There are three things that are important to every man in this locker room. His God, his family and the Green Bay Packers.  In that order.  Vince Lombardi

Keep Your Integrity!

When I first got into this business, my focus was on solving the problems of the people that called. I would say, “No problem,” and get it fixed ASAP.

But as time went on and I became very busy, I began to try to get them to wait on me by getting them to sympathize with my problems in getting there in a timely fashion.  I talked about too many of the things going on in my life that were negative.

As I was talking one day, I could tell by the man’s face that he really did not want to hear all that.  As I thought about what I was doing, I realized that my focus had dramatically changed from being a problem solver to being a problem teller.

People are looking for problem solvers.  They’re not concerned with your problems. They just want their problems fixed. If you have too many problems, they will find somebody who doesn’t have so many.

So that’s how Rule #11 came about.

Rule #11 – Don’t tell people about your problems!

Your business will do better!

Rule #12 – Never work for just one company or client.

My sons were in Boy Scouts a number of years ago, and the Scout Master at the time was an attorney.  He had worked for the same company for about 20 years and had no private practice.  He had a nice home and a son in college, but when the oil company made some cuts, he was out of a job.  Since he had never developed a private practice, he was in bad shape.  He finally went to work for another attorney in the troop that had his own law firm.

It is never good as a contractor to only work for one company or client.  They can really put your feet to the fire at times to get lower prices – their own houses done cheaply or their jobs done for free.

I worked for an acquaintance one time that had just had a new home built by a large builder.  She told me that all the contractors on her home told her that they had just built their foreman a new home with free labor.  They either did his home for free or found another job.  What could they do?  He was their only client.

I have been offered large jobs in the past that may take a year or so.  First, they want it done at a cheaper price because of the volume of the work and the job security it offers.  Then they want to be your only client.  I have always turned those deals down.  What happens at the end of the work?  I would have no business left to go back to.  All my clients will have found other contractors, and I will have to start from scratch building a business.

They may decide in six months they want the price even cheaper.  They have you over a barrel.  They are your only source of income.

What if they decide in six months that Bob can do it even cheaper?  They will drop you in a heartbeat.

Trading your freedom of running your own business for the security of work every day is not worth the risk.

Rule #13 – Don’t stir the pot.

This can cover many different areas.

I used to tell builders things that I saw wrong with their houses that might cause them trouble down the road.  I found they usually took that as criticism.  Now I will tell them if the house is on fire, but that is about it.

I used to try to help people get their jobs done under the warranty they had.  That required many phone calls to set it up. I found that the some of the people I had to contact in order to accomplish this did not appreciate it.  As we could not turn in the warranty job ourselves, it required several calls to find out if the responsible entity had turned the job in for the people.  I quit stirring the warranty pot also.

Not stirring the pot is a good principle to live by in your work and in everyday life. The more you ponder it and watch, the better you will understand.

Rule #14 – Keep how much you make to yourself.

This is a great rule.  Each business has its own list of expenses and financial duties and benefits that most outside that business will not understand.

Years ago my mother saw a milk check (proceeds from a dairy farm for the milk they sold that week) that came into my aunt’s books.  Mother said, “Boy, I would like to have that for a week.”  My aunt said, “It looks like a lot, but if you saw the bills I have to pay, it would not seem like very much.”

People will not understand how your business is set up and perhaps what all is involved in the price you set. So it is best to just keep what you make to yourself.

Rule #15 – Keep Your Integrity.

Integrity is one of the most valuable assets you can have as a business person.  Integrity says you can be trusted:  trusted to tell the truth in situations – trusted to do what is right.

But integrity is often sacrificed on the altar of money.

I have a book that I look at often that has things I pray about in it.  At the top of the page is a list of priorities for life that I learned from Jim Rohn (a self-development speaker).  It is a very good way of ordering the priorities of your life.

1. God
2. Health
3. Family
4. Integrity
5. Career

Many people put their career in the number one position.  That would have to do with the making of money.  If you do this, you will sacrifice your relationship with God, your health, your relationship with your family and your integrity for the sake of your career or in other words, money.

God should always come first.  Then should come the taking care of your health.  Without health you are no good to your family or your career.

Family should come next and always before your career.  Then comes your integrity.  If you sacrifice your integrity for the sake of your career, you may lose your career also.

You may be tempted to lie to benefit a builder or plumber, etc. But once they know you lie, can they ever really rely on your telling the truth in any other situation?  If they really need an honest ­assessment, they will have to ask someone else.  Because they know you cannot be trusted.

I have lost accounts and friends because I would not change the facts to benefit them.  But if that is what they required for them to be my friend or for me to keep their business, is that what I want to build my life on?  My answer is always the same. NO. Keep your integrity. It is worth far more than money or position or more jobs.

I was analyzing a job for a hotel one time and told them what they should do.  One partner said to the other, “They told me you may not like what he tells you, but he will tell you the truth.” That is the reputation that you want.

In the long haul, having great integrity and being a person that can be trusted will pay great dividends. Always Keep Your Integrity.

Proverbs 17:24 Wisdom is the main pursuit of sensible men…..  (The Living Bible)

Never Back Up On A Bid!

Rule #4 – Never Back Up On a Bid!

When a young person first starts into business for themselves, their tendency is to underbid the jobs.  This may be because of several reasons:

• They may feel somewhat inadequate or insecure.
• They may be afraid they will not get the job if they bid/price it higher.
• They may feel inferior to others that have been in that market for years.

Most people that continue this line of thinking either go out of business or go to work for someone that knows how to bid.

The problem with pricing below the market to secure some work is that the customers you will get are the ones that are concerned only with price.  Later on when you want to raise your prices, you will lose these customers to some other low bidder and have to replace them.

A friend of mine and I did some landscaping on our days off many years ago.  One thing he shared that his grandfather taught him was to price out the entire job at the market price then add 10%.  So if the job was $3,000, it came out to $3,300.  I have practiced this with great success for many years since then, and it also has the benefit of helping to keep your prices up and pushing higher. This also helps to keep you from under bidding a job.

Many times you will have unexpected expenses or time in a job, and now you have already priced that in.  Without the extra 10%, you will feel gypped when the unexpected arises.  This technique just helps cover your a**.  You walk away after completion feeling satisfied.

Pity the man that, when confronted by the buyer about the price, backed up on the bid to $2500.00 or lower to get the job and then complications arise.  Been there, done that, and we don’t do that anymore.  You walk away feeling slightly sick and disgruntled. Learn to walk away if they want a lower price.  Many times they will call you back later.  They were just testing your commitment to the price.

The only time I remember coming down on a bid was when the bid was $750.00.  The client said that was too much and asked if I would do it for $650.00?   God must have showed me it was OK because I never did this again.  But this time I told him I could do $725.00, but that was it.  He, his wife and I stood there for a second, then his wife burst into laughter! She said to her husband, “You finally found someone that likes to haggle as much as you do!”  He paused for a second and then laughed and said, “OK!”  It was a great job.

All other times, though, I never back up on a bid.  People may try to shame you, intimidate you, or get angry with you to get you to lower the price.  But resist.  If you give in, especially out of fear of losing the job, and do the job for a lower price, they will be on your case most times all the way through the job. This is not just my experience. I have talked to others that have experienced the exact same thing. Why?  Because they see that you have no respect for yourself, and then they don’t respect you either.  But they will take the lower price.

I bid a job once, and the man said, “When contractors see a Nichols Hills address, they get dollars signs in their eyes.  The last guy did it for half this much.” I said, “Get him to do it.” In the end I got the job after I told him to call the store and get some more bids.  Our bid was right in line.  His wife later told me that they did not like the quality of the previous workman.  So they were trying to get a better contractor for the same price as the one that did the shoddy work.  They will lie and be deceitful as well to get you to lower your price.  I got the job at the original bid price and had no trouble with the job.  Stick up for yourself.  People can smell confidence, and it sells.

People can also smell insecurity or fear of loss like a dog smells fear.  They don’t consciously think about it, but they know and they act on your lack of confidence and belief in yourself.

Backing up on a bid does several things:

First, it damages your self-image, your self-confidence, and your sense of worthiness.

You have to protect your sense of self-worth, or you will allow people to walk on you all your life.  You have to protect your self-image and your self-confidence.  This is very important.  Remember, there is a great difference between arrogance and confidence.  We are quietly confident but not arrogant.

Second, the customer/client realizes that you are not confident in yourself, your business, or your ability.

They may feel that you were willing to accept a lower price because you needed the work. If you need the work, then how good are you really? The client/customer will think to themselves, “I better keep an eye on this one if they do the job because they are probably not very good if they need the work that bad.”

Once you accept the idea of backing up on a bid/price, you will do it again and again. Then you will begin to bid your jobs or products lower still. This is where the practice of upping the bid by 10% is a good habit.

They may constantly push you to do more than what was contracted for.  When they pushed on the price, you caved, so they are hoping you will cave more.

Many contractors falsely believe that most people make their choice of contractors based on mostly price.  In one of the surveys I read years ago, price came in fifth in the order of consideration by people accepting bids.  Many other things are more important to people than price.

Even if you are new in your field, you need to price yourself right at the market price; no exceptions.

Even if people have not heard of you before in your field, they will instantly recognize that you must be good, and that you have some confidence in your ability and in your products.  That is the reputation that you want to instill from the very outset. 

Now if the service or products normally sell for $20.00, you cannot price it at $50.00, or you will go broke.  But pricing it at $10.00 is a great mistake.

Usually prices are set by the free market because that is the price where the vendor can sell his service or product and make a reasonable profit.  And everyone knows what that price point is.  So you stick out like a sore thumb when you come in low.

If you do not know at what price to bid the job/product, start with a reasonable price.  If you get every job, you are priced too low. The way I see it is that if you lose 20% of the bids you make, you are probably right in line with what the market is willing to pay.  If the calls are cold, in other words from the yellow pages or a website, I would expect to get only about 20% of those jobs anyway.  Most of those people are just shopping prices, and there is always a low baller out there.  You are not in competition with the low ballers.

I bid a job over the phone one night, and the lady said that another service said they would do the job for $150.00. That was $200.00 lower than my price.  I told her I understood, but that the people that give bids like that are generally involved with apartments, do no prep work to make sure it is a good job, and that if the job fails, they charge another $150.00 to do it over.  I told her we do not compete in that market.  She said, “That is what I kind of thought. Come do my job.”  Confidence sells along with asking God for the right words.

If you will go with the market price from the beginning, you will be accepted as a viable source from the outset if you or your product perform the way it should.

Finally, if you back up on a bid or bid the job less than the market, you will get a reputation that, “If you push him, he will come down.” What does that say about you, your ability, your business, your workmanship, your confidence and your self-image? Is that the reputation/self-image that you want?  NO!  Be confident.  It will pay off well.

If you back up on a bid or bid the job less than the market that is not fair to you. The laborer is worthy of his hire, and it is not fair to your family. You and your family deserve to be paid well for your work. You deserve to be paid just as well as the other guy. And you will find at times that some older businesses have not kept their pricing up to date. Do not let that discourage you from keeping your prices up.

One of the hardest things to see and remember is that your price is not just for the labor.  How much did it cost you to set your business up?  How much time did you invest in yourself to learn to do what you do?  Remember, that you are a business not just a day laborer.  The plumbing company charges $125.00 per hour to cover their costs and to pay the plumber.  They pay the plumber, the laborer, about $15.00 per hour.  You are a business not a laborer.

 They are paying for your knowledge and your ability to solve problems.

There are always exceptions to the rule but very rarely.  Maybe once in five years!

Sometimes you can set the market price yourself. One area I was involved in a few years ago, the job was currently priced at $350.00.  I was told a couple of years later by someone who knew that the price had dropped to about $150.00.  It was true as I asked people what the other bids were when there were some other bids.  I decided to set the standard for the pricing and kept our price at $350.00. Within a couple of years, the price was back up and then went even higher. Have some respect for yourself and your ability.

I have at times given a cheaper price to an elderly person. Not often, but once in a while when “the spirit moves me.”

I remember a story told to me by a banker in a small town years ago that I was working for.  She said that when the town finally put in a city sewer line, all the residents were required to pay their share.  But there was one elderly lady that lived in a tumble down house on the edge of town that sold vegetables from her garden on the street in the summer time. The town council voted to put her sewer in at no charge. The banker said that she could not tell them, but that lady had several million dollars in the bank in CD’s.  Things are not always as they seem!

Remember, price yourself at the market from the beginning.  It may be a little scary, but you will see the benefits if you will do it.  Then once you have given a price, stick with it.

Proverbs 14:33  Wisdom is enshrined in an understanding heart….  
(New Living Translation)

Chapter 2

Expect God To Give You The Right Words!

Rule #3 – Expect God to Give You the Right Words!

Many years ago, I had been doing warranty work for a manufacturer on some units for a builder.   I repaired many of them, but I still did not do the builder’s construction repairs.  Finally, I got up courage to go talk to the owner of this large company.  When I entered the room, he shook my hand, asked me to have a seat and said, “I wondered how long it was going to be before you came in.  Of course, you can have all our work.” I was amazed at how easy that was.  He was waiting for me.

Many times in running a business or contracting, you run into situations with people that are just uncomfortable or that can cause fear or great apprehension in you.

I have learned over the years how to deal with some of these situations.  I took much of the learning from the Bible and used it in my work.

1. Ask God to “give you mercy before the man.” This comes from a record in Genesis where Joseph’s brothers (loving brothers that they were) sold him off to some traveling merchants which took Joseph down into Egypt and sold him. Eventually, Joseph attained the position of second in command just under Pharaoh. It was in a great period of drought that under Joseph’s direction, Egypt had plenty to eat and some to sell. Joseph’s father, Jacob, already thinking that his one son was dead to him sent all but one of his sons into Egypt to buy food for their family. They did not recognize Joseph, but Joseph did recognize his brothers.  So Joseph gave them the food and sent them on their way, but he kept one of the brothers as a hostage until they would bring back his younger brother.  Sometime later, Jacob now missing two sons (he did not know that Joseph was “the man” in Egypt), needed more food and sent his sons back again to Egypt and said the following to them as they departed.

Genesis 43:13-14 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

I believe that this was Jacob’s prayer to God.  He asked God to show them mercy before the man.  You could ask for this mercy from God in many situations.  Here are a few:

1. Getting a call from an irate customer
2. Going in for an interview
3. Getting stopped by the police

I saw a video the other day talking about how the police treat people.  If the policeman is having a good day and everything is lovely in his life, you may just get a warning.  But if his wife has just called and told him she is getting a divorce, you may get taken to the station for the same offense.  This is where asking God for mercy in front of the man is so important.  People are just people.  Their moods can differ from day to day.  But God should know when you are going to be in the situation where you need some help.  So ask God to give you the right person for the interview or have the only person available to be the one that will give you what you need — jobs/contracts/ referrals etc., so you can slip right in.  Ask God to show you mercy before the man.

2. Expect that God will bring you into favor with the people that can say “yes” to your business.  This idea comes from the record in Daniel.  Some of the children of Israel had been carried off as captives to the land of Babylon (present day Iraq).  Some were to be educated in the ways of the Chaldeans so they could stand before the king as advisors.   The prince of the eunuchs was put in charge of these men.  (A eunuch is a man who has been castrated, especially (in the past) one employed to guard the women’s living areas at an oriental court.) The eunuch really liked Daniel and the three other men as recorded here in Daniel.

Daniel 1:9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

Many times you will find that the people that you contract with or work for really like you.  How God does this I don’t know but just be thankful.  And realize that you can ask God to find favor in the minds of the people you work with.  Or you could ask God to send clients that will be great to work for.

3. Expect God to give you the “Right words (wisdom) at the right time to resolve the situation.”

This Idea comes from:

James 1:5-6 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

When I first started out hanging wallpaper as a young man, I would get calls at times after I was done and was paid for a job that the customer was unhappy about something they saw in my work.  Then I would have to go back to the job and deal with it.

So I would take a “B” Vitamin (supposed to help the brain function better) and ask God to give me the “right words at the right time to resolve the situation.”  Out of all the call backs I had in 25 years, I only had to redo a couple of screw ups.  Many times it was the fault of the paper or the wall or it could have been a multitude of different circumstances.  But they were unhappy, and we needed to resolve the situation.

I never asked God for me to come out on top, just for the situation to be resolved.  I was not trying to stick anyone with a bad job by praying.

I remember one night I got a call from an irate husband after he saw the job his wife had paid for already.  I prayed but was really nervous about going to talk to him.  When I walked in the door, he started in on me and was railing for about five minutes.  Finally, he began to calm down.  Up to that point, I never said a word.  Finally, he said, “I realize you probably could have done nothing about this; I just needed to get it off my chest.  Thanks for listening.” Then I left.  God put the thought in me, “Just be quiet!”

On another job, the builder called and said that the lady was in tears because she could see the seams in the wallpaper.  I told him he needed to get a manufacturer’s representative to look at the job because there was nothing wrong with it.  He said he knew it was a good job but the woman was crying anyway.  So I took a can of colored pencils and chalk I had and went to see her.  Now this was a cream colored paper with some trees on it that crossed at the seams.  But mostly the seams were just cream colored with no pattern.  I had no idea what to do.  So I reached into the can of pencils and pulled out a charcoal pencil.  I thought, “Well, that won’t work on this background.” But then I thought, “Well, it is the first thing you pulled out. Just try it.” So I did, and as I ran the edge of the charcoal pencil up the cream colored seam, the seam just disappeared.  To this day, I don’t know why that worked, but I do know that prayer is very helpful in resolving situations when you expect God to be involved.

Proverbs 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous…

 Profits are better than wages. Wages make you a living; 
profits make you a fortune.   Jim Rohn

Braker’s Rules for Contractors is now up for sale on Amazon. 

Over the next few weeks I will print a chapter a week.  The text and the numbers have been completely redone so I am taking down all the previous blogs. 

Never wish life were easier, wish that you were better.  Jim Rohn

 Chapter 1

The Reason for Braker’s Rules for Contractors

The phone rings. “I need you to come look at a unit for a repair so I can take the quote to the loan closing.” Me, “Our charge for looking at a unit is a set fee, and we need to be paid while we are there.”

Rule #1 – We Charge to “Look.”

I realized at that moment that I had a set of rules that I use to guide my business. I had just never thought of these principles as a set of rules, nor had I ever numbered them.

Rules to guide you through life are not uncommon. Everyone needs a code or set of rules to live by or conduct their business with.

An example of a rule of conduct:  John Wayne in the movie, The Shootist, said, “I’ll not be laid a hand on.” Since his passing, his son has published a book called, John Wayne’s Code. The Boy Scout oath is another example.

A very simple partial set of rules for life might include:

1. Going to bed and rising at the same time every day
2. Being kind to everyone I meet
3. Working from a to-do list as much as possible
4. Walking away from arguments whether in person or on-line as much as possible

George Washington had his Rules of Civility that he carried in his pocket as a young man, and we all know how well that turned out for him. Here are a few excerpts from his little book:

• # 6.  Sleep not when others Speak, Sit not when others stand, Speak not when you should hold     your Peace, walk not on when others Stop.
• # 11.  Shift not yourself in the Sight of others nor Gnaw your nails.
• # 19.  Let your Countenance be pleasant but in Serious Matters Somewhat grave.
• # 51.  Wear not your clothes, foul, ripped or dusty but see they be brushed once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any uncleanness.
• # 56.  Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for tis better to be alone than in bad company.
• # 90.  Being set at meat scratch not, neither spit, cough or blow your nose except when there’s a necessity for it.

On the TV show NCIS, the main character has his own list of rules, too. The ones I like the best are:

• Never say you’re sorry.  It is a sign of weakness.
• Never go anywhere without a knife.
• Never, ever involve a lawyer.
• Sometimes you’re wrong.

The more I thought about rules, I realized I had several that I used in my business.  Others I talked to said they had learned the same lessons.  But there was nowhere I knew of where a young person could find them listed. So I began to record and number them as they came up.

Rule #2 – We Charge for Every Trip. (As much as possible)

Example:  A customer called last week.  His house had been struck by lightning and had knocked out the electronics on his unit.  He wanted me to come look at it and write up an estimate for the repairs.  I tried politely telling him we had a trip charge for that, and he would say, “Just write it up for the insurance, and we will turn it in.” I finally had to explain bluntly that he would need to pay me the day I came.  Then we could write up the rest and turn that in. He agreed. It works much better to tell people up front what you expect.

Now when the parts come, if it takes multiple trips, we expect payment before we leave each time.

The reason is that after you have “looked,” or written up an estimate or given your advice, they may later decide to throw it away and start over, fix it themselves or whatever.  Then you will have a hard time getting paid for anything at a later date.

You see many people look at contractors as low-lifes or fly by night outfits.  They think they are doing you a favor by perhaps paying you some money for their job.

I have been told when I was younger to only enter through the back door, the servant’s entrance.

I see my business as a business and run it that way.  What they think they see is a man hoping to make enough money to pay his rent and buy food for the week.  Now not everyone is like that, but a great many are.  The solution is to conduct yourself according to a set of rules (which hopefully comes off with an air of confidence, instead of an air of hoping to make some money).  Then also remember that the rules may not always apply.  But they do apply 999 times out of 1000!

Accumulating rules that govern life are all part of The Prosperous Life.

Proverbs 14:24 The wise accumulate wisdom; fools get stupider by the day.  (The Message)

Several years ago I was doing a small job in a home not far from here. The man was telling me he had recently retired from a local prison where he had been employed as a shop teacher of sorts.  He taught plumbing, electrical and trim carpentry.

Now that he was retired, he was going to work as a trim carpenter.  Apparently, he was not licensed for electrical or plumbing.  He told me he did not think it was fair that plumbers and electricians charged about $100 -125.00 per hour, but as a trim carpenter all he could get was about $25.00 per hour.

I did not say anything, but it reminded me of what I had been taught a few years earlier by a wise man.  He said the economy of money is like a river flowing through life. In the center of the river it is deep and like a raging torrent but on the edges it is shallow and very slow moving.  Each of us comes to the river with our bucket expecting to fill it with money.

No one tells us where to stand in the river to fill our buckets.  Some stand in the middle where the buckets fill quickly and some struggle to fill their buckets in the shallow edges.

The man could have put in the time to become licensed as a plumber or an electrician, but he chose to be a trim carpenter.

If you don’t like the part of the river you are in, CHANGE PLACES.  Go study what successful people do, and stand where they do.

Think about it.

If you work in homes, here is something to consider:  Many people, especially women, find it disturbing to have strangers working in their homes, some to a greater degree and some lesser.  Even if you know them, it is difficult to have their home torn up for remodeling or even to have a garbage disposal installed.  It is their home.  It disrupts their routine.  Most detest the mess even if you clean up somewhat.  It is just disconcerting to them even if they say nothing.  They can be uncomfortable. What helps is to be dressed well, use tarps, be polite and be on time.  Get the job done and leave.

One of the very successful companies here in the City a few years ago advertised that their guys were well dressed and polite, even though they were PLUMBERS.  Dirty plumbers with grease on them and muddy boots are almost a proverb.  It is accepted as the norm many times.

Well, this company charge $25 -30 extra per hour because of the way they presented their employees at the door and on the job, and people were happy to pay.

Think about it.

#56 Tell them what to expect

I have found that you prevent a lot of trouble during and after a job by telling people what to expect during the job — noise, dust, delays, etc.  I also tell them what to expect the job to look like when it is completed.  Explain everything up front even the objectionable things.

Then when those things come up, they will feel more like you were being honest with them.  If they have to ask about those things when they see them and don’t like them, then any explanation you give will seem like you are schmoozing (bullsh…ing) them or feeding them a line to get away with poor workmanship.

Think about it.

Rule #57 We don’t give discounts. 

Today I found this rule that I had written under a file called Rules for Contractors.  I had written it many years ago.  A friend of mine and I were having an online discussion with another female contractor who was being asked to discount her work.  We were both in agreement that we never discount our work. The reasoning here is the same as some of the other rules.  If you discount your work, you fall into the category of contractors that “need” the work.  I have had new builders who said, “I am building my own home first, then I will have several more for you to work in, so I need a builder’s discount.”  I told them we price our work the same to everyone.  Then you can add whatever statement you want after that. For example:

• It takes us just as long to do one job as another, and our overhead is the same no matter what the price.
• Our pricing is to the bone already, and we just can’t.
• My boss would fire me if I gave you a discount without consulting her first.  Yes, my wife is my boss, and she is mean.  I would like to stay married so I just can’t.
• Whatever it takes. If possible, price their work higher.  You probably don’t want to work for them anyway.

That person that you give the discount to will most likely be one of your hardest clients to work for.  But if you stick to your guns, that same client will most likely leave you to your work if they hire you.

Think about it.

Lastly, to end this series of blogs I wanted to take a minute and talk about money.  When I looked at the number of rules that dealt with money:  how to set up your payments – jobs, how to collect, the attitude you need, that you need to be determined to get paid and you need to have a confident backbone.  It almost seemed as if maybe I had money on the brain – greedy.

But consider what God has to say about dealing with people in His Word.

Jeremiah 22:13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

Apparently, contractors not getting paid has been a problem for thousands of years. It is not a new thing.  God says, “Woe to him that does not pay.”

Why do people not want to pay? Not good quality work. They should have investigated the contractor before they hired them.  Notice: God makes no exceptions for not paying. Some people always find something wrong with the job so they feel justified in not paying the full amount. So this is why many of the rules work together to give you a greater percentage of jobs that pay with no question.  Then we have rules for the ones that are left that are difficult.  Many people just don’t like parting with their money.

• Dress well.
• Be on time.
• Explain the pricing upfront and don’t budge from it.
• Get used to confrontation.
• Settle the question of payment upfront.
• Never back up on a bid.

There are many more things I could list, but they all work together to get you paid.  Because the nature of some people is to let you work for free!

Think about it.

I trust you have found these blogs helpful.  Look for Braker’s Rules for Contractors on Amazon.   Or try the book Poverty vs Wealth.  It will amaze you.

Always remember, to ask God for knowledge, understanding and wisdom.  He will not disappoint you.

Collect good rules and put them into practice.

• Proverbs 14:24 The wise accumulate wisdom; fools get stupider by the day.  (The Message)
• Proverbs 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

Accumulating rules that govern life are all part of The Prosperous Life.