Thinking of calling it quits...

[16k_zx81]

OP I dont think anyone can make this decision for you. I dont know what the best direction to take is, especially now, as there are difficult times ahead for us Techs.

I do know a bit about work-related burnout, having been in a job years ago and becoming very ill from it.

I think there does come a time to move on, and sometimes its smart to be aware that we have 'done our dash' in the current position and need to make a change.

A couple of things you said in your original post made me think about this stuff, and y'know, if you are really feeling bad at work, and you're feeling bad after work and into the weekends... if you are feeling depressed all of the time ... that could be burnout, and yeah, the solution to that (from personal experience) is to move on.

I wish you luck whatever you decide. Might just be a tough time, and light at the end of the tunnel. Might be that there's something better out there for ya.

But dont do what I did and stay in a job - any job - when its making you ill. Life's too short

 

[Angle-Pc]

I think another poster here hit the nail on the head about you having a lot of trouble with angry or disatisfied customers when he said that customers can sense it when you're not happy or are frustrated with your situation - negativity is contageous.

That being said, I've never seen customers so poor as they have been in the last 4 months. We've been deluged with price-shoppers. Almost everyone phone call begins with, "How much do you charge for . . ." This the Golden Age of the Craig's-lister. Is the economy improving? Doesn't seem so to me. I'm still comfortably profitable as a sole technician with a small storefront. I try to keep overhead small and am not interested right now in hiring. I think it's a better plan right now to stay small. I have a small handful of business clients which helps a lot. I started doing iDevice repair which does well to fill in the voids when computer repair is sluggish. This has forced me to learn a whole new skillset and keep a pricey inventory of parts. I still on most days like coming to work, even on Saturdays. Diversification not only creates an economic buffer zone for your business it also keeps things fresh and challenging. If 80% of my business was virus-removal I think I'd love that for a period of time because it is such easy money but eventually it would wear very thin.

If you really think about it most of us have it pretty good. I'd say that if your profitable in this economy you should be content with that ... for now, at least. You can easily become a victim of your own expectations if you strive for more than the market is currently prepared to give you or anyone else.

I can't tell you how many people walk into this small shop looking for work. Many of these people aren't even technicians. I almost want to say to them, Look around. What do you plan on doing here? But I understand times are desperate for many people. I feel very fortunate in my current situation and only hope that it will last. I started with no customers in the worst economy since the Great Depression. In 6 months I was profitable. Since then there have been busy months and not so business months.

But the one thing I never have is empty time on my hands. If business is slow I work on the backend of the business and marketing. I used to be sys admin for a mortgage company which tanked and I witnessed all these loan officers, who used to make big money and drive BMW M5's and Range Rovers, completely roll over when the housing market dropped. 90% of them are no longer in the mortgage business because they did nothing to adapt to the market, they just sat at their desk wondering why the phone wasn't ringing and eventually stopped bothering to come to work when they didn't feel like it. I learned from these peple what NOT to do.

Well said, Well spoken....

 

[MakoLogics]

Politics do not belong on this forum. Everyone knows how divisive politics are and once someone posts their sides view the other side wants to rebutt and then it goes back and forth. If you want to post political nonsense do it in the general chat area.

I know the moderators don't care, but this kind of stuff destroys forums and drives people away. Every time a thread gets hijacked like this it becomes dead and another important topic is lost.

I am not going to argue with you, I said what I had to say and just because you don’t agree with me that’s ok but it's not going to change my view. Our government does affect our business. Just because you disagree with someone on the forum does not mean there comment is not valid. If this kind of talk drives people away It's because they cant act like adults and have a mature conversation.

As for the original post, I think you should hang on to your company. I think things will get better and change. I know you mentioned programing, I have many passions and I am able to do them at the same time as I run my business. If you are truly not happy with what your doing then maybe you should move on to life's next door. However don’t let this slow economy get you down it will get better.

 

[coffee]

Its easy to get depressed and want to quit a business in this type of situation. The economy is dying right now and times are hard. To start a business in this type of atmosphere is hard. The way I see it is when the economy got bad and people started loosing their jobs it possibly created a influx of computer repair startups. So, Now we have a glut of repair small businesses. As time moves on alot of these startups are going to fail. They will grab other jobs when the economy improves. I think there will be also a movement to consolidate businesses. Those that survive the rough times will prosper when the good times roll around again.

Its easy to get depressed and want to quit now. If you do then that is your decision like alot of others have said. Its not failure at all - Its just moving to something that will fit your needs and wants more realistically.

Right now I work part time for a small francise repairing computers and also run a side business. I dont expect to grow really until the beginning of the new year. Im banking on taking it slow and controlling costs until things change in the economy. It would be very easy to go all balls out in advertising and such to only end up bankrupt right now. So, I guess slow and steady wins the race.

Lets hope for better times for everyone!

Best Regards,

Coffee

 

[lsi]

Politics do not belong on this forum. Everyone knows how divisive politics are and once someone posts their sides view the other side wants to rebutt and then it goes back and forth. If you want to post political nonsense do it in the general chat area.

I know the moderators don't care, but this kind of stuff destroys forums and drives people away. Every time a thread gets hijacked like this it becomes dead and another important topic is lost.

Are we running businesses or not? Is the economy pertinent to business finance? Of course. Only an idiot will try to argue that the economic climate is not a valid business concern. Is our current political climate hurting businesses and the economy (which are exactly the same thing)? Of course they are. Everyone in the ecomony from wall street to investment capital to small businesses are specifically tellling us the reasons they are not hiring, not investing, etc. You could argue otherwise but it would be a very short argument. Even the CBO's own numbers point to the problems. This is not spin or opinion; our economy is in the toilet. Am I saying it's only the President? Or only the Democrats? Or that everything was rosy under the previous administration? No - I've never said that. I've only pointed out the facts: our ecomony is suffering from our leadership right now. Now you can argue that Obama is a better candidate for social issues or for foreign relations or whatever you want and there can be several valid reasons that he's your guy and he's got your vote. There is nothing wrong with that. But nobody can deny that he is hurting our economy. You can try to argue that maybe he is still better on the economy than the other guy and that's fine too. We can discuss that. But it's definitely related to what we're doing here. If the economy is the issue you're most worried about (and as a business ownder that is my #1 concern in this election) then I will offer no apologies for "politicizing" threads by talking about the economy and the leading factors affecting it. Anyone that wants to run a business and turn a blind eye to how politics affects it, go on ahead. I don't consider anything that seriously affects my ability to support my family to be nonsense and nobody is forcing you to read the thread.

 

[coffee]

Are we running businesses or not? Is the economy pertinent to business finance? Of course. Only an idiot will try to argue that the economic climate is not a valid business concern. Is our current political client hurting businesses and the economy (which are exactly the same thing)? Of course they are. Everyone in the ecomony from wall street to investment capital to small businesses are specifically tellling us the reasons they are not hiring, not investing, etc. You could argue otherwise but it would be a very short argument. Even the CBO's own numbers point to the problems. This is not spin or opinion; our economy is in the toilet. Am I saying it's only the President? Or only the Democrats? Or that everything was rosy under the previous administration? No - I've never said that. I've only pointed out the facts: our ecomony is suffering from our leadership right now. Now you can argue that Obama is a better candidate for social issues or for foreign relations or whatever you want and there can be several valid reasons that he's your guy and he's got your vote. There is nothing wrong with that. But nobody can deny that he is hurting our economy. You can try to argue that maybe he is still better on the economy than the other guy and that's fine too. We can discuss that. But it's definitely related to what we're doing here. If the economy is the issue you're most worried about (and as a business ownder that is my #1 concern in this election) then I will offer no apologies for "politicizing" threads by talking about the economy and the leading factors affecting it. Anyone that wants to run a business and turn a blind eye to how politics affects it, go on ahead. I don't consider anything that seriously affects my ability to support my family to be nonsense and nobody is forcing you to read the thread.

+10 on this.

Thank you for the voice of reason.

 

[NYJimbo]

Your side had the last word, but that wasn't enough, was it ? You want to keep the politics up, fine.

Let's put Mitt Romney in the White House. Maybe he can help you send jobs offshore and put hundreds of billions of america dollars in overseas accounts, that will sure help, won't it, I mean that's what he is so very good at ?

How about his master plan to do ANYTHING ? Does anyone know what this man wants to do ? No, because he changes his mind before he can complete a sentence. What about Romneycare, you know the basis for Obamacare, which republicans hate but didn't hate when Romney did it ?

Bush destroyed this country, Obama couldn't fix it in four years, now you want to put another dolt in the white house to make things worse. Did you learn nothing from Bush ? Maybe Romney can start another war. Maybe Mittens can invade Iran, that should help, somehow. At least Romney can call himself a "war president" like Bush did. I imagine Romney is so excited after hearing Bush say "Eight years was awesome, and I was famous and I was powerful.", yeah, that's why you become president.

People who voted for Obama wanted change, they only got a little, but republicans think that they can make everything better but give NO details on how they will do that.

Face it, you had a whole clown car full of republicans trying to be president, ALL of them were complete nightmares and were tossed aside until you got down to the last one. Most republicans dont even like Romney, most Christians dont want a Mormon in the White House, but the clown car is empty and all you got left is Bain so you pretend he is a better choice than Obama because he is not Obama.

Romney will not win, you got four more years of Obama. Get used to it.

 

[NYJimbo]

I feel I must contribute this:

If you voted for barak hussain obama to prove you were not a racist,now you must vote against him to prove you are not an idiot.

Why "hussain" ? Do you have to nudge, nudge, wink, wink people that he is some kind of Al Qaida sleeper cell, not an american, or even a MUSLIM maybe? Why do you think the only reason people voted for Obama is to prove they are not racist ? Do you think that maybe people voted for Obama because:

a) he is not a republican
b) he is not John "I spent a lot of time in a tiger cage and that's what I am running my campaign on" McCain
c) he didn't pick Sarah "Almost as bad as a Kardashian" Palin as the next in line as president
d) he did not represent the insane tea party nut jobs who want to take this country back to the 1950's

amongst other reasons.

 

[lsi]

Your side has the last word, but that wasn't enough, was it ? You want to keep the politics up, fine.

Let's put Mitt Romney in the White House. Maybe he can help you send jobs offshore and put hundreds of billions of america dollars in overseas accounts, that will sure help, won't it, I mean that's what he is so very good at ?

How about his master plan to do ANYTHING ? Does anyone know what this man wants to do ? No, because he changes his mind before he can complete a sentence. What about Romneycare, you know the basis for Obamacare, which republicans hate but didn't hate when Romney did it ?

Bush destroyed this country, Obama couldn't fix it in four years, now you want to put another dolt in the white house to make things worse. Did you learn nothing from Bush ? Maybe Romney can start another war. Maybe Mittens can invade Iran, that should help, somehow. At least Romney can call himself a "war president" like Bush did. I imagine Romney is so excited after hearing Bush say "Eight years was awesome, and I was famous and I was powerful.", yeah, that's why you become president.

People who voted for Obama wanted change, they only got a little, but republicans think that they can make everything better but give NO details on how they will do that.

Face it, you had a whole clown car full of republicans trying to be president, ALL of them were complete nightmares and were tossed aside until you got down to the last one. Most republicans dont even like Romney, most Christians dont want a Mormon in the White House, but the clown car is empty and all you got left is Bain so you pretend he is a better choice than Obama because he is not Obama.

Romney will not win, you got four more years of Obama. Get used to it.

I'm not interested in debating hope and change. You're missing the point. It is within the scope of this forum to discuss the economy and the poor handling of it. You pointedly remarked earlier that Obama was not getting me business and I challenged you to show how he has helped your business when his policies have hurt mine. your response? Start trashing George Bush. Once again it is pointed out the economy is suffering and what is your response? trash romney and bush. Hmm... this all sounds too familiar. Do you happen to work for the Obama campaign who is constantly digging up anything to avoid talking about the the mishandling of the economy? If you have a case to be made as to why Obama is the man for the economy then by all means make it. Maybe we'll debate it. Maybe it will fall on deaf ears. Maybe you'll convert the world. But don't accuse others of politicizing things and then start flinging mud all over the place.

Here's food for thought. Bill Clinton was a great president. He had some tough issues to face and an impossible-to-work-with Republican leading the House (Newt Gingrich). But he was leadership material and he learned to work with both parties and get things done and the economy was great. Obama, on the other hand has exhibited the opposite of leadership. He couldn't even get a budget passed when he had majorities in both the House and Senate. It's not a party failure. It's a leadership failure.

 

[coffee]

 

[Tech in SC]

lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tucson Techie]

Coffee has good point: when the economy tanked ALOT of people went the self-employed route, not just in IT or computer repair.

As people have lost their corporate or governmental jobs, they have become the new small business owners of America. Some of these are going to work, others not. But I think we're only now starting to see these new small businesses fail, as their sustaining capital (i.e., their personal savings) is running out and the romance of "working for yourself" is losing its luster.

The inevitable fact of any business, large or small, is that at the end of the day, you must be profitable. How profitable, that depends on so many circumstances.

 

[mkeathley]

I kind of like it when the thread gets all political. It shows you who the hateful, misinformed people are. Makes it a lot simpler to weed out their advice on things

 

[ComputerCorner]

I just wanted to make a brief comment.

You can blame whoever you would like regarding the economy right now. It could be Bush's fault, it could be Obama's. It could be all of the Dem's or all of the Republican's.

The fact is, every single business that you are competing with has the same situation as you. They all have to work in the same economy. If they're succeeding, and you're not, who's fault do you think it is?

Protip: It's not the government's.

 

[altrenda]

I just wanted to make a brief comment.

You can blame whoever you would like regarding the economy right now. It could be Bush's fault, it could be Obama's. It could be all of the Dem's or all of the Republican's.

The fact is, every single business that you are competing with has the same situation as you. They all have to work in the same economy. If they're succeeding, and you're not, who's fault do you think it is?

Protip: It's not the government's.

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[dond]

Is the economy only bad in the US or is it a world wide problem?

 

[NWPhotog]

this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

x3. I am pretty close to the OP's area and the economy isn't what it was at the height of the boom, but it is still rolling pretty good. All kinds of expensive houses being built and expensive cars being sold.

 

[codegreen]

The silly politics on this thread reminded me of something...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/12/27/

 

[Magic Miguel]

The silly politics on this thread reminded me of something...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/12/27/

Awesome, pure awesome.

 

[BDNTech]

Wow, what rude customers. I never experienced that. I have from time to time had rude people on the phone or inquire about services but when that happens I tell them I'm not taking on any new clients. It's not worth the money to deal with rudeness.
On the other hand though i have closed down my storefront and am strictly working form home so I too feel the need for a job or some additional "guaranteed" income. But the thought of working for someone else again is not very appealing. It's that though alone that keeps me from it. Maybe that will work for you too?
Either way Good luck.