RE: Mr.Electric Thoughts again

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khixxx

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RE: Mr.Electric Thoughts again

I haven't posted in sometime, I've relocated to PA and started to buy some realestate which has been ok. I'm looking at estiblishing a contracting business in PA. push comes to shove with no management experience or overall business experience Mr.electric seems to be the best bet for me. I'm flying to waco this sept. to meet up with them to see how things go.I guess If i was an established contractor I wouldn't use MR.Electric, just a flat rate book and training. I get tired of even lowballing a job and not getting it. lol and I don't look like an dork or a beast. If I want to take it serous I"m thinking this is the only way to go. Yeah I could be a T&M guy and do new construction which there isn't anything wrong with that, to be able to sell a company is powerful to me.My brother inlaw has his own painting business and he is running around like a crazy man and still had to ask my dad for money. Yeah I see him golfing alot going on trips but It doesn't look right. I"m still weighing in all my options like nextstar or even finishing my BSEE. I just know about the E-myth the other stuff about having a business and not a job. This franshise seems to be growing pretty good.Can everyone give me some questions on what to ask at the meeting? with my lack of business skills My questions are limited. the unknown is scarey. if nothing more I will learn about a real business. whats your thoughts?negative positive please input.
 
Gunning, Yes Real estate investing is the way to go but currently that does not support my way of living. Those 3 rentals i have will be payed off in 8 years if i do everything right which will bring me more income that SS. 3 rentals rent for 700 each now maybe 1000 in 8 years what if i can get 10 of them and have all them paid off in 15 years from now. that would be a nice retirement.I will continue to buy properties. I just am looking of a way to get started in a new location. I"m going to contact the local SBA, and some chamber of commerce to see what they say about growth in the area and about contractor services.
 
triple x,
stay with the real estate ---- get a service job working for a local contractor or get a job working for mr. electric. only difference, you'll sleep better working for the local contractor since you won't have to worry about sending half your pay check to your "very" silent partner!!! rental property is no easy job --- as time goes by you will earn your return on invested money. but that effort will be rewarded by increased property values. the same goes for your electrical business---it takes alot of time and effort --- all this time and effort is invested by you ---- why would you want a silent partner that is locked to your business ----- you need money,effort,business sense! thats all you have to ask yourself. your success in the electrical business has no guarentee from mr. electric.
 
I have loooked into franchises before & here what you can expect.
10% of your gross before you pay bills goes to the franchisor.
6-8% of your gross will go to the franchisor for advertising & you have no control of it at all.
then they turn you into a clone to do things their way. Don't try to rock the boat as they'll cme down on you & most have smallprint that says they can take your business away but you can't leave or sell it without there permission & consent.
Its really like being a military person in business for yourself.
MY suggestion is to do it your self, start small, learn from your mistakes, start partime, don't use credit.
 
I agree about the learn as you go and don't bury yourself in credit. Its a long and torturous path and you need a VERY good business sense. You also need to acquire key people, contacts, lines of credit and a good bookkeeper to keep you out of the throttling hands of the tax man (they are big on taxes there),oh and an innovative marketing niche. If this is PA I used to live there and a friend of mine had an A/C business. They would charge from point to point (door to door?) making sure the longest route would be taken to bump up the charges. The thing about central PA is the very frugal rural nature of the population. Big cities are not bad but the country is going to entail a lot of travel over mountains and hill on small roads. My friends business dissolved due to marital problems, too many rainy cold days.

Did I mention the cold and rainy days and nights?

What about starting an A/C business?
 
Mr. Electric wanted 6% of gross income. That is a huge amount when you look at it. I really don't think they pour work in your direction. If they would bid jobs for me, get the jobs within 2% and there was a 25% profit margin. I would take it. But what they want is 6% to ut their stickers on your van and you work your tail off.
 
Ask them if they are so confident that you will be overflowing with work and money then why don't they start their own contracting business?

It is like when a stockbroker calls you and says " this stock is guaranteed to double in 3 months", why do they need my money if it is a sure thing?
 
boboelectric said:
Did anyone have experience with Service Magic? They've been calling me lately to become a contact.
Bob O.84,Pa.
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Service Magic contacted me. I listened to their offer. They want to give you referrals and charge you for them. They charge for every referral whether or not you bid or get the job. It might work for some contractors, but wasn't for me.
 
j_erickson said:
Service Magic contacted me. I listened to their offer. They want to give you referrals and charge you for them. They charge for every referral whether or not you bid or get the job. It might work for some contractors, but wasn't for me.
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Yeah tryed service magic, and they sell the bid to 3 contractors, ended up costing more than it made.
 
dduffee260 said:
Ask them if they are so confident that you will be overflowing with work and money then why don't they start their own contracting business?

It is like when a stockbroker calls you and says " this stock is guaranteed to double in 3 months", why do they need my money if it is a sure thing?
Click to expand...

because if they can get 7-10% of your money without taking any risk, and get 100 or 1000 people to invest, they can far surpass playing that stock with their own money.

All percentages being equal(primarily profit %) I personally would rather own 10% each of 10 companies that generate $100,000 each than 100% of 1 company that generates $1mil/yr. If one company does bad, I'm covered one way and sunk the other.
 
service magic was sending me leads that were not in my area so I was having to call them to get a refund. this is why I am inactive with Service Magic. Service Magic has called me several times trying to pursude me to come back to them My answer was No.
 
why not sell your rental properties --- invest in a fast food chain franchise like church's chicken or mc donalds??? less risk -- less hours -- more profit -- and cash flow -- and a solid silent partner!!!
 
Mr. Electric

Mr. Electric

I coined a saying when I had my own electrical contracting business in Dallas. I said, "If I ever won the Lottery, I would still do electrical contracting until all of the lottery money was gone!"

Being in business for yourself does not guarantee that you will be successful, especially if you do not have a business background, or you are just moving into a new market and know nothing about the area and the norms.
 
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service magic

service magic

boboelectric said:
Did anyone have experience with Service Magic? They've been calling me lately to become a contact.
Bob O.84,Pa.
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i belong to service magic, haven't had any problems.
just remember you pay them by the lead. that is all they give you is leads. if you don't get the job your sol.
want any more info you can contact me.

frank
 
khixxx said:
Does anyone have any questions for me to ask during this interview in waco?
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Doing due dilligence here means getting a complete member list, and making a few phone calls. See this article: Franchisees Know Best What A Franchise Is Like

Mr. Electric is relatively unkown in my area. No shops within a 60 mile radius of Disneyland. Franchises will define procedures for most operations, and they may alow critique of this procedure manual before purchase.

Before making any investment in a Franchise template you can't see, and perhaps don't need, the private-industry group "Contractors 2000", now Nexstar network may give you a lot more bang for your buck.

The PR of this group is more active in the public domain, this model of business-auditing and peer-review may also be more comprehensive, over the long term, than typical franchises.
 
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