Most profitable electrical skill??

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The ultimate hardest skill to develop in this industry is that of OWNER. An owner of a small electrical business has a tough go in front of him/her. To be really successful takes many different skills. ("really successful" is not just the money part).
Business skills which includes:knowledge of different insurances, paper work, organizational skills, office manners:wink:, supply house skills (part of the buying skills necessary to succeed), estimating, people skills - to me the most important aspect of being truly successful
Electrical skills - not as important as the business grows and you have been successful at developing a good work force... which any successful contractor knows costs money :wink:

Public relations- you have to know how to sell yourself, and should not be afraid to beat your own drum.

A successful business can range from a one man shop up to any number.
 
boater bill said:
The hardest skill I have ever seen to obtain and the most valuable is troubleshooting. It requires knowledge not only of what you are working on, but how other things interact with it.

I told my stepson, if you always want a job, be a good troubleshooter. No matter if it is electrical, HVAC, computers, office staff or the stock market. If you can identify the root cause of the problem and correct it, you will never go hungry.
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Hear, Hear! Ditto! Absolutely!

Most electricians can bend pipe, run wire or string romex. It takes a true craftsman to be able to consistantly troubleshoot. A formal electrical education is helpful, as it's good to understand why things work the way they do.
 
Specialist in any of the various aspects of the trade IR, Battery, generation-ATS-paralleling, Power Quality, grounding with a good rounded specialists that is an excelent trouble shooter.
 
khixxx said:
What is the most profitable electrical skill in the industry? Solar, Lightning protection, I&C, Communications, Automation, Residential construction, Others?

What skill has the biggest demand for people?
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sales. You can make the most money by being able to sell your services for the most money. You can be the best at any aspect of the trade but have to be able to sell the work at the right rate to make money.
 
Yeah I think sales would be it, or "flapping your gums". I was in the check out getting ribs and the lady asked for my advantage card. I told her I forgot it at home, she then used hers. I saved $18. Just 20 seconds of flapping my gums and smiling I saved $18. Oh I don't have an advantage card :)
 
mdshunk said:
Yes, the factories and industries are where good troubleshooters are born and bred, in my estimation. A factory maintenance man or factory electrician are among the perfect candidates to drive a service truck for an electrical contractor. Trouble is, working within the four walls of a factory kind of spoils a guy. Take that however you want to.
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I'd hate to put an industrial service tech in a residential service truck. It would be like putting a residential service tech in a factory. Not to good.
 
bradleyelectric said:
I'd hate to put an industrial service tech in a residential service truck. It would be like putting a residential service tech in a factory. Not to good.
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No so good? Allow me to introduce myself... :)
 
Thanks for your honesty. We have the same Vultures around here with big yellow book ads that command huge service fees under the guise of "Our overhead is large".People panic and go with the first big ad.Example, G.F.I .not working,replace device,$275!!! Waldron Electric Pittsburgh,Pa.
 
growler said:
Here we have a panel in a clothes closet. Unsafe situation.
Multi Millionaire. Customer with to much money.
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OK, I gotta bite at this....Just for the sake of conversation...right?

1) besides current code violations, (grandfathered) what is unsafe about an existing panel with a cover, no open knockouts or missing breaker blanks? How is this more unsafe than the same being located in a hallway? How does the location of this make is more unsafe? Don't be an alarmist.

2) What do you mean "Customer with too much money" What is too much money? Is it wrong to be successful? Is it wrong to have picked the right parents or to marry well? Should success or wealth be taxed even more or punished? What make you think this "Customer with too much money" isn't Philanthropic? Every time I hear comments like this, it appears to be from jealous poor liberals, with low self esteem, with their hands open for a gimmee. I really thought more of you than that, Growler.


"formal education will make you a living...Self Education will make you a fortune" Jim Rohn
 
Jeff Weissman Electric said:
An Hour later, after opening every cabinet & closet, 8000ft/sq house, I find a 100a Zinsco panel.

This HO is a Multi Millionaire, Trust fund family money, and I'll charge him the same as a poor customer on Social Security.
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Jeff I figure anyone living in an 8,000 sq. ft. house can afford to have a zinsco panel replaced, if it gets replaced it gets moved from the clothes closet. If a panel in a clothes closet wasn't considered unsafe it wouldn't be in the code book. ( just think of how much money I may save the insurance companies when this Mc Mansion doesn't burn ).

If it's some poor person living on social security the panel is still dangerous but they may not have the money to have it replaced. They may use the money for food or something.

What's wrong with having to much money you ask. Nothing. That's why you get as much of it as you can from those that have it. :grin:

 
boboelectric said:
Thanks for your honesty. We have the same Vultures around here with big yellow book ads that command huge service fees under the guise of "Our overhead is large".People panic and go with the first big ad.Example, G.F.I .not working,replace device,$275!!! Waldron Electric Pittsburgh,Pa.
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OK, I'll bite...what's a "fair price" to pay for the advertising that people look for, answer the phone when they call, send a truck with a man and material to the customers house, diagnose the problem, repair the problem, and leave...?
 
growler said:
If a panel in a clothes closet wasn't considered unsafe it wouldn't be in the code book.
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( just think of how much money I may save the insurance companies when this Mc Mansion doesn't burn ).

If it's some poor person living on social security the panel is still dangerous but they may not have the money to have it replaced. They may use the money for food or something.

What's wrong with having to much money you ask. Nothing. That's why you get as much of it as you can from those that have it. :grin:

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I was looking for your personal explanation of "why" the closet location is unsafe, as compared to a hallway location. Not a code reference. Not anything about Zinsco......
You want to save Insurance companies money? which are not your customers, but you want to take advantage of your customer because they have money?
Whos side are you on?

FWIW, this customer is moving a block away into a larger house & this is being sold as a tear down. Sorry, I didn't disclose that. But the bottom line is, all that happened is a breaker trip during several day of bad storms. Resetting it, is all that was needed.

Give a man fish, feed him for a day
Teach him to fish, feed him for life.

Take advantage of a customer once, Lose him for life
Treat a customer right, keep him for life
 
Jeff Weissman Electric said:
I was looking for your personal explanation of "why" the closet location is unsafe, as compared to a hallway location.
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I think the NFPA decided that the clothes closet was not a safe location for an electrical panel because of the proximity of combustable materials ( clothes ).

By the way saving an insurance company money often saves the life of the customer.

( take advange of a customer once, Lose him for life. Treat a customer right, keep him for life ).

If he were actually going to live in the house then his life could be considerably shorter with a Zinsco panel in a clothes closet. Since this house is being sold as a tear down I guess it would work out for everyone if it did burn except for....................................Whomever. :rolleyes:
 
I have come to the conclusion that the most profitable skill would be sales.

If you can get customers to pay premium prices and thank you for doing the work, you would be golden.
 
growler said:
I think the NFPA decided that the clothes closet was not a safe location for an electrical panel because of the proximity of combustable materials ( clothes ).
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OK, But I'll disagree, based only on my personal experiences and not stories I've heard. A properly installed panel in a closet is no more of a fire hazard than the same in a hallway. I personally, have seen fires inside of panels and never ignited anything outside, directly in front of the panel. I have seen the interior melted and several feet of wire melt above the panel, I've seen busses burned, breakers melted beyond recognition, aluminum connections/splices fail, all with minor sheet rock damage. It is always contained inside of the metal enclosure, never penetrating the metal cover.
IMHO FWIW I think the reasons closets are no longer acceptable locations for panels is the "readily available" and "3' working space" issue, and especially as this instance proved, closet location become forgotten and lost.
 
Jeff Weissman Electric said:
I find a 100a Zinsco panel, in an attic closet buried behind boxes and winter clothes.
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For some reason this creates an image of a fire hazard in my mind. I think the words buried and winter clothes is what does it. I didn't see the situation so I don't know how bad it was . The problem could be corrected by removing the boxes to give the correct clearance and the bar for hanging clothes. Getting the easily ignitible material away from overcurrent protection devices.


Mike Holt News Letter. " the purpose of keeping overcurrent protection devices away from easily ignitible materials is to prevent fires, not to keep them out of clothes closets"

http://www.mikeholt.com/newsletters.php?action=display&letterID=355

By the way Jeff I do work at a couple of schools where the electrical rooms are filled with easily ignitible materials. The Fire Marshal is aware of the situation ( he has written them up ) but nothing ever changes.

I try not to use just my personal experience & opinions when doing electrical work. I have been around a long time but I haven't seen everything. I have never seen an elecrical panel cause a fire (residential ) but I do admit it's possible. I don't know of anyone that's been killed by not having a GFCI receptacle in the bathroom but I don't think I'm ripping people off when I suggest they have them installed and then charge for the service.

When dealing with a panel in a clothes closet the way I handle the situation: I inform the owner of the possible hazard, I write it up as a possible hazard and then let them ask for correction options. If they think they are being sold a bill of goods then I invite them to go on line and check it out for themselves. The same thing can work for FPE panels. It's called the soft sale. I never pressure anyone about anything I let them sale themselves.
 
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Being a good salesman and electrician does top the list along with businessman, labor management.

I know several salesmen, that were once service electricians (not all that good at it IMO) now working for large reputable companies and these guys, are decent folks, get to golf and fish with clients as part of their jobs PLUS make a decent living.

Me I like what I am doing and support 4 kids and a wife, I like it most of the time, though last week had me looking at retirement real hard.
 
Sales

Sales

I think where many electricians who own their own business miss it is in sales. I worked for years as an electrician in an industrial plant ( meat packing) and just got tired (literally) of the long hours and always on call life style. I had excellant health insurance and was making about $65,000/year and kinda got used to it. After years I decided to quit and open my own electrical/mechanical contracting business. I looked for any niche I could fill, tons of electrical contractors around here. I made all kinds of cold calls to sign companies, pool companies, G.C's, visited trade shows etc. I am now entering my second year and honestly project $600,000. sales this year. We do work for 3 Home Depots, 2 Lowes, several Sears stores, 2 pools companies, a large sewage pump company as well as others and have more work than we can handle. It is just my two boys and myself. I wonder now why I didn't leave sooner. Yup, re-financed the house, scrounged everything I could, borrowed from inlaws, did what had to be done. Paid it all back, work long hours and am in better shape financially than I've ever been. I am convinced anyone who hustles and is not afraid of hard work can do the same.
 
panels in closets

panels in closets

growler said:
I think the NFPA decided that the clothes closet was not a safe location for an electrical panel because of the proximity of combustable materials ( clothes ).
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Those On-Q whole house panels go into the master bedroom walk-in closet, and I say, do not underestimate the suburban housewife's ability to packrat crap on a mastercard with a $50k limit.
 
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