Most people go into business, to better their life, and that goes for every type of business out there, years back, I made all the stuped mistakes, like looking at the other guys, as some of the posters on here are doing, It cost me dearly, in both family life, and my earnings, it was not until I was working a service upgrade at an accountants home, that I was able to see the light, he asked me if I would consider using his services, and did not ask for a discount, on the work I was doing, just consider using his services, months went by, and debts were increasing.
I finally called the accountant, and set up an appointment, we sat down with all my records, and discussed the way I operated, I can still remember seeing him sitting there with his hands over his eyes, saying you have a lot work to do, to get this operating as a business.
The one thing that changed my thinking, was he showed me actual accounts with names blocked out, and they were in the same business as me, or related trades, all doing very well, he explained overhead, and operating expenses, labor burdens, tax liabilities, budget planning, and how to go about growing the business.
There are plenty of people out there running, what they believe is a business, but only a few that actually have a business.
Most of these business operations can be described as, opening a store with a nice store front, in the case of an EC (A Nicely Lettered Truck) then putting in 10 to 14 hour days, and giving away the stock at cost, not a good hobby, and surley not a very good job.
I often hear I just want to make a certin amount every week, and I am doing ok, and that is just fine, provided that income, is not being drained when bills come in, and your saving eniough of that income, for benifits, and retirement needs.
Another big warning sign of a business heading for disaster, is well I had to take the work, to keep my men working and pay my operating costs, what that usually indicates is you din't have any planning for slow times, such as maint work, or off schedule jobs, and you surly din't include non productive hours in youe cost figures.
On the issue of bidding contracts, if your not able to support the cost of providing that contract, and earn at least a break even price then accepting it means your paying them for the privlige of working. Electrical Contracting is bidding contracts, at a given price, not an itimized list, with broken out pricing, let the other guy operate like a flea market vendor, run your operation like a professional.
If your using T&M in most cases, your not contracting, your jobbing, and you still need to apply what it cost you to operate at, break even, or a profit.
