Stewardship
Here's a letter of mine in response to a letter that my friend Scott Somer wrote me. The subject line read Re: How is the LA County Strike...I wish I had Scott's letter that this was in response to but it can not be found.
Scott and I usually discussed the stock market and other financial matters since that was Scott's forte. He came me up to date on many such matters during my quest to make money in the markets. I was a covetous man and didn't realize it at the time. Those who "play" the markets have to ask themselves where is their heart in regards to God?
Thursday, October 12, 2000 12:34AM
Scott,
What are LLC's?
Yes, it sprinkled here a little bit today. I had a hauling job, thank God. I did a job that I would normally charge about $125-$150 for just $100 because there was a couple of black hauler's who came to bid the same job and I had to keep my bid low if I wanted to work this job.
Now this general contractor tried to get me to do the job for $75 over they phone without looking at it. He was sort of pre-conditioning me.
I told him I usually charge $150-$200 a van load. He said that was too much. I replied that if he were just looking for the cheapest price then I probably wasn't the right person for him. I established my credibility, skills, experience and length of time in business. I asked if he was going to help load my van seeing that it was such a low price. He said yeah but he encouraged me to take a look at the job so I agree to come over.
When I arrived a couple of older black guys showed up in a truck with side racks. I sensed right away that they were there to give a bid on the same job. I was right. I knew these guys would charge less so I told this contractor after studying and looking over the pile of wood and debris, I said these guys will probably charge less than I would but my price is $100 and that's very low.
Now here's the interesting part Scott.
This contractor was trying to get my price down to $80 and I was thinking to myself that's way too low. Then I looked at the business card that the contractor was holding. It was the business card that the other hauler had handed him with his bid price. I looked at the business card from a distance and saw a price of $120. Now I knew what
the other hauler was willing to do the job for. He was $20 higher than me so at $100 this contractor was saving $20 if he hired me. But this contractor was greedy and kept trying to save more by getting me to do the job for 80 bucks.
"Nah," I said. This job is worth $125-$150 so you're getting a very good price at $100."
You see I knew at this point he was going to hire me when he knew I wouldn't go any lower and my price was the best price. He acted as if he were going to use the other guys if I didn't come down on my price but I wouldn't budge. So he said can you do it now?
"Yeah, I'm ready to go," I answered.
Well little did he know I had to go get my van cause I drove my Fiero to the job for the bid.
Bottom line is I still made $30 an hour since the dump fee and gas totaled $25. That's $75 divided by 2 and 1/2 hours. Interesting isn't it?
While I didn't make my goal of $50+ per hour I still made a good hourly profit and now know what to bid if I want to compete with these other
types of haulers. The Mexicans usually charge $20-$30 per hour so I have to lower my price down that low if I'm competing with them.
Dan Kennedy a marketing expert says there are ways to avoid becoming just another commodity which is what most businesses become when they let the customer price shop their services. But I'll save this for another time.
With warm regards,
Carlton Pruitt
Hollywood, CA
Carlton Pruitt ministers the gospel to the Los Angeles area. Formerly a Hollywood actor (SAG member)and junk removal expert he now spends most of his time studying the scriptures, writing articles, hymns and poems and doing street preaching.
See his videos on http://www.youtube.com Type LAStreetPreacher in the search bar. CONTACT at Carlton2061@gmail.
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