This last week has been rough. The coronavirus covid-19 finally seemed like it was calming down and then we had a new problem to worry about in the world. The recent events have taken a lot of my mental energy. Our nation is in pain. I haven’t had much energy for anything.
This is a business blog so I will try to keep my personal stuff brief, but considering I am my entire business, it seems relevant to talk about. I have suffered from depression for most of my life. It come and goes in waves, usually worse in the winter months. But the last few weeks hit me like a ton of bricks. When I am in a depressed state it becomes almost impossible to function, let alone work. The current situation just set me up for disaster.
I did manage to work on some videos and blogs and a chapter in the book. So it wasn’t a complete waste of time. My house was full of tension, as was my mind, body and soul. I posted a video on my personal YouTube channel about fighting depression and it was, well, depressing…
The chapter I wrote is “A Beginner’s Look At Write-offs, Taxes and Accounting”. To check it out just go to my personal website and subscribe to the email list and you’ll get a link for free access! I have 4 chapters completed in my book “A College Dropout’s Guide: Starting A Successful Construction Company”. Check it out at www.nickborsellino.com
I posted two videos on the Borsellino Carpentry YouTube channel. Click the links or the videos are embedded at the bottom of the page. The first was PPP New Rules?! and Answering Your Questions About Unemployment . The second was WORX Battery VS Craftsman Gas Lawn Mower Review . The YouTube channel has been getting a lot of views recently due to releasing a video series about the struggles of a small business owner and the new rules for PPP and PUA. I talked about this more in last week’s blog.
Click Here to see Worx battery lawn mowers and others on Amazon through my affiliate link
I have been in contact with a few people on my list for work, as I’m trying to figure out when I’m getting back to it. The bathroom job I was in the middle of when covid hit is still on hold. We’ve been checking in with each other every once in a while for updates. I spoke to her this week and she is still not ready for us to come back into her home at this point and she is my top priority right now.
I was on another job helping a friend out too and he has taken over the job and relieved me of my duties. So that is a load off my back. Tricia (my girlfriend) is doing the design work for it. She has been in the design and construction world for a long time and she is really good at it. She helped redesign the major renovation in my house. We took out load bearing walls and added beams and made it more open. She also designed a custom kitchen that the company she works for is currently building us.
The time off from work has helped me to slow down and appreciate life a little more. I’m so used to constantly being on the go, that it has been a nice change of pace. I’m actually not looking forward to going back to the rat race. I posted something about this on my personal YouTube channel and Facebook a few weeks ago and some people got a little freaked out that I mentioned that.
Rest assured, I’m not closing down the business, at least not anytime soon. I do plan on changing up the way I am doing business though. In years past I had employees to help lighten my load. But for the last 5 years I have been working alone. I try to find help for a day or two when I need a hand, but this makes it hard to take any job that I might need someone for more than a day or two. I have known this for years and have been scaling down the type of jobs that I take. But I still can’t keep up with the demand.
A few weeks back, looking at how far behind schedule I was, I started to freak out. The coronavirus had thrown a huge monkey wrench into my schedule. So as I started planning for reopening, I started thinking about how I could tackle it. In the past I have used subcontractors. It can make a job go quicker and easier, but it can also make things more complicated and take longer. It all depends on everyone’s schedules and how dependable they are.
My plumber and electrician, I’ve worked with for years. They are hard to get a hold of but when I need them, they always seems to be able to pull through for a day or two. I usually am right beside them to assist to make their jobs go easier. I have used drywall guys in the past but the scheduling is the hard part. I don’t have the same relationship with the drywaller’s I’ve used in the past, but they do great work and get it done fast. I plan to bring them in more instead of trying to do all the drywall myself, which is backbreaking work. They come in with a crew and bang it out fast. I’ve also used painters in the past, and had many employees who were really good painters. But again, I need to spread out the load, so I had talked to an old friend who moved back to the area about helping me out on the bathroom jobs, before coronavirus hit and he was willing to do them.
So hopefully, once I get rolling, everything will fall into place. I’m just afraid everyone will be so busy once the floodgates open. I still have been getting lots of calls and turn down a ton of work because I have a 2 year waiting list. Again, why I am trying to pass the buck a little bit.
So that’s about all I’ve got for this week. Stay safe and sane out there!
Nick