peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Making the plunge
- Thread starter peter d
- Start date
- Status
bradleyelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- forest hill, md
no. You will need customers after the first week is over. Call your local Small Business Developement Center. There have been some good discussions lately about business knowledge and developement. Decide what your market is. Build your infrustructure. Today may not be the best day to stake your claim. Tomorrow may well be.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
True, but without the aforementioned obligations I have time to build all of that and not be financially ruined.
bradleyelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- forest hill, md
your more than welcome to do anything you want to do. You can build some infrustructure without jumping in the deep end. What do you want the business to look like when you are done? What will you need to build it? What are your dreams?
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Yes, but you have to start somewhere, don't you? I guess I'm not following what you're saying.
bradleyelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- forest hill, md
Sorry, I edited to add information while you were replying.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
My dream is to be like Marc because he is the best electrician that ever lived.
I'm not planning to go into business so I can buy a yacht and cruise around the Mediterranean, but I'm sure not doing it so I can earn paycheck wages every week either. There is no sense in that. And of course my goal is to hire people so I don't have to actually do electrical work anymore and can focus on the business aspect of things. That is the only true way to grow.
What's your target market? residential/light commercial service, doing new installs if it comes your way? In industrial I could use a few guys full time with the right combination of instrument and automation background, but those guys aren't around. We have two guys that handle programming and field commissioning on PLCs and associated instruments and we could use a couple more. Plus the two guys that we have keep talking about retiring since they're past 60.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
I'm pretty much a residential specialist, but I've also done small and medium commercial work. I'll do whatever I have to at first. I'd say my target market would be residential and light commerical and service.
bradleyelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- forest hill, md
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=107844 There's an awful lot of information right there.
You don't have to be lucky. You can start with a plan. There are 5 drivers of any business. Learn them and how to manipulate them.
You don't have to be someone that goes into business and decides it's a pain in the butt because you don't understand how to run a business. Start with what Greg says at the beginning of this thread about having a direction and a plan and find out what you will need to do to impliment your plan.
You don't have to be lucky. You can start with a plan. There are 5 drivers of any business. Learn them and how to manipulate them.
You don't have to be someone that goes into business and decides it's a pain in the butt because you don't understand how to run a business. Start with what Greg says at the beginning of this thread about having a direction and a plan and find out what you will need to do to impliment your plan.
JohnJ0906
Senior Member
- Location
- Baltimore, MD
That probably puts you ahead of most electricians who start their own companies. (At least IME)
cadpoint
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
If you go...
Deal with the company external paper work once (mail, e-mail,and phone calls of solication).
Keep all you own paperwork to a minumim. But if you leap,
You can generate quite a bit of paper.
How's your book keeping skills? Get a CPA!
Consider using electronic calendars and day planners for short and long term schedules of payments, quarterly taxes.
Frankly, I'd go meet and introduce yourself to some of the other houses in town! They alone can give you some work! AKA (also know you competition!) ((You'll be surprised...))
Deal with the company external paper work once (mail, e-mail,and phone calls of solication).
Keep all you own paperwork to a minumim. But if you leap,
You can generate quite a bit of paper.
How's your book keeping skills? Get a CPA!
Consider using electronic calendars and day planners for short and long term schedules of payments, quarterly taxes.
Frankly, I'd go meet and introduce yourself to some of the other houses in town! They alone can give you some work! AKA (also know you competition!) ((You'll be surprised...))
Last edited:
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Well, that may very well be true....things like understanding the difference between markup and margin, marking up material, and overhead are just a few of the things I now understand from reading stuff here.
tonyou812
Senior Member
- Location
- North New Jersey
I guess its all relative to were you live. I happen to live in one of the most densely populated areas in the country so if you cant make a decent living here, hard times or not than that's pretty sad. Sure i'm not going to grow at the rate that I would like but so what. From the time I started in this business I always had a goal that I wanted to reach whether I was a helper or mechanic and thus far Ive meet every goal.
I guess it all comes down to the individual and maybe geography has a little hand in it as well. Marketing also has a lot to do with it. I hand out more cards and introduce myself to more people than I ever did. I even have my family pimp me out as much as I can.
The real secret to being sucsessfull IMO is drive and how bad you want it. You cant sit back and wait for the phone to ring you need to go out there and get it. I am very proud of what I have managed to accomplish is a fairly short amout of time. (short when you compare some of the 30 year vets in this forum). And if I am managing to get by in this crappy time I cant wait untill things get better. But only you know what is best for you, and sometimes you should stay with your initial gut feeling.
I guess it all comes down to the individual and maybe geography has a little hand in it as well. Marketing also has a lot to do with it. I hand out more cards and introduce myself to more people than I ever did. I even have my family pimp me out as much as I can.
The real secret to being sucsessfull IMO is drive and how bad you want it. You cant sit back and wait for the phone to ring you need to go out there and get it. I am very proud of what I have managed to accomplish is a fairly short amout of time. (short when you compare some of the 30 year vets in this forum). And if I am managing to get by in this crappy time I cant wait untill things get better. But only you know what is best for you, and sometimes you should stay with your initial gut feeling.
better plan than most....go for it...jump in....the water is warm
brantmacga
Señor Member
- Location
- Georgia
- Occupation
- Former Child
do it peter!
it sounds like you're good to go except business experience.
plan, plan, plan, and most of all, follow through with the plan.
you might want to employ the services of a business coach. also, read as many books on running a business as possible, especially those written by people in our type of business.
there are some things that you may only learn by experience, no matter how much you read. it least it has been that way for me. knowing how to do electrical work will not be as important as knowing how to run the business.
customer service is extremely important. i have found that if people like you enough and realize that you care about them and their concerns, the fact that you didn't satisfy them the first time won't matter; they are more willing to overlook certain things if they adore you. knowing how to communicate with your customers is crucial.
also, don't spread yourself too thin and make promises you can't keep.
i'm closing in on the end of my 2nd year in business and i still have a problem with that. i don't like telling people "no", and too often exhaust myself to keep up; knowing full well saying "i'll be there xxxxday" would be okay with them.
also; pricing. know your costs and have a rate that will cover those costs. never work for less than you need to operate.
lastly; marketing. market your company until you can market no more; then do it again. door-to-door marketing is a good way to start. just get some cards, maybe some fliers, and go to every business in town. just let them know who you are, what you're doing, and that you're available to help. don't get too in-depth with them unless they ask questions. just get your name in their head. after that round is finish, you can start back over with more in-depth marketing.
its not a bad time to start. my phone is still ringing.
it sounds like you're good to go except business experience.
plan, plan, plan, and most of all, follow through with the plan.
you might want to employ the services of a business coach. also, read as many books on running a business as possible, especially those written by people in our type of business.
there are some things that you may only learn by experience, no matter how much you read. it least it has been that way for me. knowing how to do electrical work will not be as important as knowing how to run the business.
customer service is extremely important. i have found that if people like you enough and realize that you care about them and their concerns, the fact that you didn't satisfy them the first time won't matter; they are more willing to overlook certain things if they adore you. knowing how to communicate with your customers is crucial.
also, don't spread yourself too thin and make promises you can't keep.
i'm closing in on the end of my 2nd year in business and i still have a problem with that. i don't like telling people "no", and too often exhaust myself to keep up; knowing full well saying "i'll be there xxxxday" would be okay with them.
also; pricing. know your costs and have a rate that will cover those costs. never work for less than you need to operate.
lastly; marketing. market your company until you can market no more; then do it again. door-to-door marketing is a good way to start. just get some cards, maybe some fliers, and go to every business in town. just let them know who you are, what you're doing, and that you're available to help. don't get too in-depth with them unless they ask questions. just get your name in their head. after that round is finish, you can start back over with more in-depth marketing.
its not a bad time to start. my phone is still ringing.
tonyou812
Senior Member
- Location
- North New Jersey
Totally agree on the customer service part. I almost always make it a point to come off as excited as the HO on their project. And i like to tell people things like (I was thinking about your situation last night and.. or I was a a store and I thought this might be a good addition for your...) people just love it when they hear that, it makes them feel that you really are giving it 100% and that your really interested . Making the customer feel good about their purchase is a very important thing. And you never know that persons house that you are working in might have a buisness that requires regular electrical work and they have had it with their indifferant EC who makes them wait or puts them on the back burner all the time. They will surely remember your smiling face the next time they have a problem with him.
In trying times customer service should become priority one ,especially with your regulars and dont forget your GC's. Its not uncommon for me to say to them "Anything for you Bob, your my number one GC" .
Beileve me electrical work is only about 40 percent of running a succesfull buisness.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
you can wait till you are unemployed, and by definition you will become
self employed at that point. would it be easier then?
i'm gonna kiss and tell. this year has been difficult. however, i've gotten
to the point where i have most of what i need for a one man band, and
i have been able do it out of my cash flow, without a small business loan.
have a credit card with a 30K limit, and that'll fund stuff for short term.
interest on the balance is 7%. reasonable, and i can live with that.
carry bond, general liability, and workers comp. even without employees.
god help you in calif. if someone is helping you for the day, and gets hurt.
i have a primitive and barbaric business plan. find people with money who
need electrical work, and do it for them. get paid afterwards. repeat as
needed.
risk in this? pretty limited. everything i've bought except for the van has
been paid for in cash, and the van was a zero % loan... take it home, and
send us $600 a month, for 60 months. i'm halfway paid for.
it was slow part of this year, and that was due to me, and not any external
conditions. and that changed november 15th. since then, i've had
thanksgiving day off. worked every other day. my net taxable, working
solo, for the last 30 days, has been $12,800. finally, it's moving.
could i manage it better and be more profitable? of course. i'm horribly
weak at administrative stuff, which is where i have to improve or i'll
eventually fail. but i'm learning. i'm better than i was 6 months ago.
i'm doing what i'm good at, and i am happy, and solvent. that defines
success for me. am i where i want to be? not yet. am i happy where i
am? yes.
so, peter.... i'll ask this question of you:
what would you do if you knew you could not fail?
there is nothing "out there" that makes a tinkers damn bit of
difference. the only thing standing between you, and what you
wish to achieve, is fear. just the same as me, or anyone else,
for that matter.
randy
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
Of course I also plan to put some ads in the local newspapers, make business cards and distribute them, build a nice website, and advertise, advertise, advertise.
I'm not going to depend on a little bit of word and mouth to get going.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
The only real fear I have at this point is I'll do everything I have to do, particularly marketing, advertising, and getting my name out there, and the economy will get so bad that my phone won't ring, (which of course means that nobodys phone will be ringing either.) But if that happens, at least I can say that I tried.
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