Rightone

NEC 600.21D and 600.21E

Here in Texas we pay right at 52K a year for workmans comp. , this is for 14 employees, along with 26K a year for liability insurance. Trying to stay legal gets very expensive with all the rules and regulations. Texas requires state issued electrical license and contractors license and you have to have the insurance to get them. Workmans comp is an option in Texas for a company but there is alot of red tape , reporting, and just the fact of worrying about losing your company due to an accident. This industry has some of the highest rates due to the hazzards associated with it. On a side note: We lose jobs to "bootleggers" who carry neither. Trying to compete with them is impossiable and there are more and more getting into the market due to larger companies laying off people and the layed of people opening up "garage shops" and lowballing. We have lost channel letter jobs that we (along with other legal companies) were 2x the price. When customers who get four quotes and three are all in the ballpark and one is half, something should click with them but it doesnt. As was mentioned earlier, small to medium sized companies have a very hard time making a profit with the overhead cost.

Not kidding at all......... Our inspector was here yesterday and informed me of this. Said he will be back in July and that we should have them by then is this crazy or what !!!!!!!

The increase plus our inspector informed us that we must now provide them with the measuring tools they need for the inspections. Micrometers, dial calipers, calabrated weight, tape measure,etc. and have them certified every year. This is around $600 for these items plus the cost to have them sent off and calabrated each year.....

I think you have a pretty good site going here, even thou I am one of the lurkers , I still like to come over and read the new post. As for your questions, and these are just MY opinions.( and do not reflect the opinions of the management, etc...............) 1. There are way more people in the vinyl aspect of the industry and when you have more people you have more involvement in forums such as this one Anybody can open a vinyl shop and with minimal knowledge of the industry operate it. ( not that they are going to be profitable) We compete against these type of businesses all the time just to watch them lowball an electrical sign job and then have to sub it out because they don't have the expierience to complete it. 2. The timing has nothing to do with it, this is the only medium that people can communicate without knowing the other person and freely and quickle exchange ideas and information instantly. As far as the age factor, I don't think it really plays into it nowadays, young and old use the internet (some more freely than others). BTW I'm 48 and could not operate my business without the internet 3. Fear of spreading ideas should not factor into not participating , I for one like to show others in the industry what our company can do. Time constraints are what keeps me away from forums such as this one. 4. I don't enjoy or have time for chat rooms ( just my opinion) 5. This industry has been around way to long to worry about anyboby closing it down, yes, there has and will continue to be changes in it but most are for the good of the industry. We (the legit companys) need all the protection we can get from the fly-by-nighters, bootleggers, or whatever you want to call them and a good majority of them are the vinyl jockeys who think they can make a quick buck by building a set of channel letters. Don't know if this is what kind of answers you were looking for but I would like to see you continue with the site as it can be informative. Keep up the good work Rightone