ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion ESI flatrate

OK...Let's have a little mercy on the New Guy.

200-amp services aren't going for $2100 REW, that's what you're selling them for. If you could sell them for $3000 and provide a higher level of service that cost you $200...wouldn't that be better.

You may fear that you'll be flooded with price objections, but I'll bet bigventure's employees get the price objection less often than you do.

Did you ever pay more for better service, or do you always get the cheapest. There are many people that will pay more than the minimum for a better experience. Hang around, check out the archives & maybe we can encouraqe guys like bigventure to post more often.

I'd love to be on a forum where ten guys are posting comments about their multi-million dollar contracting businesses. At the moment I know two or three.

Dave

PS There are MacDonald & WalMart business models, and there are Starbucks business models. I'm interested in both.

"Why should electrical contractors have to feel that they need to provide work to the public at the lowest possible cost in order to "justify" themselves?"

Yes, why do they, a good question. Pricing will vary across the country, from town to town, and state to state they will differ.
What other business trades do is they try to make money on their sales, equipment is usually part of their profit center, EC's seem to give away equipment profit, again why do they, my view is they have a good understanding of the trade, and just lack some business practices.

REW, update your profile, or send me an email about this.

DNK,

Don't worry, i don't think he is going to drink the Kool Aid!

that's great LK.

big venture and tiger, keep it up.

rew - you can lead the way or try to hold on while you get run over. it's always easier to stay in the muck and pull people back down to your level, than it is to raise yourself up above it.

good luck.

[This message has been edited by mahlere (edited 11-16-2006).]

[This message has been edited by mahlere (edited 11-16-2006).]

Well, mahlere made a statement last year, that unless we changed our ways of operating, the big guys were going to eat our lunch, and he was correct, they moved in and they took over the marketing, by using in your face ad's, quick response, and up front prices, so far about 6 Local EC's have left the business, and 2 more big guys came in, and they are busy 24/7 with prices twice what we were charging, and they are hiring, and putting on trucks, while the others are laying off and parking trucks, so the whole idea of you can't get decent pricing, for jobs, is not a fact, they charge more and are growing.

LK, don't use logic against me

I'm going to school and in a few more years I'll be in business for myself. I do nice, clean work and take pride in what I do. I also want to make an abundance of money, watch my business grow, make enough to put a kid through college and have some leftover for retirement.

How do I go about charging $4k for a 200 amp service upgrade when all the others doing the same work will be charging nearly 50% less?

I have a well-groomed appearence, am honest with customers, and arrive on-time to jobs. Surely, an extra two grand in the price can't be justified by including a new GFCI receptacle and overhead pullchain light above the panel, can it?

How can Starbucks justify selling coffee for $4 when it has a little whipped cream on top? How can Panera bread justify a $7 sandwich when I can get a sandwich, fries & drink for $4 at MacDonalds? A can of Coke costs 50 cents, how can a restaurant justify selling it for $1.50?

A Jamba Juice was being opened nearby recently. I knew I'd probably never go in there. Places like that are in & out all the time. When it opened there was a crowd of young women. My daughter was all excited. Smoothies, I guess.

There's a market for anything. If you can build a repeatable client base, you can make a business of it. It's not about the steak...it's about the sizzle. There are plenty of qualified electricians around. Some of them are very busy & some are waiting for the phone to ring. Usually the difference isn't in craftsmanship, it's in marketing.

Dave

"Surely, an extra two grand in the price can't be justified by including a new GFCI receptacle and overhead pullchain light above the panel, can it?"

justified, does the supply house that makes a 100% on a loadcenter sale have to justify the price, or the plumbing company that marks up a furnace 100% have to justify it, or every other business that adds cost of living increases, do they have to justify the increases or do they just pass the increases on, an average 200Amp service upgrade was $10 an amp in 1987, somewhere around 2,000 on average, some a little more and some a little less, and here we are in 2006 and some are doing 200Amp services for the same or less. Now compare that with the plumbers, an average furnace install in 87 was around $2900 plus or minus, and today the same installation is around $5,600 to 7,000 for the same job, it all is justified by cost increases in material, labor, and cost of operating a business, remenber the next time you pay your phome bill have them justify the bill, and while you at it get the insurance company, to justify their bill, after all they passed increases on to you. I would not say charge $5000 for a 200Amp standard OH install, but make sure you have all your costs covered, with an expected profit.