If you have something like 7000 hour's of work you can challenge the certification (or something like that) to become an h.d. while skipping the apprentice'ing.
(I may be wrong. Still learning the ropes.)
you can challenge all but your red seal and journeyman years in ech trade if i remember right. however i would not recomend it. lots of stuff you learn from the book that you may not getthe chance to work onin the field, ex. you want to go off road always worked on cats, loaders, graders etc. your going to have a hard time with the first year test as you have never worked on a trailer,1st year is mainly trailer stuff, as well as airbrake stuff would be difficult as you have never or rarely worked with it. jmo. i have sent three guys to challenge all had 3+ years working in the industry, all failed and had to do the school anyways.
So if I decide later in life that I want to start my own outfit, what would it require? Business course's or just a ton of tools or what? I know you did this Polar
as for starting up your own buis. get your licence from the municipality you want to work in and giver. the sky is the limit. oh and yah you'll need lots of tools. plan on 40g+ in your box depending on wht you do and whos breed you use. on your own with a shop your looking at easy 100k if you want a full blown do it all type shop.
ask your old man what he has tied up in shop tools it is scary. it all adds up fast.