4 Tips For A Startup Electrical Contractor
Congratulations! So you have finally decided to start your electrical contracting business. The prospect of starting your own business can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. There are no exact guidelines or rule books to implement, no maps to guide you, and if you get lost in the jungle of business, it is for sure that it will etch a hole in your pockets. But then, there’s this incredible joy that comes with being your own boss. Setting your own schedule and being in the driver’s seat of your life. You know that you provide valuable services to the world and your employees trust you -- and well, everything seems well. These are Brett Mathews’ tips for a startup contractor, and I do hope that you find them useful!
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1. Safety
As a startup electrical contractor, everything that you do should be driven by a strong concern for SAFETY. Your customer’s safety, your electricians’ safety, and your business’ safety. Since a small electrical fault can often lead to a fatal accident and a big loss to the customer’s friends and family, you have to be extra cautious and thorough with your work.
Also, remember that if you make one mistake, your whole career can go down. There is no coming back from a big electrical fault -- financially, emotionally, and mentally. So, always, always, always be sure to ensure safety. You should follow the rules and regulations set by Australia’s Electrical Safety Commission and if need be you can come up with additional guidelines for your team to ensure that every electrical work that you do is safe.
2. Understand the price and cost to run a business - How to become profitable?
All the electrical contractors who start out have, more or less, a great grasp on the technical aspects of things. They know which wire goes where and which bulb to fit in the fitting. But often they lack the financial know-how to run a business. So, if you are one of the electrical contractors who is not that aware of the cost of running a business, Mathews highly recommends that you understand it. You have to learn about cash flow, the pricing, the cost, and more to ensure that your business stays profitable in the long run. You can also enrol in our academy to learn more about money management so that your business functions well and rakes in profit, year in, year out.
3. Price the job rightly. Win the job. Understand insurance.
When sending quotes for electrical work, you have to price the job correctly to win the job. If you price too high, you will be written off as “out of budget” and if you price too low, you will consistently make fewer profits or worse, you will end up running into a loss. So the trick is to find that sweet spot -- a price that makes you and your client happy such that both of you feel like you have got the best end of the deal! This will definitely help you to win the job and bring it home.
Now that you are a startup contractor, you would have a team of electricians working for you. You have to care for them and understand the insurance, too. On-the-job insurance as well as insurance from your customer’s point of view. Study about it so that you know it and when the time comes you can rely on your knowledge.
4. Use your brain.
Lastly, Brett Mathews suggests a very blunt, simple, and effective tip: Use your brain. In the sense that trust your instincts. If you know that something is wrong on a particular job, follow it up. See it through the end. If you know that an employee is underperforming, tackle them and track their productivity. Have a chat about it with them.
Network and stay in touch with your wholesalers, suppliers, and the competitors in the electrical industry. Use your sharp brain to predict the trends in the electrical industry and to stay ahead of the curve.
Are you ready to make the transition to a high-performance electrical contractor?
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