I’m retired military and looking to start a new career as a home inspector. Why do some folks prefer to join an established inspection company versus building an independent owner/operator business?
Thanks!
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Let me put it this way, there is a reason why owners make the big bucks. They deserve it.
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It all basically comes down to your personality. Do you want stability or independence? Do you want to punch the clock or own the clock?
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If you are used to taking orders from superiors (military) working for someone else might be a good fit. Not for me.
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Obviously when starting out one is a lot easier than the other. But in the end a successful independent owner/operator typically would make a lot more money. Key word being successful.
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In my opinion, it comes down to how many hours a week someone is willing to work and how long you can support your family.
If it matches the hours that you want to be paid for, then work for someone else. Starting out, you might need to have a part-time or even full-time job to support your family and the initial costs of starting your business. On top of that, you are looking at 20-30 hours a week not making a dime while you get things going. All with the hope of 1-2 inspections each week for the first few months or even years.
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Given your post here you should consider working for a company.
https://forum.nachi.org/t/2500-to-get-on-a-brokers-list/270920
This really isn’t an inspection question; this is a life question.
It’s two different lifestyles
What is more important to you?
Being your own boss? Or a (relatively) stable paycheck with few worries?
Do you want to be doing marketing, business planning, filing state paperwork, dealing with insurance, etc, etc OR Just inspecting and letting someone else handle that stuff for you?
Do you want to wake up and go handing out flyers, brochures to agents before inspections, and then stay up all night working on your website and templates, Or do you just want to wake up, go inspect, and go home and enjoy wife/kids/tv/whatever?
Keep in mind, if/when you go out on your own, the 1st year you’re going to spend more time marketing than inspecting (and that doesn’t matter if you work for someone else or not 1st).
Companies that have multiple inspectors are interested in building a business, not being a training facility.
It costs me thousands upon thousands of dollars to take a new hire and get them up to my standards, and about 3 months of time. Having someone come through just to go out later is a waste of my time and money.
The people who work for me don’t want to market, don’t want to deal with insurance, taxes, or getting the phone to ring. They want to get up, go to work, come home, and live their lives without being a business owner 24-7. They’re happy to let the rest of the staff handle phone calls, marketing, lawyers, complainers, buying tools, paying for software, etc.
Working for someone just to get some experience is akin to stealing their payroll.
If your goal is to be your own boss, then be your own boss. Getting the business off the ground won’t be any easier down the road.
One guy left me to start his own two, maybe 3 years ago. Guess what? He still struggles. Experience and training on the inspections doesn’t help the business side. Another guy left earlier this year to start his own business. His website is still a mess, and he’s done as many inspections in 4 months has he used to do in a week here.
I never worked for anyone else. I started cold turkey because my life objective was to NOT work for anyone else. Inspections were a means of becoming self-employed. I struggled the 1st year, and much of the 2nd year. But I was willing to struggle because business ownership was my goal.
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For a long time, I thought that anyone one who was any good would never work for someone else. They would go out on their own. However, I’ve changed my thinking on that. I think Ian explains it well.
I am retired military as well… when I started, I did not want to have a boss (did the life of 20 bosses that change every few months just like you did), so I started my own company.
The problem was, I had no idea how to start/run a business… but I did not NEED to. I could figure out the business side of things along the way. I knew that I was fine on the inspection side.
Uncle Sam will pay me to wake up in the morning, so I don’t HAVE to do an inspection today to put food on the table. It was just a different mindset. Not saying it is/was right or wrong… just the facts.
It comes down to what you want to do, how much you need to make, and how fast you need to make it. While this industry is relatively cheap to get started in, it still costs a lot of time before you start to make money if you do your own thing.
OR you can find a company to work for and tell them straight up how many inspections you want to do. If you want to do 10 a week or 4 per week… find the company that fits you. Then all you have to worry about it doing your inspections, reports, and going home.
Where are you located?
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After 34 years in inspection business, i could kick myself for not joining up with an inspector company. It would have saved me headaches trying to keep retirement program going, paying for Health insurance, Inspection insurance etc. In these days and times If i were you I would go with a company. Some even pay for association dues, and provide vacation time. They also do your marketing. Just my 2 cents from past experience. Unfortunately my area not that big on inspections so belonging to a company would have been beneficial. It depends where you live and your work area. If your the only one in town, stay independent but if you have a dominant company with a lot of inspectors join them.
There’s a reason why 97% of the industry are sole proprietors. If you don’t mind taking a few years to build a business flow and handling your own calls and back end, it is worth it. You may not have a large entity to sell at the end, but you’ll probably make more each year doing it yourself.
I’m not entirely convinced that number if accurate.
It may reflect on on the intentions, but the survivor rate:
There are several large muti-firms out there these days.
Hello Ian,
FABI did a survey a few years ago for Florida inspectors and those were the results. Perhaps different in your neck of the woods.
Hey Matt, I’m retired military as well (thanks for your service). I became an independent home inspector in 2018. I never wanted to work for an inspector company because I wanted the independence, flexibility and to make my own money. While there are challenges, it has been rewarding and I wouldn’t change anything.
Working for a company may have some benefits like not having to worry about managing the business and getting helpful experience and training. It may be a way to get a solid start towards your own business.
best wishes for your success
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depends on your goals, Im just looking to start small and expand as needed.
To me the advantage of working for yourself is scheduling, disadvantages, which as retired military wont apply is health insurance, but the cost of business insurance and using your own vehicle can take from the pot quickly…
I started out working for a company to learn the business, learn what to do, what not to do, and to get good at the inspection process. Many multi-inspector firms offer training, and if you get in on a good one, they won’t make you sign a non-compete, 1099 contract position. Once I learned the business, I decided to open my own business, and start marketing. I worked both until I felt like I was able to go out on my own. I had to take a more conservative route because I was supporting a family of 5 with a single income right out of the gate.
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