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I own a company that works with a number of contractors. I can confirm: this is a huge deal. The fly-by-night subcontractor is a thing. In construction there is
by enjo 13y ago
I own a company that works with a number of contractors. I can confirm: this is a huge deal. The fly-by-night subcontractor is a thing. In construction there is nothing more valuable than a network of dependable skilled tradesman. General contractors will pay for good help.
I always thought "if this software thing doesn't work out, I'm gonna go be an electrician". I've now met lots of them making way more money than I am (and I'm well paid). Most of them basically have two or three customers, all of which are GC's. They've shown that they are:
- responsible (show up on time and in the right place)
- dependable (they get the work done on time and on budget)
- knowledgeable (they keep up to date with changes to code)
- respectful (they keep the job-site clean and work well with other subs)
In short, they're professionals in every sense of the word. In exchange they charge 3x what other tradesman charge. People are happy to pay it.
- pacaro 13y agoThis. A friend of mine is an electrician. He did his apprenticeship with a guy who worked a lot with high end residential clients (i.e. stately homes — this was in England). He says the one of the most important things that he learned was to clean up after himself — which talks to your respectful point. It made him stand out amongst his peers, and is one of the factors that goes a long way towards repeat business and referrals.
- gbhn 13y agoI just finished paying 2x market for an electrician who had the following invaluable skill: 1. Physically appearing at job site.
- singingfish 13y ago> In construction there is nothing more valuable than a network of dependable skilled tradesman. General contractors will pay for good help. Being a software developer who just completed a substantial project (200 metres squared house on a difficult site) this was the most powerful thing I learned on the job. And now I apply it to my own code related problems. Who's in my crew? Where can I get new good crew? How do I manage dealing with cognitive overload by delegating back to other team members etc. I find the similarities/differences between software and construction crews fascinating.