Is anyone out there a member of Electricians Success International? If so, how do you like it? Has it been worth the investment? Any comments for or against are appreciated.
Read this article about Plumber's Success International and it will give you a very good idea of what ESI is really all about. I'm confident that ESI can help improve your bottom line, but you should know where their priorities lie. http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,4212,00.html
Pat
Thanks Pat. That was very interesting reading. I especially like the part where it highlights the $40,000 investment (over 3 years).
Wouldn't it be nice to have 100 companies join YOUR club at $40,000 each. I guess with $4 million you could have several business experts on staff. There are a few of these types of organizations around. I think ABC is another (Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.).
I'd make the decision if I could get information and make a rational decision without attending the weekend "Revival".
Remember that there is a wealth of business information available on the internet and at the library. You can also get quite a few hours of professional advice for $40,000.
One of the first things to improve your business is to track your expenses and hours invoiced. Take that to your accountant to figure your overhead and what your rates should be. I recently had an hour meeting with my accountant. The fee was $175.
Dave
Tiger, I'd just like to comment a bit about ABC.
In Reno, they are the non-union trade group, and they have DOL-approved apprenticeship programs, using the NCCER curriculum, and with college credit through the local community college.
A look at there newsletters shows them to be quite proud of their lobbying efforts.
I have met contractors who quit, with the opinion voiced that all "they did was cash my check every year."
I don't think ESI does either lobbying or training....but I could be wrong.
The IEC (Independent Electrical Contractors) provides an apprentiship program and lobbying efforts I believe. They also offer many seminars on various aspects of running an electrical contracting company.
As for ESI, the $40,000 per company is small potatoes compared to the payday they are really planning. They will offer to take over the best and most profitable companies in each area and pay them with stock options (no money out of their pockets)-----combine these profitable clones under one umbrella company and present it to Wallstreet. Instant multi- millionaires made during the IPO.
Now that is interesting!
Pat
I think it's more than interesting. It's scary.
This past Memorial Day I had a lengthy conversation with a medium sized EC (Approx. 15 employees and six trucks). He's a member of ABC and talked at length about how it helped him and also about the training which he took part in. I was impressed that he recommended it without being part of the evangelist/sales team. He said there were some parts of the program that he hadn't yet implimented.
The part that made the most sense to me about it was that he had builders send plans that were sized to his size company. He even had a larger EC throw him a job that they didn't want to do. I don't know if ESI is set up with generals like that. He didn't mention anything about lobbying, and may not have known about it.
As for me with 2 in college, $40,000 is tuition money, not the business-improvement-membership-fund.
Dave
ESI is definately not set up with the generals like that. Their main focus is going direct to the customer for service work. No waiting on your money---you walk out the door with a check or credit card after each job.
If they can help you turn that $40,000 into an extra $150,000 in net profit per year, plus raising the value of your now successful business by a $100,000+,it might be worth the investment.
Pat
The stories we never hear are the ones that make the big investment and quietly go bankrupt.
Dave
Hi all,
I had looked into ESI, also and felt that the investment of traveling to a meeting and dues was more than we wanted to commit. However, I did appreciate the article Patrick Kennedy (Mr. Sparky of Atlanta)has on the ESI site that points out advantages of residential work.
http://www.electricianssuccess.com/focus.aspx If you want to grow bigger than a few trucks (not our goal at the moment) it could be worth joining, although it seems to lean towards a franchise kind of operation and perhaps not a good fit if one wants to remain totally autonomous.
I found this article dated 2004 that gives the names of companies that have joined ESI. They might be a source of info if anyone is really interested in how ESI works. But, maybe not! You can't access the Member Successes section on the ESI site without being a member, and the only quotes are from members who have just joined.
Anyway, my two cents...
Wendy
I am interested in ESI and would like to participate in the electrciansboard.com forums, but I appear to be banned. Since I've never even posted there, the only reason I can find is that I directly compete with Mr. Sparky. (If they are #1 in service volume we are probably #3 in our area.) Sparky, if you aren't afraid of a little competition, maybe we could help each other.
I think you have to already be a member of ESI to post on electricianboard.com
I tried signing up, but although I can login and see the topics, I keep getting a message that I have not been approved yet (or something like that) when I try to read posts.
Oh well. I guess it isn't really a Public Forum. At least this one is!
Eagle,
That is a little strange--Mr. Kennedy usually asks his local competition that post on that forum to call him and meet for lunch.
SJB,
That site is suppossed to be totally open to everyone--not just for members. They seem to be trying really hard to get the site more active. Maybe they should be working harder on admitting new guys like you.
Pat
I went to a ESI "Rally" last year in St Louis. It was a two day affair, the first night a social gathering with pitchmen from ESI and other contractors. The second day was the dog and pony show where they bring out several contractors who have made it big in PSI and then the sales pitch. $20,000 to join but just for today $8000 and $2800 every quater taken from your credit card.
Now I figured that I just had a nice 4 day vacation and met some real nice contractors and that I could do a lot more with $19,200 than give it to someone else.
So I hired a marketing agent for $2000 and used thier stragedy, put another truck on the road, hired 2 more guys, increased my advertising and just like that increased my sales by over $100,000 for alot less than an $8000 up front fee and $11,200 a year for the rest of my life to ESI.
There is plenty of literature out there that will show you how to increase your profits and you can always ask someone who is successful how they did it. They will most likely share their knowledge for free because there is nothing more than talking about themselves that a successful person likes to do
Hello Everyone,
One of the other ESI members threw me a link to this discussion. I have to admit that I find it pretty interesting. I think that instead of talking back and forth to each other about what you have each heard about ESI, you might inquire from actual members. It would seem to me that this is the most logical approach. There are a lot of partial truths to what has been said here. For instance, the focus of ESI is on service work. All of you who have been in the construction, big commercial/industrial world--have been through some form of the following:
You do a med.- to-large size job. The GC or company that you are doing the work for finds it convenient for them to use you as the banker. You do the job...you pay your bills, your employees, etc. And they sit on your money (even if you have built your business to the point where you are not cometing only on price). OR worse yet, they simply fal lon hard times and refuse to pay you. A few of these jobs and your cash flow is gone for the year or more. Forget about the low profit margins...the cash flow is what will kill you.
The ESI system is one that is based on hitting double digit profit margins. It is one designed to maximize your cash flow. Do the service, charge an adequate fee--(yes ESI teaches you how to do this and not fall back into competing with the Cheap Charlie's out there--you know the $55 per hour types)--Sorry if I offended anyone but if you fall into this category you should consider possibly stopping service work and raising the bar for the rest of the business-minded folks out there.
Yes ESI does provide training. No ESI does not do any sort of lobbying. The philosophy is: it is not up to the gov't to make you money...it is up to you!
An investment in ESI or in your own company or any investment should be given the same consideration and you should have a certain standard of expectation. That is what is the return going to be? Do I want a 15% return. That is pretty good compared to what you would get in the stock market right now (or really at any time.) Do you want a 30% Return? How about a 60%, 90%, 200%, etc.? What is it? That depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want to become a company with net profits of 5% or 10% or 15% while growing your revenue consistently? That is the real question.
As you big construction companies know: It doesn't matter how much you make. It is how much you keep. I would rather have my company do $800K in service and pocket $230K then do $5M and lose $75K any day!
Basically just ask ESI--"what do I get for my money?" If you don't like the answer then don't become a member. Some members are start-up companies while others are 60+ truck operations. The criteria should be the same for them as it is for you. For most of them, it's how do I become the next Patrick Kennedy. He is the same person that I am--an electrician turned business-owner who struggled for years before discovering what is necessary to make a lot of money in this business and he has faced the same challenges. So how do I implement the systems into my business to repeat what he did? Right now about 250 members are discovering this. If you have any questions call one.
As for accountants and marketers providing you with cheap advice. I promise that you will get what you pay for. How many of thes accountants and marketers have a background in the Electrical field??? How many of them can tell you what you are doing wrong and actually give you the stuff to fix it? Believe me, if these people are out there. They are a part of ESI. If you would like, you could pay me a few thousand bucks to design you a unique marketing scheme. I would not vouch for response but would take the money!
Profit On!
Landon
Ibrewer,
If you believe only an successful elec contractor can make another elec contractor successful you are sorely mistaken.
Any good busisnessman can make a handsom profit at almost anything.
Yes Mr Sparky even 7 million per year.
Anyone can tell you how to do it but it is up to the individual to have the fortitude and drive to succeed and for $12,000 per year you better have a lot of fortitude.
Now I'm not saying that this doesn't work for some, what I'm saying is that there are a lot less expensive ways to grow your business and make millions even if you pay only $2000 for marketing advice. It is all in how smart you are and how you use it. I don't believe you should pay an arm and leg to for someone to tell you that your not intelegent enough to do this on your own. You can get this for free on
www.5bruce.com.
And to prove how smart we all are the correct spelling is INTELLIGENT.
Hoew many of you caught that? Then you to can be millionairs.
I clicked the link and got Page cannot be displayed
I think the link is
www.igothere.com Dave
Also...
I heard on the radio today that I can turn my computer into a "Money Making Machine".
Get rich while laying on the couch(hopefully with someone else).
Get rich schemes have been around since the beginning of time. If Carlton Sheets can make so much money buying real estate with no money down, why is he wasting his time trying to sell you the idea? Such a noble, altruistic fellow surely will be a candidate for Sainthood. (Oh, that's right, the people who fall for his schtick are likely the most desparate, and the least able to afford to throw away their money, so he probably won't be Canonized after all).
One need look no further than disclaimers to realize that for every "success story" there are many more failures.
As a friend of mine says "Slow & steady wins the race"