Business Opportunities Weblog

November 21, 2005 by Dane Carlson | 1 Comment

Startup Journal:

After 20 years of remodeling homes on picturesque Whidbey Island, Wash., Rick Newall closed his small contracting business to move back to Seattle. His wife wanted to be closer to family, and Mr. Newall, now entering his 50s, was ready for a change.

“I needed to do something different,” he says. “I was really burned out” from years of working all day and spending nights and weekends doing paperwork.

As it happened, Jason Legat, who had worked for Mr. Newall in high school and college, was also starting anew in Seattle. Fresh from two years traveling the world as a fashion model, he had launched his own contracting business and was busy fixing up kitchens and bathrooms.

A couple of months after helping his old mentor move in, Mr. Legat says, “I asked him what he would think about coming to work for me. He hemmed and hawed a bit,” but agreed to give it a shot.

The tables were turned, with the younger onetime employee, becoming the older mentor’s boss, but neither man could be happier. “It gives me security like when I was working for him,” says Mr. Legat, “but I get to make the decisions.” Meanwhile, Mr. Newall says his work life now is “more enjoyable. I like working with the young guys, teaching them new things.”

In Operations, Planning | 1 Comment