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I would start slow at my own pace. Act, and dress like a pro. Only buy tools that you would need now, not later. Another thing is to get a credit card that has no interest for a year that helps some. I would try to target customers that you like to deal with. either women,people that have an income of over $100,000 (good luck on that one). I hope this helps.Best of luck

Clientele is everything. I hate to type cast but the more affluent type are the ones I have had better luck with. And not new money yuppie types where their new-found social status has screwed with their ego too much. My best customers are the type that have earned thier money the hard way, and their time really is worth a lot, and they have the keen business mind to realize it. To bicker and whine about price is not worth the time it might cost them to try to find someone else. They know enough of what they want and let you figure out the details because to put too much thought into it is taking their $2000 per hour mind and wasting it on drivel.

To service these types (residential) you need to be neat and clean and on time. Good truck, little if any rust, no oil leaks etc. inside organized. I've had people tell me they chose their contractor based on how well the inside of the truck looked. You have to know manners and ettiquette and a good command of the english language. (fortunatly spelling is less important.)

On the other side, don't work for people who want to skimp on everything, have a shady feel, and have no respect for a highly qualified, responsible and proffesional service man. You'll be busy getting the wrong referals, and it will keep you from working for good people.

Of course this all assumes you have the qualifications, skill, finess, knowledge, experience, expertise, people skills, and instincts to pull all this off. If not, start working on those.

First and foremost you have to be willing to work hard and long hours. If you aren't willing to work over 8 hours a day you'll never get off the ground. Now I work M-F 7-6ish with an occasional Saturday, but when I was getting started I worked anytime I could get work, often even starting jobs as late as 9PM if that's when the customer wanted me there. And I worked every Saturday and a few Sundays.

Second, in the beginning you may have to be willing to do non-electrical work if a customer asks. Anything for a buck. I hung a customers Christmas wreaths 3 years in a row.

Third, save your money. If your cash reserves don't go up every month, you'll have a hard time growing. If you can't force yourself to save, just get a job working for someone else. But if you have the discipline to restrict your spending and save, you'll do well. It's OK to use credit and if used properly, it's a great tool. But I've seen many guys run up bills at the supply house and on credit cards that they couldn't pay off because they spent the income from the jobs(on vacations, booze, women, etc.) before they paid for the materials.

Charge enough for your work. This took me the longest to learn. I short changed myself for years. It's great to give the customer a fair deal, but I heard too many customers say "is that all?" when I handed them the bill. I don't hear that much anymore, but I don't get many complaints either.

I don't know the exact formula for success, but I do know if you follow this advice you'll be on the right track.

[This message has been edited by Electric Eagle (edited 07-10-2005).]

thanks for trhe ideas as most off you allready know from the biz chat I got into the owning part with a partner and well to make it short had to buy him out and after that work slowed down and I had to take a crappy job to keep a roof over my head and have enough money to atleast keep the biz name out there so the few customers we had still knew that I was still in biz

A partner. No wonder it didn't work. Unless you're married to her, I would never want a partner in business.