Glad I got the responses. I wasn't sure how everyone was going to react. Some points though:
I have seen electricians of such high caliber and knowledge that if I lived to be 200 years old, I still wouldn't be as good as them. But, They are unlicensed because they just can't pass the exams, or are afraid to take them over fear of failure, or can't get the documentation and affidavits necessary to verify their time in the trade. They are doomed to work for another person and get paid far less than what they are worth.But, no matter how good they are, they are working illegally if they attempt to contract or advertise electrical work.
I carry 1,000,000.00 of liability insurance for my business. I do not want to jeopardize my home and family because as a sole proprietor , I am personally responsible for my business, unlike a corporation.
My service van also has a 1,000,000.00 commercial liability policy in case I am involved in an accident.
I always give a written invoice in my company name for the homeowners to use for reference, warranty, and for tax deduction purposes.
I pay taxes on my income, my vehicle, and my business.
I have gone through all the hoops, taken an apprenticeship, gone to school at night for years, cashed in my retirement IRA early to keep afloat financially while perusing my dream of working for myself and owning my own business. My ambitions are simple, to make enough in the next twenty years to be able to be retired in style, and to pass on something for my family.
If I have to hire someone, I will not treat them as I have seen others being treated. I will pay them a living wage, or not hire anyone at all.
I will protect that which I have earned through hard work and determination.I will continue to ask the state to warn unlicensed electricians that they are not acting legally by advertising their services.
If you don't pass the bar exam, you don't practice law. If you don't have a medical degree, and a state license you ain't no doctor. If you are an unlicensed, uninsured, cash under the table tax evader attempting to do electrical contracting,then you are in some deep doo-doo when you get caught. But if you do then I can get a friend of mine to represent you cheap. He isn't a real lawyer, but he works for cash, and he has a job at a law firm as a janitor, and he gets to read a lot of legal stuff he picks out of the trash.
