The day my crew walked off the job at 11am taught me something about stable income

I was running a landscaping job over in Oakwood last spring. Big retaining wall, quoted the guy $4,200. My guys were all independent contractors I hired per job. At exactly 11:15, three of them just dropped their tools and said they got a better offer across town for a commercial lot that paid $30 an hour. I was standing there with a half finished wall and nobody to finish it. Had to call my old foreman who works for a real company now and pay him double to come bail me out that afternoon. That job lost me $600 after all was said and done. That's when it hit me that chasing your own thing is great until you have nobody to back you up when things go sideways. Has anyone else had a moment where the "freedom" of your own business felt more like a trap?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade25019d ago

Dropped tools at 11:15 and just walked off? That's brutal man. Did they even give you a heads up or just stood there looking at you while they said it? I've heard of guys quitting on the spot but that's a whole crew bailing at once over an hour's notice. Sounds like you got hung out to dry real bad.

jessej2319d ago

Fair point, I used to roll my eyes at walkouts but this one made me rethink.

brianreed19d ago

Yeah I gotta be honest, I used to be the guy who thought walkouts were for drama queens. Like just grow up and put in your two weeks, right? But after hearing how that whole crew got treated with zero respect, I get it now. There's something about being looked at like you're nothing, like you're just a body that can be replaced in five minutes, that makes you realize you don't owe them anything. It's easy to judge from the outside until you're the one standing there watching everyone else walk out the door. This one honestly changed my mind on the whole thing.