PLAN No. 1186. OWNERS
An owner of an electrical contracting business is usually a man who has worked himself up from a position as wireman or salesman. For success, however, it is not sufficient that the man be merely a good mechanic. Yearly, hundreds of men set up for themselves in the electrical contracting business and, while some succeed many fail, principally because they are not good business men. If a small contracting business is to prosper, the owner should have a good working knowledge not alone of electrical construction, but also of bookkeeping and selling. Pluck, industry, and honesty are prime essentials.
Not all owners earn large incomes. Some, in fact, earn little if any more than a journeyman wireman, who works for wages of from $60 to $125 per month. For a returned soldier who has had electrical-construction experience, and who possesses the requisite qualifications the field is promising. It requires some capital at the start, and the first years will practically always be lean ones. A man who is entering or who is serving in the electrical contracting field as a workman may look forward, if he has the proper capacity, to some day owning a business of his own. If he has this aspiration, he should become interested in bookkeeping, salesmanship, advertising, and in the technical aspects of the business, such as electrical machinery installation and wiring.