Ductape
Elite Member
You two have it made !!! Here in the tilted town, we have trash pickup. I actually have to rummage through my neighbors trash to find a sprayer or a stick welder.
Tractor Supply Co
- Thread starter bosch45
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Pete Milley
Bronze Member
Dougster:
When I grew up in Bedford, Ma. we had a real town dump, and I loved to go there with my father. It was a social event. All us kids were jealous of Wiggy, the guy who lived in a trailer on site. We knew something was up when the town put up a fence with a gate around "The Dump". They did the same thing at Mt. Agementicus in Maine. They call them landfills now. What a joke!
On a brighter note, buy some marshmallow fluff and have a Fluffernutter in celebration of your September success.
When I grew up in Bedford, Ma. we had a real town dump, and I loved to go there with my father. It was a social event. All us kids were jealous of Wiggy, the guy who lived in a trailer on site. We knew something was up when the town put up a fence with a gate around "The Dump". They did the same thing at Mt. Agementicus in Maine. They call them landfills now. What a joke!
On a brighter note, buy some marshmallow fluff and have a Fluffernutter in celebration of your September success.
WayneB
Elite Member
shvl73 said:Ah, But you missed the old marquette stick welder that now resides in my garage!
No I didn't, I dropped it off! It has a short so be careful! Just kidding and yes I missed it that is what I get for getting up early and going to the recycle center!
Rara Avis
Veteran Member
Dougster said:I can't really set a time limit on my bids yet. There is so little work around here for a little start-up business like mine... I think it would come off as arrogant or pushy. I must also admit that part of September's sudden "backlog" is the result of my disabling August foot injury and pushing two jobs back into September. Lost one really good one... but managed to save two! Only one is a brand new job that I bid this month... very disappointing in that regard. The other two are spring jobs that I'd written off come back to life!
Dougster
Yes...Doug...you can set a time limit on your bids...you just have to be flexible when a client comes to you and says "Gee I know I'm outside the bid window, but could you still do it for the price you quoted?"
Another reason you want to set time limits, is that you have a better feel of where your business is going...If you give a client an open ended window, they tend to drag their feet making decisions...
Another reason is that you might alienate more potential clients if they come to you much later when prices have jumped above your bid and if you do the job you will find you are actually losing money...This occurred in the Independent Trucking Profession, when fuel costs exceeded mileage fees and drivers faced the option of going out of business quickly by making the runs or slowly by parking their trucks...
Dougster
Veteran Member
I think your last point has some merit... but it is not my style to impose restrictions or time pressure on a client when I know full well... and they know full well... that I'm not in a position to pass on work merely due to the length of time between the bid and its acceptance. If I bid a job and they come up with the money I asked for, I am going to do that job!PaulChristenson said:
They do risk a potential scheduling conflict and a possible delay, but that's another matter. I may reject jobs over money... but I never reject jobs over schedule. On the other hand, I have lost work due to scheduling conflicts... a very painful experience... usually when someone wants something done right away and I am already fully committed. Certainly if my work depended heavily on a variable cost commodity like fuel, I'd have to leave myself an out... but that is not the case. My costs are well established, nearly fixed... and things that might suddenly change (such as permit fees, waste fees, etc.) are always a pass-through.PaulChristenson said:
Dougster
tlbuser
Veteran Member
Careful Doug, some of the other less obvious things can sneak up and bite you too. When fuel spikes, so does everything else. Pipe, gravel, sand, concrete quickly come to mind.Dougster said:
One thing we added to our contracts is an "escape clause" for fuel costs. If fuel goes above $3.00 gallon, then a surcharged rate will apply, based on the cost of fuel at the time. 100 gallons at .10, no biggie. 100 gallons at 1.00 hurts the bottom line!
Dougster
Veteran Member
I hear what you're saying... and crazy fuel costs certainly could affect my snowplowing activity... but it's very unlikely to affect the tractor & backhoe work. The Red Beast sips fuel... it doesn't guzzle it like, say, a Deere 310 or an ASV RC-100!!!tlbuser said:
Dougster
Rara Avis
Veteran Member
Dougster said:I hear what you're saying... and crazy fuel costs certainly could affect my snowplowing activity... but it's very unlikely to affect the tractor & backhoe work. The Red Beast sips fuel... it doesn't guzzle it like, say, a Deere 310 or an ASV RC-100!!!
Dougster
Are you trying to imply the JD Green Meanies GUZZLE DIESEL????...Them sound like fightin' words...
However if you are attacking those UGLY Commercial DEERE units...feel free...
Dougster
Veteran Member
Oh no no no! I ain't goin' there!PaulChristenson said:Are you trying to imply the JD Green Meanies GUZZLE DIESEL????...Them sound like fightin' words...
I ain't doin' nuthin' 'cept kidding TLB about his two fine workin' machines (which should be sitting in my yard, not his)!!!
Dougster