Business partner
- Thread starter Dolfan
- Start date
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kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Well there is my wife, but her involvement certainly doesn't qualify her as an electrical professional if that is what you are looking for. She will go to the supply house and pick up items that I called in (she doesn't even know what she will be picking up or if they got the order correct) and deliver them to me at the job, she may help me pull some conductors in raceway on occasion, or pick up/clean up at end of day or end of project, or maybe open boxes and assemble/set up items on some larger projects where there is repetitive tasks, and does some work in the office but when it comes to technical knowledge, she is not an electrical professional.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Just curious as to why you think that gender should matter, are you thinking of something specific?
Dolfan
Senior Member
I have a woman in mind, 57 years old, had her own business (electrical) for 17yrs., (went under due to recession), who may be perfect for me. I may be wrong though.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I would be worried about both the 57 YO and female parts.
I am closing in on 57 myself (next year) and I am finding my motivation to work goes down as I get older, especially if it involves physical labor. If you are looking at her for her brains it may not matter much. If you expect her to do physical labor it probably will.
I would also point out that regardless of any merit she may have otherwise, taking on an attractive female (or any female for that matter) may create some issues with your wife.
The other thing I would worry about is the "business partner" idea. It is a lot easier to get a business partner than it is to get rid of one if it turns out sour. A business partner is a lot different than an employee.
Business partners whether male or female is tough decision. I don't think anyone can give you a YES or a NO. It certainly has advantages and disadvantages (especially with an opposite sex). You may easily be able to get loans because you have a woman owned business and get in to trouble with sexual harassment cases.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Well when it comes to some things having a woman owned business, a minority owned business - or a minority that is also a woman, can have some advantages. I don't want to comment much on whether that is right or not as it could turn into a political issue, but it is what it is.
You want government loans, grants, etc. you have some advantage if you meet that criteria, or even bidding some jobs that could be an advantage.
But if I were in your shoes I would look beyond that, and consider how good of a business partner she will be. Hard to put gender entirely aside as it can be an influence on type of clients you get (both positive and negative), but ultimately her performance will eventually show itself whether good or bad, even if just being a female gets you some extra clients initially.
No matter what business you are in, continued success is determined more by satisfied clients then most anything else.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
A lot of businesses that went bust had very satisfied customers.
Continued success requires that you stay solvent more than anything else IMO.
The fact that she went bust after 17 years is curious. I would want to look at what went wrong very closely.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Good point. If all she did was wire new homes, and then the new home market crashed, she needed to find other ways to keep in business, people still needed service work and there were other areas that may not have slowed, or at least had changes in what was priorities but never shut off completely. Small commercial, industrial, and institutional jobs were still out there. Now if you are in a smaller community and a large employer in that community closes the doors, it can be hard on everyone in the community - hopefully you are willing to work outside your community or make some changes to what you do offer for services, or you will be hurting as well.
Nom Deplume
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
I wouldn't partner with anyone regardless of gender. :happysad:
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
The Romanian women tell it to their daughters this way:
"Remember always that the man is the head of the household.
But know also that the woman is the neck!"
"Remember always that the man is the head of the household.
But know also that the woman is the neck!"
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
A business partner should bring something to the mix. What does she bring to the mix that makes her worth partnering with?
She went bust so it probably is not money.
She went bust so maybe it is not business acumen.
She is probably too old to be the muscle in the deal.
Not seeing what makes you see this as such a great deal for you.
How much is she willing to put in to the business as a buy in? Where is she going to get the money to buy in?
She went bust so it probably is not money.
She went bust so maybe it is not business acumen.
She is probably too old to be the muscle in the deal.
Not seeing what makes you see this as such a great deal for you.
How much is she willing to put in to the business as a buy in? Where is she going to get the money to buy in?
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- Location
- Tennessee NEC:2017
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrician
The only ship that doesn't sail is a "partner-ship"!
If all you need is help, why not just hire her on a trial basis?
If that works out, make her a full time "employee", not a partner.:happyno:
If all you need is help, why not just hire her on a trial basis?
If that works out, make her a full time "employee", not a partner.:happyno:
mjf
Senior Member
With the limited amount of info we were provided, I was thinking something along the same lines.
Gender aside, if I was to take on a partner (I don't think I'd ever do it), they would have to bring in as much money, tools, vehicles, and clientele as I already have in my business.
If I considered bringing in someone like the OP described, I'd probably try something like Little Bill suggested and maybe add a percentage of profit on any customers they brought with them.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
Hire _____ if you need help and ____ can do the work. Pay ____ accordingly.
Offer a partnership if that works out.
Offer a partnership if that works out.
Dolfan
Senior Member
Thanks guys, I have food for thought. I thought a partner would give me something that I feel that I'm lacking. Nobody cares about my business except me. I just thought that it would be nice to be able to discuss projects, problems, success, with someone who has been there and done that. She ran a 5 million a year business for a long time with very good success and references to back it up. I might be dreaming though, I dislike most women for all the same reasons most men do. I have not done anything yet, so don't worry. I really appreciate the feedback.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
But at same time a woman that knows how to do electrical service/contracting work probably isn't quite like most other women - especially those you claim to dislike. When it comes to men, I know many EC's that are arrogant enough I wouldn't ever care to be a business partner with them, though so gender wouldn't be one of the first concerns for me if in your shoes.
A female could possibly wins sales to certain clients - just because she may take a different approach at things then many other's that are competing for the client. Then again some women are harder to work for/with then most men - all depends on the individual.
What you want is someone who can gain you access to the accounts you want, large accounts that have steady work all the time, pay (slowly like everyone else), and don't look at the bills too closely so you can go up for their slow pay. You want access to higher tier, less competitive work where they like her (or you) and are less concerned about shopping your price around.
You could try a fix fee consulting arrangement:
For 25% of the job, fee, she:
prospects customers or has customer access to pull, plans, gets on the bid list, arranges material supplier quotes and special equipment package quotes, bids the job, handles all the job meetings, customer hand holding, schmoozing, change order processing, supervises billing and payment of invoices with the customer ... customer contact management
you:
execute the physical aspects of the job, trade labor, material logistics, manpower and tools, perform all field construction and services ... own, contract, perform, signatory responsible person ...
This puts you in the field which you may prefer and assigns complex highly skilled admin, customer schmoozing, work to someone who must be good at it for the joining to work out.
You could try a fix fee consulting arrangement:
For 25% of the job, fee, she:
prospects customers or has customer access to pull, plans, gets on the bid list, arranges material supplier quotes and special equipment package quotes, bids the job, handles all the job meetings, customer hand holding, schmoozing, change order processing, supervises billing and payment of invoices with the customer ... customer contact management
you:
execute the physical aspects of the job, trade labor, material logistics, manpower and tools, perform all field construction and services ... own, contract, perform, signatory responsible person ...
This puts you in the field which you may prefer and assigns complex highly skilled admin, customer schmoozing, work to someone who must be good at it for the joining to work out.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I don't know that we "dislike" women in general.
Just that it is not real easy to see what benefit there is to you taking this particular woman on as a partner, based on what you have stated to date.
It sounds to me that you may be looking for someone to validate what you are doing as much as anything else.
references are often pretty much meaningless. No one is going to give you a name to call that will not tell you how great that person is.
$5 million sounds like a lot, but if the business never made any money, what good is that experience to you?
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