Thinking about starting my own business.

[Txpepper]

It scares the crap out of me but at this point I can't stand the job I'm at now. Been here 8years and haven't had a raise in 5.

Building, reading plans, remodeling and doing the work is not the problem. The problem is biding jobs. I've never done it so have no clue how. Is there a program I could use to help with this?

[bwssr]

PM Bill M he may be able to give you some direction.....so here's a free bump for you

[Txpepper]

PM Bill M he may be able to give you some direction.....so here's a free bump for you

Thanks.

[metalmangeorge]

It scares the crap out of me but at this point I can't stand the job I'm at now. Been here 8years and haven't had a raise in 5.

Building, reading plans, remodeling and doing the work is not the problem. The problem is biding jobs. I've never done it so have no clue how. Is there a program I could use to help with this?

You can lose your a@@ in a hurry if you don't bid it write. Do you have any sales experience? You can learn to bid, but if you cant sell your in trouble. Every job I bid on has multiple companies bidding, and they are usually pretty close in price. What it comes down to is who the customer feels most comfortable working with. I cant tell you how many times I have had customers tell me my bid was higher than a competitor, but they felt like I would do a better job.

Depending on what kind of work you do there are programs that can help you bid, but they are just a tool. If you don't put it in all of info you wont get a complete bid.

If I were in your shoes I would go to work for somebody who is willing to train you to do the bids and maybe let you sell as well. At least that way you have other people to fall back on if you get in over your head.

[Charles]

You can lose your a@@ in a hurry if you don't bid it write. Do you have any sales experience? You can learn to bid, but if you cant sell your in trouble. Every job I bid on has multiple companies bidding, and they are usually pretty close in price. What it comes down to is who the customer feels most comfortable working with. I cant tell you how many times I have had customers tell me my bid was higher than a competitor, but they felt like I would do a better job.

Depending on what kind of work you do there are programs that can help you bid, but they are just a tool. If you don't put it in all of info you wont get a complete bid.

If I were in your shoes I would go to work for somebody who is willing to train you to do the bids and maybe let you sell as well. At least that way you have other people to fall back on if you get in over your head.

You can also win b$g when you bid them right

What line of work are you in?

[Txpepper]

You can also win b$g when you bid them right

What line of work are you in?

I'm a remodel carpenter. Been doing it for 13 years now. If it has to do with a house I can do it.

[metalmangeorge]

.

[ElWhompo]

I'm a remodel carpenter. Been doing it for 13 years now. If it has to do with a house I can do it.

Who have you been working for? Is your new venture gunna be in. Construction? I may have some contacts for ya. Also know a remo/construction guy lookin for a project mmHg ifn ya decide to head that direction.

[Burnadell]

Do you have any college classes in accounting, math or finance to help you understand your financial statements and how to budget, determine your job costs, etc?

[Charles]

I'm a remodel carpenter. Been doing it for 13 years now. If it has to do with a house I can do it.

Tell the company you work for now that you want to take on more responsibilities and ask if you can help in the bidding process. This will give you paid on the job training.

Bidding really isn't that hard. Determine materials needed and your cost of materials than add your profit margin. Than determine how many man hours you think the job will require and multiply man hours by your hourly rate and walla you have a price.
Be sure to account for travel time and other expenses too. We are in the middle of a project in downtown and I added 20hours for waiting on freight elevator and a couple hundred bucks for parking

[LWD]

I'm not in your industry, but I do my own thing. It is a little scary. But I'm not sure I can do anything else at this point. Work for someone else? Yeah right. Not happening for me at this point in life.

Do take to heart the advice about bidding the job correctly. Worst thing in the world is getting stuck with something where you're going to do twice as much work as you're getting paid for. Not all jobs/projects/cases/contracts are worth having—sometimes at any price. That's hard to remember when you're needing the cash flow. But you'll get it after getting burned a couple of times.

And don't ever failure to price your product like you're product of it or it's anything other than high quality.

LWD

[Txpepper]

Who have you been working for? Is your new venture gunna be in. Construction? I may have some contacts for ya. Also know a remo/construction guy lookin for a project mmHg ifn ya decide to head that direction.

I've been with Tom Hall const for 8 years now and have had just about enough. I make ok money but the frustration with this company is unbearable lately. My boss has been doing this since the 70s and is burned out so he cuts corners all the time and wants to do shotty work. That's not the way I like to operate.

I'm going to try to go into the remodel business. Bathrooms, kitchens, additions, Installing new doors and windows. Stuff like that.

[tex4k]

Check with your local C of C and economic development board, find some business seminars to attend. Most people don't have a problem knowing their trade, what causes most small business failures is not knowing how to run a business.

[Charles]

Look into this http://www.score.org/

It would be worth your time to schedule an appointment with them.

I would also highly suggest preparing a business plan and budget. This will allow you to determine if you can realistically make a go at it or you could just jump in feet first and figure it out as you go.

One thing to remember when your the boss. Any mistake can be resolved with money. I have paid more than my share in resolution fees

[huntnfishtex]

Do you have any college classes in accounting, math or finance to help you understand your financial statements and how to budget, determine your job costs, etc?

this and the money for tools gas and supplies before the cash starts coming in.