Am I Crazy?

@maxilinko The problem you’ll run into is that no one wants to work for the amount you can afford to pay and still win jobs.

The reason no one is showing up is they can’t hire reliable employees for pre pandemic wages. Now that inflation is 15% annually no one who can accomplish something and show up on time is willing to work for $15 or even $20/hr
 
@soxdre Especially when the big companies are paying a lot more.

No self respecting tradesman will work for some guy who doesn't know what he is doing and pays bottom dollar on top of that.
 
@maxilinko I grew up doing construction. When we said we'd be there 8am monday morning and the job would be done in 2 weeks we stuck to that and didn't play games.

Now the game is to take a draw on 5 jobs, smoke it all up, and come back to each home owner and try to piece something together.

Most of the guys that trained me are retiring so there is definitely room to start up.

You're going to need to pass your GC exam. That is the biggest hurdle for most people.
 
@maxilinko Yes, I talked to a carpenter once who's only resaon they don't want to go self-employed is the whole risk in finding a stable income, quoting the price, and estimating the time. They just wanted to come in, do the work, and go.

Bringing in leads involves a whole overhead of jargon including talking to clients after work hours, listening to complaints, and taking payment. There are always going to be people who prefer the cheap but stable life.
 
@maxilinko There is a reason they are not showing up. They choose which work they want to do! I know a guy who only takes jobs on lakeside homes so he can well...be on the lake.

If you are skilled and in demand, you will turn down shitty jobs too.

Also, yes, some people are skilled at construction/carpentry but are not organised or good at time management. So there definitely is some of that happening, too.
 
@jasminekurb makes sense! lots of replies saying i’m probably a jerk. i am practically begging for someone to come out and would pay the price they name, but no one seems to want to take my money lol
 
@maxilinko Oh you'll get business simply by showing up because most "contractors" are piss poor business managers. But most contractors tend to focus on feeding themselves for the week instead of long term growth. Unless you have plans to hire people under you, I honestly don't think the headache is worth it.

-Multi million dollar contractor
 
@donnamaui Do you mind if I ask what trade and market you are in. How many years in business?

I opened my electrial contracting business in November and things have been great so far. But yeah showing up and showing that you care go soooo far it's almost ridiculous.
 
@maxilinko Not crazy, but it won’t be easy, you have to be experienced in the field to be able to manage people on the first place, especially in construction you have to have a great great manager or you have to be there yourself. There are a lot of things that have to be done correctly on people’s houses or someone can get seriously hurt or the inspectors will destroy you. Unless you know someone extremely experienced in the Industry prob not
 
@613jono i have a handful of guys that i work with very often. not sure why everyone thinks i’m some jerk! lol i’m just talking about companies i’ve never done business with before. being a jerk doesn’t get you very far in life
 
@maxilinko Yes you are.

Just reading between the lines here, but as the sibling of an experienced GC, child of a carpenter, & partner of a master electrician...

You want the cheap cheap, so you DIY it.

You want the cheap cheap when you mess it up, or are at least not stupid enough to still try to do it yourself and burn the house down..so you call the contractor.

I'm assuming you start with a sentence along the lines of "I know exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, and it's easy quick work, so just give me the XYZ price or charge me for the labor".

Buddy, we have enough negligent and lazy contractors who don't know a drill from a hammer. Don't add to it.

Otherwise you'll be on here complaining about the labor costs, the mostly unreliable alcoholics that work in the field, workers comp, general liability, payroll, bookkeeping, inventory management, dispatching, project management, continuing education, licensing..not to mention the very large liability and responsibility that comes with screwing it up.
 
@yoyo23 Not necessarily. I needed a new roof on a commercial property and quite literally couldn’t even get someone to come look at it. At that point, I was going to take the first price that someone actually offered! I’d rather pay 25% more for someone who will do the work they promise than try to save a buck playing games
 
@maxilinko To get most trade licenses you need to show years in the trade?

And you’re severely underestimating being able to hire employees with any degree of reliability or skill
 
@maxilinko I've got a plumber friend whose business card just has his name, and underneath it says "I show up when I say I will" and contact info on the back. Dude's a marketing genius and doesn't even know it.
 
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