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kmc

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hello all, I am new to the ec business and looking to generate work. I plan on truck signs and posting on craigslist and possibly doing the phone book next spring. Where did you find that you got most of your work when first starting out. Has any one tried soliciting work from GC's, commercial property owners, or other electrical contractors. Need to make some money, getting hungry. Anyone in new jersey need some help?
 
Truck signs didn't generate much for me. Craigslist wasn't too bad, but keep in mind that any clown can (and often does) post there, and people on craigslist are often bargain hunters.

The best source for me was neighborhood newspapers that cover various parts of the city. The ads are affordable, and people who like to hire local will consult them. I also used to post my business card in coffee shops and hardware stores. Those generated some work for me.

I've only worked under GCs a couple of times, and neither time turned out well. I think the general opinion on this board is that you'd be wise to avoid GCs right now. They know all the tricks, while you don't. That puts you at a significant disadvantage.

Be careful with the yellow pages. I've been burned twice by them (the yearlong ad cost me more than I grossed from it). It's a one-year commitment you can't get out of if it's a bust halfway through.
 
you've got to spend money to make it

you've got to spend money to make it

:) I am a small town electrician who entered the arena with saturation in the electrical field. I knew that it was saturated when I came in but I also knew that the complaints that I heard from customers was the key to running my own business. My first big commitment was to bill boards. If you look big you will be big! It is a commitment but with any advertising it's just that. I looked to advertising anywhere I could...small bargin shopper newspapers are a great revenue for me...that cost was $50 a ad on the front page. Many people saw my ad and it is one of my best cheap advertisements. Don't give up on the yellow pages...make your ad stand out...make it big. I have placed thousands of dollars into advertising in the past year and 9 months I have been a full fledged business. It has paid off! I have grown by leaps and bounds and now have 2 trucks and 5 employees. You have got to spend the money or you will fail. There are too many others out there who have been there ahead of you. Place you money where people will see it. Get yourself a good slogan and stick with it...I know that this and God watching over me is the reason for my success! Good luck!

Betsy Delozier
Big D Electric
"Light years above the rest!"
 
jeff43222 said:
I've only worked under GCs a couple of times, and neither time turned out well. I think the general opinion on this board is that you'd be wise to avoid GCs right now. They know all the tricks, while you don't. That puts you at a significant disadvantage.
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Remember this advice !
 
that is very good advice!! the yellow pages are expensive and require major dollars to invest to meet the needs of increased business. consider what it costs to purchase and PROPERLY outfit a service truck and hire a qualified man to keep these new customers happy. yellow page ads can work when there is a need for more service in your area and you have the means to provide this service! when i first went into business i had a partner who wanted to jump in this direction. we didn't have alot of capital. we had an arguement about how much it would cost to add a service truck to our business. so i asked him to write up the tools and materials he would need to outfit a service truck. i did the same thing. the next morning we compaired lists. he had about two pages of "stuff"!! i never stopped writing because i didn't know what else to add --- but stopped because i had to work the next day!!! i had about twenty pages.... just the costs of additional taxes and benifits is a big investment. we split up after a year and he went on his own. he was out of business within a year but still had to make the payments for his advertisments for some time.... good customer service is your best advertisment and it doesn't cost a penney!!!! i never advertised --- the first service trucks had lettering --- cost me $800.00 and i was never told that i got a job because of it --- the newer trucks remained plain white.......................... 25 years and never missed a days work due to no work..........
 
I agree that good customer service is the best advertising. But, you have to have some customers in order to give good customer service. You have to let the public know you are in the business even to be considered for a job. Always carry business cards and give them out or post them whenever possible. Jeff mentioned news paper adds and it's the right season for remodeling, before Christmas. Truck lettering may not get you much work but in some states the law requires it ( Magnetic signs will normally meet the requirement, not so expensive). If you wish to get into certain areas of work then you will have to work with general contractors. I like small to medium commerial remodels ( tenant spaces ). Never let a GC get into you for to much money ( pay as you go type of thing ). They get a draw up front and so should you to cover expenses, then get a draw on rough and a small balance at final. Never sign a lien waiver until you have been paid all your money including additional cost. Many of the malls require that all sub contractors sign before the GC gets his final payment. If I don't get paid then he doesn't get paid. Watch out for jobs where the customer does not want you to get a permit for some reason. Good Luck.
 
growler said:
Always carry business cards and give them out or post them whenever possible.
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Excellent advice. I've gotten several jobs this way.
growler said:
Truck lettering may not get you much work but in some states the law requires it ( Magnetic signs will normally meet the requirement, not so expensive).
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I started out with a pair of signs (legally required here) that were two-color magnetic and cost me close to $300. The weather caused serious damage to them within a year (OK, I'm in Minnesota, so it's not suprising). Also, one of the signs melted to the side of my truck, and I had to peel it off along with part of the finish. I then had permanent lettering put on, and it cost me just over $100. They look better and are still in great shape. Personally, I think the permanent lettering gives a better impression than the magnetic ones.
growler said:
Never let a GC get into you for to much money ( pay as you go type of thing ). They get a draw up front and so should you to cover expenses, then get a draw on rough and a small balance at final.
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Very good advice. Once things get too imbalanced, they pretty much have you over a barrel.
growler said:
Never sign a lien waiver until you have been paid all your money including additional cost. Many of the malls require that all sub contractors sign before the GC gets his final payment. If I don't get paid then he doesn't get paid.
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More excellent advice.
growler said:
Watch out for jobs where the customer does not want you to get a permit for some reason.
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Take these jobs only under one condition: They pay you, up front, enough for you to retire immediately. That way, you're covered in case you lose your license. :D
 
I've never advertised yet... always have too much work.
1. Talk to your friends and give them extra copies of your cards to hand out at work etc.

2. If you are part of a church or organizations like rotary or lions club, VFW, Masons, or whatever put out word there... even if no one there needs it they usually know someone who does. Many have bulletin boards where you can place business cards.

3. Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, etc. in small towns especially just letting them know you exist may get you some business, becoming a member will often get you on their website.

4. Set up your own website... I recently set up a website using Microsoft FrontPage with GoDaddy.com as a host... total cost for 10 year registration, 2 years hosting, and 50 email accounts $128. There are also many free sites like geocities, msn, aol, etc that offer free sites. Make sure to get yourself a good name and get lots of keywords listed in the search engines so that if some one does a search for electricians, lights, ceiling fans, GFCI, wiring, service, or ???? in your area you show up.

5. Keep your eyes and ears open while you're out shopping. I get jobs all the time by being a little helpful at the hardware store or Home Depot... often do it yourselfers will find themselves in over their heads and be perfectly willing to pay good money for a little technical support or a proper installation if you can do it right away. Do it yourselfers can be a good souce of income also... They will often pay you to come out to access their situation, make some wiring diagrams and print out a list of materials, then pay you to check their work before calling the inspector.

6. Make your own work... if you have the means to purchase rental property or handyman specials to make upgrades then resell or rent out. Remember rental properties are an excellent source of income especially for someone who can do their own repair work, and they can often be bought with no money down or cash back for upgrades... My parents currently have 3 duplexes.

7. Do good work in a timely manner... no amount of advertising will ever be worth more than workmanship... it is much easier to keep a customer than to find a new one, and a happy customer is the best advertising ever.

Good luck
 
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If you use mutlible venues to advertise (yellow pages, newspaper, cards, etc.) always ask where they heard about you and keep track of it, that way you will know where you are getting your moneys worth.

As the President of the local Little League I was weary of putting an ad in one of the local flyers since it cost around $1200 for twice a year even though it was delivered to every house in the city. As we talked it over we realized we only needed to sign up 10 kids that saw that ad for it to pay for it's self. That many times ten bring in that ad (we include a coupon) so it is well worth it. We also sent different colored flyers out to the schools twice a year (17,000 x 2) to see which ones are doing the most good and now we only send one out because the second wasn't generating enough for the time and money we were spending.

Good work and good service will be your best advertising. Good Luck.
 
Every post had good advice. I would say leave a business card everywhere you go. If you pick up coffee in the morning, leave a card, sandwich shop for lunch, leave a card, a beer on the way home at the end of the day, leave a card. Leave one every time. Also, are you near a Veterens hospital or other government facility, military base or something? If so, contact them and get yourself on their bidders list.

As a few people have said, a quality installation is your best advertisement.

Good Luck!!!!!
 
I have been trying to find some side work for some time now mainly posting at craigslist but its just almost impossible to find any though that site.

I would normally be working with a company but they just don't want to deal with part time workers.

I'm going to electrical training classes as well as college which gives me Monday, and weekends off for any work.

I'm slowly seeing my money run low and it's hard to find any job that pays well and will take a part time worker. Last month i called up 10 contractors to see if they needed any help but they never returned my call except for one but they were an hour and a half away from my location and i just could not get there in time....life's tough.
 
Dave,

you do realize that it's a 4th degree felony, with possible jailtime, for doing electrical work without a license in NJ, right?
 
I've had more calls than I can count as a result of our trucks being well lettered. It's been that way since I can remember. We've always had basically the same lettering. Not too gaudy, but prominent and professional. It's like a rolling billboard. A recognizable (or rememberable if that's a word) company name helps. Also I've heard that removable signs are not legal on vehicles. I can't quote the source, so take that for whatever it's worth. Personally I think removable signs look unprofessional.

I got rid of the yellow page ad a few years ago.

I'm not much help with other advertising as everything we get is basically referral.

i have heard that church bulletins bring good results for service.
 
emahler said:
Dave,

you do realize that it's a 4th degree felony, with possible jailtime, for doing electrical work without a license in NJ, right?
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yea I know...I'm just looking for the best way to make money as I'm not working currently but i want to stick with some type of job close to electric.

ill probably get a job at the local home depot at the electric isle...most of the guys there don't know what they are talking about most of the time so I would be great at that area.

I still haven't gotten any work from my searching for side jobs but if I did I would clearly let the home owner know that I don't have my papers yet and I only would take smaller jobs like switching out lights or outlets or installing GFCIs...nothing big like panel upgrades, circuit adding......

Every electrician I have talked to has said that they did side jobs like this when they were working with a company before doing the test. It's just another way to make your money and at this point I really need that.
 
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j_erickson said:
i have heard that church bulletins bring good results for service.
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my dad looked in the church bulletin back when we needed an electrician to wire our basement.

We found a one man company that worked great for a low price and at the end I even got a job with him for a few months...(I stopped working with him when I realized he didn't have allot of work at all and I was never going to go above $8 an hour)
 
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Dave85 said:
Every electrician I have talked to has said that they did side jobs like this when they were working with a company before doing the test. It's just another way to make your money and at this point I really need that.
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Dave85, from your proflile I would assume that 1985 is the year of your birth. I know of a few electricians that are doing side work. Many of these guys are lead men or foreman where they work. They have been doing electrical work since before you were even born. In reality it's illegal for these guys to work without a license but the odds of you making a mistake are much greater, as a young apprentice. Think of it like this, I would not send a young apprentice with less than a year of actual experience to work unsupervised under my license. why? I would be afraid that he would kill himself or create hazards for others. There are not that many jobs that only require you to change out a receptacle or light fixture. That may be what they ask for on the phone but when you get there the fixture isn't working because the squirrels ate the wiring in the attic.
My advice is this: If you want to be an electrician, get some real experience. Get a job with a real contractor and go to electrical classes a night. When you finish the electrical classes then go to college at night. It may take longer but you will know what you are doing. When you do become an electrical contractor you will be a good one. Everthing that is worthwhile take a little time.
 
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growler said:
Think of it like this, I would not send a young apprentice with less than a year of actual experience to work unsupervised under my license.
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I wouldn't, either, for the reasons you stated. It's also against the law here. To work unsupervised in this state, you have to hold at least a journeyman license. Unlicensed people can work for an EC, but they must be supervised by a journeyman or master, and the license holder can supervise a maximum of two people.

Someone without any license at all who does side work is violating multiple laws here. I have to have two state licenses (EC, master) to do electrical work for anyone who hires me.
 
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