How to make a living as a home improvement pro after a career change

Amadeus
Amadeus New member Posts: 1
in Business Resilience

I have recently changed careers, from being a software engineer to becoming a home improvement pro. While I don't have formal education in the trades or a license, I have worked on home improvement projects over the last 15 years. I also have an educational background in electrical (and software) engineering.

My question is: How do I go about to to making a living in a relatively high priced community (San Diego) doing what I am passionate about? What are my options to acquire a license in one or more of the trades I am interested in (design, electrician, general contracting related work)?

Your feedback is appreciated.

Josef Kriegl, Amadeus Home Services, San Diego CA

Answers

  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 2,414

    Hi @Amadeus and welcome! Thanks for posting — I'm tagging in some of our best pros to see if they have any advice for you!

    @_Nura101 @adonayflooring @amccarthy @AntilleanRestoration @Bretdouglas @busyb @Chuva @Cliff @CodyRisner @Jack_Marquardt @Juliano_50 @JWC @ShaquealThomas @TechExpert @Trevorbelk

  • Juliano_50
    Juliano_50 Posts: 8
    edited February 4

    Hi Amadeus, I would focus to start on what you are good at and passionate, it sounds like electrical and design. General contracting requires years of experience and good contacts to handle the subcontracts. Electrical us highly regulated and where I live requires years of practice under an licensed electrician before you can operate under your own license. I would definitely do design because it is the other way around, usually there are no license required to practice and it is mostly a mix a good taste and people's skills. Thumbtack is a great place for you to start generating leads and building a name for yourself. This is what I did 9 years ago and now my profile also works as a introduction page with photos and testimonials that I show even to potential clients that did not come to me through Thumbtack. Hope this helps.

  • DerHilfer_LLC
    DerHilfer_LLC Posts: 127

    @Amadeus

    I too quit the rat race and became a Home Improvement Contractor. I have been rebuilding and remodeling homes since 1998. Like you, I was a Project Manager in Telematics from 2014-2023.

    I don't know the laws in CA, however, in Pennsylvania, if you make more than $5,000 in sales in a year, you must register with the Attorney General, hold insurance and there's a good bit of reporting you have to do when you own any business in PA. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of unlicensed, uninsured home improvement contractors in CA. Don't be one. You can lose your house for fixing someone else's.

    • You need a good CRM to track your interactions. Shoot me an email, Karl@DerHilfer.com and I'll invite you to play in my sandbox. If you like it, I can spin-up an instance for you to try.
    • Follow up with your customers after about two weeks from job completion. Ask for reviews. I have a customer care assistant who does this for me. Again, email me and I'm happy to chat about that or even offer her services for your company - I'm always looking for more opportunities to keep her busy.
    • Do good work. Hire people who do good work..
    • Have every employee and sub-contractor complete a W9 the first hour on the job. This will keep you out of a lot of trouble with the law.
    • Manage stakeholders, materials, change orders, etc. Basic Project Management skills are a must.
    • Turn down work that has potential to violate code or invalidate your insurance. I had a customer ask me to fix her deck fence as cheap as possible. I told her "the cheapest and fastest way to do anything is right the first time." Then I showed her the shoddy work that she was asking me to "prop up" was a massive risk for any guest in her home and reminded her that a fall from 12 feet could kill someone. She needs this rebuilt properly or I'm not doing the job.
      Had the first guy built it properly, she wouldn't be talking to me.
    • Speaking of code, not software, but building code. Get familiar with IBC - International Building Code. You don't need to know everything, but you need to know where to find everything.
      https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P2
  • DustiO
    DustiO Administrator, Moderator Posts: 2,414

    Thank you for such amazing advice @Juliano_50 and @DerHilfer_LLC

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