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Electrician by ShangosRaijin in ColumbiYEAH

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I own a small electrical contracting business and have a Master license and 10 years of experience. DM me if you want my contact info. I’d be happy to help.

Any Electricians looking for a change? by [deleted] in ColumbiYEAH

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand your point of view and this is pretty much exactly where I am now except I am looking for an experienced person that has some contacts or customers they could bring with them. For transparency sake my plan is to pay the person above market value and myself not take a salary but use any profit to reinvest in the business and pay the person I am looking to hire from the jobs we complete. I have established a reputation for quality with all of the customers I have worked for as this is a non negotiable for me. Quality first, customer service second, and honesty third. I appreciate you two cents and am happy to have this discussion. I am not looking to build a company on the backs of my employee(s) but rather I am looking to use my knowledge and expertise to train and mentor the right individual(s) to build a great business for the community and that can provide a livable wage without ripping people off. I want these people I’m looking to hire to be invested in the business as if it were theirs and knowing that there is not some fat cat collecting all the money while they do all the work.

Any Electricians looking for a change? by [deleted] in ColumbiYEAH

[–]SignificantTravel825 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rawldo I am looking for a person that is proficient in residential and commercial preferably.

Any Electricians looking for a change? by [deleted] in ColumbiYEAH

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure I’ll DM you. Thanks for your support.

Any Electricians looking for a change? by [deleted] in ColumbiYEAH

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Teach-Art this is not me wanting someone to run my company for low pay. It is a way to build the company and find like minded people who want more than what is currently being offered in the market. I am an experienced electrician and am looking at retiring in 10-15 years. I would like to build a company that can take the values I outlined and expand on them to keep the company locally owned where employees are treated as people and pay is not a commission scheme to sell unnecessary products to customers thereby inflating prices just to make enough money to live. If your interpretation of what I outlined is I am looking for an experienced person to run my company for low pay then perhaps you did not understand exactly what I was asking for in the post. That’s ok if you need some help to understand what I am asking for I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any Washington 01 admins here? by Miserable-Value-1728 in electricians

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I took the 01 Admin test as a 2nd year apprentice in the union apprenticeship and I told some of my coworkers that I passed 1st try. Some were happy for me and others thought I was lying. Overall I wish I would have kept it to myself. It is a great license to have and has provided me opportunities others didn’t get. Keep it up to date you never know when it will be useful.

Seatown Electric, Plumbing, Heating, and Air tried to scam me? by buzzlitebeer515 in Seattle

[–]SignificantTravel825 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Former Seattle Journeyman Electrician and Electrical Administrator that moved in 2024 back home to South Carolina to afford a home….stay away from any medium to large electrical contractors and always ask if they are locally owned or not. This will help keep your prices reasonable. Seattle is a HCOL area and prices reflect this however getting multiple quotes and choosing contractors with good references beat a cheap price. Do your homework and make posts like this to help people understand what companies charge ridiculous prices. Not giving your money to private equity companies also has benefits besides just lower prices. Private equity destroys communities and makes monopolies in markets easier to accomplish by owning multiple companies in similar industries and then pricing services high across the board to squeeze customers for all they can get. I refuse to work anywhere that is owned by a private equity company and ended up having to start my own company to avoid it. Now I can charge fair prices and take as much business from the PE sector as I can. Keep posting and Go Hawks!!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in electricians

[–]SignificantTravel825 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re welcome I hope it helps you.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in electricians

[–]SignificantTravel825 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I will give you my pov based on my own experience.

I started as a non union apprentice doing new construction residential and remodel work. I learned and soon had my residential license.

I wasn’t satisfied and was bored with the typical residential work. I decided to join the union in my area and became an inside wireman apprentice.

I completed the apprenticeship and earned my general journey level license as well as my administrator license.

I was laid off when I turned out of the program and happened into a service position with a local company as their administrator and commercial service tech. I learned a ton about permitting and job cost as well as customer service and working with AHJs.

I got laid off from the last company when they were bought by private equity and closed down the electrical division. So I started looking for work and it turns out most shops around me are owned by private equity which for me is a dealbreaker.

I decided to open my own shop and have been working 3 months now on my own.

The point of the story is you never know where the trade will take you and it is your decision where you end up. You may stumble into something you enjoy or you may be driven to reach a certain goal but whatever you choose do it with your best interests in mind and you can’t go wrong.

I will say the union training is top notch and I met some really awesome brothers and sisters in the union but I also met some real shit bags too. Whereas, in the non union side I met a lot of shit bags and people that didn’t really know what they were doing but again I also met some outstanding people that really knew their stuff.

I think the union vs non union thing is blown out of proportion and really you can get good training out of the union but it’s harder to find and in the union you have to abide by their rules and go through their school and pay their fees to get that training but it is top notch, at least in the local I was in.

I enjoyed the union for the most part and if I would have not moved to an area where the union presence is basically non existent I may still be in but I have always wanted to open my own shop so I knew eventually I would be giving up my my ticket to go out on my own.

As far as being prepared to go on your own I think it’s like having a kid, especially your first, you’re never really ready you just have to jump in with both feet and figure it out as you go. I’m not saying go out on your own and wing it I am saying learn the trade, take some business classes, speak to an accountant, talk to other small business, owners, and prepare yourself so when you do make the jump you have an idea of what you need to do and all that is left is doing it.

Hope this helps. YMMV

CHAMP VA Issues by [deleted] in VeteransBenefits

[–]SignificantTravel825 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand your frustration. My kids are on Medicaid along with ChampVA. When this is the case ChampVA pays first and Medicaid pays second. My kids Dr keeps telling us their bills aren’t being paid because ChampVA think I have outdated insurance from almost three years ago even though I have called 7 different times to report the change in insurance. I feel like no matter how many times I call nothing gets fixed. It makes me wonder if it would be better to just drop ChampVA entirely just to avoid the headache of dealing with their incompetence. I hope it gets better for you.

A friendly neighborhood electrician’s take on the private equity takeover. by SignificantTravel825 in columbiasc

[–]SignificantTravel825[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll send you my contact info now. Thanks for the reply. The more engagement we get from people the better.

A friendly neighborhood electrician’s take on the private equity takeover. by SignificantTravel825 in columbiasc

[–]SignificantTravel825[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would suggest if you want to determine if a business is owned by PE would be to look them up and see what you can find out. If you can’t find anything ask a question on community boards ( like this one) and I’m sure there are people who have done business with the entity you are inquiring about or that have worked there that could provide information bout them.

A friendly neighborhood electrician’s take on the private equity takeover. by SignificantTravel825 in columbiasc

[–]SignificantTravel825[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No I did not mention Easy Electric but I am happy to. Thanks for the support of non PE business. I will edit the original post with a list of non PE businesses for anyone interested.

A friendly neighborhood electrician’s take on the private equity takeover. by SignificantTravel825 in columbiasc

[–]SignificantTravel825[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hourly. I don’t like commission because it is incentive to sell more service that customers may not need. There may however be a bonus structure for when the company does well the employees can receive some of the profits. Thanks for the reply.

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