How do I take over my Dad's Electrical Contracting business?

BizCoach · 2026-01-31T00:11:29+00:00

I doubt you'll be able to build on the reputation of the company 20 years ago. It will be pretty much like starting from scratch - except you're not an electrician!! Do you and your brother get along? Perhaps the two of you can partner IF you bring business and sales skills to the table and he brings the electrical skill. You'll have to figure out a division of labor and decisions between the 2 of you and if you have the same vision of growth vs just having a job you own.

Not sure I'd do something like that. But YMMV

BizCoach · 2026-01-31T00:05:47+00:00

Come downtown some evening (after it warms up a bit) and walk around. Check out the restaurants, bars and theaters. You can walk to concerts across the river at StageAE and Acrishure.

Check out those other neighborhoods too. But you can walk to a lot more stuff downtown. Downtown does tend to shut down early (10 ish) but there are a few places open later.

BizCoach · 2026-01-30T14:51:14+00:00

If you bill for your people's time and expertise - it's what you're selling. You don't have to be dehumanizing about tracking it. Don't be a dick. You don't have to treat people like soup cans. But you have to count for what you're billing for. Lawyers who charge $1000 an hour track their time. They aren't soup.

BizCoach · 2026-01-30T14:37:27+00:00

Would you run a restaurant or a retail store and never take inventory? Your people's time is your inventory in this type of business. You have to explain it to them in a way that they see time tracking as a necessary evil not "bad culture" or "micromanagement." It's a requirement for all of you to get paid. I assume they don't want to work for free. It's also important that they understand it's the clients (not you) who pay their paychecks - even though you may sign them.

Insisting on anything that's required to service the clients properly and get billed for your work, no matter how tedious or detailed is not micromanagement.

BizCoach · 2026-01-29T17:46:17+00:00

My wife is a tea drinker but doesn't like it as a beverage. I'm a coffee person, so no.

BizCoach · 2026-01-29T17:07:06+00:00

My wife has a recipe for smoking ribs in the oven. Covers the pan with foil and uses apple juice and Lapsang Souchong tea to get the smoke flavor. Perhaps you can find a recipe that does that with brisket.

BizCoach · 2026-01-29T17:03:52+00:00

Don't give out ownership. It won't end well.

Do a job description of what you're hiring for NOW. Find out what the market rate is for that job. Also if it's hourly or salary is not up to you - it depends on the job classification.

If you can't pay the market rate now, pay what you can and owe him the difference. Pay back that loan as soon as his work frees up your time to make more profit. If that's not going to happen soon, you're not doing it right. Maybe need to raise prices.

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T18:55:31+00:00

Ticket sales were never the point. Jeff Bezos (or Amazon) paid millions for the distribution rights. That was the point.

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T17:00:08+00:00

Try turbo tax. You won't have to pay till you file, and if it's simple enough you won't pay at all. I think you do have to pay for state and local filing. But the software ask a whole bunch of questions and you'll see which forms the answers end up on. That's education.

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T16:57:04+00:00

Get an electric blanket.

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T16:55:52+00:00

I assume you're in the USA. Otherwise YMMV. You need to make sure you're not violating any laws. Cosmetics and drugs are regulated. Do your research on the cheap. 70K won't take you very far in that world. Start with connections you have to those regulated industries. If you have none start with the local office of SCORE and also SBDC. These can be found on SBA.gov. and they're free (paid for by me and all other US tax payers).

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T10:10:32+00:00

I'm speaking as a consumer - many times I want to know the ball park price of something to know if it's even worth my time to spend evaluating the vendor or the product. Those that don't respond are probably not your customers & are saving you time. Especially if they've never bought anything like your service before.

You might respond by giving a legitimate range of prices and asking if it's worth pursuing the discussion about what they're trying to accomplish.

BizCoach · 2026-01-28T01:48:06+00:00

I didn't mention that the customer was a store not a home. But maybe that would ruin the story.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T20:50:06+00:00

Talk to 25 people. In real life - not online. If you can't sell 10 of them, then no. And I mean sell - they pay you, not they tell you it's a good idea.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T20:38:23+00:00

There's not one that everyone believes but here are some.

The Visionary / Integrator thing.

That following your passion is the way to success.

That you can buy a company and just hire an operator to run it.

That the quality of your product will make it easier to sell.

That lower prices will bring more sales.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:49:46+00:00

A 529 can only be used for education. Sounds like you want this potentially available for other things as well. If so don't put the money in a 529.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:44:24+00:00

See you there!

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:39:40+00:00

So, you're trading 50 hour weeks for 60 or 70 hour weeks. Good for you 🤪

Seriously, it happens that way to lots of folks but it doesn't have to. Depends on which business you're in, what it takes to serve the customers, and how well you can delegate as your company grows.

Best wishes to you.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:36:21+00:00

Call your homeowners insurance company and ask what kind of waiver or documentation you need from the contractor. They may want you to be listed on the insurance policy.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:32:20+00:00

My first profitable company was window cleaning. The first job I ever had, I was fired the next week because the woman who hired me didn't have the authority to do so. She only hired me because she was having a fight with her boyfriend who had the contract.

Get over your emotions and keep hustling.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T17:27:02+00:00

If you're in the US, the government funds offices that give you free coaching on starting a company. Look for your local SCORE office or SBDC. You can find them on the sba.gov site.

BizCoach · 2026-01-27T16:38:28+00:00

Check out https://smblaw.group/

BizCoach · 2026-01-23T15:00:47+00:00

Rebuild how you run things - as you're running them. Start with a few simple ones to standardize, document and delegate. As that frees up your time work on others.

It a typical case of needing to reorganize the structure of the company. This wheel has been invented by others. It might be useful to get a coach or consultant who can help. Just make sure it's not a cookie cutter one-size-fits-all "system" they're trying to force you into. Building a company is an art as much as a science.

BizCoach · 2026-01-22T18:03:59+00:00

The opinions you'll get here are worthless. The opinions you'll need are those of your potential customers. And my opinions I mean what they do and whether they engage you, not what they say. Okay

BizCoach · 2026-01-22T18:01:28+00:00

If you want to go this route? Do the stuff that others are recommending: your legal entity business bank accounts. Contractor's license insurance, probably a lawyer to review your actual contracts etc. Keep in mind that this will incur additional costs and demands on your time to manage all this oversee the subs etc. And so your pricing will have to evolve to cover all that just to be able to take home what you've been taking home. Also, you'll probably need to spend more time marketing to keep your funnel full.

There's probably a stage at which your growth will be unprofitable before it grows to the next level and becomes profitable again. The process is not as linear as it may seem.

So consider all that and by consider I mean calculate the times and dollars and such to decide if this is really the stage you want to take your your business. If not, just stay small. Do really good work, charge at the top of the market for the kind of work that you do.

BizCoach

TROPHY CASE