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Originally posted by Klugger7214
) are more than happy to share thier experience (we like to show off 
), and you get the benefits of a whole shop of people, not just one cranky old rig welder. You also have the opportunity to observe more, see other's mistakes, and ask more questions. Pile brings up a good point that you don't hear enough -- keep a log. I use a calender book, when open you have a whole week divided into days and hours -- allows me to keep details of what I did every day and what material I use. I don't keep track of consumables, except hardfacing and specialty electrodes. The best advice I can give about estimating and quoting is to figure how long it will take to do the job, then double it. I have shot myself in the foot so many times in the past by underestimating due to unforseen problems. At this point, I would rather loose a job by giving too high of a price than get it and work for half.
When I started, I got a lot of work from several customers who I realized later were using me simply because nobody else would work for them -- usually because of money issues, also because they were SOB's to deal with. At some point I decided it wasn't worth dealing with them anymore, tell them to go find somebody else. I tell people I used to be a nice guy before I started business, you learn not to take sh*t from anybody after a while. However, I did have some quality people, as you do more work they learn your capabilities and refer you to others, word of mouth in the right circles is very powerful but takes a while.
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