Quote Originally Posted by Zcomp
As much as I dream of moving to Canada (I'm really serious too), I just don't think I could handle the cold. I used to live in Conway,NH on the border of Maine and maybe an hour from Canada, I remember every day of the 6-8 month winter being the worst.
My goal now is to go off to Ireland or Holland, Where I can enjoy a little actual freedom. Instead of this pretend "freedom".
Sorry if I came off sharp there, But my dad made a good living installing tile, In only the last 20yrs I've watched my family trade go from "a standing career" all the way down to "you'll need government assistance to survive".
I mean that sincerely too, I'm on foodstamps right now. I have a 2-1/2 yr old daughter who has no idea how far we've fallen. And now I look around and people are concerned about the illegals, There ILLEGALS!! would we protest on behalf of the rapist and molesters??? Its all the same to me. I've been getting raped and molested(spiritually & Financially) by these border jumpers for over a decade now.
There I go on a rant again, Sorry.
Don't sweat the rant..... I was where you are now in 2004, then I wised up, and quit trying to underbid everybody else to get work, went back to school for business courses, learned the business of running a business. In the process, I learned to charge what I am worth, do the very best work, not necessarely the fastest, just the best. Folks that wan the best know who to call, folks that just want "cheap" call everybody. Use the fact tha most of the other contractors are hiring illegals to do their work to your advantage.
I don't know what you use for your net margins, or what kind of pricing schedule you have, but as an HVAC contractor, when I went from T&M to Flat Rate, my gross reciepts doubled, and my NET PROFIT increased by a factor of 10!! My price book only has the word "LABOR" in it twice. Labor is a bad word...
OTOH, when I show them in the book how much its going to cost, they ask..."how much is the labor?" to which I now reply..."I'm sorry, we don't charge labor". I get less than 10% of the install jobs that I quote, but the folks that have me install a new comfort system for them are my best advertisement.

You can make it, just take the high road, and offer premium services. You can be the lowest bidder, all the time and go broke really quick.... or you can charge what *YOU* are worth, and to hell with the bottom feeders.....let them scrape the bottom of the barrel. Just remember, that part of being the best is looking the part, *ALWAYS* being professional, drive a vehicle that is always clean....waxed is good too, and do the very best quality work with the very best quality materials.

I wish you a very profitable year :thumbsup: