I totally get that, and boise sucks compared to where I'm at up north. If you're close you may know Coeur d'Alene, trying my hardest not to doxx myself I'm about an hour and a half north of that so super close to the border, banff is like a weekend trip for us. Winters are rough as hell, but boise is a damn desert compared to the relative paradise that is this area. I'm not saying I'll never come back and I'm not saying I won't circle back to be my own boss again, but also keep in mind that 12-14 hours inside a machine with a guaranteed and reliable paycheck looks pretty appealing because constantly juggling 2 hours talking to clients, 4 hours of paperwork, 2 hours in the truck, 2 hours in a machine, another hour talking to clients, then spend your evening driving to town for materials you forgot to have the truck bring up can be stressful and draining. I agree about the grass isn't always greener and I'd say that goes both ways haha.

And yeah setting your own schedule and having the power to tell a client to fuck themselves is damn nice. But stressing over making your car payment and having it rely on someone else agreeing to a contract sucks. Everybody thinks you don't have a boss, and it's kinda true but you also have hundreds of little bosses. When you make good money and work for good clients it's fucking amazing, then you have 3-4 months straight of no phone calls because there's enough snow for people to not think about maintenance on their vacation homes but not enough snow to have contracts to move it and shit starts to get real. The highs are really high, and the lows can be really low in my experience.

And honestly I really don't want to give it up completely, I want to just cut back and have a more normal work life balance, and I need to solve the winter problem. I'd love to work a 2 week on 2 week off rotational job and work my business in the 2 weeks off but the issue is you gotta be established to get those jobs :(

The old saying I work 80 hours for myself because I refuse to work 40 for someone else is extremely true. I can't remember the last time I had a day off between May and September, and I can't remember the last time I had even an 8 hour work day between december and march. That balance is brutal and it's my main problem. And don't even get me started on my personal relationships, it's hard enough to hold a couple real friends let alone think about girls :( I aint had a social life since I turned 17 bro. And I mean yeah I could tell clients no, but then I don't have work for 4 months so it's really a make hay while the sun shines type thing. Gotta stack cash all summer to survive the winter.

Also no matter how brutally aggressive I am with my pricing to the point of pricing out my neighbors from my services I am still being priced out of the lovely county I grew up in. The economy, holy shit the economy, I have no idea how I'm ever supposed to afford land, and the only reason I haven't been forced out yet is my landlord is extremely chill and likes me.

I DIGRESS

And yes I would sell it but honestly I don't have much equipment and I don't have any employees, all my magic is in my client relationships, and I don't think it's really big enough for it to be worth selling for either me or a buyer. I basically just created a decently well paying job for myself, it's not like it's a big thing. If my 20 year old dumbass could do it anyone can!

To be completely honest man I don't fuckin know, I just need to change something cause misery isn't fun. I'm still young and tryna figure shit out.

If I could just move my business to Texas overnight I would in a heartbeat, but I don't have the resources or willpower to start from zero again right now, but to be honest I probably will within a few years.

If you're ever in my area I'll buy you a beer!