The contracting climate in my town is changing. When I first moved here (Bakersfield CA) several years ago, I had a newly acquired state contractor’s license, a commitment to quality work, a little experience in new construction (production framing, and custom home building) and a lot of experience in remodeling/renovation. But the market for remodeling was horrible. It was like a totally different economy from the rest of Calif., where remodeling prices tend to be good.

I soon found out that quality meant next to nothing here. Lowball pricing was everything. I found my bids were shopped all over town. I was losing bids left and right to guys with no license, guys with no experience, guys doing weekend side-jobs. And it was hard to get your foot in the door in the “good-old-boy” atmosphere of favoritism and family-ties that predominated. Since I needed work right away, I found a partner and put together a framing crew, and went at it. There was lots of new construction. Framing didn’t pay very well, but it was a steady income. Dingbats were paying under $2 sq.ft., big spec/customs were paying $4-$5 sq. ft.

But they’d scr#w you on the upgrades: i.e. no extra for 600 sq.ft. of patio that wasn’t shown on the plans. They’d hold up your lumber, while the job ate you alive with arches and plant-shelves and pop-outs and coffered ceilings and cut-and-stack roofs that looked more like a Chinese puzzle. Once the job was done you had to chase your money (“I’m sorry, we lost that invoice. Could you re-submit, and we’ll catch it on the next 90-day billing cycle?”) Most framing contractors were paying their help “cash-under-the-table,” which I refused to do.

One day I added up all the hours I was putting in, divided into the money I was bringing home, and found out I was the lowest paid man on the crew. So I quit contracting, and got a job running work for a commercial TI contractor. After 4 years I found myself frustrated, and went back into contracting. I lasted another 4 years, but only squeaked by. Made good money some of the time, not enough money some of the time, and no money between the two. Again I went to work for a big contracting outfit, superintending commercial buildings from the ground up.

A few years of that, and I went to work managing a furniture store. I was burned out on construction, and didn’t plan on ever going back to it for my income. My store did way better than expected. My contract said when our sales reached a certain point, my income would double. I was there in less than a year. But my relationship with the gen. mgr. wasn’t great, and he canned me one week before my big raise. The labor rights office said wrongful termination was legal in California because it was a “right-to-work” state. I couldn’t figure that out, but didn’t have the heart or the financial resources to pursue it in a legal venue.

I joined my wife’s bookselling/antiques business for a few years. But now I’m back in construction, and ready to give things another go. The business climate here has changed. Equity has tripled. The town has grown. New construction is going strong, and an influx of Los Angelinos has weakened the grip of good-old-boy’ism. My license is “inactive”. I’ve been staying busy with small remodels by the hour, which has been good for my present circumstances. I’ve been re-tooling, and planning on getting a new(er) vehicle if things continue.

Meanwhile, I’ve been considering renewing my contractor’s license, and getting back into the bidding game. I want to do small to medium remodels or T.I.’s, work alone, hire temp. help when I need it, and sub out the rest (which is how I ran my remodeling business before.) But my past failures have kinda psyched me out, and I’m feeling apprehensive. I don’t have much capital (I may cash in some of my equity, but I need to get my credit rating better first), and I’m unsure of how to market myself and especially, how to screen out the time-wasters and bid-shoppers and non-payers.

I have a friend, an elec., who also has a gen. license, and has offered to partner with me if I want to bid and general jobs under his license. Partnerships scare me, because I didn’t have a good experience with my first one, but I am considering his offer.

So I’m open to any and all suggestions from any of you experienced contractors out there who might have some insights for me. Thanks, Huck.