Your Business

 

 

Articles in this section are intended to help electrical contractors grow and improve their businesses, from financial and legal advice to creating a service and maintenance department. You’ll find articles on estimating projects and more below. 

The past two columns have covered issues related to your most important asset (and the most difficult one to measure): your employees.

Trucks. Whether two or three for a small firm, or a fleet for a large company, electrical contractors can’t conduct business without them.

The first step for an electrical contractor that is considering entering or expanding its presence in the energy services market is to identify the target customers.

Variables affecting electric power quality haven’t changed significantly over the years, but the technological advances of electrical and electronic equipment make the equipment much more vulnerable to power quality events than in the past.

More on Your Business

 
Robotic Desk Lamps Bring Virtual Reality to a Workspace Near You
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One of the beauties of new technology is its ability to give us things we never knew we needed and then get us hooked on it.

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Ideas That Work: Installing Can Lights, Auto-Cleanup for Hammer Drilling and More
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Every month, Jack Pullizzi picks the top four Ideas That Work submitted by you, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR readers.

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Who Is Responsible For Winning the Bid? 

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“How many jobs are you going to win for me?” I have heard that question at every interview I ever had for an estimating position. As an independent estimator, I still hear it. The answer is none, at least not by myself. Estimators need to be enabled, as they are only one part of a group.

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Is It A Bird Or A Plane?
 Cardinal Change
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There may not be a “typical” changes clause for construction contracts, but most contracts have something giving the right to the owner or general contractor to order changes. Each of these clauses will have variations regarding written notice, time extensions, paperwork requirements, etc.

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Smart Grid, Again? Really?

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It’s understandable if that’s your reaction to what you anticipate will be yet another article extolling networked electric utility meters and talking refrigerators. These consumer-facing features continue to seem always another two or three years away from implementation.

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E.V. Come Home
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We’re now more than a year into the release of the first two major players in the electric vehicle (EV) market—Nissan’s all-electric Leaf and Chevy’s hybrid-electric Volt, and results so far are decidedly, well, undecided.

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Cool Tools: Measuring Tools

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The tape measure is a basic tool for integrated systems installers, electricians and professionals in many trades. It has been in use for years, but the measuring tapes available today are nothing like early versions.

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