Any other contractors here? I'd love to swap stories

Don't be that way. This isn't a troll "how can plumbers compete" thread. All work is work, and running an actual contracting business uses the same principles as any other business.

>real jobs
>sitting in a cubicle with your owner staring over your shoulder. You hate him deep down inside but you continue to work harder and harder for a few sheckles more so he can tell you “good goy”

Sounds sick. Meanwhile I do 1hr of work and profit 200$. Good job goy keep it up

Also, the amount of knowledge and know-how to run a successful business far outbeats your “muh IQ” nonsense test you took online. You can be the smartest dude in the world and still be a fucking retard.

Being a high IQ contractor allows you to have a bunch of people under you do all the actual work. Much easier than trying to climb the corporate ladder because other high IQ people you'd be competing against tend to stay away from the field.

how do you earn $200 an hour?

>be electrician
>get call to fix something
>drive through off roads to reach destination, through goddamn 30+ cm of snow, almost get stuck few times
>reach that little wood house in goddamn nowhere
>fix wires, few light bulbs
>"wires nailed to wooden wall, burned up, even burn marks left visible on wood"
>house is like 2 big rooms, redone almost all wiring in them in half a day, proper how it should be
>mother and 4 (that's how many I saw) kids at home, living conditions 1/10
>ask mother if they have longer ladders, I want to check circuit breaker condition and wiring outside (where transmission line meets house at second floor)
>kid (about 10 y old) gets up and runs outside saying "follow me here"
>kids run outside bare fucking foot, through fucking snow, no socks, no shoes, fucking bare foot, trainer pants and very thin jumper.
>imagine this, -12 C outside
>took cash for materials, but didn't count my work
>I was so saddened by their living conditions
>fuck me, people still live like this...

Attached: brah.png (1920x1356, 2M)

being the best at something easy is more indicative of intelligence than being mediocre/shit at something hard as it incorporates self awareness.

I'm not a contractor in the traditional sense of a masculine trade with heavy tools and danger and PPE but I ran a homework mill for six years which is basically being contracted to write essays for rich lazy uni students.

You have to be able to absolutely slang your skill, do it as fast as fucking possible perfectly at all times to make your hourly rate as high as possible. You have to get clients, keep clients, have high people skills etc etc. A lot goes into being a good contractor, more so than being a middling pawn for mr goldberg.

>contracting jobs are for low IQ plebs
I must disagree.

He's getting so many delicious (you)s... Can we all report the post and try to save the thread? I'd love to see more boring/ ugly business threads on here regularly. Trolling in the off-topic advice threads is losing its magic for me.

You're a good person user

alright, here's one

>be running my homework mill
>family knows I earn money but they want more for me
>apply to top university in my city
>fucking get in somehow
>fail all my classes because getting paid to do other's hw instead
>use my "student" status to meet more clients
>get access to the uni computers, just sit in the library and commit academic dishonestly all day
>drink, do mdma and fuck hoes. free gym too
>don't go back for a 2nd semester but they never erase my logins so I continue working there conveniently

my mom has a beta male provider for my brothers and I and his parents paid for the uni so I wasn't even jewing my family by doing this.

>earn $60-$100 per hour writing nonsense psychology papers
>even 4th year psych is an absolute joke, i've never even taken a psych course
>just google the topic in the assignment to get the gist from wiki how
>incorporate some APA citations from google scholar

fucking liberal arts is a joke, how can someone with "no education" churn out an A average on a 6 page essay in under two hours ?

fuck the system.

lol you got scammed loser

I gotcha.

In home contracting is pretty profitable. I'll make about $80k this year. On a typical job my materials expense is like 10%.

at least I know kids are not in danger being burn alive from faulty wires while sleeping

another sparky here.. good on you user. She probably couldnt pay in the end anyways.

but remember, no good deed goes unpunished.

> no good deed goes unpunished

Especially as a contractor. one of the MANY reasons I don't do any extra work for free, is that some customers, if they have an issue with the extra work I provided, they'll call me on that to come back and fix an issue if it happens.

Like I did it for free.

So nope. I don't do anything extra for free.

In a housing boom contractors can make six figs easily. Don't judge.

I do mainly bigger jobs as a working foreman, I dont own the business, my last job was a little over $500k and I was there for 8 months. Its hard to keep good customer relations for that long with a GC that has basically studied ways to fuck you over... then trying to get along with the other trades who may or may not have their shit together.

A customer that I should NOT have taken, but did...

> older widow calls me, 70 year old woman
> go to her house, a million dollars
> she's Jewish
> She's a little rude but not too bad
> She asks me to send the estimate to her daughter so she can review it too
> her daughter is some big executive
> I agree, we do the job, woman is a little rude
> "oh hey can you do this for free?"
> me: "no"
> whatever got the job done and got paid
> 6 months later
> a little bit of grout cracked can you come fix it
> I go back and fix it
> 2 weeks ago
> a little bit of grout cracked can you come fix it
> I told her "no" I'll refund a little money for the issue and she can hire someone else

Now she has texted me multiple times saying she is not happy is gonna have her daughter call me.

Lol.

it's called giving people "Fuck Off" bids.

Off topic from the story part, but contractors, do you have some standard warranty for your work and are you licensed and bonded?

Curious about the second part especially since my parents always looked for contractors who were. Even if it cost extra, they viewed it as being worth the cost.

that's probably was second time in my few years experience.
I too can see when people want free shit.
Trouble shooting when a house smells with new paint is on me.
Usually some RCD issues or improper current ratings, because owners bought different power devices then planned.
But when they call me again after a year, that's on them and is always on them.
Taking pictures and cataloging them is also my good practice, specially breaker box.
When somebody touches it I see it. That's how I catch laying rats "nobody touched it, only you".

You would be surprised. Sometimes I do that and they STILL say yes

I have a little insurance but that's it.

Your parents are fools. People ask me about that shit all the time like that's a guarantee you'll get someone good. Licensure, bonding doesn't mean shit. Plenty of good workers who don't have that stuff. All it's gonna do is increase the price.

What you really need to do is ask for photos of past projects, speak with past clients, and look them up online. If all that checks out you're good. Bonding/licensure doesn't add shit.

Plenty of bad contractors, if you don't do your research it's easy to get burned.

Most of the contractors I worked for were just good old boys who were masters at their trades, but not necessarily masters at business. They definitely made good money and did well enough, but they didn't have the book smarts to scale their business and become really, really profitable. I think the problem is they do too much of the work themselves, instead of using their expertise to pick a good crew, and then handling the admin/sales stuff themselves. They just juggle it all at once and never escape from that level of work.

Oh and for warranty I only do one year.

Some guys do a lifetime warranty, but you're asking for trouble. If the client sucks they are gonna keep calling and calling no matter what. And if the build is bad it's gonna effect your work year after year and they can keep calling you back.

I would only do one year, maybe two tops.

Agreed.

It's tough, but you have to say "no I'm not coming back" to rats.

And they'll threaten to sue, etc.

Have your contract and take photos, that's all you can do.

That's where I'm at.

I've tried hiring people to do the work and it's fucking hard.

Thank you for the feedback! I'll keep it in mind when they get work done in the future and if I ever need contractor work. A year or two sounds reasonable. I did computer work for a while and if I didn't say anything would sometimes get calls years down the line for something completely unrelated.

Beyond cracked grout, they haven't had problems with contracters that they hired directly.

Only problem they've had was with windows installed for free they bought from Home Depot.

I'm a self-employed contractor but white collar so I can't add to the thread, but I'm enjoying reading it because I hire contractors for stuff around the house I can't do myself and I like hearing their side.

Currently flipping a hotel.
Making bank and having a great time.

Weirdest experience I was doing a bathroom for a long term clients rental.
Tenant was a horrible drunk and kept asking me what it was like. Eventually I asked him what is what like and he said being gay. I locked him out of the bathroom while I did my work with him beating on the door crying.
Finished the job and pushed him to the ground as I left.
Homeowner apologized and paid me double for the work hahahah

So what IS it like being gay? I'm genuinely curious.

Now that's a strange tale.

I once had a store owner try to pay me discounts on flowers for some custom counters I put in. Probably the weirdest thing that's happened to me, pretty pedestrian by standards though.

How did you respond

I was so new, so felt like I owed him a sad story about how my rent was due, and all of that shit. Asked him what he could pay and got a check for 33% (that I couldn't deposit that day because he was waiting on a deposit on his end...), and he did actually pay the balance over a few months. The funny thing was, as I'm sure you've experienced with b2b assholes, he NEEDED the counters in 1.5 weeks; a real emergency...

From then on, I get paid in full before work starts. That one really sucked too. I ended up legitimately being 15 days on rent.

My ip changes a lot because I phonefag.

>a bunch of dirty manual labor rednecks on the business board

Yikes. I’ll be overseas for work for 1 month, so just have the master bathroom finished and invoice me when you’re done. And don’t try stealing anything; I’ve got cameras on you.

My wife and I have sat down for lunch with customers who's apartment is owning their own floor of a Brooklyn building. They had their own elevator and their home was like an art exhibit. It was surreal... They treated us with kindness and dignity when we humbly brought their new table into their multi-million dollar home, and broke bread with us.

Do you feel more important now?

I’d be more worried that you would drop it. You’re one step up from the spics who hang out at Home Depot.

You have nothing to worry about, because you couldn't afford one. You've demonstrated some particularly lower class personality quirks. At best, you're a middle income cubicle jockey who shops ikea on a high interest credit card; more likely, you're not actively employed and living in a dorm or with mom.

I've worked with dozens of millionaires, and not a single person with real money treats the help the way you've described. If you want to be like these successful people, and you clearly do because you're larping as one itt, I suggest you study the cultural nuances of how they interface with the classes that service them: distinct class separation but mutual respect.

For me whether I get any money upfront doesn't really matter.

I have them sign a work order and I take before and after photos. And I tell them I expect to be paid when I finish.

So if there's any act about payment I just give them 2 weeks. Once that time has passed I tell them I'll take them to small claims court if I don't get paid in 48 hours. With the paperwork and photos that's an open and shut case.

Had to do this 4 different times and all 4 times I got paid.

For future reference any person who says they NEED something or they NEED it right away are lying self centered people. Every time. Like what contractor is gonna drop what he's doing and take on your project that week.

Now I just say "ok well i can do it right away for double the price"

Lol I get out of towners a few times a year. Hell I have one next week.

I tell them "happy to do the job but I want all the money upfront via a check before I get started"

Many contractors get screwed in these scenarios and don't see it coming.

I've thought about offering a rush service upgrade, but we keep our pricing super value oriented. Everyone would just opt for the rush order and I'd be fucking dead buried at tax return season, moving season, and Christmas. We try, with varying success, to control the flow as much as possible.

How do you handle reputation management on yelp, fb pages, etc when shit spirals out of control? I do almost all of my business on etsy nowadays, so we have be borderline Amazon with efficiency, and customer service. On top of that, people expect near Amish quality for peanuts. Reputation management keeps me up at night sometimes.

Wow, you are a piece of shit. She paid you to do a job, you did it but it goes to shit shortly after and now laugh that you did a shit job and evade a 70 year old lady. Wow

The woman was a complete bitch during the work and asked for free stuff multiple times.

She's getting a little cracking because the house is on a shifty lot and everything in the house is cracking up. ON TOP of that I offered her a bunch of money back. Like $500 on the shower.

I'd steal this bitch's jewelry if I could.

Fuck it do it. Someone once told me, "keep raising the prices until you stop getting customers". The price is always "what it's worth to the customer".

I'll lower my prices like 50% when I'm desperate, but I'll raise my prices 50% when I'm too busy to handle all the calls.

As far as reputation I was WAY nicer the first couple years. The first year I was way too nice. And you kind of have to be, you need that reputation. But in the beginning, you need to ask every customer after you are done, to write you a review online. Try to get Google, Yelp, Angie's List, Home Advisor and Facebook. I even offered people a $20 bill if they would get out their computer and do it in front of me. Because a lot of people lie and tell you they will, but they won't.

I have a ton of 5-star reviews. The thing is, you can't be afraid of a negative review. The assholes know that and will make you grovel so they won't put the review. Just let it go man, some people are gonna give you that 1-star review. Fuck em. The general public knows that when all your reviews are good and you have a bad one, it's just a crazy person. best thing is if you get a bad review, go out and get a bunch of good reviews quick and bury the bad one.

Don't even try contacting Google or the others about a bad review, they don't give a fuck and won't remove it.

A ton of marketing > constantly being concerned about reviews

crying about 30+cm of snow
1m here, super comfy
are you a fucking nigger or what

thanks based contractors

are you cheaper and nicer to nice customers

This is such a shit attitude
Do you also think farmers are dumb?

Absolutely. If I can tell for sure that someone is very nice and follows my direction the price instantly goes down 20%.

Honestly the reason my prices are so high is that I'm sick of the bullshit some people put me through and one day I just said fuck it, I'm building in the frustration I face into all my pricing.

If I knew everyone would be nice I would lower all my pricing.

when my mum has contractors fixing her bedroom again i always get to bring them coffee and biscuits and they ruffle my hair and call me a good kid

Trades are really popular here in Australia and many members of my family and friends work a trade. Its good money I guess but I chose university. Whenever I have tradies coming over I always ask if they want a coffee or cold drink and let them do their work. Quote me beforehand and I'll accept. I don't usually check out reviews because 90% are the same. I'd appreciate knowing beforehand if you need to make noise so I can ask my wife to take the baby for a dive etc. What's the big deal?

>Sometimes I agree that there is a class separation and many people here in trades consider their greasy appearance to be normal and the uneducated conversation they spew out to be spectacular but thats because they exist in an echo chamber down at the pub. So I'd have to agree that skilled manual labourers are not my kind of people but I'll always try and be respectful.

Client with severe OCD demanding that every tile be perfectly parallel with each other?

Yep.

Biggest issues with difficult clients:
> I don't like the layout
bitch I know what I'm doing
> I don't like the spacing
bitch I know what I'm doing
> I don't like the grout color
bitch I know what I'm doing
> One tile seems higher than another
It's the lighting, now grab a level if you want to test me

Thing is in the beginning you don't know any better and so you'll agree with some psycho that it should have been 1/8 instead of 1/16, and find yourself in these insane convos that in retrospect u should have told the customer to fuck off.

But that is contracting, and when the market is bad u wish u had taken the difficult clients.

The other thing is no matter how hard you work, some jobs won't come out perfect, that's just the way it is.