RE: Mr.Electric Thoughts again

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when you buy a mc donald's franchise -- you get those big yellow arches to draw customers to your business. it's because the customer relates those arches to a consistant type product this business serves. this is "a" reason to invest your money and a share of your future profits with the franchise owner. and they are going to provide you the training and products to sell to these customers to keep them driving in under those big yellow arches....

the mr. electric franchise is not a publically known and/or proven product like mc donanld's. the only reason i know of them is through the trade publications -- oh. i see "mr. electric" service trucks on the road every once in awhile, but i always related them as a small owner/operator business.

this trade is much different than any typical sellable franchise -- it has little what i call "nitches" --- and different contractors are suitable for different "nitches". consider these operations --- underground utilities -- data cabling -- service work -- residential new construction -- high rise condo construction -- high rise office buildouts -- service stations -- pools/spas -- heavy industrial -- etc.. if you've been in the trade for awhile you understand there are electricians who can't troubleshoot, but are great at new installations-short cuts-production type operations. there are other who wouldn't think about getting into a ditch with three feet of water in it to run a duct bank for two miles. many times guys are lousy electricians but excellent estimators and the main thing is THEY LIKE IT! it's a nitch thing.
your never gonna be successful doing something you don't like because you just don't put full effort into it. and much of your success in the electrical trade is best matching workers to the job at hand -- again the worker will produce more when working on something he is suited for and likes.

years ago, our trade was not as diversified as todays, and most everyone was familuar with service work to some degree -- today's trade does not train service workers and they are a dying breed. if you go into this "nitch" with average service trained people -- you will have some happy customers and some unhappy customers---and you can make a living doing this --and sometimes you will be happy with your business and sometime you will be unhappy with your business. and remember, you will not know how good a serviceman is for four or five weeks and during this period you might be loosing customers. and then the problem of keeping everybody busy which can cause you to loose a good serviceman and they will quit because they know they are in demand. a service business needs to grow(or shrink) at a slow pace because of the nature of the beast! and it's expensive to add a service truck with(hopefully) a qualified(?) man that is good with your customers.

you see--- with the mc donald's franchise --- it's very easy to provide the customer the same product -- day in and day out!!! an electrical franchise sounds like a dream come true ---- there are 17,000 different electrical products available to our trade and it ain't like saying "you want fries with that sir?". you will fail or succeed on your own two feet -- the main thing is being able to run your business and expand at the pace you can afford without stress. the franchiser makes more money with more leads and will drive you in this direction, and you have to play by their rules. what happens if you decide "i'm big enough --i'm happy" --- "my customers are happy" --- "my men are happy" ---- maybe i can go on a vacation this year??? but then your silent partner doesn't agree at your stopping point??
 
I've taken a look @ the Mr. Electric thing and I guess I'm just too independent to invite a partner in to run and manage my business. If I liked the idea of having someone telling me what to do and how to do it I would probably have never quit my good job and hung out my shingle in the 1st place 28 years ago.

Mr. Electric tells you what type of trucks to run and how old they can be. Mr. E also wants you to sell service contracts for things like servicing panels and changing light bulbs which I would have a hard time selling (something most people don't want or need). Mr. E also has a fixed price for service work such as installing ceiling fans, changing recepts/switches etc. and I prefer to look at each job individually and price accordingly.

I never made it to Texas to get the whole story so I'm sure there are more pluses and minuses. I'm happy where I am.
 
real quick - charlie tuna, that's mcdonalds today. but when ray kroc strarted franchising them, people were buying hope.

b- they use a flat rate price system, based on your costs. it's individual to you.

I will agree with both of you though, if you don't agree with the system, you are better of not getting involved. No sense paying money for something you won't use.
 
how about the guy who goes into business and takes a half page ad in the phone book-------- it's a monthly fee ----- and it's a very large nut to swallow each month. and if your not ready for the business or in the learning mode your "out of business" real quick!!! from what i see, or from my own experiance, you have to learn and build your customer base. if you get going too fast, you can get hurt. you need to know where you stand at all times, if not, you don't own the business ---it own's you!!! i remember what it cost to just add one or two men to the payroll --- i was really never in the service business other than servicing my steady accounts. when i think of adding a new man with a service truck ---wow--now that's an investment!!! mr. e will call the shots and if they see you going down the tubes -- they will sit and watch you -- do you think they're gonna send a few people to help you out???
 
i agree, and actually they do. not service techs, but people to help you succeed. it's definately a much better investment for the guy who has 2-3 trucks going already, but can't figure out how to get tp the next level. or someone who has a bunch of capital. but it's a good move for the right person
 
charlie tuna said:
how about the guy who goes into business and takes a half page ad in the phone book-------- it's a monthly fee ----- and it's a very large nut to swallow each month. and if your not ready for the business or in the learning mode your "out of business" real quick!!!
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This was the first EC I worked for in 1980!
He had a full page ad, was named "AAABC" so he got the first spot in the yellow pages. we were swamped with meter conversions for apartments. Remember back then the Utilities were included in your rent? He went under in a few months waiting to get paid from the apartments. Payday was a Nascar road race to his bank, and who ever was last, checks were no good!
After all that I still stayed in the trade.
 
Its been a while since Ive had time to post anything. One of the reasons is I'm still trying to recover from all the money I lost owning a Mr. Electric franchise. I had one for a short time and they almost got me for everything. Stick to real Estate.
 
As an inspector I can tell you that we have a mr. electric around here somewhere because I see his truck all the time. Funny thing is I hardly ever see him in our office.
 
cowboyjwc said:
As an inspector I can tell you that we have a mr. electric around here somewhere because I see his truck all the time. Funny thing is I hardly ever see him in our office.
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Might that mean, you should investigate, and see if he is working without permitting work?

Let me guess, your not a policeman, there is no time, or a law has been passed requiring a permit, that can not be inforced, seems to me the scales of justice are a bit unbalanced.

No I am not addressing this to you, it's seems to be a problem nation wide, permit requirements, without enforcement.
 
macmikeman said:
I go online and check every day.
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My city wont permit owners / inside contractors for Temp. Power services, and other utility connections. They are forced to have the utility pull these permits, even if the inside guy is doing some of the work.

Before seeing this exception, it seemed owners could legally hire whoever they wanted for electrical work --even undocumented handyman-- if its on the owners permit.

If this practice of working under someone else's permit is so common, could that explain the business model Mr. Electric is using?

Although, my Contractors State License Board www.cslb.ca.gov/applicants/blueprint.asp
claims, in 2003-04 to have filed 1,515 citations and referred 1,057 non-licensees to the District Attorney, it seems most of those hacks are only found during collection efforts, when filing liens, and perhaps when not Covering their Assets under the owners permit.

I remember as an electrician apprentice, working for larger Electrical Contractors (EC), I always learned more about my own trade from the General Contractor (GC) or plumbers, than from the electrical subs. in charge of me.

Perhaps GC / owners save money by holding the permit, taking bids from idiot sticks, and feel its worth holding their hands along the way?
 
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how many contractors pull permits for ceiling fan installation? adding 1 outlet? changing a GFCI?

this is 80% of residential service work. Could explain the lack of permits...
 
In nearby Huntington Beach, and perhaps other cities, permits for many simple electric services are excluded by Uniform Administrative Code. ? 301.2.3 of that PDF file is duplicated below.
Code: 
? 301.2.3. Electrical Permits. An electrical permit shall not be required for the following: (3304-12/95)
1. Portable motors or other portable appliances energized by means of a cord or cable having an attachment plug end to be connected to an approved receptacle when that cord or cable is permitted by the electrical code. (3304-12/95)
2. Repair or replacement of fixed motors, transformers or fixed approved appliances of the same type and rating in the same location. (3304-12/95)
3. Temporary decorative lighting. (3304-12/95)
4. Repair or replacement of current-carrying parts of any switch, contactor or control device. (3304-12/95)
5. Reinstallation of attachment plug receptacles, but not the outlets therefor. (3304-12/95)
6. Repair or replacement of any overcurrent device of the required capacity in the same location. (3304-12/95)
7. Repair or replacement of electrodes or transformers of the same size and capacity for signs or gas tube systems. (3304-12/95)
8. Taping joints. (3304-12/95)
9. Removal of electrical wiring. (3304-12/95)
10. Temporary wiring for experimental purposes in suitable experimental laboratories. (3304-12/95)
11. The wiring for temporary theater, motion picture or television stage sets. (3304-12/95)
12. Electrical wiring, devices, appliances, apparatus or equipment operating at less than twenty-five (25) volts and not capable of supplying more than fifty (50) watts of energy. (3304-12/95)
13. Low-energy power, control and signal circuits of Classes II and III as defined in the electrical code. (3304-12/95)
14. A permit shall not be required for the installation, alteration or repair of electrical wiring, apparatus or equipment or the generation, transmission, distribution or metering of electrical energy or in the operation of signals or the transmission of intelligence by a public or private utility in the exercise of its function as a serving utility. (3304-12/95)
15. Portable generators. Exception: Vehicle mounted units. (3421-7/99)
 
Nope. Dang I never got anymore email notices about this thread. I went to visit in Waco, it seemed like a bunch of cheerleaders. I just got a call the other day from them A new guy trying to sell me on the Idea. I told him Waco did not impress me at all. He then tells me about all the shops opening up blabllalblablalbala. big event in Atlanta blablalblalbalbla. I'm really not to interested in my own business anymore. customer BS, employees. Besides 85% of the work I have done was in the industrial field. thanks guys has anyone else visited Waco?
 
real estate vs work

real estate vs work

I bought my first house in the hamptons for 80k 3 br ranch 1/3 acre just needed a bulldozer to push it a hole. 9 yrs later I am evicting a bad tennant and asked the real estate broker showing the house how much I could sell it for he said nothing has sold for less than 450k in the last year in this town. Not even a doghouse. The flight from stocks to real estate has pushed everything through the roof. I took a real estate course from southampton college and was taught buy the biggest piece of crap in the nicest neighborhood that you can and fix it up. 30 years of putting my nose to the grindstone has made about the same amount with a tremendous effort working for a living. If I had to do it all over real estate didnt take any effort and had a tremendouslly larger return In my opinion.
 
quogueelectric said:
I bought my first house in the hamptons for 80k 3 br ranch 1/3 acre just needed a bulldozer to push it a hole. 9 yrs later I am evicting a bad tennant and asked the real estate broker showing the house how much I could sell it for he said nothing has sold for less than 450k in the last year in this town. Not even a doghouse. The flight from stocks to real estate has pushed everything through the roof. I took a real estate course from southampton college and was taught buy the biggest piece of crap in the nicest neighborhood that you can and fix it up. 30 years of putting my nose to the grindstone has made about the same amount with a tremendous effort working for a living. If I had to do it all over real estate didnt take any effort and had a tremendouslly larger return In my opinion.
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No doubt. I made over $225,000 within the past 5 years. with a cash flow of $800 a month. I think REI will be my part time job for now. I do it for retirement. I have 3 duplexes that will bring me in more than SS would. and I will be making that amount in 8 years not 30.

I am looking at going back to school for a degree. the more and more I think about it, I can't justify the cost of tuition and the fact it will take me 4 years to do, and I will be making the same as I am now. I just started a thread in engineering asking what others would do. You know I won't take much to start an electrical business with my assets. I don't don't like Resi, and commercial work. well mostly residential.

As far as MR. E goes I have no doubt they could be successful with the right team and coaching. It's just not for me. I guess I was looking for more out of them If I was going to give them $150,000.
 
mr electric

mr electric

I spoke with a friend of mine today who worked for them and he said the company out here went under for numerous reasons I just get bad vibes about the whole thing. Why dont you start your buisness part time and work for someone until you can switch.
 
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