- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
That is the great thing about commercial, nobody cares about how much something costs they are just waiting to pay whatever it takes. None of them complain about how much it costs when they call you sometime in the evening and it turns out the fix is something simple like resetting a breaker. All they care abut is that the job is done right. Most of them have a guy on staff that has pockets full of cash that will meet you in the parking lot when you finish up with the job.These are reasons I no longer want to work for homeowners:
They want work done super cheap.
They want work done at odd hours including really early, really late, or on the weekends.
The jobs tend to be small and require lots of driving.
They want superb quality and cut throat prices.
They bitch and complain about petty things like my guys leaving a wire nut or some minute trash on the job site.
When I charge them a fixed fee for a service and my guys finish it quickly, they ask for a discount instead of saying "thanks for getting that done quickly".
I hate having to walk on egg shells when in expensive homes making sure we don't scratch, damage, or otherwise disturb their pristine residence.
They treat me like a second class citizen. They don't know my background (EE) and so think I'm just some day laborer (aka burger flipper).
Note: the above represents about 10% of my customers. The other 90% are great. I'm just tired of dealing with that 10%. And if that 10% is still going to exist in the commercial electrical world, well then I'm getting out of electrical contracting all together.
But if it doesn't, then I want commercial maintenance accounts (checking emergency lights, etc.). I also want commercial accounts for lighting and other general electrical upgrades (motors, panels, etc.). How do I get those accounts?
No worries about interrupting regular business hours....come on in and work, customers that have a problem with a lift in the aisle where they want to shop aren't important to us.
And the best part is when you tell the owner of the commercial property that what he has right now is a cascade of problems that started about thirty years ago he says, "I had no idea! Do whatever it takes to make this place right. When you are done I'll get my guy to meet you in the parking lot.