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electricalperson

electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
ok guys heres the deal. i really hate the company i work for. my heart is telling me to quit and start a business. i have enough knowledge to do it and i believe ill do well at it but im a little nervous. i bought the business and estimating books from mike holt to help me out. i know exactly where i want to go in my career and life. i had my license a few years and think its time to do my own thing. i understand fully all the risks involved and im ready to take anything on. any business owners here that were in the same boat as me?
 
electricalperson said:
ok guys heres the deal. i really hate the company i work for. my heart is telling me to quit and start a business...
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I really wish you good fortune and success, but man oh man you couldn't have picked a worse time in the last 10 years to make this move. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
 
BryanMD said:
I really wish you good fortune and success, but man oh man you couldn't have picked a worse time in the last 10 years to make this move. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
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i understand the risks of starting a company right now. and i believe i could do it. i just recently got a ton of "sidework" so thats a start. i got a whole plan on how to make my idea a success. im either going to do it or sit down and talk about it all my life and not make anything of myself. i believe i can pull this off no matter what the economy situation is. its too hard to see how my business will turn out if i dont act on my feeling
 
Not sure right now is the best time to make this move. If you do, and you pull through okay, you're probably set for the long haul. If you can get one good commercial or multi-site customer to give you at least a day's work every week, and you can scare up another 1/2 day's work every week yourself, you'll be profiting what you were making on your paycheck at least anyhow.
 
i dont plan on making a lot of money at first obviously. right now i want to concentrate on making the minimum i can just to pay my truck and insurance and other things. im not looking to get rich right now. i believe i could do a lot of service work since i live pretty close to a city. right now i just want to get by.
 
electricalperson said:
i dont plan on making a lot of money at first obviously. right now i want to concentrate on making the minimum i can just to pay my truck and insurance and other things. im not looking to get rich right now. i believe i could do a lot of service work since i live pretty close to a city. right now i just want to get by.
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no offense, and I wish you the best of luck...but what a horrible attitude to start out with...that's like going to the casino's and expecting not to win...go into it planning on making a killing...prepare for scraping by...but have the plan in place to make a mint...then if you fall short, you're still ok...but planning on making peanuts is a bad plan...think about it...
 
I say follow your heart. If you wait until the conditions are perfect you'll never do it. I know of several small shops, some of which only have one or two guys that are weathering this crappy economy better than most of the "big boys". Our service work and small/medium commercial is steady right now, but new resi is in the tank. A good plan, some common sense expectations and a few GC's that like you, and I would go for it. I'll bet in a few years you'll be turning work away cuz your too busy. Good luck!
 
emahler said:
no offense, and I wish you the best of luck...but what a horrible attitude to start out with...that's like going to the casino's and expecting not to win...go into it planning on making a killing...prepare for scraping by...but have the plan in place to make a mint...then if you fall short, you're still ok...but planning on making peanuts is a bad plan...think about it...
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i didnt mean it in a negative way. i plan on making a ton of money in the future. but right now with this economy i plan on making peanuts just to get by. my goal is to make a fortune but im thinking realistically about the situation the economy is in right now and i realize not a lot of people will want to spend money on electrical work right now. maybe im wrong about this and maybe ill make 5000 dollars my first week in business. but i am planning my money situation just incase i dont make a lot within the first few months or years of business. one day i will make a TON of money. but the first week of business i wont be a millionare
 
im going to do whatever it takes to make my ideas a reality. today i looked at a job and imgoing to start it this weekend. im going to be making a weeks pay in about a few hours of work. if i can get one of 2 of these jobs a week at first ill be golden.
 
My Mama always told us, "To Go First Class", maybe it is a hold over of her husbands naval service, and they did travel quite a bit, but there a message there!

Maybe you should be like the other forum member and go ahead and pick up that same flag and "Be the Best Electrician in Town",
I don't know why your going into business to EXIST, otherwise ! ?

An Actor always has good shoes...
An Actress always has makeup on...

Hey the Dame was from NYC...
 
cadpoint said:
My Mama always told us, "To Go First Class", maybe it is a hold over of her husbands naval service, and they did travel quite a bit, but there a message there!

Maybe you should be like the other forum member and go ahead and pick up that same flag and "Be the Best Electrician in Town",
I don't know why your going into business to EXIST, otherwise ! ?

An Actor always has good shoes...
An Actress always has makeup on...

Hey the Dame was from NYC...
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my goal in my career is to BE the best electrician in town. ill work my way up the ladder to earn the respect i deserve. trust me when i say this some day i WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST IN THE AREA! im actually hoping to make a lot of money at first but im also prepared to survive if i dont. thats what i mean when i say i plan on making nothing. im taking charge of my career and this is what i wanted to do ever since i stepped foot into the electrical program at my vocational high school. this is my dream and im going to make it happen. i dont just want to get by i want to make a well living for myself and someday a family. i want a big house and all that but i need to work my way up to that and not expect ill be rich the first day i open up shop. theres a local company around here that started wiring houses 25 years ago and now he is a huge commercial electrical company that only does multimillion dollar projects and also has shops in multiple states. if that electrician could do that why cant i? i ask myself that every day and thats what i want to do someday. work my way up the ladder and save as much money as possible. i will suceed in this industry. you people can quote me on that:grin:
 
if i didnt care about being the best i wouldnt ask for advice from the experts on this website. i wouldnt be reading all the books i can and i wouldnt really care about learning. nothing to me is more important than learning. when im on my death bed i dont want any regrets. i need to do this.
 
Lets say you have an ok JW job now ($30/hr?) and some sort of benefit package (health insurance?) and either a company truck or mileage allowance.
That one sentence adds up close to $ 80,000.

And you already own all the hand tools and basic testing equipment and most of the power tools and equipment.
If not that sentence adds up to $5,000 (at least).

If you can get on your wife's health insurance you should still get a disability policy.
That is at least $2000 a year that you can't be without. Probably $6000.

If you own a Van you'll probably still need shelves and ladder rack and some heavy tools.
That is at least $3000. But don't forget commercial truck insurance.

Accountant/Lawyer/Bonding/Gen'l Liability It all adds up fast.

To break even (aside from the emotional aspect of the decision) you need to GROSS about $100,000 to maintain the life you presently have. To be safe I would divide that by 10 (productive) working months = a $10,000 "nut".

Assuming your family is behind you and are willing to have you working every weekend to make up for the 2 WEEKDAYS of EVERY week (minimum) you need to spend doing promotion and marketing and administration, etc as opposed to wiring... that still means a net of $500 EVERY SINGLE ONE of the remaining 20 days a month (average).

It's doable, but it sure wouldn't fun.
 
BryanMD said:
Lets say you have an ok JW job now ($30/hr?) and some sort of benefit package (health insurance?) and either a company truck or mileage allowance.
That one sentence adds up close to $ 80,000.

And you already own all the hand tools and basic testing equipment and most of the power tools and equipment.
If not that sentence adds up to $5,000 (at least).

If you can get on your wife's health insurance you should still get a disability policy.
That is at least $2000 a year that you can't be without. Probably $6000.

If you own a Van you'll probably still need shelves and ladder rack and some heavy tools.
That is at least $3000. But don't forget commercial truck insurance.

Accountant/Lawyer/Bonding/Gen'l Liability It all adds up fast.

To break even (aside from the emotional aspect of the decision) you need to GROSS about $100,000 to maintain the life you presently have. To be safe I would divide that by 10 (productive) working months = a $10,000 "nut".

Assuming your family is behind you and are willing to have you working every weekend to make up for the 2 WEEKDAYS of EVERY week (minimum) you need to spend doing promotion and marketing and administration, etc as opposed to wiring... that still means a net of $500 EVERY SINGLE ONE of the remaining 20 days a month (average).

It's doable, but it sure wouldn't fun.
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i own my own truck, have every tool i need, all the testing equipment i need (so far) and i know i need an accountant and lawyer and insurance. right now im not even paid close to 30 an hour at the company i work for and i pay half of my health insurance (about 35 a week out of my check for an individual plan) im not married or have any kids. i know all the risks and expenses involved with making a decent legal business. im going to do it and im going to be damn good at it. if the next guy can make a business fromthe ground up then why cant i? the world wouldnt be the way it is today if people didnt take risks. creating a business is a HUGE risk but its one im willing to take. whats the worst that can happen? i close the business and work for someone else? all my tools are paid for and my truck payment is not too bad. if i dont take this chance then ill live my life wondering how it would be if i DID take the chance. maybe ill be the same or maybe ill be happier with my career. i love electrical and this is what i want to do until my dying day. im going to do this and im going to be a sucuessful person. im on this earth to do my trade. and im going to make it happen the way i want it to happen and im going to be happy. i hope i do get swamped with work and have no free time. that means im sucuessful. maybe someday ill have people do the work for me and i can be on a cruise ship drinking a margarita while my company makes 30,000 that day. its possible isnt it?
 
electricalperson said:
i own my own truck, have every tool i need... and im going to make it happen
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All right!

FWIW, if you had expressed yourself this positively at the outset of the thread and included all this detail (and the other detail you've added since) the reception to your plan would have been different. Still cautious as most of posters were, but more positively.

And again, good luck.
 
if I were you I'd wait a couple years, have all your ducks in a row when you head out. we're in for a bumpy ride.
 
electricalperson said:
i own my own truck, have every tool i need, all the testing equipment i need (so far) and i know i need an accountant and lawyer and insurance. right now im not even paid close to 30 an hour at the company i work for and i pay half of my health insurance (about 35 a week out of my check for an individual plan) im not married or have any kids. i know all the risks and expenses involved with making a decent legal business. im going to do it and im going to be damn good at it. if the next guy can make a business fromthe ground up then why cant i? the world wouldnt be the way it is today if people didnt take risks. creating a business is a HUGE risk but its one im willing to take. whats the worst that can happen? i close the business and work for someone else? all my tools are paid for and my truck payment is not too bad. if i dont take this chance then ill live my life wondering how it would be if i DID take the chance. maybe ill be the same or maybe ill be happier with my career. i love electrical and this is what i want to do until my dying day. im going to do this and im going to be a sucuessful person. im on this earth to do my trade. and im going to make it happen the way i want it to happen and im going to be happy. i hope i do get swamped with work and have no free time. that means im sucuessful. maybe someday ill have people do the work for me and i can be on a cruise ship drinking a margarita while my company makes 30,000 that day. its possible isnt it?
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DON"T let anyone tell you no, Dude do it what is the worst that can happen? your back at the shop working for another guy until you figure out what mistakes you made and go for it again. Another book you MUST read is E - myth. get it NOW read it TODAY.
 
i have family that owned sucuessful businesses also. i understand being a sucuessful business owner not only includes knowing the trade well but being a smart business man. in mike holts business book he says most small contracting businesses fail because of poor managment. if i manage my business well then it will go to the top. if i slack off on the management i could be the best electrician on earth but ill be living in a cardboard box. business is mostly all about management not just about the trade. its going to be hard and im sure there will be days where ill regret doing it but in the end its going to pay off not only for myself but my family ill one day hopefully have.:grin:
 
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