There is so much opportunity in Electrical Contracting these days that we are seeing people start Electrical Shops every week with little more than desire.
Obviously there is lots of work but:
01.Do you have employees?
02.Do you have contractors?
03.Will you need to be low bid to win the work?
04.Do you have all your license, permits, insurance, tax info, etc.?
05.Do you have your accounting in order?
06.Do you have tools, trucks?
07.Is your office set up with plotters, printers, phones, storage?
08.Do you know how to find work?
09.Have you set up accounts at your local supply house, made connections there?
10.Do you know your projected overhead, labor burden, etc.?
11.Have you decided what work that you will go after? Residential, Commercial, Industrial, or Service work?
Believe it or not 75% of the people we talk to cannot answer the above questions.
You never plan to fail you just fail to plan.
Moreover, the real question is: DO YOU KNOW HOW TO ESTIMATE ELECTRICAL PROJECTS?
The next question is: DO YOU KNOW HOW TO TRACK YOUR JOBS AFTER YOU GET THEM?
Sadly in most cases the answer is no to both.
The story goes like this. I have been an electrician for years and I am tired of making everyone else rich.
If I can do it for them I can do it for myself!
Having lived on both sides of the coin I understand. The people in the office never think the people in the field work and the people in the field never think the people in the office work. When you start your electrical company you will quickly learn it is a team effort and you are only as strong as the weakest link. If you win work but your guys waste time installing it or if you have a poor estimate and the workers bust it putting it in both scenarios you lose money.
It all starts with the electrical estimate.
If you have a bad estimate it is over before it starts. True if you work hard, buy right, and micro manage the project you can cut your loses but it does all start with the estimate.
You must know how to estimate for your company. It is said time and time again you will fail or succeed based on your ability to estimate.
You should own the best electrical estimating software that you can afford.
It is your most import tool.
The Best Bid Hybrid Pro is the best value that you can purchase. The more you search the better they look.
Working in the field you may not have had the opportunity to learn how to estimate.
www.bestbidestimating.com offers an on-line school for electrical estimating that is very affordable.
So much to learn
It is a given that you need to become a great Electrical Estimator and Project Manager. You also must learn all of the boring (How to run an office).
You may never have thought that you would also need to become a crisis manager. Managing employees and their excuses, real, or made up, is a challenge in itself. Paul’s Grandmother just died again for the 4th time this year or I need to leave, the school just called, and they don’t have any kids etc.
Times pasted you may would have just fired your troubled employees but today they are so few to choose from you learn to manage through the crap as long as you can.
Once you get it right
It will take a few hard years but once you get it right it will become a rewarding career. Electrical contracting can be a fun and challenging career.
01. Learn to estimate electrical projects.
02. Master your Electrical Estimating Software.
03. Learn what type of work your company performs best at.
04. Learn the contractors that do that type of work and build a team.
05. Build a strong office.
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