Hello everyone, iam just starting out, can anyone tell me what to put in a lighting maintaince contract? or what one includes as a scope of work or things like that. I"am thinking or getting into this kind of work. I would like to try to get a small store or strip mall to start out with, but i have no idea how to get the work, phone the owners or mail letters ect.. any advice? Thanks for your help.

Iam also just starting out and am having trouble getting the phone to ring. Iam thinking of advertising in local papers. I have been sending short letters out to prospective clients along with a business card, but havent had much success with that.
I want to find commercial work,like lighting retrofits, refrigeration,hvac,installing new equipment etc. Ive been doing a lot of residential which has proven to be quite profitable, service changes are good,although residential is un charted territory for me. It would be interesting to here how people have found work since you dont really see that much advertising from electreical contractors.

Trevman,

One relatively inexpensive way to find business is to build your network of aquaintences.

Try checking out your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Clubs and other networking associations such as BNI (Business Networking International). By getting involved in commitees and meeting other businesses you will probably find you get the best possible types of leads - REFERALS -

Advertising for commercial work doesn't tend to lead to much. Commercial work has more to do with the relationships you build with other trades, GCs (I know, ugly word), and business owners who can then refer you to friends and slowly your network develops.

Remember too, stay in touch with all your clients, you never know when they will need your services again. By staying in touch they know that you care about them. Therefore, they are more likely to call you rather than someone they don't know.

Glen

[This message has been edited by ExpressQuote (edited 07-20-2006).]

[This message has been edited by ExpressQuote (edited 07-20-2006).]

Express hit it on the head. Networking will get you more positive leads that all the advertising u can do.
One exception might be to get into your local BlueBook www.thebluebook.com. It's a hard bound phone book published annually and u can get in it for free. To run an ad in it costs some but you can at least get your company name published there.
The Chamber of Commerce was my first choice for networking and it got me off to a very good start. Problem was that I wasn't ready for it to start that quick. Wound up with 7 employees in a year and I lost control - and then money, tools, etc.. Be wary of starting up too quickly, it can be costly.

Thanks for the excellent advice starting my own company has not been as easy and quick as I thought but slowly things are coming around.