Opportunity Knocking or Warning

When I was beginning to think about going out on my own, I had a person who was an insurance adjuster who promised to send work my way.  I did go on a few projects, but I never won one and then, finally stopped calling me because I saw them as a waste of my time.

I know of a contractor who woos insurance adjusters and he plays the game of bending the rule and to sin the bidding process. He stays busy. He has a team of employees working under him and he has grown his company. Though his client loves him, the people who own the properties he works on may not be as impressed with his work.

From time to time, I am approached by an individual who has a little tale to tell. It goes a little like this. I have a lot of work ahead of me, a lot of work. I could keep you busy for years with all my upcoming projects. I need you to give me a special rate on this one and then I will give you those. I have never accepted those offers. Those people may be good business people, even that is undecided, but they are not craftsmen. They are not working for the joy of creating or the joy of the process, they appear to be working for the cash.

In each of the examples given I was asked to lower my standards to accommodate someone or some companies desire with the carrot of easy money being placed at my doorstep.

If I would have excepted one of those gifts, when I opened the box, I believe they would have been empty. I believe that the thing they were dangling before me had a hook in them.

If I would have excepted one of those offer I word have come to money sooner but I would not have come into more money. I would not have had the opportunity to grow my skills or to continue learning. I would have built a larger company but I would have sacrificed the quality of my craftsmanship to do so. I would have been though of the good guy who knocks the projects out at a cheap price.

I have faced my share of challenges. I have had to learn patience and to continue feeding my thirst for knowledge and skill level. I have had to overcome my share of setbacks. But I strive to provide a service that others do not provide. I know that others build houses, ADU and additions. I have seen them build their projects quicker than I do, but I have not seen the one-size fit all cookie-cutter-carpenters help a family create their home.  

The difference between the craftsmen and the business person isn’t necessary knowledge; it is what drives them. The craftsmen strive to improve their workmanship and the businessman strives to build a bigger not better business. It is the details that many seem to overlook that points out the craftsmen and the lack of them that shouts out the businesspersons. Each pays a price for becoming the person they are. The question remains which price are you demanding that your clients pay. Look closely into the details sometimes opportunity’s knock is a warning.

Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662.  He resides in Southern California.