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time to quit

9K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  hdavis 
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#1 ·
how many are seriously thinking about quitting the business?i know it sure is hard to keep going with gas prices and low pay
 
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#3 ·
This is for every tradesman.

Up your prices. If everyone would just charge what they should be, then the buyers won't have a choice.

Stop selling/bidding so cheap. What's wrong with you people?

I've put my rates up the last 3 years running, as costs went up. People keep hiring me.

Whatever business the customer is in, you think they're not putting their prices up? Sure they are.

You're just killing yourselves. Up your prices.
 
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#4 ·
katoman said:
This is for every tradesman.

Up your prices. If everyone would just charge what they should be, then the buyers won't have a choice.

Stop selling/bidding so cheap. What's wrong with you people?

I've put my rates up the last 3 years running, as costs went up. People keep hiring me.

Whatever business the customer is in, you think they're not putting their prices up? Sure they are.

You're just killing yourselves. Up your prices.
I am pretty sure these fellas get told what the job pays.
 
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#6 ·
d+jhomeservices said:
kato when you work for a company you dont decide pricing,if your working for yourself yes
Sorry, thought you were self employed.

Ok, if you're not making enough money where you are then start looking for better paying work. Do not quit your current job first. If you find better work, then go for it.

Hey, for what it's worth being self employed is no picnic either. It's long days, risk, headaches. But I'm not going to do it for no money.

All the best. :thumbsup:
 
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#7 ·
katoman said:
Sorry, thought you were self employed.

Ok, if you're not making enough money where you are then start looking for better paying work. Do not quit your current job first. If you find better work, then go for it.

Hey, for what it's worth being self employed is no picnic either. It's long days, risk, headaches. But I'm not going to do it for no money.

All the best. :thumbsup:
long hours, you mean like how i am writing estimates at 9pm on a sunday?
 
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#12 ·
d+jhomeservices said:
kato when you work for a company you dont decide pricing,if your working for yourself yes
Are you receiving a paycheck every week that is about the same amount? Or are you doing things job by job? Do they supply you with tools? Pay your insurance and WC? Do they tell you where to be, when and how to do the job, if so you are an employee.

If not then you are an independent contractor and you set your own pricing. If that is something they are not willing to pay then you don't accept the job.

If everyone in your field would say no to the lowball pricing they force on you then nothing would get done and they would be forced into paying you a better amount for the work you perform. If you keep accepting jobs at discount rates they that is what they are going to keep offering.

And yes, I am self employed, have been for nearly 20 years.
 
#13 ·
Leo G said:
Are you receiving a paycheck every week that is about the same amount? Or are you doing things job by job? Do they supply you with tools? Pay your insurance and WC? Do they tell you where to be, when and how to do the job, if so you are an employee.

If not then you are an independent contractor and you set your own pricing. If that is something they are not willing to pay then you don't accept the job.

If everyone in your field would say no to the lowball pricing they force on you then nothing would get done and they would be forced into paying you a better amount for the work you perform. If you keep accepting jobs at discount rates they that is what they are going to keep offering.

And yes, I am self employed, have been for nearly 20 years.




If only it was that simple!



Before the economy and housing collapse that would have been easier.
Today with so many folks out of work they jump on these jobs because they see the gross pay and think to themselves that its more than I was making at my job.... must be a good deal.

Not realizing there is insurance to buy, work trucks, tools, employee wages etc etc and then wait 60 plus days to get paid.

When some one that realizes the value of his services quits because of the low ball pricing it doesn't matter to the greedy nationals. There are 100 other poor suckers waiting in line that will take the abuse, and this has allowed the rapid downward progression of prices.

Its BS, but thats reality.
 
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#14 ·
The way that I figure is that if nobody wants to pay my price, I am shopping the wrong clients. And I admit that I am bad at taking my own advice sometimes.

But lately I've been studying the techniques and tactics of the hack contractors who swindle money out of old people and well off folks who are too naive to know the difference. I mean if a hack can charge someone $30K for a bathroom remodel and then walk away with ALL of the money without doing any of the work, he must know something that I don't.

I often ask myself, "Where was I?" when the old lady wrote that check. So if it means that I have to be a little pushy or use a few persuasive, sneaky, and underhanded scare tactics to get the gig... and in the long run I end up providing excellent service, then is that completely a bad thing?
 
#15 ·
As long as you are providing excellent service for the price charged then I'd say that all is fair in love and contracting. lol
 
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#16 ·
Good luck

It's very discouraging, irratic work loads, do everything under the sun for a base price for qc to cut it as much as possible and then vendor b will take as much as possible. We are trying to restructure more with b of a and recurring services. There's a lot less overhead and you can at least guarantee your debris and jobs Not being cut. Good luck right now everyone really needs it in this business with all the ever changing stipulations :)
 
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#17 ·
E&C said:
It's very discouraging, irratic work loads, do everything under the sun for a base price for qc to cut it as much as possible and then vendor b will take as much as possible. We are trying to restructure more with b of a and recurring services. There's a lot less overhead and you can at least guarantee your debris and jobs Not being cut. Good luck right now everyone really needs it in this business with all the ever changing stipulations :)
Your talking FAS talk. I feel your pain there man. :wallbash:
 
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#18 ·
tedanderson said:
The way that I figure is that if nobody wants to pay my price, I am shopping the wrong clients. And I admit that I am bad at taking my own advice sometimes.

But lately I've been studying the techniques and tactics of the hack contractors who swindle money out of old people and well off folks who are too naive to know the difference. I mean if a hack can charge someone $30K for a bathroom remodel and then walk away with ALL of the money without doing any of the work, he must know something that I don't.

I often ask myself, "Where was I?" when the old lady wrote that check. So if it means that I have to be a little pushy or use a few persuasive, sneaky, and underhanded scare tactics to get the gig... and in the long run I end up providing excellent service, then is that completely a bad thing?
I wonder the same thing. I see hack work all the time and wonder how they get away with it. I miss one tiny thing and not only do I feel bad, but the HO always catches it and acts like it's the end of the world. Meanwhile, hack guy charges the same as me and forgets things like primer, caulking, sealing. You know, the optional things. :laughing:
 
#21 ·
E&C said:
It's very discouraging, irratic work loads, do everything under the sun for a base price for qc to cut it as much as possible and then vendor b will take as much as possible. We are trying to restructure more with b of a and recurring services. There's a lot less overhead and you can at least guarantee your debris and jobs Not being cut. Good luck right now everyone really needs it in this business with all the ever changing stipulations :)
Better off doing commercial and residential work.
 
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#22 ·
After 15 yrs in this business, we are also going to "exit, stage left" in the near future.

With that said, if any of you reading this are interested in picking up some P&P work in the Minneapolis/St Paul areas, please PM me! I'm all for cutting grass for the next few months only...

BPWY said:
I've worked my self out of P&P over the last 6 months. I have some very attractive landscape contracts and dealing with local customers is so much easier than trying to explain to a national minimum wage employee why some thing should or should not be done.














In P&P all of the regular and recurring pricing is fixed. Starting with the amount that the gooberment pays for services and trickling its way down to the guy that actually does the work. SOME TIMES you are able to make a few bucks profit from bid work, that is if any of the bids are approved.

This is also why so many guys are getting out of the industry.
Guys that are experienced and have put in a lot of years.
 
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#23 ·
Welcome to the club. REO/P&P is for the newbies to go broke doing as far as I'm concerned, heck had I been smart I'd have gotten out in '09 when things really started to turn. It's gotten so far to the left that the balance will never return. I can see the vultures circling the dead carcasses on a daily basis. :thumbsup:
 
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#24 ·
katoman said:
This is for every tradesman.

Up your prices. If everyone would just charge what they should be, then the buyers won't have a choice.

Stop selling/bidding so cheap. What's wrong with you people?

I've put my rates up the last 3 years running, as costs went up. People keep hiring me.

Whatever business the customer is in, you think they're not putting their prices up? Sure they are.

You're just killing yourselves. Up your prices.
Thats all good and well in theory. But when you're competing against guys who will drive 100 miles in a 2500 truck pulling a trailer to do a $40 dollar job what do you do? You can't get the price up in that market or they dump you for the next cheapest guy. You wait he'll be gone soon because he ran himself out of business and make the markups on your bids and hope they accept/pay. In this economy any one with a lawnmower and google thinks they can get into the PP game. As p3+ said its time to get out while you can. I branched out to private side in '10 and do very well now.
 
#26 ·
I'm in the same boat with you guys. I have a conscience. I also have a work ethic. My father taught me the old adage - no matter what job you're given, do it to the best of your abilities.

But, in this Property Preservation racket, there always seems to be a guy willing to accept a job for nothing and do a real hack job for that low ball price. And then he can walk away from it and appears to get paid.

I'm reading the guidelines and trying to follow them, I cut the grass, string trim the entire yard, edge the concrete, blow off the clippings, rake any "excessive" clippings, take all the pictures, and expect to be paid the max allowable, or my bid if that's the case. And these other guys are running their mower around the house not even getting as close as they can to the buildings, trees, fences, ect. and getting paid the same as me.

Really makes you think about adjusting your values. But, character is something I value too highly to let someone else dictate to me what mine should be. So, I struggle on, negotiating cut bids.
 
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