3 reasons why you should do side jobs

Are you a technician or plumber that has been considering taking on “side jobs”?  Side jobs are a great way to earn extra money as a technician.  There are many clients that will gladly have you perform the needed repair outside of the normal work channels. 

Perhaps you have been considering taking some side jobs, but haven’t yet.  This post will serve as an educational piece for you.  Let’s explore 3 of the best reasons why you should do side jobs.

This piece incorporates the use of sarcasm, irony, satire, truth, and fiction. In case it is not clear, Todd Liles and Service Excellence Training DO NOT condone side jobs in any fashion.

The 3 Reasons Why You Should Do Side Jobs

#1 – Personal accountability

The hvac tech that has taken side jobs understands personal accountability.  Working for a company allows you to spread the accountability around the support of a team.  When you do a side job, you have that accountability all to yourself.  

This personal accountability will do wonders to grow you as technician.

Here are a few things you can expect to come with this new personal accountability:

• Late night phone calls
• Lost weekends and holidays
• Insurance claims (You’ll need insurance if you don’t have it)
• Warranty callbacks with no pay
• Much higher levels of stress than you currently experience

Personal accountability is great for personal growth.  Side jobs will give you plenty of personal growth.

#2 – Job security

This one may not be as obvious to you.  “How can doing side jobs assure my job security?”

Allow me to tell you the story of “George the Plumber.”  This is based a true story.  (That means it happened, but I don’t want to reveal the poor soul it happened to.)

“George” was a plumber for a Plumbing and HVAC company.  Over time, George worked his way into more responsibility, even making it into the manager position!

Unfortunately, George was easily led astray by what appeared to be easy money.  He caught wind of an opportunity to slowly take inventory out of the company, and begin doing side jobs. 

At first, it was easy.  He took a few items to start.  A water heater here and there, and eventually bigger items like complete HVAC equipment.  George even had the help of one of the HVAC techs that worked at the same company.  Let’s call this hvac tech “Bob.”

The Owner, let’s call him “Tom,” became suspicious.  Tom started watching George from a distance. 

One day “Tom the owner” followed “George the Plumbing Manager” to the house of “Bob the HVAC Tech.”  When Bob opened his garage, Tom saw HVAC equipment stocked from the front to the back!

Sounds to wild to be true, right?  Well, it happened.

Now, with that much thievery, you are thinking that “Tom the owner” immediately called the police.  Surely, he sent George and Bob to jail!  Right?  Wrong!

“Tom the owner” saw this as a perfect opportunity. 

As he saw it, he now had what he needed to own George and Bob forever.  He could pay them what he wanted to pay them, and work them as hard as he wanted to work them.  He knew that they could never leave, never complain, and never ask for a raise.  If they did, he would go back to the threat of legal prosecution.

So, that’s how a side job can lead to job security!  If you do side jobs while working for a guy like Tom, you may never have another job again in your life!

RELATED – 4 Ways to Maintain the Ethics of Commissioned Based Plumbers and HVAC Techs

#3 – Launching your own business

Side jobs are a great way to launch your own business!   In some ways, side jobs almost assure you will go into business for yourself.

You may be asking, “How do side jobs launch my own plumbing company?”

Allow me to explain.

There is a chain reaction effect to doing side jobs, and it goes like this:

1.  You do a side job for a client.  You both promise each other that it will be between you, and the company will not know about this plumbing repair.

2.  The client calls you back for a warranty.  You gladly go take care of them after hours.

3.  The client keeps calling back.  Over and over and over.  They are beginning to get you to do things they didn’t pay you to do.

4.  You feel trapped.  At this point, it has cost you far more than it’s worth.  You decide not to go out again.

5.  Your side job calls, and you don’t answer.

6.  Your side job calls your company.  Now, the company knows about your side job.

7.  You get fired.

8.  Your reputation for doing side jobs spreads in the plumbing community.

9.  You can’t get hired.

10. You start up your own plumbing business!

See!  Side jobs really are an amazing way to start your own plumbing company!  And with all the money you have saved up from those side jobs, you will have the money you need to start your business.

By the way, we will cover in a future post how you need to invest that money to take your side job approach into a legit business.  You won’t be getting free leads anymore, or a truck, or material.  But as long as you have around a million bucks in cash, you should be good!

In our next blog post, we shall continue the conversation on side jobs with a focus on managers.  Tune in for:  “6 ways to prevent side jobs.”

This piece incorporates the use of sarcasm, irony, satire, truth, and fiction. In case it is not clear, Todd Liles and Service Excellence Training DO NOT condone side jobs in any fashion.

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