starting on shoestring budget

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LEO2854 said:
satcom said:
Wow! you must be in some dream land, " Every day you can get new customers"

Dream land? ha ha! maybe you do not under stand my quote.

Do i get new customers every day ? no I don't, but i have enough work to keep busy right now. is it scary? sure it is that is part of runnig your own business.
things are starting to slow down again. am i going to give up ?No i will keep it going and it will get busy again.

""I have no idea what EC's you were working for, but the good ones usually pay well, and usually offer decent benies".

Working for an EC meens the same old pay check every week Bla bla makeing just enough to get by and you cant have the cash value of your beni's.
then you get a lay off .
Now no check and no beni's and no business at all.
Why? because you just lost your only customer the EC you were working for.
So you can sit and waite for him to call back,or you can start your own business
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Or you can get a job someplace else. Not everyone is cut out for self-employment. Some are quite happy going to work, taking whatever comes their way, and going home at night knowing there is nothing to worry about until the next morning.
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Back on subject :)

I read an article when I was starting into another life, “Deal with it Once”, the article went on to describe many various aspects of dealing with it once! It was frankly a wide and varied description as to how one can apply that one phrase to every part of one’s job. Frankly, I can’t remember all of them but since everyone got an opinion I thought I'd throw this one little statement out!

The basic underlying statement of the article was to deal to some completion any situation that was in-front of one at that time. To make anything final as best one could, in respects to all that involved with that situation at hand.

IE

No loose ends on the job or dealing with clients.
Deal with all the paper work - all of it, once; Be it sort mail or descard to the circular file.
Return calls and leave a message, always identify and leave return number, time for best contacts, etc.

I personally have tried to carry some of these aspects into electrical work.
Sorry if this seems similar or another previous post or even a recent post, but it is what it is …
 
Don't undervalue your work. Know what your labor time should be and how long the average electrician will take to perform the same job. Get in the habit of bidding for the avg workers time to do the job not what how long you will take, unless you are slower. When you start hiring someone to do your work you will be in the habit of bidding for the hired help's rate of production.

Know what it costs to pay a wage, there's hourly wage, what it costs you to pay those wages and then markup on all of it to make it worth your while. Good luck.
 
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kwired said:
LEO2854 said:
Or you can get a job someplace else. Not everyone is cut out for self-employment. Some are quite happy going to work, taking whatever comes their way, and going home at night knowing there is nothing to worry about until the next morning.
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Or you can get a job someplace else.

Yes when your 51 years old EC's will jump at the chance at hiring you right

since you are a EC you do that all the time, And pass on the 25 year old jouneyman electricians Right.

Not everyone is cut out for self-employment.

Yes nether was i till i had no other choice.

The OP wants to start his own business,, why don't you help him since you are an EC your self .
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Leo, we get it, you don't want to work for someone. But you can't just dismiss the argument that being an employee is better for some, probably most people. Especially now.
 
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LEO2854 said:
kwired said:
Or you can get a job someplace else.

Yes when your 51 years old EC's will jump at the chance at hiring you right

since you are a EC you do that all the time, And pass on the 25 year old jouneyman electricians Right.

Not everyone is cut out for self-employment.

Yes nether was i till i had no other choice.

The OP wants to start his own business,, why don't you help him since you are an EC your self .
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There are still jobs for 51 year old's. May have a harder time finding the "dream job" and just because you are older doesn't automatically qualify you in the prospective employers mind. You need some time to prove your experience was good experience. You may also need to know about new products, practices, etc. or else you are worse than training someone that has no habits (good or bad) yet. Some of these shortcomings can also effect the success of being self employed to some degree.

I know self employed people as well as former self employed people (in various other trades, practices, etc.) that that are or were not cut out to be self employed, they had to find out the hard way (but likely the only way) that they can not manage a business.
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Let's see one project and 270 Ec's bidding it , sounds like the ideal time to quit your job and become number 271 be your own boss at any cost
 
I think this has strayed away from the original statement. I am not quitting my job. I am going to have a job with my employer until I have to choose between going out on my own full time or turning down work. The security of my family is the most important thing and I am not going to give up a steady check in hopes that people will start ringing my phone. I believe that the reason most small businesses fail is the result of improper planning and illusions of grandeur. I have been self employed in the past and I chose to close down because of the downturn in the economy. I was installing security systems and that is, in most cases, not steady. The other contractors that were doing the same thing and stuck it out are knocking out about $250 to $300 a week. During the good times we were bringing in about $2500 - $3000 a week. They are still doing this so they call tell everyone they are self employed, they dont mention they are on food stamps and in forclosure. I am grateful for all of the input, but rest assured, I am not taking an unneeded risk here. I am going to build this with a wide foundation and with due caution.
 
bolthead said:
I think this has strayed away from the original statement. I am not quitting my job. I am going to have a job with my employer until I have to choose between going out on my own full time or turning down work. The security of my family is the most important thing and I am not going to give up a steady check in hopes that people will start ringing my phone. I believe that the reason most small businesses fail is the result of improper planning and illusions of grandeur. I have been self employed in the past and I chose to close down because of the downturn in the economy. I was installing security systems and that is, in most cases, not steady. The other contractors that were doing the same thing and stuck it out are knocking out about $250 to $300 a week. During the good times we were bringing in about $2500 - $3000 a week. They are still doing this so they call tell everyone they are self employed, they dont mention they are on food stamps and in forclosure. I am grateful for all of the input, but rest assured, I am not taking an unneeded risk here. I am going to build this with a wide foundation and with due caution.
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The guys on here do not want to see you get in trouble, they will try to help you the best they can, not only good planning, but staying on top of industry trends may help you get back in business on the up side
 
flyboy said:
Statistics from the Small Business Administration say that more than 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first year, and 95 percent fail within the first five years.

So.............

Make sure you have a business plan? The business plan will force you to understand just how much you need to know and plan for to be successful (ignore those who say you don't need one)

Make sure you know your numbers, i.e., breakeven and desired profit. You must know your costs of doing business. You must know your billable efficiency and calculate your selling prices based on billable efficiency and breakeven (ignore those who tell you there are other ways of knowing your numbers)

Never base your prices on what your competitors are charging. You don't have to.

Make sure you pay yourself a respectable salary and include it as an expense. (Ignore those who suggest you can't in your first year of business).

Don't make your wife a slave doing your books, pay her a salary.

Make sure you know how to read an income statement & balance sheet.

Make sure you understand and know how to control cash flow.

Make sure you collect your money COD (ignore everyone who says you can't collect COD)

Pay cash for everything, always pay your suppliers better than agreed and get them to pay 2% for cash.

Don't hire anyone unless you can give them full time work, the best wages and benefits and career path they and their family can be proud of.

Don't ever take business advice from people who can't produce a P&L proving their profitability.

Don't ever believe anyone who says you can't make money in this business.

Don't ever believe anyone who tells you there is no work out there because there are more electricians than jobs.

Don't ever extend credit to a customer. Always get at least half down as a deposit and collect your balance immediately on completion. Do not believe anyone who tells you this can't be done.

Don't think for one minute your going to succeed in business without learning new skills associated with business systems, budgets, management processes, leadership and time management.

Be acutely aware that you don't know, what you don't know and seek to out find out just how much, you don't know.

You may just come to the conclusion it's better to work for someone else.
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This is excellent business advice. My goal is to eventually implement every one of these suggestions. Thanks Flyboy for bring our industry into the 21st Century.
 
bolthead said:
Hey Guys and Gals,
I am going to start working for myself and I am looking to you all for your advice. I am employed now and do not intend to quit my job until I cannot afford to continue working for them, if that make sense. I have 15 years of experience and 15 years of collected material that was going to be discarded. I kept it, and organized it and now I have a 12 x 15 storage room that rivals alot of the supply houses I've been to! I have a truck and enclosed trailer that are both in good shape and I own them free and clear. My worry is that I have only worked for large contractors and I have not been involved in the everyday buisness. I tell people that "electrical, i know. contracting and company...not so much." Any advice on gathering clients and so forth would be great. I am not asking for anyone to write a buisness plan or anything like that, just a line or two along the idea of "make sure you do this" or "never let yourself get like this". I have used this forum for a few years and I respect the opinions of everyone. So BRING IT ON!!!!
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bolthead...I am sort of in a similar situation. I too, have began working for myself aside from my 7-4 job as a maintenance electrician for the local school system. My situation is a bit different though as I already have the company. My farther started the company up 15 years ago or so as a part time job for extra money...his day job was as a lineman at our local power company. He is still employed with the POCO and has been for going on 25 yrs now. He will never leave there until he retires and I dont blame him.
Anyhow, back to my story. There was enough workload when I graduated high school for him to employ me full time as well as my brother. I worked in the family business full time for 6 years with my brother being there the last 4 of those years. I have been involved in the estimating and pricing part just as much as I have in the actual electrical work. Over the last year work continued to gradually get slower and slower and it finally got to a point to where I felt it was in my best interest to look for other employment. When I did, the maintenance director at the local school system offered me a job(we done lots of work for the school system as a contractor and he decided he'd like to put me on the payroll to save some of those expenses).
Now, at the time this seemed like a good move. Ive been here for 6 months and have been able to have a steady paycheck...although its definitely not one that looked anything like the ones I made working for our family business. At this point things are starting to pick back up around here with our company. People are starting to call regularly again and Im staying busy pretty much 3-4 evenings a week. I know that if things continue to escalate in the direction they are going now that I am going to have to make the same choice you are looking at. The job I have now provides security for me and my wife and child but I also know that I can provide much more for us by running the electrical business. I have talked with my dad about what I want to do and he supports my ideas. I already have a work body service truck and a 16 foot cargo trailer stocked with every tool imaginable under the sun.
As I say, I really hope things continue to pick up so I can get back out there. Working the family business is all I have ever known other than this public job I have now. After taking this job I realize that it is not for me.With this job I have no control of how much money I make. They may give me a few more pennies next year as a COL raise but thats nothing exciting. There are jobs that I do up here for an hourly wage....that if I done them through my business....as an independant contractor....I could make my days wages in a couple hours.

Sorry for rambling. I did not mean to hijack your thread either. I just wanted to get my story out there.

And good luck to you by the way. I will give you this one peice of advice. Treat your customers the way you would want to be treated...without customers you have no business. Repeat business is what keeps food on my table.

Oh and by the way...just incase anyone wanted to know...I am in Southeast GA.
 
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bolthead said:
. . .
I am going to start working for myself . . .
. . . I am not asking for anyone to write a buisness plan . . .
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Bolt,

You NEED a Business Plan.
You Need to Plan your Business Methods and Targets !

I have a business plan, willing to revise, and constantly referring to it.

If you don't know where you are going, you will sure get there !!!

Good luck, man. :)
 
LEO2854 said:
Do i get new customers every day ?
No I don't, but I have enough work to keep busy right now.
Is it scary?
Sure it is that is part of running your own business.
Things are starting to slow down again.
Am i going to give up ?
No, I will keep it going and it will get busy again.
. . .
Working for an EC meens the same old pay check every week . . . then . . . Lay-Off.
Now no check and no beni's and no business at all.
Why? . . . Because you just lost your only customer the EC you were working for.
. . .
So you can
(1) sit and wait for him to call back,
or
(2) you can start your own business.
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Leo,
That comment about losing "Your Only Customer" is very relevant !!!
For me, it is the core issue.
Thanks !
 
kwired said:
LEO2854 said:
Or you can get a job someplace else.
Not everyone is cut out for self-employment.
Some are quite happy going to work, taking whatever comes their way, and going home at night knowing there is nothing to worry about until the next morning.
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Kwire,
Good thoughts,
. . . but NOT for me.

I can't live with the idea that I have marketed myself to One Customer, and only ONE !

But your point is good,
along the lines of being honest with yourself assessment
and being aggressive and committed to your goals.

This has been a good thread. Several viewpoints :)
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1-Get an accountant-talk to him first-incorporate-if you don't IRS takes 30% of every dollar you can't put back into the business and it hurts paying the gov't quarterly (estimated taxes on income you haven't made yet) before you buy tools etc.

2-How many people are working for your current boss in the office?-that will be you/your time to do in addition to twisting wire in the future. i.e. +/-25% administration in addition to doing work in the field.

3-Talk to your wife-is she willing to live with the possibility of LESS/more income than you are making now? Will she work for you? Can you work with her?
 
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