Ok, I suppose I should thank you all. I mean, I have built a 1/4 mil a year repair and maintenance
business on your shoddy workmanship. Still, though, it irks me. What makes so many of you think that just because you fixed a few things around your house, and went out and bought an 18V tool kit and some bid forms at Office Depot with your unimaginative business name stamped at the top, that all of a sudden you are a contractor? It's not that hard, you just have to CARE! Business, in my humble opinion, should not be about how many people you can get to pay you to install a window or door. It should be about building and keeping a good name for yourself, as you help people achieve their dreams.
I go to people's houses (and businesses) all day long, and when I:
- call first
- show up on time
- explain the customer's options, and what I am going to do, in detail
- fix or build the thing right the first time
- clean up after myself
- charge what I said I would charge
people are flabbergasted. This is just a shame. This should be the norm. If you only see being in business as dollar signs and checks, you will leave a bunch of burnt bridges behind you. If you would take the time to:
- Listen to your customers, they will tell you everything you need to know to keep them happy
- Research the materials and methods you use. Just because "people use thinset over sheet vinyl to set tile all the time" does NOT mean that it is the correct material for the job.
- View everything you work on from the perspective of "Is this still going to look good in ten years or more?" I work on houses not only for the current owner of the house, but future owners, as well. When you put that trim up around that gable, and you don't prime those raw edges, because 'no one is ever going to see that,' guess what? I just got a trim job for next year. You are ripping people off. Do the shit right the first time.
then we would have a nation of houses, business and structures that were built to last, and we could use our collective resources designing plasma rifles like we should be doing, instead of rebuilding the same crap every generation. Look at the buildings in DC- that stuff was built before your great great great great grandfather was born, and still going strong. Did they have better technology? Better tools? No, they didn't even have silicone caulk! You know what the difference was? They gave a damn about what they were doing. I don't build a doghouse in my spare time but that I expect to pass it down to my kids.
In short, I should thank you for keeping me as busy as I can stand fixing your shortcuts-come-to-fruition, but I don't. You are giving us all a bad name, and you really need to get some work ethics and people skills. Or GTFO and get a job somewhere.
/rant