Just wondering how everyone out there is coping. I unfortunately moved to a new town less than a year ago and don't have a big client base here. My business has gone from 7 days a week to 7 days a month in a big hurry.

It's been pretty slow the past few months. I've used what little bit of money I made to get my business completely out of debt. Tough on my wallet, but I sleep better at night.

Business is starting to pick up right now, have few large projects to work on for the next month or so. Hope it's not just a fluke.

I'm doing jobs I would never have done in the past..2-3 hr one way travel...but hey, you do what you gotta do I guess.

Hi there guys I am new to this forum never posted before. I have a question for pistolpete because I know he used to work in van city. I am moving there in a week how is it to work in van city.

sorry, I've been away from the forum for a while. We had twins and one of them needed heart surgery. It's been a pretty crazy summer and fall. Working in Vancouver is like anywhere else. If you are good there is no shortage of work. The trouble with the city is spending an hour or two in traffic every day and the insane housing costs. If you are making less than $50/hour you will not make it financially.

One piece of advice I'd give you is watch your ass when it comes to getting paid. Never install tile that you paid for personally until at least your materials are fully paid for. Certain nationalities of builders seem to think that business is like poker and will screw you if they can. I can discuss this via private PM if you want.

Hi Pete
Congratulations on having twins! I hope your little one has a speedy recovery.

Hi all. I'm new here in the forums. Just curious how everyone is fairing with the economy. How's your outlook for the new year? In Edmonton, a few fly-by-night operations and individuals. But I guess they are around in the good times too, but less visible.

I think that I ended up pretty lucky. All in all I missed about 5 days of work last year. I ended up with several large commercial jobs that filled in about 3 moths of work, so that the shortage of residential work didn't hurt. Now things seem to be picking back up to the normal levels.

Sounds like good news Pete. I do only residential so it can get slow around Christmas and the New Year (as per usual). Do you do work for a single general contractor (commercial)?

I sub contract for a flooring store and have been really happy with that. The pay is good and I have very few of the hassles that generally go with being a self employed contractor. They do most of the commercial flooring in town, but being a small town, there just isn't a large amount of those jobs around.