Free Estimates & $40/Hour

[growler]

As a one man show what expenses do you really have that you would not have as an employee? As a business you can now use those expenses to offset income.If you are working for $20.00/hr that works out to around $41,000 yr for a forty hr week now you become self employed charging $40.00/hr even at just 5 hrs per day that works out to $52,000 yr or $11,000 more than you were making working for someone else.

Yes, but where does he get this 5 hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year doing nothing but small jobs? If you think people are going to call just because he's cheap then you better think again because there are handymen out there that have already been doing the same jobs for $35 an hour or less. They also have the little pick-up with a six foot ladder and tool pouch. Most of them also advertise to do minor electrical work.

The handymen also have the advantage because they will patch sheetrock, repair the deck and snake the drain.

The only way to make anything as a service electrician is for the customer to think they are getting something that they can't get from the handyman. A qualified, licensed and insured contractor that doesn't have just a little pick-up, six foot ladder and tool pouch.

Once you start to compete with the local handyman then $40 an hour may make you over priced. That's why is hard to make a living doing nothing but fixtures, receptacles and fans.

 

[Sparky555]

No one said anything about "losing" money in the exercise and no one said it was failproof (ftr I don't think it will work for most either)...but all he has to do is "cover his nut" for a year and $80,000 is plenty enough to do that with.

The only way this guy is invoicing 2000 hour/year in residential service is if he works 4000 hours. It's much more likely IMO he'll invoice 500 & have gross sales of $20,000. His net is going to be a loss.

 

[480sparky]

...... A qualified, licensed and insured contractor that doesn't have just a little pick-up, six foot ladder and tool pouch.......

That's funny. I do.

I think you mean a qualified, licensed and insured EC has more than a little pick-up, a six foot ladder and a tool pouch....:wink:

 

[bradleyelectric]

Or, I prevaricate on you.

don't get any of that on my shoes

 

[ramsy]

don't get any of that on my shoes

LMAOL Stick around you'll step in your share.

 

[bradleyelectric]

LMAOL Stick around you'll step in your share.

I back up into some of my own on occasion.

 

[macmikeman]

alright, you've crossed the line. I would never do that. That's extreme. I'd break the law before I'd do that. Bottom line for me is I can't afford to take a pay cut. So I'd have to figure something else out. I'd leave society and retreat to the wilderness (what's left of it anyway) and live out the rest of my existence off the land before I'd lay in an attic in shorts for $7/hr. But I get your point.

I think about half of my apprentice time was pulling romex thru some attic in shorts for about 7 an hour. But then again, back then any beachfront house in my area was 50 grand, not the current 2-5 million.

 

[jrannis]

Your math is off.
The total comes to $38,444

You also failed to include any dollar amounts for food and shelter for your self...unless someone can survive on $1556 ANNUALLY.... I thought we had minimum wage laws

Well EXCUSSSSEE ME........
I was just trying to muster up some overhead expenses of someone working out of their house.
I didnt think I would get called out by someone that isn't allowed to pump their own gas.:grin:

AAAHHHH Jersey. You Might be from Jersey if:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* you've been seriously injured at Action Park.
* you know that the only people who call it "Joisey" are from New York(usually The Bronx)or Texas.
* you don't think of citrus when people mention "The Oranges."
* you know that it's called "Great Adventure," not "Six Flags."
* you've ordered a hard roll with butter for breakfast.
* you've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.
* you've eaten at a diner, when you were stoned or drunk, at 3 am.
* whenever you park, there's a Camaro within three spots of you.
* you remember that the "Two Guys" were from Harrison.
* you know that the state isn't one big oil refinery.
* at least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen, and you know what town Jon Bon Jovi is from.
* you know what a "jug handle" is.
* you know that a WaWa is a convenience store.
* you know that the state isn't all farmland.
* you know that it isnt "The Beach" in New Jersey - it's the shore, and you know that the road to the shore is "The Parkway" not "The Garden State Highway."
* you know that "Piney" isn't referring to a tree.
* even your school cafeteria made good Italian subs, and, you call it a "sub" not a "submarine sandwich" or worse yet, a "hoagie" or a "hero."
* you remember the song from the Palisades Park commercials.
* you know how to properly negotiate a Circle.
* you knew that the last question had to do with driving.
* you know that "Acme" is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros. creation.
* you know that this is the only "New..." state that doesn't require "New" to identify it (like, try ...Mexico, ...York, ...Hampshire (doesn't work, does it?).
* you only go to New York City for day trips, and you only call it "The City."
* you consider a corned beef sandwich with lettuce and mayo a sacrilege.
* in the 80's you wore your hair REALLY high. (wait, didn't everybody??)
* you don't think "What exit" (do you live near?) is very funny.
* you know that the real first "strip shopping center" in the country is Route 22.
* you know that people from 609 area code are "a little different."
* you know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to Princeton - that's for out-of-staters.
* the Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bar.
* you live within 20 minutes of at least three different malls.
* you can see the Manhattan skyline from some part of your town.
* you refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.
* every year, you had at least one kid in your class named Tony.
* you know where every "clip" shown in the Sopranos opening credits is.
* you've gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of Willowbrook Mall.
* you've eaten a Boardwalk cheesesteak with vinegar fries.
* you have a favorite Atlantic City casino.
* you start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.
* you've never pumped your own gas. (Chris) Took me forever to get this one...
* you know how to navigate a circle while talking on a cell phone and smoking a Marlboro w/o using blinkers. (Mandie)
* every 3 miles you drive there is a deserted mall.
* most really nice homes have a gas station and a junk yard next door to them.
* you never tell the truth about what state you're from when strangers ask you in a chatroom.
* most of your cash is in dimes and quarters.
* even after moving to California, you still carry a separate change purse full of quarters and dimes for tolls. (Diane)
* you learned to drive by backing out of your driveway onto a 50 MPH road. (visitor submission)
* you have the shop install lumps and dents into your fenders so others will know that you have the strength in convinction to change lanes. (visitor submission)
* you take kick-boxing lessons hoping someone will tell you the two weeks in
New Jersey prize joke. (visitor submission)
* you know where highway 9 is from that Bruce Springsteen song. ( Steve Rothandler, srotha@yahoo.com )
* you have ever shopped at Wawa. ( Steve Rothandler, srotha@yahoo.com )

 

[celtic]

Well EXCUSSSSEE ME........

I was just trying to muster up some overhead expenses of someone working out of their house.
I didnt think I would get called out by someone that isn't allowed to pump their own gas.:grin:

A word of caution:
I'm a ninja ~ you never know when I will attack

 

[jrannis]

A word of caution:
I'm a ninja ~ you never know when I will attack

Wow,
I didnt see a thing........... It just happened

 

[celtic]

Wow,
I didnt see a thing........... It just happened

Check your pants....I just stole your wallet

 

[lbwireman]

getting back to the OP...


Sparky555 doesn't tell us where he is but I can't imagine any newspaper in the US accepting ad from any trade that doesn't require the license number they operate under.

Granted (and assuming there is a lic#), the guy may have ALSO misrepresented himself to that paper but that isn't real likely; and that then implies that he also has whatever insurance etc he needs too.

You're kidding, right? Every advertising media outlet here in CA accepts ads from whomever will pay for the ad (fake, "borrowed", suspended, etc. Lic. #s. No problem.) They do not act as "law/regulatory agency/licensing agency enforcement". We've tried for the past 10 years to get someone to exert some form of enforcement or regulatory oversight over this issue and if "buck passing" were an Olympic event, we could immediately solve one of the infrastructure problems. Pave the potholed streets with gold medals.

 

[lbwireman]

There may still be some confusion.
I am under the impression WC was meant to protect injured workers.

http://www.expertlaw.com/library/workers_comp/workers_comp.html


If WC was created to protect the employer from litigation, why are there WC lawyers?

There is a HUGE difference between the stated purpose of a program (e.g. WC) and the implementation of that same program. The operative words here being "meant to". As my gramma used to say, "the road to hell is is paved with good intentions".