Getting new work fast

A

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
Interviewed an older j-man-
Seems knowledgeable but don’t know till I get him out on the jobs- I was booked out a month and a half.
If I hire him I got larger non service jobs that can keep him busy for 2-3 weeks.
But I want to make sure I keep them comming…

All while I have been in the processs of finishing my lighting store. I have currently been dumping my pay and earnings into buying outright everything I needs for the shop.
I probably have maybe another 15-20k left to purchase.
I have a helper now also that will run the store front once it’s open.

Question———- i will loose a lot of my capital cause I have to now pay some one $60 after taxes an hour- i bill out at 150$ overhead to run shop and vehicles is $180 a day.

My overhead a day is cheap at 20 a day.
Helpers $23 an hour after taxes

So every hours $83 and I bill out 150 seems still a good rate of return——- but know I have to find work for him and me—— how does one grind the fence—-

I don’t do new construction cause I bid high should I cut my prices since I am. Now paying less for a jman than I wanted to make a day— or just advertise a lot more and do a lot more Facebook post—
I never budded in medium size government jobs just cause I did not have any help now I do so thought about that.
Any help—-

Also don’t know if this guy sucks but I’ll find out on a job or two real quick-
 
Don't sell us old guys short.
I'm working on a new job right now.
Young go getter in charge.
First day and he was 30 min late. Then tried to phone in the scope of work. Now he is off chasing material and tools. Done all I can and sitting here typing. Of course it's my old man fault he is not prepared.

I would say be prepared to keep him busy and the money will take care of its self.
If he is a worker you will find out the first day.

This type of foreman here in Tulsa is pretty common (rant).

Need to run wire for 120 v recpt and no white wire. 🥴
I could type for 20 min however I will save everyone trouble reading.

You have to spend money to make money.
Wish you the best of luck.
 
That was not my intention on bashing older j-man. I know he could work circles around others if he a hard worker. Just fiqure with age like me you get slower but your knowledge increases so I can do crap a lot quicker cause you know what to do.
 
I've seen 40 year old who need annual surgery and 60 year Olds who can rope a house faster than me. It depends on the guy and how he's dealt with life and honestly if he's heavy he's not going to last into the golden years in new work.
 
Tulsa Electrician said:
Don't sell us old guys short.
I'm working on a new job right now.
Young go getter in charge.
First day and he was 30 min late. Then tried to phone in the scope of work. Now he is off chasing material and tools. Done all I can and sitting here typing. Of course it's my old man fault he is not prepared.

This type of foreman here in Tulsa is pretty common (rant).

Need to run wire for 120 v recpt and no white wire. 🥴
I could type for 20 min however I will save everyone trouble reading.
Click to expand...
I feel attacked😂 It's been that way all my life. They say there is medicine to help, but I would forget to take it.
 
How does one drum up a lot of work—- new house wiring is basically out, good old boys around here are half my rate , not great profit so o well
I was a generac repair person for a while but did not do it cause of the issue I read on this fourm.
i figured now with him I can try and get into some larger commercial jobs—
I will be reaching out to every contractor-
Just try and abuse social media I guess.
I got to make sure I work just as much as now.
 
Well he must be nervous or not great at service work 3.5 hours to run one circuit under home on crawl and up a wall for receptacle bottom plate was accessible. Crawl about 5 feet tall. Wire length 50 feet panel is outside panel and wire was uf.
Two hours would be my time/ I guess owner just works faster????
 
AC\DC said:
Well he must be nervous or not great at service work 3.5 hours to run one circuit under home on crawl and up a wall for receptacle bottom plate was accessible. Crawl about 5 feet tall. Wire length 50 feet panel is outside panel and wire was uf.
Two hours would be my time/ I guess owner just works faster????
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There is no incentive for an hourly guy to hurry. If he works fast, he makes no money. If you want to see a man perform, pay him by the piece. He will be falling over himself trying to get tasks completed.
 
AC\DC said:
Well he must be nervous or not great at service work 3.5 hours to run one circuit under home on crawl and up a wall for receptacle bottom plate was accessible. Crawl about 5 feet tall. Wire length 50 feet panel is outside panel and wire was uf.
Two hours would be my time/ I guess owner just works faster????
Click to expand...
No. Owner needs to re-read his own overhead needs from the first post...
2 Hours for travel, consult, terminate new circuit in panel and cut-in recept?
Did the work require any patch up from painters/drywall?
Faster aint really the problem...
Quit quoting these things ..
 
rambojoe said:
No. Owner needs to re-read his own overhead needs from the first post...
2 Hours for travel, consult, terminate new circuit in panel and cut-in recept?
Did the work require any patch up from painters/drywall?
Faster aint really the problem...
Quit quoting these things ..
Click to expand...
If you’re good you don’t need patchwork plus that’s a Sheetrockers job. That’s on my speed dial.
Drive time is 10 minutes from shop——-
You must work slow——I did not quote this—- comparing him to my hours it’s a new thing to me cause I have one speed get it done—-
He nice don’t get me wrong it’s a learning curve for me- I bill out at 150 so thinking I need to give the first few customers a break in price maybe 10% just cause of the added amount———
 
letgomywago said:
It depends on what he's good at. Try him on a service change and a small bathroom remodel. Could be he just isn't fast at crawling around or fishing without someone to catch the wires.
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Ya it’s a talent in its self to work by your self- he heading to a rough in of a large garage with generac ats so I’ll see how that goes…..
He nice polite , and I like him just trying to not piss my customers off cause they pay the bills not him
 
CoolWill said:
There is no incentive for an hourly guy to hurry. If he works fast, he makes no money. If you want to see a man perform, pay him by the piece. He will be falling over himself trying to get tasks completed.
Click to expand...
How would the price job go—— I’ll give you xxx amount to get this done in two day???? Seems like corners could be cut that way—


We have agreed to a two week trial at 55 an hour then he wants more to stay so I got to think ahead…. -
 
AC\DC said:
If you’re good you don’t need patchwork plus that’s a Sheetrockers job. That’s on my speed dial.
Drive time is 10 minutes from shop——-
You must work slow——I did not quote this—- comparing him to my hours it’s a new thing to me cause I have one speed get it done—-
He nice don’t get me wrong it’s a learning curve for me- I bill out at 150 so thinking I need to give the first few customers a break in price maybe 10% just cause of the added amount———
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Aahh.. you must be slow. Nice.
But also capable of running a business.
I ask a question and you give estrogen charged responses.
ID still like to know, did he do the job without any damage? Or call backs?
Now there is such a thing as "canned posts", i suppose.
Fire the guy.
 
rambojoe said:
Aahh.. you must be slow. Nice.
But also capable of running a business.
I ask a question and you give estrogen charged responses.
ID still like to know, did he do the job without any damage? Or call backs?
Now there is such a thing as "canned posts", i suppose.
Fire the guy.
Click to expand...
And how does that relate to my question of his speed and how I need to fiqure out that everyone not as fast I want them or expect them.
So your need to keep up to speed— put the beer down on the quad your going to hurt your self

Don’t know why you got combative but I do like that!!!

To answer your new question he did oversize the box cut out in paneling- so I have to put a larger ugly plate on now but that’s it——- never said he was bad just slow

Sorry if I dont proof read to busy—— just asking for advice
 
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As far as service work is concerned I'm more worried about quality then speed.

Like you said, piecework can lead to problems with quality.

I used to hear that, when training, focus on quality and the speed will come. But I guess this guy is already trained and it didn't work?
 
AC\DC said:
Well he must be nervous or not great at service work 3.5 hours to run one circuit under home on crawl and up a wall for receptacle bottom plate was accessible. Crawl about 5 feet tall. Wire length 50 feet panel is outside panel and wire was uf.
Two hours would be my time/ I guess owner just works faster????
Click to expand...
Not sure what's involved with running the outside panel portion as all ours are indoors here, but if I'm quoting that I'd say 2hrs labor with 0.5hrs for in/out is spot-on every day.

If he's new to service, it has a steep learning curve for sure - hard to understand for guys who only ever did service or have been doing it for years. New construction is a lot easier in ways. He might be a fine journeyman on rough-in, but just needs time to figure out service. 500 hours to get up to speed probably. Also he may need some training and hand-holding to start. If he has no experience with this sort of thing and you just set him loose, he's going to spend half the time dithering and trying to figure out how to get from A to B. That's as much on you as on him, as most electricians don't have a service background, at least around here, so you can't expect them to hit the ground sprinting. And he doesn't have anyone to work with, so he has to reinvent the wheel as he goes...

Paying piecework is fine IF you have quality control in place. He should be sending pics/vids of the final installation. Do a quick call to the homeowner once he's gone to check how it went. Then it's on him to be fast or slow, you're not shouldering the burden.

For service work, as stated, quality > speed. You won't keep customers if your guys can't do quality.
Either way, a new employee working solo needs to be QCd.
 
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