Running on a genarator and or buisness starting advice thanks

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Hello I am new here just a couple days. I am finishing school in 3 weeks and will have NCCER cert mig tig and stick. But I am trying to start my mobile welding buisness I have a few handy tools and just traded a gun for a generator. I have run my Lincoln 210 mp mig and stick with it trying them out and seems to work great. But I have heard bad things or that I need a massive generator but it seems to work great. Is it bad for my welder in any way? Also I will take any advice on starting or growing a welding buisness I am very passionate about my welding and love doing it I put a few buisness cards at the local feed store but have not got a job yet. If I could just get a couple I'm sure they would like my work and spread the word but I'm still waiting on that.Lincoln 210 MPDrill press Dew alt chop saw and grinderBosh grinder Bench grinder 5000 watt generator
Reply:I know a lot of guys who can weld great, but have their businesses fail simply because they don't know how to run a business. I also know guys who know zip about welding, but manage to run a very successful welding business because they know how to manage costs and hire the right people. Best advise I'd give you is to go out in the field and work for someone else 1st and learn the ropes. If you want to do side jobs that's fine, but learn to track every tiny expense down to the last penny.I see plenty of guys who do a side job for say $100 plus materials who don't realize they are loosing money. It's easy to figure in steel and rods, but most never think about all the other expenses like fuel, grinding and sanding disks, hardware they may have in stock, paint etc, not to mention overhead, phone, insurance etc. When you add up all that stuff, they have spent money on the job vs making it.I also hope you are flush with cash, because the bills keep coming in even if the business doesn't. I believe it's suggested that you have at least enough money, beyond any business costs to last at least 2 years with no income. It can often take that long or longer to get yourself established on your own..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thanks for advice yeah I made a couple things to sale and figured out quick I'm losing on thoses. But I have a job I cook BBQ at night making descent money for what I do so that leaves me all day to do jobs. After my last project I figured up I'm gonna have to charge more but I would surely do it cheaper that a more established buisness and I'm in a small town not real many or any one specialized in mobileLincoln 210 MPDrill press Dew alt chop saw and grinderBosh grinder Bench grinder 5000 watt generator
Reply:Originally Posted by Nathan Clary After my last project I figured up I'm gonna have to charge more but I would surely do it cheaper that a more established buisness and I'm in a small town not real many or any one specialized in mobile
Reply:Yeah that is a good point about them thinking I'm gouging them later. I do tend to try to do favors and wind up pissed off when it's over cause I didn't make enough. Thanks man a lot I will definitely not be charging what I would have before. Do you think it would be a bad idea after a job say on a tractor to tell them I will knock some off if they tell there friends about me?Lincoln 210 MPDrill press Dew alt chop saw and grinderBosh grinder Bench grinder 5000 watt generator
Reply:Originally Posted by Nathan ClaryYeah that is a good point about them thinking I'm gouging them later. I do tend to try to do favors and wind up pissed off when it's over cause I didn't make enough. Thanks man a lot I will definitely not be charging what I would have before. Do you think it would be a bad idea after a job say on a tractor to tell them I will knock some off if they tell there friends about me?
Reply:I do no know how else to say this. You need to work in the welding field a while before you start your business .  Especially if you are in  small town. There is a lot more to welding than welding. Repairing something and repairing something to last are 2 different things. Most customers will only give you one chance and if your repair for them does not last or looks poor pou will not see them again.  When I get a repair job I try to analyze what happened and why. Then I try to fix it so that it is better than new. Some times that is not possible but it is still part of the repair process. You need to know metallurgy, mechanics, machining, along with welding. Most of these take experience and lots of it.  I graduated high school with 2 years of vocational welding. I would dream about having my own welding business. I was married and had responsibilities so that did not happen for 40 years. I am not saying you need to wait 40 years but you need exposure to procedures and designed that you do not even know exist right now.  Your own business is not the place to learn on someone else's dime. I can tell you this If I had a project to take to a welder I would not take it to person that is 21 years old to be repaired unless it was a very simple straight forward repair.  Its kind of like going to a first year intern to do heart surgery. I know it sucks but that is part of being young. My first welding job I work there for 15 years. That made me 33 years old when I left and made up a resume. I had several interviews where the person interviewing me told me I was lying about what I had done and what I could do. That was after 15 years experience . In retrospect I had not lied but I wish I had been prepared for those confrontations. I basically just told them the truth and if they did not believe it I had all my references and job info there for them to check. They never called back. So life went on.  The second part of the puzzle is like several have stated you have to go big or go home. The day of a business starting in a garage are about over . People want to see the biggest and the best when they walk into your business. That all takes money. You can do it but the diffence in starting with a machine in the garage and starting with a fully fuctional shop in good shape is about 10 years of hard work and long unpaid hours. I know this is not what you want to hear. Take it for what it is worth but I can tell you I have lived it. It can be done but it is a hard way to go. Lanse AKA ChuckE2009 is a perfect example of this . He is youg and is doing a welding business in Northern Texas. I do not know any details of his business but I would almost bet that he is fighting his youth and inexperience every day. I can asure you if he is worth his salt he has had to redo many jobs on his own dime. Not because he had to but because he learned from his failure the first time around. I also think he would tell you he has lost several customers due to a learning curve. Now 15 years from now he will be a crackerjack at all of it, parly because he learned the hard way. I do not know him personally and I could be wrong but I doubt it. He would be a person to get to know just because he is  a few years into what you want to do .Last edited by thegary; 04-10-2016 at 10:43 PM.
Reply:I agree. I get all my business from customer referrals. I have a few customers who always want discounts or lower prices.  I give them a price that seems fair to me and will make me money. I simply won't cut my throat to get a job, no matter how much future work they say they have. If they take it they take it. I have one customer who always goes with the lowest price. However I usually end up making more money on them in the long run because I'm the one they always call when the cheap guy screws up and it has to be fixed. That almost always costs more in time and materials, and many times rather than a fixed price quote like the original job would have been, it ends up time and materials which ends up more.If you want to make them think they got a "deal" tell them you threw in things you had to do anyways. "I pressure washed the tractor when I had a minute, no charge." They don't have to know you had to wash a good part of the tractor to get rid of the oil grease and dirt so that you could work on the machine. Washing the cab real fast to make it look nice might take you all of 5 minutes, but lets you look like you are doing them a favor. "Hey I noticed that gate hinge was broken when I tried to pull the truck into the pasture and since I had the machine out anyways, I welded it up for you." You may have had to fight with that gate anyways, and if the job is going to take two or three days, spending 6 minutes to tack on a hinge so you don't have to fight it the next two days just makes your life easier. They feel they got an "extra" for free.It's little things like that that gets your name spread around and gets you more business. Doing a poor job etc will get spread around even faster and will live with you forever..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:don't offer discounts for word of mouth... If joes buddy tom needs a welder Joe will let Tom know you did great work for him... And be prepared for some interesting requests, I have had a few from placing cards in feed stores.DSW Gives some great business advice, you should really think long and hard about... Id suggest do some research. What is your current rate? how did you arrive at that number? You should sit down and figure what ALL your costs will be for a biz, phone, ins, etc etc... stuff you need and pay every month. Then what do you want to pay yourself. then your business needs to make some money too. Start trying to establish contacts, get to know your welding supplier and steel supplier. The more business you do generally the more they help you out.- Christian M.C3 Welding & Fabrication - CNC Plasma Cutting-Mobile Welding-Custom welding and fabwww.c3welding.com
Reply:Oh one other good bit of advise. I was once told a good accountant is one who finds enough money to pay for themselves. It's very true. A good accountant will help make sure you get all the deductions etc that you are entitled to come tax time. They can save you a lot more than they are charging you to do your taxes. Sit down and talk to them in advance so you know what sort of things you can and can't take off and what sorts of things you should track. A good program like quick books can help keep tract of things and make sure you have things like overhead etc taken into account..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Lots of good advice here but make sure if you advertise that you are a mobile welder that you can actually do the job. Being a mobile welder to any business hiring you means that you can do anything with metal anywhere, anytime. They don't want excuses only that the job is done and done right. Phone rings, they have a job for you, repair they say, you have to cut rusted tread plate out of a tower stand landing, source the plate, cut to size, cut out the old, grind, weld it in and have it pass company inspection. Can you do that? Did I mention you have to do this all in one day regardless of the weather conditions?  Next job think boat docks in November at a marina, yuck, but this is what makes big money as a mobile welder.Also anyone with a HF mig welder thinks they can fix things. I was at a job a few weeks ago and a couple maintenance guys walked up and were asking me questions, said they thought they might be able to do some of the work themselves since they had a mig welder. They asked if they could watch me for a bit and I said sure, after about 10 minutes they told me they don't have any of the equipment I do and did not know how I could weld overhead while on a ladder. I told them welding is the easy part and they walked away.Good luck, just be ready to for anything, to make money up you have to be able to do it all, and on top of it run a business.ESAB Rebels 215 and 235, ESAB HELIARC 281i, ESAB ET 301i, Hypertherm 85 and 45XP, Thermal Arc 185, TD 60i, HTP PRO PULSE 300
Reply:Appropriate State/City Contractors license for the type of work you do. Business License. Insurance, and more insurance."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Reminds me of a billboard I saw once, "quick, hire a young person while they still know everything". Now you have learned to weld go and learn your trade.Last edited by clive; 04-11-2016 at 02:09 AM.
Reply:Here is something else that will get you farther than most too be specialized in one thing. I know a guy that does nothing but working on car haulers trucks. Has a mobile welder and repairs. He is good doing this makes good money. But it took him a lot of time to get there. Welding was only part of what he did. I know that I spent  $400 just on labor for his services in one afternoon but too I got a break on his price because I was his helper during that time. Being in a small business means you have to fill a niche that someone else does not want to do and have enough clients to keep you going. At first it will be very hard to make a good living doing it but you can do it.Do your business has aside job while you work a regular job. Till you get your feet wet and build your skill levels to where you need to be.Also for the first few years. You should be smart about what you spend money on for your business. Equipment is going to be costly. Replacement of supplies and equipment will have to be figured into what you charge. My best advice is sit down with someone local to you that is running any business and make them your friend. So that you have someone that you could talk to about all the little things that they have to do running their business. That could be seating down with Mon and Dad and talking to them. Tell them what you are thinking about and how would they do .Klutch 220si mig , stick, and dc tigHobart 140 AHP ALPHA 200X 2016Lotos LTP5000DSmith O/P
Reply:After having been in business most of my life, there are a few things that have stuck with me as being important. A couple of the more important ones are :- If you discount, work cheap and work all days and hours, you will attract customers who want you to discount, work cheap and be available all days and hours.- If you do good quality work for a fair price during reasonable business hours, you will attract customers who want good quality work at a fair price and aren't standing on your doorstep at 8am on Sunday morning.- There are no friends in business, only customers, suppliers and employees. After the lights are out and the doors are locked for the day, there are only friends and family, no customers.Good luck.
Reply:Thanks for advice everyone I mean I know there are lots of things I don't know about welding but I have worked on trailers I have built trailers and things along that line. I have an investor and free accountant (dad) willing to help.Lincoln 210 MPDrill press Dew alt chop saw and grinderBosh grinder Bench grinder 5000 watt generator
Reply:If you don't have a history of making repairs or some type of experience in that area it will be hard for you to start. There is a lot more to mobile welding repair than just being a good welder. If you start doing jobs and mess them up because you don't know the proper way to do do the job your reputation will be destroyed before you get a good start. Just being able to run a good bead won't be enough if you can't identify the reason for the break and the best solution to keep it from happening again. Having another job to keep you afloat is a very goid idea tho and will help you get past the startup difficulties.JonYeah, I know, but it'll be ok!Lincoln Square wave 255Miller Vintage mig30a spoolgunThermal Dynamics Pacmaster 100xl plasmaSmith mc torchEllis 1600 band saw
Reply:Originally Posted by Nathan ClaryHello I am new here just a couple days. I am finishing school in 3 weeks and will have NCCER cert mig tig and stick. But I am trying to start my mobile welding buisness I have a few handy tools and just traded a gun for a generator. I have run my Lincoln 210 mp mig and stick with it trying them out and seems to work great. But I have heard bad things or that I need a massive generator but it seems to work great. Is it bad for my welder in any way? Also I will take any advice on starting or growing a welding buisness I am very passionate about my welding and love doing it I put a few buisness cards at the local feed store but have not got a job yet. If I could just get a couple I'm sure they would like my work and spread the word but I'm still waiting on that.
Reply:If you do give a discount only do it one the first time. This will get you into the door,. Has was said before show what you would have charged at full rate. Then show the the discount with a notation that this is for the first time service only. Sure if you have a repeat customer that throws a lot of work your way you could give them a better pricing down the road. Like they call you up every month or sooner for work. That they do not cry about the charges. Sometimes it's a real small job then maybe throw those in when they just need it done when ever and you can put it in when you are coming back from another job or something like that.Klutch 220si mig , stick, and dc tigHobart 140 AHP ALPHA 200X 2016Lotos LTP5000DSmith O/P
Reply:Only discount labor,  not materials.  New customers, materials are paid in advance...   Sent from mobile.  Not responsible for TyposTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:This is all true good advice from the guys that have been out there for awhile.It took me probably 10 years of side job repairs for the same Farmers and Construction Contractors to get credibility of being good at what I do.For me it is a Hobby/Sideline but still the point is the same.The guy down the road who I do Semi-Truck repairs/maintenance for called the other day asking if I would come down and pull his wife's 4 wheeler and manure spreader out of a mud hole.I laughed and said sure!Didn't expect to get paid but 2 dozen organic/free range eggs was worth driving down there for!Point is, no discount on labor, tools for his regular jobs but throw him a little break here and there.