Business Start Questions

sparky83

Ive been an electrician for about 8 years now and am thinking about starting my own business. ( I know, awesome economy to start in). I do side work for friends and family, and friends of family and I just want to make it legit with insurance, licensing and all the goodies. I just wanted to know what the first steps I should take, I'm from Pa, just outside philly. And wanted to know if its mandatory to get a license, I've heard from people that Pa doesnt require it, even though I'm looking into getting one anyway. It's not going to be a full time job just on the weekends, but I'm beginning to venture past friends and family and don't want to get screwed over by someone.
Thanks.

Timster

Deleted... (don't know about Pa)

acrwc10

I have heared PA has no license requirement also. The 3 things I can tell you are, 1) a contract is only as good as the person signing it. 2) Don't cut corners when it comes to safety, always finish the job correctly even if you lose money. 3) Don't get to big to fast. I see this all the time, guys go out and start buying trucks, large tools and things they just don't need to be spending all there money on at start up. Good Luck.

sparky83

yea I never cut corners now because I have no insurance and I dont plan on starting. measure 10 times cut once so to speak. I know in philly I need a license, but I'm looking to get one for Pa because everyone asks if im licensed and I feel that when I say no, people trust me less, and I loose work because of it.

Celtic

If I lived in Pa., I would start here:

Construction Regulation Dept. of General Svcs.
Public Works-Headquarters Bldg.
18th & Herr St., Room 104
Harrisburg, PA 17125
(717) 787-6371 Fax (717) 772-3399
www.dgs.state.pa.us

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TxElectrician

IMHO you cannot make enough "just doing it on weekends" to make it a legit business, most of your earnings will be going toward insurance, truck payments and additional costs. In addition, many of your potential clients will not want a week's worth of work spread out over several weekends. You may be better served by working a few overtime hours at your current job until you bank enough to set out completely on your own.

Just my .02

sparky83

yea I need to look into prices for insurance and such, I think I'm looking at about $500 per year, but I need to see what that covers. But expenses I was figuring to be insurance and gas for my truck basically. And I'm not really going to be doing any more entire houses or anything, (they are a nightmare when just on the weekends, I had that problem earlier in the year) mostly looking into lighting upgrades, small additions, exterior lighting and such.

But that is one of the reasons I haven't purchased insurance yet, because I'm not sure if it would be worth it, however on the other hand if something ever happens it would be worth it. . .

mahlere

if you lived in PA, NJ would be a nicer place

Shocking

Dido, Been in the trade 15yrs in buisness 5yrs. Tripled gross last year, made 20k less in net. Damn near killed me. Grew to big to fast.

31b

as for licensing in PA - no you do not need one, there isn't one as a matter of fact, except for Philadelphia (and possibly the same for Pittsburgh or other larger cities that might require it too, not sure.)

The only requirement is insurance, and each township, borough, etc. often requires a permit to do business in it, but it's just a simple matter of paying them a fee.... call it a tax, basically.

woodchuck2

Here in upstate NY a license is not required, i just went to the County Office where i live and applied for a DBA, applied for my tax# and then went to my insurance company to modify my auto policy and i got insurance for my business. Almost all my work is inspected by an independant inspector to cover myself and the homeowner. Like said above dont go to overboard on spending to get started. I have done this and i owe quite a bit of money but i am still busy and the money is still coming in. But i dont do just electrical either so this is a plus. I prefer to do just electrical but it is also nice to get a break and do something else too. Right now generator installations are up and i plow/sand driveways. Good Luck to yah, so far this has been a good move for me.

DetailHandyman

No licenses required as stated above. Local permits (taxes) only.

Definitely get insurance. It is cheap and you need to CYA.
All my commercial customers require proof of insurance before doing any work.
Besides, "fully insured" always looks good to the customer.