Not good

[Rewire]

10-4

~Matt

it goes on to say " you never count your money while your sitting at the table their be time enough for counting when the dealin s done" As for me I am not ready to fold and this isn't the last hand.If business were easy children would be doing it.

 

[Flex]

it goes on to say " you never count your money while your sitting at the table their be time enough for counting when the dealin s done" As for me I am not ready to fold and this isn't the last hand.If business were easy children would be doing it.

I like your mindset.

 

[emahler]

it goes on to say " you never count your money while your sitting at the table their be time enough for counting when the dealin s done" As for me I am not ready to fold and this isn't the last hand.If business were easy children would be doing it.

i would argue that there are many children playing the part of electrical contractors

 

[Rewire]

i would argue that there are many children playing the part of electrical contractors

Hard to argue against that

 

[bradleyelectric]

do nothing 100% failure work at a loss 50-50

Maybe marketing and networking is more valuable than working at a lose?

Is doing anything besides turning a pair of pliers equate to doing nothing?

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

Maybe marketing and networking is more valuable than working at a lose?

Is doing anything besides turning a pair of pliers equate to doing nothing?

That is the way I am looking at it for now. My gut feeling is telling me there are more profitable things I could be doing for my business if all I find myself doing is physical work to break even. In other words I may pass on what might be say 40 hours of labor at a cutthroat rate in order to expand either my knowledge, contacts, or any other business tactic aside from just performing electrical work hoping that the payoff is developing a new angle or relationship for my business.

 

[Rewire]

Maybe marketing and networking is more valuable than working at a lose?

Is doing anything besides turning a pair of pliers equate to doing nothing?

short answer is yes long answer is no

Is sitting on a bar stool drinking beer and establishing a relationship with the bartender better than turning pliers..

you need to spend time working on improving yourself as it relates to your business I see nothing wrong with that but the bottom line is still somebody has to feed the bulldog.

marketing and networking are great but the phone bill is still due

You can sit at home and read selfhelp books or you can go out and be an EC

 

[Dnkldorf]

Not to sound sarcastic, but a little less time on this site and a little more knocking on doors would go a long way.

 

[Rewire]

Not to sound sarcastic, but a little less time on this site and a little more knocking on doors would go a long way.

well what are you doing still logged on

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

Not to sound sarcastic, but a little less time on this site and a little more knocking on doors would go a long way.

I hear you, as far as me personally I had a day go bust on me and found myself home at 11am with a few hours to kill before a meeting at 2pm, 2pm meeting was related to marketing, not turning pliers unfortunately. So what better was there to do than come and complain here? Nothing.

 

[bradleyelectric]

short answer is yes long answer is no

Is sitting on a bar stool drinking beer and establishing a relationship with the bartender better than turning pliers..

you need to spend time working on improving yourself as it relates to your business I see nothing wrong with that but the bottom line is still somebody has to feed the bulldog.

marketing and networking are great but the phone bill is still due

You can sit at home and read selfhelp books or you can go out and be an EC

Who said anything about sitting on a bar stool? That doesn't have anything to do with working on marketing or your business. I did sit in a seat getting my hair cut after hours today. I don't think the girl really knows anyone that needs electric work, but she was asked and given 4 business cards simply because she talks to people when she cuts their hair. That's the closest thing to that that should be to done unless I stop for a sandwich and let them know I'm available for electrical work.

I do not advocate not working if your not getting your price. I advocate finding how to get your price and pursuing getting that work while not having pliers in hand. I have found if you try marketing in ways that don't have a high cost but have a high impact and direct your marketing efforts towards those you want to target you can make more than if you chase low paying work. You can pay the phone bill with the work you get through marketing efforts utilized when not doing low paying work. Marketing efforts does not mean sitting home hoping yellowpage ads make the phone ring.

 

[Rewire]

Who said anything about sitting on a bar stool? That doesn't have anything to do with working on marketing or your business. I did sit in a seat getting my hair cut after hours today. I don't think the girl really knows anyone that needs electric work, but she was asked and given 4 business cards simply because she talks to people when she cuts their hair. That's the closest thing to that that should be to done unless I stop for a sandwich and let them know I'm available for electrical work.

I do not advocate not working if your not getting your price. I advocate finding how to get your price and pursuing getting that work while not having pliers in hand. I have found if you try marketing in ways that don't have a high cost but have a high impact and direct your marketing efforts towards those you want to target you can make more than if you chase low paying work. You can pay the phone bill with the work you get through marketing efforts utilized when not doing low paying work. Marketing efforts does not mean sitting home hoping yellowpage ads make the phone ring.

The idea that a marketing strategy will produce higher paying work is great in theory but we have to live in reality and the reality is we live in a capitalist society. Capitalism is market driven and one of the primary engines in a market driven economy is the law of supply and demand. Value of goods and services are not set by the seller but are dictated by the buyer in a free market. Compitition in the market is what creates the pressure that drives the cost of goods and services either up or down in response to the need which is greated by the buyer.

We are in the throws of a downward market adjustment,supply is outpacing demand which produces a downward pressure on the cost of goods and services.A business will fail when it is unable to make the needed adjustment to the market.

This is what I am doing with my business and I stongly feel that we will still be here this time next year

 

[bradleyelectric]

The idea that a marketing strategy will produce higher paying work is great in theory but we have to live in reality and the reality is we live in a capitalist society. Capitalism is market driven and one of the primary engines in a market driven economy is the law of supply and demand. Value of goods and services are not set by the seller but are dictated by the buyer in a free market. Compitition in the market is what creates the pressure that drives the cost of goods and services either up or down in response to the need which is greated by the buyer.

We are in the throws of a downward market adjustment,supply is outpacing demand which produces a downward pressure on the cost of goods and services.A business will fail when it is unable to make the needed adjustment to the market.

This is what I am doing with my business and I stongly feel that we will still be here this time next year

good luck with that.

 

[bradleyelectric]

The idea that a marketing strategy will produce higher paying work is great in theory but we have to live in reality and the reality is we live in a capitalist society. Capitalism is market driven and one of the primary engines in a market driven economy is the law of supply and demand. Value of goods and services are not set by the seller but are dictated by the buyer in a free market. Compitition in the market is what creates the pressure that drives the cost of goods and services either up or down in response to the need which is greated by the buyer.

We are in the throws of a downward market adjustment,supply is outpacing demand which produces a downward pressure on the cost of goods and services.A business will fail when it is unable to make the needed adjustment to the market.

This is what I am doing with my business and I stongly feel that we will still be here this time next year

This would be more accurate if it said:

I have deep rooted fears about my ability to sell on other than price. Therefore I do not think I can develope a marketing strategy that would bring in profitable work at this time. I have decided to do unprofitable work and strongly feel I am able to do this until other people can no longer do unprofitable work and I can raise my prices to the level where I can make a profit again.

Is that what you meant to say?

A marketing strategy may be to find something someone else doesn't offer or find a way to stand out from the others. Than you no longer are 1 of the pack and your in the number of the in demand as opposed to the not in demand crowd. That would change your economics.

 

[Rewire]

This would be more accurate if it said:

I have deep rooted fears about my ability to sell on other than price. Therefore I do not think I can develope a marketing strategy that would bring in profitable work at this time. I have decided to do unprofitable work and strongly feel I am able to do this until other people can no longer do unprofitable work and I can raise my prices to the level where I can make a profit again.

I think I said exactly what I intended to say and its accuracy was not predicated on a fear of anything but a basic understanding of markets and trends which you appear to lack. Pull your head out of the sand and you will quickly see the landscape has changed I am dealing with the electrical contracting market and how the effects of supply and demand are influencing this particular market,my focus is how do I remain viable as an electrical contractor in a depressed market while still keeping a decent profit margin. I am not advocating operating at a sustained loss but we have spent the last few years in a market that allowed for a small profit margin due to an abundance of work or supply outpaced demand. Last year at this time I was paying close to $4 /gal for gas today I am paying unger $2/gal now the guy who ownes the station can refuse to "lower" his price like the other stations and I will simply go elsewere,or he can not open and work on market strategies ti try and come up with flashy creative ways to get me to pay more but the result will be the same I will simply go down the street to his competitor thats supply and demand,what the station owner should be doing and this applies to almost all businesses is looking for ways to get more customers and to keep the loyalty of the customers he has .

Is that what you meant to say?

A marketing strategy may be to find something someone else doesn't offer or find a way to stand out from the others. Than you no longer are 1 of the pack and your in the number of the in demand as opposed to the not in demand crowd. That would change your economics.

You are talking about creating a demand which is usually not a good short term strategy as you now are attepting to launch a new product or service and the reward phase can be months or years in the future reacting to market fluxuations in this manner can be disasterous.

 

[bradleyelectric]

If you are not taking work at a loss than I mistook your posts. Are you taking work at a loss? Trying to get someone to buy gas for twice the amount of the station 1/2 mile away has nothing to do with what I'm advocating. In your posts you state that businesses need to adapt or die. Have you adapted in ways other than lower your price?

My heads not in the sand. My primary focus the past few years had been new commercial construction. 2 of the GC's I worked for are no longer in business. Prices that that work is going for is not profitable. We have some long standing commercial service customers that we are still servicing and looking for new customers that fit our strategy. We are not representing ourselves as the low price alternative in that market. We are marketing as someone that has been around, is able to meet customers needs when the customer needs us and is reliable.

We have refocused our efforts in the residential service market. We had pretty much not marketed this area for a few years. We increased marketing this segment the second quater last year. The third and fourth quarter we inceased low cost high impact marketing in this segment. We market in ways that set us apart from others in this market. We do not market as the low cost alternative. Our message is pretty much the same as our commercial service marketing. We do not use the same strategies to get the message out though.

We still send out bids on new construction commercial. We are still recieving ITB's from GC's we worked for in the past and others that get our contact information from marketing we were involved in in that segment. I still send proposals to this market because I don't want to be forgotten and I want to get feedback on what prices work is going for. When it turns profitable again I want to still have everything in place and pick up the labor to get right back in.

I've adapted to remain profitable. As far as what it takes, I'm busting my tail to do it now as opposed to what I had to do a few years ago. Believe me there is much more overhead as far as my time now as opposed to a few years ago and I'd much rather be able to slip down the ocean for a few days with minimal impact like I was able to do, but I am facing the challenge and am enjoying it in a sick way.

If I took what you were saying in the wrong way I'm sorry. I just call it as I see it.

 

[electricmanscott]

Service change for trailer from $1800.00 to $100

How much for a tire rotation? What about tornado proofing? :grin:

I won't even bother with any opinions on pricing and business matters. :roll:

 

[Rewire]

If you are not taking work at a loss than I mistook your posts. Are you taking work at a loss? Trying to get someone to buy gas for twice the amount of the station 1/2 mile away has nothing to do with what I'm advocating. In your posts you state that businesses need to adapt or die. Have you adapted in ways other than lower your price?

My heads not in the sand. My primary focus the past few years had been new commercial construction. 2 of the GC's I worked for are no longer in business. Prices that that work is going for is not profitable. We have some long standing commercial service customers that we are still servicing and looking for new customers that fit our strategy. We are not representing ourselves as the low price alternative in that market. We are marketing as someone that has been around, is able to meet customers needs when the customer needs us and is reliable.

We have refocused our efforts in the residential service market. We had pretty much not marketed this area for a few years. We increased marketing this segment the second quater last year. The third and fourth quarter we inceased low cost high impact marketing in this segment. We market in ways that set us apart from others in this market. We do not market as the low cost alternative. Our message is pretty much the same as our commercial service marketing. We do not use the same strategies to get the message out though.

We still send out bids on new construction commercial. We are still recieving ITB's from GC's we worked for in the past and others that get our contact information from marketing we were involved in in that segment. I still send proposals to this market because I don't want to be forgotten and I want to get feedback on what prices work is going for. When it turns profitable again I want to still have everything in place and pick up the labor to get right back in.

I've adapted to remain profitable. As far as what it takes, I'm busting my tail to do it now as opposed to what I had to do a few years ago. Believe me there is much more overhead as far as my time now as opposed to a few years ago and I'd much rather be able to slip down the ocean for a few days with minimal impact like I was able to do, but I am facing the challenge and am enjoying it in a sick way.

If I took what you were saying in the wrong way I'm sorry. I just call it as I see it.

In my original post I was responding to someone who thought that sitting at home was better than working a job for less money

My response was it was better to work at a loss in the short term while making adaptations I was not advocating working at a loss without making fundamental changes.

I am looking at our profit margin,last year a 10% margin still allowed for a nice overall profit due to an abundance of work .

Most people do not understand the difference between profit and profit margin so they believe more money means more profit and lesss money means less profit.

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

In my original post I was responding to someone who thought that sitting at home was better than working a job for less money

My response was it was better to work at a loss in the short term while making adaptations I was not advocating working at a loss without making fundamental changes.

Rewire,

Please understand that I was not implying I would rather sit home and twiddle my thumbs rather than work. What I truly meant was instead of securing a bunch of work for minimal profit I could use some of my time free from labor to explore other ways to adapt to this market to turn a profit. I agree with you as far as working at a loss in the short term, as a matter of fact I did a kitchen renovation last week which I knew I was only making a paycheck on just to keep busy, and I was rewarded in the big picture because I got two other small service call referrals from that customer since starting the job to make up the difference.

There are plenty of people on here that I take sound advice on business practices from, some of you have been in this game a long time, some of you have grown up around it, the majority of you are on the forum to help others here over the humps. I am a one man shop, still have much to learn and am quite literally a rookie on the business side of things. I am not offended by anyone's comments in regards to what I think, I take it all as constructive criticism & quite frankly I would not feel confident giving sound business advice to anyone.