Hey guys, Im really needing some input on how you guys meet your deadlines on bid due dates. After 5 years in buisness and a lot of peaks and vally's, From residential contractors with no money to non productive labor problems, ive finally been able to land some buisness relationships with rooted commercial contractors and pleanty of opportunity for high profit fast pace retail space fitups, renovations, and new construction. I am determined to stay the course and let my assets allow me to capitolize on these projects. I belong in the field. Layout,labor coordination, material handling and electrical construction with my men is where i belong. However, im being bombarded with blueprints that have a 1 week turnaround on BID DUE DATES. I feel obligated to have all of them quoted because you have to keep the ball rolling and with permit issues on long island you can be delayed on some start dates and you cant win them all. But i cant keep up. right now i dont have the working capitol or enough prints to take on an estimator full time, however im cought in the middle. Does anyone know a economic yet efficiant way to resolve this dilema. Any input will help. Thank You.

How are you currently doing your bids?
Are you using any estimating software?

I've often considered opening an "estimating shop".

Sole purpose: Provide estimates for those that can't - either by design or choice.

I'm certain I can't be the only person who has ever considered this.

celtic, there are many already out there. they are called guesstimators.

automate the process. The longest part should be the take off. Automate your assemblies and go from there. You can either use a bid program or create your own excel sheet.

one point of reference, if you truly want to just be in the field, look to take on a partner. You will need someone to monitor the business side of everything, otherwise you will perpetually go through the peaks and valleys and never have any real momentum or continuity.

I tried that and wouldn't recommend it. We won't mention how many thousands of dollars that little exercise has cost me.

so you picked the wrong partner. do a better job next time.

if you are good in the field and that is what you like, you will limit your opportunities and your growth.

It's not that it can't be done, but after working the field, then bidding on jobs, when is there time to actually monitor and run your business?

By that I mean - HR, invoicing, collections, etc. The core items that let your business prosper or fail.

Hi Guys,

As many of you already know, I am working on getting my consulting and coaching business for contractors going.

I am wondering if you guys might consider checking out my version of pricing/estimating software on my website.
www.ExpressQuoteOnline.com/quote

Username: electric1
Password: electric1

And perhaps you could share your opinions on the software. So that I can improve it.

Glen

[This message has been edited by ExpressQuote (edited 05-15-2006).]

No thanks. I ain't doing that again.

doesn't appear to be working

bris,

that's fine. i'm really not telling you too. but my point was that just because you had a bad experience and won't do it again, doesn't mean that it's the wrong decision for the original poster.

there are thousands of partnerships out there that work better than any single operator unit.

good partnerships allow each person to focus on what they are good at, thereby increasing the effectiveness. they are not for everyone, but for some people they are the best way to go.

too often we assume that becuase something did not work for us, it won't work for someone else. that may not have been your intention, but that is how your post came across.

since a partnership did not work for you, tell the op why. What should he look for in a partner? what should he avoid? tell him your experience. not making any assumptions, but would your former partner have the same answer regarding yourself?

my point is, partnerships can be fantastic or they can be abysmal. but it really depends on the frame of reference and the needs of the people involved.

i look at it this way, would you rather have 100% of $500k and wear all the hats? or 50% of $2 mil and only wear 1/2 the hats?



[This message has been edited by mahlere (edited 05-15-2006).]

Briselec, check your email..

Dnk..

Sorry guys,

The password was accidentally changed. I have changed it back now and it should work fine.

Glen

Cool
Its working for me

A little of a lot, is better then a lot of nothing!

Here is an electrical estimating company.
http://www.takeoff16.com/

We haven't used them personally but it seems like a pretty good outfit. They do all the takeoff and you just have to put your price in. The company is local to me and they are always advertising for estimators so they must be doing something right.

...or...
They have a high turn-over rate and are not doing so well.

I imagine an estimator, for this type of firm, is pretty much paid on commission aka a percentage of the estimate IF your estimate is used and the job is awarded to the EC you submitted it to.

les, i've always said I'd rather have 10% each of 10 different companies than 100% of one.

Ironically, my ego is very small and I'm more into actually making money than appearing to. By spreading the risk over multiple avenues, you are limiting your ups and downs.

but i like your saying better.

thanks for all the responses, Im going to try that takeoff16 company and see how it goes. I will post my experience in the discussion forum for you guys with similar situations to mine. It sure helps when you get other peoples experiences and opinions. thanks again..

oh yea , i forgot to touch base on the PARTNERS THING.....
I TOO LOST TENS OF THOUSANDS.(30 TO 40 THOUSAND) from allowing a partner oversee the financial, bookeeping dispaching, and other mysterios tasks of my company. i had a 12 man crew and he had 1 useless employee other than his useless self. he used my man power to blossom his buisness yet kept paying the men out of my account. every time i audited my books i found around 240 man hrs disapearing off of my jobs every week. times that by $20.00 per hr = $4800.00 a week of free labor for his company. (NICE TRUSTWORTHY GUY). oh yea the rent for the building i had, was supposed to be split too (he never paid a dime). oh and MY 4 trucks (somehow were rolling for his company too. never reimbursed. SIMPLY PUT, I GOT HOSED........... EXPENSIVE, YET VALUBLE LESSON HERE. "TRUST KNOWONE WITH YOUR BUISNESS ENOUGH TO HURT YOUR BUISNESS.."

northstar,

how was your arrangement set up? sounds like you were almost outsourcing your business side to someone without any stake in the company.

Hi Guys and Gals,

I have had some questions about how the estimating software works. So I thought that I would give a little more explanation.

When you are putting together a quote, you need to fill in a quantity of materials... for example you are going to retrofit 3 receptacles into locations where there are none right now.

In the materials column beside the type of project, in this case receptacle, put the quantity of 3 and then move to the labour column you want... in this case retrofit and enter the quantity of 3 and the software will then work out the price for materials and labour and show it at the bottom.

When you print the quote, it will list your materials column of what is to be installed and the description of the project that you type in. Along with the total investment for the customer.

Again, if you would like to try it out visit www.expressquoteonline.com/quote and use electric1 for the password and username.

Please feel free to ask any questions and feedback is greatly appreciated as it helps me to plan for future upgrades.

Glen

[This message has been edited by ExpressQuote (edited 05-17-2006).]