ForConstructionPros.com

Greg Randa was like a lot of concrete contractors. He started out working for someone else for several years, then decided he wanted his piece of the pie and went out on his own. He started G.M. Randa Inc. in 1989 and built it into a successful operation.

And he was completely miserable.

"After about 15 years, I couldn't stand the thought of going to work," he says. "Something I had so much passion for in the beginning had just died. I realized all I'd done was spend 15 years building myself a job."

For Randa, the business had taken complete control of his life. He was working hard and usually making money, but never seemed to get ahead. He'd spend 12 to 14 hours a day in the field, then go back to his home office where he'd work into the night on estimates and other financial responsibilities.

"The business I had created provided a modest living for 15 years, but it took my life away," he says. "I was miserable and it just wasn't worth it."

As he looked back on his life at that point, Randa knew he had to make a change.

"All of the sudden my son is showing up at the jobsite asking for the keys to the truck, and it seemed like the last thing I remembered he was a year old and his mom was bringing him to the site to visit," he says. "Life is nothing but memories and I didn't have any. It's all moments and I missed quite a few of them with my family."