Not working is FREE!

A couple of days ago there was a question posted on the Watch Dog facebook page that asked if a contractor could have "too much" work. In these tough economic times you might think I'm crazy for saying yes, but my answer is YES!!!
But let me clarify. It's not just having too much work, its more about having the wrong kind of work. What I mean is this: When I first went into business for myself doing HVAC I had a plan. My plan was to do mainly installs. I figured that I could do one or two of these a month and after paying my helper still clear 60 thousand a year only doing service calls here and there just for extra money.
What I didn't plan on was the fact that this would be a huge pain in the butt! Even though I can do an install in a day, its usually a long day. Upfront cost to myself for the equipment is much higher. There is much more that can go wrong on an install than a service call. There is also much more that can go wrong after the install is done. The call backs don't pay because the work is under warranty and if you do an install for the wrong person (an annoying over obsessive person) they will call you back constantly just because they can even if there is nothing wrong.
After a year of running my business I realized that it made alot more sense to stick to doing service calls and preventative maintenance. I can do a service call in an average of two hours and make two hundred profit off of it. Any call back I get from a service call usually means more profit because there is something else that has gone wrong. This makes more dollars and more sense also.
If you take jobs for clients who nit pick and change their mind in the middle of the job you are in for a headache and if you don't bid the job right you'll do good to break even. Also, if you get in over your head or take a job that you aren't set up to do you could be in for a big loss.
The moral of the story is that "It's not just important to get work, it's important to get the right kind of work. Because the wrong job can windup costing you money." Not working might not sound profitable, but it doesn't cost you anything either.

Straight Cash Homie!

Back in 2005, when asked how he planned on paying a $10,000.00 fine that the NFL had dropped on him, Randy Moss responded with the above words. I wish my customers thought more like he did.
At the very moment that I sit here and write this article I have a customer that owes me and it is really irritating. It's not so much the amount as it is the principal. The guy calls me in the middle of the night to ask if I can fix his AC. I told him that I was booked up for the week but would move some things around and make a special trip out the next day. I had his AC fixed and back up and running before 5pm the next day.
Normally for a service call like this I would expect payment at time of service. However, it just so happened that the customer was too sick to come downstairs and pay me. He had left the door unlocked to the house so that I could come in and test the system without him having to come down and meet me. When I completed the job I left the invoice on the table.
I called the customer later and he asked if I took credit cards. OF COURSE I DO! I even sent him an email and a text message with instructions on how to go online and pay the invoice by credit card. Needless to say it's been over a week and I haven't heard from the guy. It was such an emergency for his AC to get fixed but it isn't much of an emergency for him to pay me.
Like I said, it's not about the money, the total invoice is less than $200. But it's about the principal. The principal is "if all of my customers act like this then it will be about the money because I won't have any."
From now on I think I might adopt the Randy Moss. My new business slogan is "Straight Cash Homie" pay me cash!

By OM Property Services