I'm starting my own electrical contracting company.

[flyweightnate]

As a homeowner, I know a good plumber, but wind up trying Thumbtack/ nextdoor/ homepro/ Angie's list to get multiple bids on other work. Consider a professional presence on at least a few while you build a client base.

Might help to know a good drywaller/ painter too, so you can get on with your day while they patch up for less.

If you ever need extra work, come to Dallas - everywhere you look some electrician charges $150/hr and has a week's backlog. If it wouldn't take so long to get licensed, I would have hopped on that wagon long ago.

[Levi]

That's awesome dude! I hope you absolutely kill it!

My $0.02...
Figure out a system to bid your jobs as accurately as possible. When you're talking through a project with the customer it is easy to miss a lot of the little things that all add up to real cost in the end. Build some template spreadsheets or whatever works for you that have all the pieces, parts, odds and ends on there so you can't overlook them.

Don't under price yourself. Even if you are starting out as a one man show, bid each job as if you had to pay an employee to do it (along with all the other employee related costs). Because there is only one of you and once your week is full that's it. This allows continued growth and more happy customers in the end.

The book "Never Split The Difference" by Chris Voss is an amazing crash course in negotiation tactics that has been immensely useful to me.

Keep us posted on your progress, we're rooting for ya!

[Drcemento]

Setting up an S corp for my business was the best thing I ever did. You can then become a regularly paid employee of your own company with all the taxes taken out etc. it sounds crazy, but The biggest Issue i see sole proprietor owners deal with is paying themselves - its easy to keep thinking I'll do it next week, oh I better wait i gotta pay bills. as long as you are working and charging a going rate the money will be there. it also avoids the second biggest pitfall - you gotta take 30% of whatever you are paying yourself and save it for tax season cause your gonna get hosed.(you get hosed either way but it;s allot less painful when it gets taken out bi-weekly and you end up with a refund.

There's a reason corporations are corporations and are always getting in "trouble" and are seen as evil - there are all kinds of fun ways to avoid taxes as a corporation that are perfectly legal - and you don't have to be some big mega-corp to take advantage of them.

[Myrkul]

Absolutely. Tons of things can be written of as business expenses, and until you get employees solo 401(k)s can be absolutely broken for sheltering profits from taxes because you can make contributions as an employer and an employee now.

[scottieb]

Thank you all for the advice and good reminders.

The next big step is to take the state contractors exam.

[nusigmu]

I recently moved from Lincoln, the company I work for has an office on the south east side of town (68512). If I hear of any work that needs to be done ill give you a shout!

[scottieb]

Woo hoo! I just passed the state contractor's test!

[Levi]

That's awesome! Congrats!

[scottieb]

Electrical contractor has a nice ring to it. I'm amped!

[scottieb]

You're probably right.

[William the Third]

Too late, Chinese butt plugs are already on the way!





Just kidding... or am I?

[Paintslinger16]

Kinda hard to have a company and not have the name and business address searchable. Everything is public record…

[EvilCreature]

Acquaint yourself with the Mechanic's Lien laws in your state and consider an LLC for a liability shield. I recommend talking to an attorney about both (ideally the same one). I would help but am not licensed in Nebraska.

[Tarsun2]

bet youre "charged" up for this.
lol
i would find it "shocking" if you didnt go through with this.
lololol
dont get lost in the "current" just keep a "steady state" and keep moving forward.
lolololololol
dont do anything that "hertz".
lolol
dont do anything "polarizing".
lol
ok, i think im out.

[scottieb]

Thank you for the laughs! It was a good way to start the work day.

[scottieb]

Here's an update on this. I've been at it now for a few months and things are going well. Work is steady. I have a few tax things to figure out but everything else is peachy. Here's my logo:

[Grendel]

Congratulations, love the logo. I'd love to give you business if you were in the area. My son in-law is catching hell with the crop of electricians in our area. Unreliable (lots of no shows) and having to redo work because it is shoddy.

[glaman5266]

I second Brick. If you ever do a run of shirts with that logo I will buy one. Absolutely fantastic logo. Glad to hear things are going well.

[scottieb]

BrickHaus I'll see about getting some shirts made.

Grendel There is some of that here as well. Customers are so very happy just to have someone to do the work, and they'll pay for it. It's surprising why there is so much no showing and returning. As to the quality of work, that needs improving across the board. At best, I see average work out there, a grade of C or C-. Most often it's worse than that. The inspectors have told me it's refreshing to see someone who does high quality work.

glaman5266 Thank you! I'm glad things are where they are right now. I could stand to be a little more busy but some bigger jobs have yet to cone through. I'll look into shirts and let you know.

[chrislognshot]

your going to need ironclad LLC all i can say. with out ironclad LLC your get hurt and ruined

[dkv23]

My buddy is a sparky and has done some work for me. What we both learned is doing underground services suck. Had to upgrade to a 200amp service and lay conduit and pull a 350ft run. He said he would never do another, so be careful quoting one of those.
-Duncan

[scottieb]

I do a fair bit of underground work and don't mind it. A run of 350' is always a tough one if pulling through conduit.

[Tarsun2]

that logo is baller.
everything fits the theme as well.
its simple, easy to read, is not cluttered, and its in a legible font.

[scottieb]

Thank you for the feedback.