[flashheatingand]

There are "pot-heads" in just about every field of work. There are a lot of snooty patooties in the white collar field who couldn't figure their way out of a paper bag.

"Let's face it" the author of that piece was looking for a response. There is plenty of un-professionalism in every field of work. BTW, what's wrong with a fella who likes to smoke a bowl after work.

 

[pibe]

The guy who wrote that comment is an idiot. "...for minor to moderate stuff, if I take my time..." Yup and for minor to moderate anything I can do just about anything...banking, auto work, medical stuff, law, office work, investing, accounting etc... But we all know that it isn't the minor to moderate stuff that gives us paycheques, and it certainly isn't taking our sweet time doing it either. It's doing difficult work, quickly and well that makes us professionals and not dilettantes.

Look I even wrote a comment...I should send it in just to show it wasn't that hard, heck I could probably publish a magazine or be an editor or something...I'll just take my time...and maybe watch some youtube videos first. And if I have any problems I'll just wait til I'm working at an editors house then ask him/her a thousand questions. Nothing to it

buahah this is an absolutely perfect response

 

[realelectrician]

There's irony in your signature. :laughing: "Handymen are people too"

:laughing:well they are people...:laughing:

 

[CarpenterSFO]

Where or what is the article? Who said it? I can't find it by googling phrases from your quote.

 

[realelectrician]

Where or what is the article? Who said it? I can't find it by googling phrases from your quote.

It was a comment to an article.

 

[Agility]

When I was a teen in the early 70's I was told "learn a trade and you'll never have trouble finding work". My dad worked at the local AFB here for 30+ years and it seemed like such a dead end job, while his brother was a paperhanger(talk about a dead end job nowadays) that was incredibly successful. I wanted nothing more than to be like him and own my own company and work for myself. When I was in my twenties and people would ask what I did for a living and I would tell them I was a bricklayer/mason, their reply would almost always be "Oooh, they make good money!"....little did I know that 30 years later I would be relegated to competing against Pedro and his fourteen cousins for peanuts. Unfettered immigration and cutthroats have absolutely killed this business in this day and age.

Sounds like you need to be more competitive. If you can't out-sell illegal labor then you have a serious problem with your business model.

If Pedro and his 14 cousins can steal clients from you, you are either targeting the wrong clients or doing a poor job at selling your services.

The homeowner who hires the lowest bidder is rarely worth stressing over. Do you want to work for bottom dollar? If you need to, I respect that. If you don't need to, let them go.

 

[mreynolds]

You can definitely be high working with electricity. I always assumed that's why the light switches are in no discernible order.

Remember, if a light switch is upside down it says......

NO

 

[rselectric1]

Remember, if a light switch is upside down it says......

NO

Not only that but it's easy to change the order of switches. Most people don't really care but I always ask what they prefer.

 

[mreynolds]

I think a lot of the problem is with the HO's too. They (some anyway) hire out for the cheapest and get what they pay for then place blame on the whole industry. I also think that even that perception is changing to a more positive light lately.

I have lost jobs before to HO's that drove a Ferrari or high end Mercedes for cheap labor only to get a call back later when it hit the fan. I just calmly go in and say something like "They sold you a Gremlin and promised you Aston Martin huh?" They seem to get the picture if you can cater to their specific language. Even cheap people can learn eventually. Unfortunately, there will always be ultra low ballers. I think our job is to make the customer understand and to brand our work as superior to these people.

 

[mreynolds]

LMAO RS,

I only knew that because I did 2 years as a helper waaaay back when. 30 or so years ago. My boss was an A hole or I might have been an electrician myself. Surprised I lasted 2 years.

 

[dom-mas]

Sounds like you need to be more competitive. If you can't out-sell illegal labor then you have a serious problem with your business model.

If Pedro and his 14 cousins can steal clients from you, you are either targeting the wrong clients or doing a poor job at selling your services.

The homeowner who hires the lowest bidder is rarely worth stressing over. Do you want to work for bottom dollar? If you need to, I respect that. If you don't need to, let them go.

I don't know. There was a guy around here called stacker, from Alva Oklahoma that said that illegals (I think they were mexican but I don't know) were installing brick for $300/thou, maybe it was even less. in my opinion that's giving it away. No way that a legit guy could come close to that number and make any decent money. lets say a legit guy needs to make $800/thou, and the final product is to most people eyes the same. How can he be competitive? Particularly when you lower them to the point that you are making zero profit and making lower wages than you were 20 years ago? How can you target better customers in a rural area with a pretty much uniform client base? If ALL the homeowners and GC's are hiring the lowest bidder, there is no other client base to target, unless you move. As someone said in another thread it's easier said than done

Some areas are like that. And I've heard it from more than a few guys from Oklahoma. I would think that tile, drywall/mudding, would be similar, a few other trades as well...ones that aren't inspected mostly

 

[huggytree]

When I was a teen in the early 70's I was told "learn a trade and you'll never have trouble finding work". My dad worked at the local AFB here for 30+ years and it seemed like such a dead end job, while his brother was a paperhanger(talk about a dead end job nowadays) that was incredibly successful. I wanted nothing more than to be like him and own my own company and work for myself. When I was in my twenties and people would ask what I did for a living and I would tell them I was a bricklayer/mason, their reply would almost always be "Oooh, they make good money!"....little did I know that 30 years later I would be relegated to competing against Pedro and his fourteen cousins for peanuts. Unfettered immigration and cutthroats have absolutely killed this business in this day and age.

in my field you have to be licensed...so no Pedro's.....test is in English only.......the new home market is pretty much gone for anyone who doesn't want to work for cost.....I make 10% on new homes and am out bid by more than 10%....I cant win new homes anymore

the bottom 50% of the population will purchase based upon price alone...they always get trash and never realize spending more gets you more...you need to focus on the upper 50%......I do admit the past couple of years that the price only shopper may be up to 60-70% of the population.....but I am still able to find a market where I can charge full price and make a good living....I do mostly high end remodels on old/complex houses

I don't think there is enough of a market anymore to be a large contractor and not be cheap.....there's not enough high end customers left to support a large company....all the high end guys are small shops

 

[aptpupil]

:laughing:well they are people...:laughing:

thanks?