Guess I'm full time now!

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Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I had planned on easing into my electrician business ever since I got my license. The few jobs I have done I treated like that was my only job since it would be easy to leave off some overhead/profit/cost etc. when not relying on the trade for a living. I Planned on seeing how it went before I jumped all the way in. Now, I don't have a choice. I was "downsized" from my job of 24yrs today so I suppose I am all in. I don't think I'm young enough to learn something entirely different, besides I like doing electrical work. Just need to learn how to go at it full bore.
 

kiddrock

Member
Location
VA
I am either sorry for you or happy for you but I can't figure out which. Why were you downsized after so long?
 

rt66electric

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
wife's friends honey-do"s

wife's friends honey-do"s

I stayed busy for two years after my wifes's friends' found out I coud fix anything, paint, build fence, wood work etc.
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I am either sorry for you or happy for you but I can't figure out which. Why were you downsized after so long?

Company decided they could get their work done cheaper in Cosa Rica.

We're here for you Bill. Good luck

Thanks, Dennis

I stayed busy for two years after my wifes's friends' found out I coud fix anything, paint, build fence, wood work etc.

I can do most of those things, but I'd rather "light something up.":)
 

JES2727

Senior Member
Location
NJ
I started my business under pretty much the same circumstances. When it became "sink or swim" I started swimming. That was seven years ago.
 

hurk27

Senior Member
I'm in the same boat, and been going at it (well trying) since last june 30th, because the contractor I had worked for over 26 years closed its doors and retired, I held most of their licenes so I figured I would go solo on my own, while at first I stayed busy because I took over some of the company's contracts to finnish, the winter hit really bad with one snow storm of over 24" really set things back, but I got an invite to take the Ramsay test at a close by steel mill, and passed it, and had to go in for another test last monday, which I past, so now I'm waiting for them to call for doing safty classes, but I still have a couple contracts to get done, but its just too much of a roller coaster ride right now in this area.

Just remember try to keep customers happy, and you should do fine, scheduling is tough on your own, but try your best to meet it, I look at it it this way if your not punching a clock, there is no such thing as over time, just do it! I have worked till 10:00PM just to keep things rolling.
 
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
Go for it full bore. Just don't forget to give yourself a paycheck, as hard as that can and will be at times. Doesn't mean you have to cash it right away but just knowing you are getting paid helps the attitude.

I started business in about the same manner 30 yrs ago, only I was a genuine SA and had only been in the trade for 5 years. It has been an experience.
 

wyrepullr

Member
Location
NJ
Good to know im not the only one

Good to know im not the only one

Good luck Bill, I'm in much of the same position, Was trying to ease in myself, and the day i got my business permit in the mail was the same day i got laid off. Can't say i didnt see it coming, weekly hours were decreasing dramatically over last few months. So far ive been lucky to land a nice sized project, and some small things to fill in time. But now i really need to start generating some work.The bid process is somewhat of a weakness for me. havent had to bid full jobs competetively really till now. Till now i used to pick and choose my side work. now its go where thework is.
 

bradleyelectric

Senior Member
Location
forest hill, md
Keep in mind you will have a much better chance of success if you learn sales and go where the profitable work is then going to the competitive bid work right now. To many people are bidding the competitive work at levels that don't cover overhead still.
 

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
...besides, I like doing electrical work. Just need to learn how to go at it full bore.

Bill, I'm with you. I love this work. Input to this forum from you and others helps me go at it "full bore". But I do not have my own EC. From this forum, I've gotten a glimpse of what your up against. Someone else wrote on this forum regarding starting an EC business, "Work harder than you ever did for anyone else".

Good luck with your new enterprise.
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
Good luck, Bill. Owning your own business can be a great satisfaction at times - you get to take all the credit when things go well :) I'll bet a lot of us were "forced" into it in some way, but that doesn't make it a bad thing - the pressure to find work is there either way.

Learning sales is an excellent idea, too. You don't have to be a used car salesman to sell work, just believe in what you're selling and it can be a lot of fun (at least in residential...). One of the changes I've noticed in myself since I started a little over a year ago is that I have more confidence now setting a price where it needs to be set for my business to work. The hardest part is have bills to pay and either no work or no checks. Nerves of steel... nerves of steel ;)

Again, good luck!
 

satcom

Senior Member
Everyone wants to support your effort and give you the big oh how great and you can do it but as you jump off the cliff of what was a study income, take care to learn what you will need to enter this new world of self employed, in these down markets and pressing inflation, you will need every advantage you can grab just to stay above the water line, every business needs a bit of funding and some some money to fall back 6 months salary will only serve as a life saver should business slow even more then the present trend
Don't forget all it will take to get things off the ground, like plenty of signed contracts or enough start up ad money to cover a wide area with quality target ad's for the first year, if you don't have start up money, finding other employment for a bit may help until you can save for start up costs guys that say you can start on a shoe string, and make it
 

__dan

Senior Member
Anyone who has asked me about working electrical, becoming an electrician, I have been saying the same thing for a long time. I do not recommend it. The exceptions are some niche markets, specializations. I recommend digital temperature controls, residential service only if you are in an area with money, or of course, having the right accounts. The good customers make it nice, the bad customers make it hell. Really no purgatory anymore, straight hell.

Try collecting unemployment as long as you can. Some states have extended benefits to 99 weeks ?? Don't tell the labor dept you are self employed, the checks will stop coming even if you have no paying work all year. I would honor my word with the labor dept and not receive pay for work while collecting. Maybe they'll pay while you take some community college courses. Programming is where there's money for work , lots of electrical stuff with computer controls or just software.

Try billing by the hour for every hour you put into a job, travel, job prep, and see what the customer's appetite for work is. Do they expect to pay for the work or is it monopoly money. If I recall Prof Quigley, there are three types of money based on the speed, I forget exactly, cannot quote it.

On the plus side, your daily interactions are with a generally better class of people. Downside is loosing eight bucks an hour for every hour you put into making a high quality job.
 
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Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
I had planned on easing into my electrician business ever since I got my license. The few jobs I have done I treated like that was my only job since it would be easy to leave off some overhead/profit/cost etc. when not relying on the trade for a living. I Planned on seeing how it went before I jumped all the way in. Now, I don't have a choice. I was "downsized" from my job of 24yrs today so I suppose I am all in. I don't think I'm young enough to learn something entirely different, besides I like doing electrical work. Just need to learn how to go at it full bore.

well, looks like your source of work has been altered.

now, instead of wondering if your shop is doing well enough to be able to
keep paying you, you can wonder the same thing about your customers.

the 80/20 rule is one to keep in mind... 80% of your income will come from
20% of your customers.....

the part that is important to keep in mind is that those twenty percenters
usually come from a referral....... from an eighty percenter..... :-/

so, every customer is your most valuable customer, until they prove
otherwise, which usually doesn't take all that long... ;-)

it is also ethically and morally wrong to work for people who don't have
the money to pay you.

a "bad day" is showing up with $10k worth of material, and a signed
contract, and finding out that the general contractor who is controlling
the money flow hasn't paid a sub in 90 days, 'cause one of them is
in the parking lot screaming at him.

or googling a general contractor, to get their street address to send
contract documents to them, and seeing under the reviews stuff like
this:

"★☆☆☆☆
More fan mail
Jack K.
Too funny. I'm looking around the Internet trying to find out more about this company. They haven't paid us for work we did almost 2 years ago. They won't return calls. Phil won't ever take a call. Phil won't respond to emails. Sounds like I found my answer! "

good luck, don't forget your preliminary notices, and especially when you are
first getting the training wheels off, don't take any job you can't afford to
walk away from unpaid....
 
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