressing about work 99% of the time, is very desirable! With no debt, that is feasible.
And remember, there are more people involved here than just me! Call it semi-retired if you want? Call it a case of the "fuck-its" if you want?
Doesn't matter how anybody else sees it. The fact is, I'm ready to re-structure how I spend my time.
And, so are a bunch of people that have been waiting patiently. Especially Allison. And, with no debt, that is possible.

Now and again folks should take a couple Fuckitall and a bit of time off from the norm they are sitting in the middle of, a bit of time and distance can open up a whole new perspective, however be careful as it can upset the whole damn apple cart too.

Unless you have a big chunk of money to put in the stock market and the nerves to ride the ups and downs, the peace of mind to not have ANY mortgage payment far outweighs the few dollars from the market.

Tom

+1 for debt free, changes one's perspective a lot.