The Four Golden Rules of Contracting

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jimmyglen

Senior Member
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
Here is something I came up with

BEFORE YOU TAKE ON ANY JOB

I try and apply it to each and every job to see if I can get all four rules met.


#1 KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO
make sure you get a good scope. The scope should be detailed and clear so that the owner,contractor and electrician all know what the scope is

#2 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT
speaks for itself - I might be an electrician but if I have never done high voltage terminations, I am not going to bid it

#3 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE MONEY
know your costs and make sure that you can make money on this job - just because someone else bid it at X doesnt mean you can make money on this job

#4 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO GET PAID
maybe the hardest one yet - but you should at least have an idea who is paying you and when

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Ok I know some of you hard core industry vets will tear this up but I came up with this and I try to use it before I bid any job

It at least gets you thinking - what do you think? and be nice :)

Jim
 
#5 - Retire from contracting and become an Inspector, ignore tips 1-4.

In all seriousness, successful contracting is 99% planning and organization. Those are good Tips!
 
Amen: The smartest and best electricians have failed in business ignoring basic rules. You need more that electrical skills to pull off running a business.
 
Those pretty much sum up the broad categories but I'd be curious to see the subcategories for each one. What are the detailed steps that need to be taken for each one?
 
jimmyglen said:
Here is something I came up with

BEFORE YOU TAKE ON ANY JOB

I try and apply it to each and every job to see if I can get all four rules met.


#1 KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO
make sure you get a good scope. The scope should be detailed and clear so that the owner,contractor and electrician all know what the scope is

#2 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT
speaks for itself - I might be an electrician but if I have never done high voltage terminations, I am not going to bid it

#3 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE MONEY
know your costs and make sure that you can make money on this job - just because someone else bid it at X doesnt mean you can make money on this job

#4 KNOW HOW YOU ARE GOING TO GET PAID
maybe the hardest one yet - but you should at least have an idea who is paying you and when

---------------------------------------------------

Ok I know some of you hard core industry vets will tear this up but I came up with this and I try to use it before I bid any job

It at least gets you thinking - what do you think? and be nice :)

Jim
Click to expand...

From a hard core industry vet, GOOD POST!
 
The Four Golden Rules of Contracting

I see only three.

1. Make the money
2. Keeping the money
3. Giving it back, when you're done.


1 is self explanatory
2 involves accountants and the fear of Uncle Sam taking everything you earn.
3 involves charities, and local involvement/participation.

FWIW
 
Money

Money

Rule #1 make money
Rule #2 Keep Wifey Happy
Rule #3 make more money cause wifey spent it
Rule #4 Make more money ,Hoping wifey don't find it
Rule # Retire hoping you have enough left after living with wifey.
Does this sound familiar???
lol, As long as i got my boat I'm going fishing.
 
When I was a young man, just fresh out of college, I started an electrical contracting business, incorporated, the whole 9 yards, but I had the peculiar habit of being nice when it came to charging old ladies and poor folks, and my banker told me one day "Fred, nice guys finish last". :mad:
I damned near did, too. So I had to bite down hard, and just charge everybody for everything. What a difference that made at tax time.:)
The most important lesson I think I learned was that it was not enough to know the electrical trade, I also had to be knowledgeable about business accounting....what a shock and learning curve that was....:grin:
 
wbalsam1 said:
When I was a young man, just fresh out of college, I started an electrical contracting business, incorporated, the whole 9 yards, but I had the peculiar habit of being nice when it came to charging old ladies and poor folks, and my banker told me one day "Fred, nice guys finish last". :mad:
I damned near did, too. So I had to bite down hard, and just charge everybody for everything. What a difference that made at tax time.:)
The most important lesson I think I learned was that it was not enough to know the electrical trade, I also had to be knowledgeable about business accounting....what a shock and learning curve that was....:grin:
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Don't take this wrong, 'cause I'm sure you are an honest, fair man, and this not directed sloely at you, just the thread in general, but you also have to make sure you can sleep at night. I worked with a man who mad a "living" for a while in Louisiana, and he did a many job for people who paid him in chickens because that was all they had, but they needed somebody to do the work. I'm not sure how I would handle that situation on a regular basis. One thing he said on several occasions is that they were some of his favorite customers because of their desire to pay him something for his work.
 
those are good points and to go a bit further what I have learned about maintaning a solid company is 3 basic must haves

1. reliable attorney
2. smart acountant
3. SMALL bank
 
mutual respect

mutual respect

360Youth said:
Don't take this wrong, 'cause I'm sure you are an honest, fair man, and this not directed solely at you, just the thread in general, but you also have to make sure you can sleep at night. ..... One thing he said on several occasions is that they were some of his favorite customers because of their desire to pay him something for his work.
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One time my business partner and I changed out a power pole and put up a new service and feeder assembly for a guy who worked for $3.75 per hour in a sawmill. The guy paid us $10.00 a week until the job was paid for, and at the end, he bought us a case of Genny beer. Meanwhile we had to sue a doctor and a law professor for the monies they owed us and our attorney got 1/3! :mad: Oh what an education I received day to day doing electrical work. All the while competing with the trunk-slammer who had no insurance, and very little skills, but a golden tongue that could sell the Pope a double bed. :grin:

Talking about "sleeping at night" brings to mind another memory. I had wired 300 homes or more by the time I built my first home and wired that one. Putting my little kids in that house that I wired sure gave me an appreciation for the care I had taken in wiring all the other homes over the years in which dads and moms had entrusted their lives and the lives of their precious children to my workmanship and general knowledge and character.

Most of my work as an inspector is around very qualified tradesmen, and I appreciate their integrity as much as they appreciate mine. That makes for a wonderful career.......:) And, yes, I occassionally waive the fee for old ladies and poor folks, because I never got too far above my raising.
 
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wbalsam1 said:
.... and at the end, he bought us a case of Genny beer.
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Did you charge him extra for the Genny? :)

I used to think free beer was a good thing, until a friend bought me a glass of Genny at a tavern one day. They don't call it Genocide Crude Oil for nothing. :)
 
Price Control

Price Control

I read all the threads on this issue, and we all will have to deal with it face to face eventually. I went to a customers place after a service call for no heat. It was dead of winter and I make those calls my priority. After going inside I found a elderly women eating cat food to get herself by and make ends meet. A relative bought her a new thermastat a while back and asked me to install it because she felt that could be her problem. I installed it and luckily that was the problem, but it never left my mind seeing the state of this women subjecting herself to sub - standard means to survive.She was adament about paying me when I fixed her heating issue, but I kindly brushed her off saying the office will bill you in the mail.I got her invoice, sent it out saying NO Charge. Wouldn't you know it ,a week before Christmas This Elderly woman found in her heart to bake me cookies and deliver them to me for helping her. I have no idea how she paid for them but felt obligated to accept them for her effort. Some times we have to put ourselves in a position to be human not just businessmen. She made me realize how lucky I really am.
 
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Aha! They were after my Genny !!!!!

Aha! They were after my Genny !!!!!

ceknight said:
Did you charge him extra for the Genny? :)

I used to think free beer was a good thing, until a "friend" bought me a glass of Genny at a tavern one day. They don't call it Genocide Crude Oil for nothing. :)
Click to expand...

Is this person still your friend? :grin: You know, come to think of it....maybe that's why I had so many problems with electrical work, and why the old ladies took a "shine" to me.....:grin: :grin:
 
RUWIREDRITE said:
I read all the threads on this issue, and we all will have to deal with it face to face eventually. I went to a customers place after a service call for no heat. It was dead of winter and I make those calls my priority. After going inside I found a elderly women eating cat food to get herself by and make ends meet. A relative bought her a new thermastat a while back and asked me to install it because she felt that could be her problem. I installed it and luckily that was the problem, but it never left my mind seeing the state of this women subjecting herself to sub - standard means to survive.She was adament about paying me when I fixed her heating issue, but I kindly brushed her off saying the office will bill you in the mail.I got her invoice, sent it out saying NO Charge. Wouldn't you know it ,a week before Christmas This Elderly woman found in her heart to bake me cookies and deliver them to me for helping her. I have no idea how she paid for them but felt obligated to accept them for her effort. Some times we have to put ourselves in a position to be human not just businessmen. She made me realize how lucky I really am.
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Amen! I agree
 
generosity en masse

generosity en masse

RUWIREDRITE said:
I went to a customers place after a service call for no heat. It was dead of winter and I make those calls my priority. After going inside I found a elderly women eating cat food to get herself by and make ends meet.
Click to expand...

I remember so vividly the Great Ice Storm here in the north country back in the mid-to-late 90's. People had been without power for so long. I worked for the NYBFU as a senior inspector. I talked with my boss and when I told him in detail of the hardships and devastation caused by this major storm and power outage, he gave me permission to waive the inspection fees for several weeks. Talk about generosity in a time of need. I did literally hundreds and hundreds of freebies, and wow were the people happy about getting their power back on with no additional charge after having lost their foodstuffs to spoiling, etc. The old folks were so proud, and did not want to bother anyone and would endure incredible hardships rather than complain. I, too, learned so much, and saw so much compassion and humility. :)
 
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