How's business in the low voltage world? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

gury · 12-12-2008, 07:20 PM

Just wondering how the rest of you LV guys are doing right now.. we're not out here doing $20,000 contracts all the time, so this is always a tougher business to be in. Where's the bulk of your business coming from right now?

BuildingHomes · 12-12-2008, 10:02 PM

Most of what I do is new construction, post closing. So I get jobs going in to hang TVs, set up sound systems, hang garage door openers, install central vacs, etc.. My builder right now is in their sales phase, so no new rough-ins for a bit.

I get a few custom homes a year where I do a complete rough-in and do my best to sell the big $20-60K systems.

Lost one recently because the guy was a stock broker.. go figure.

I also do a lot of service work.. "I just moved into this 100 year old home and cannot figure out the wires" or "I need a cable/phone jack over here.."

It's a good line of work and I have a lot of fun at it. Always wish for more, but I'm not complaining about what I have now.

gury · 12-23-2008, 01:20 PM

Anybody else? There aren't many people in this trade, at least not around here, so there's really no competition to compare to.

Chr1ssyb · 12-23-2008, 03:16 PM

In the low voltage landscape lighting market these are the general stats this year:
-manufacturers down 50-70%
-distributors 50-60%
-contractors (good ones with exc reputations) generally down 10-30%
-Contractors (that do low voltage landscape lighting on the side) down 80%

There are still many contractors (most that we deal with) that are down a little but not much (10-30%)--times are tough but the pro's seem to keep the business rolling. The ones who were part time or below average in volume before seem to be down more.

With manufacturers, the higher end is being hit hardest.

I think if you focus on your niche and delivering quality and service, keep pushing you can survive pretty weel and hold out until things turn around.

The plus side is there will be less competition --will naturally hit the weaker co's hardest.

ABLE1 · 12-28-2008, 11:08 PM

My work load has been a max for the past three months. And will be for some time to come. I can get 2 or 3 calls and be going nuts trying to take care of it all.

This was not the case just 10 months ago. The load is hard to regulate.

Feast or Famine.

Have a Happy New Year all,

Les

primoquest · 01-02-2009, 06:48 AM

With all the talk about the sour economy on major media outlets recently, I've found that Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas are doing quite well.

Everywhere you look there are major construction projects going on.

I got back into business over a year ago and had no idea I would be so busy. So busy, in fact that I've had to hire more people to take on the overload. In fact (I hate to say this), but I've had to turn down some work.

Many of my projects come from larger (National) fire alarm companies, but my goal for 2009 is to bid against them and take on my own projects

, which means more money to grow the business.

If anyone reading this post is short on work, Texas is the place to be.

David Hacker · 01-02-2009, 02:21 PM

Hey Able1 (MDSHUNK),

I heard you got banned from that new low voltage Talk site? Is this true? What the heck did you do to piss them off?

David

ABLE1 · 01-02-2009, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Hacker

Hey Able1 (MDSHUNK),

I heard you got banned from that new low voltage Talk site? Is this true? What the heck did you do to piss them off?

David

Some people have a specific outlook on how this are to be. Put your toe across the line and they say you can't play in my sand box anymore...............EVER!!!

Simply put I was banned (forever) because I asked questions about where MDSHUNK was. And I must have asked in a way that was inappropriate to the establishment. It seems that rules are made up on a spur of the moment, not written in a rule book and the penalty for breaking a rule is forever being banned.

Although I doubt anyone here would have even raised an eyebrow.

It is quite a sad issue. The situation was handled very poorly. It was so quick that I didn't even see it coming. It bothered me for about a minute or less.

Life it too short.

I would be interested in knowing the official reason I was banned but for anyone to find out will run the risk of being banned.

It would be my guess that if you type a message with ABLE1 in the text what gets posted will be ***** since my name is automatically changed. That is what happened with I put MDSHUNK in a message.

Have a good weekend all.

Les

BuildingHomes · 01-03-2009, 06:01 PM

Ya, they seem to be a little too organized over there.. And I question the technical ability of many of the people running the forum.

ABLE1 · 01-03-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuildingHomes

Ya, they seem to be a little too organized over there.. And I question the technical ability of many of the people running the forum.

Be very careful how much "questioning" that you may do.

Have a good rest of the weekend.

Les