Making money on small jobs.

There is money in small jobs, You have to make a plan and stick to your rules. Compile a few jobs together and do them at the same time.
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[@DIRTDUMMY1]

Sewage pipe... please invest in a respirator that works with your helmet. i.e. Miller LPR 100. Your lungs will thank you later. And thank you for giving the young population a chance for employment.

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

That’s a good idea. Would love to get a fresh air helmet.

[@deanl2427]

Nice work! I suppose I am going to live on small jobs for a while. For me this is just side work. I just moved to Tennessee from chitcago. My main trade is being strangled by chitcago politics. After shutting down my trucking/excavation/construction company after 18 years, I was NOT going to be self employed in hellinois again. I left with just one customer, a paving/construction company. They provided me my own shop to keep my equipment in, a truck when I had to go mobile, unlimited hours of work, and their checks never bounced. I was so busy with them, I had to give up all of my previous side customers. Now, I have a 35x42 shop in my back yard waiting to start up again. Unfortunately, I'm lacking concrete floor and electricity. Waiting until my old house sells. Right now just running off engine drives. Looking to build a Kenworth T300 truck too, so I can get back to the heavy equipment work. I would like to start networking with some Tennessee guys, but I'm a little older and not too familiar with social media other than a little fakebook. Sorry to ramble. Looking forward to watching your other vids. Good luck, you do a great job.

[@lancecrowe8954]

near Charlotte NC where you located? and great work

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

We're about 2 hours north. Might come watch the panthers play the Bills Friday.

[@alecpalmer6674]

What’s the best way to get more work coming in

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

TALK, TALK, TALK post on every social media avenue you can. Have a website that doesn't look cheap, make sure your registered with Google and have someone work on the back end so you are on the top of searches in your area, and TALK more. Talk to anyone you can possibly talk to every day 6 days a week. Go to larger welding shops and ask if they sub any work out especially right now with employee shortages

[@ajsironworks3937]

What about a guy who wants a side hustle from a garage (1 bay) to turn into something bigger? I know you started small too so anything helps. Glad you’re busy sir and you’re awesome.

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

Yes sir that’s pretty much how I started in my parents 1 car garage. And I did absolutely nothing but small jobs. Which it works out great when your side hustling because you can get little jobs in and out so in the evenings your not stressed about large items that people are waiting on. You can knock out a couple small jobs in one night or something maybe that takes a few hours over a weekend. Time management is key no matter how big or small of an operation you run.

[@ajsironworks3937]

Sorry for the double post but how do you bud jobs and estimate how long things will take? How do you factor all that in and price it to the customer?

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

Hey bro double post anytime you want. That’s why I make videos to help other people out. So pricing and estimates honestly come with just doing them. That’s why there called estimates it’s an educated guess and you will under and over bid jobs multiple times. But as you grow and gain more experience you’ll get pretty dang good at it if you keep notes of previous jobs. Material part is easy that’s just your cost plus your mark up. Which could be anywhere from 5%-50% or more depends on what you want to do. We tend to keep ours lower and make our money on the labor. Then you just figure out what your hourly labor rate is and stick to it. Don’t let people price jobs for you that’s not how it works. Stick to your guns.

[@akraix182]

Nice set up, I have a very similar shop and do similar work up in ct. I also do an hour minimum, most customers are fine with it but there’s always some that bitch. I like your idea of letting the small jobs build up. I have 2 sitting on the bench right now that i haven’t gotten to yet.. the worst thing a customer can tell me is “when you have time no rush” haha

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

Thank you Joe I appreciate that. We need more space but doesn’t everyone ?? Yep the hour minimum is a must. Just not worth it to be honest if you don’t charge at least that. Yep there is always that customer that no matter what you do they won’t be happy. Those I send on down the road to another shop. It’s a two way street. I’ve fired customers a few times because it just wasn’t worth the headache of dealing with them. We have those customer that tell us “no rush” and there the first to call me the next day and check on the project. LOL 😂

[@backwoodsmetalworks6107]

Great video Matt. My welding shop is almost the opposite, small repairs and little jobs account for probably 50% of my work load with the other half being filled in with bigger jobs like railings, stairs ect. I also sell welding supplies, gas & steel so that is also a big part of my daily "workload" per say. I am slowly working towards getting away from the small repairs and jobs but the demand for this small stuff as well as all the sales I do is very high in my area so I am able to have very good profit margins on the sales & small jobs.

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

Backwoods this is such great information. I try to explain to people through videos but it's viewers like yourself that can give another point of view about things, and it just shows how no two welding shops are alike. Every town and every customer need is different, you have to figure that out as you start and grow your individual business. You have to somewhat build your business around those needs in your community or you'll spend a lot of time on the road traveling to areas where the work is that your pursuing, which is also another avenue to go. I've though very serious about getting into welding supply sales such PPE and consumables. There's a couple places around that sell very basic stuff but as you know most full time welders don't buy from those places. Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to chime in please do so anytime. It truly does give viewers different perspectives. HAPPY FRIDAY

[@artmckay6704]

Why not hire a guy to specialize in small jobs? You never know, a small job might one day lead to some really big ones......

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

100% correct. And that’s definitely something we have done on and off. We use young guys or kids that are in welding school for those spots. That allows them to gain some great experience on welding but also not many options to make costly mistakes.

[@artmckay6704]

@@MattcoMetalWorks glad to hear you give newbies opportunities to learn! :)

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

@@artmckay6704 we try to. We’ve had quite a few over the last couple years. Mostly going to the local community college and the larger shops won’t give them a shot. Some have stayed and some move on.

[@artmckay6704]

@@MattcoMetalWorks well, that's youth for you. They don't have any values or loyalty and they don't know that those things are critically important. Like my grandmother said, we grow old too soon and smart too late :)

[@grumpycricket]

​@@MattcoMetalWorks you could even hire a retiree for small jobs. We have a career worth of experience, and mostly don't need a lot of hours. Also, we can work unsupervised!😉

[@rich873]

I charge $100 per hour if it really difficult I charge $125 an hour.

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

Yea i believe that's where were heading. With all the increases and labor rates jumping it's inevitable. We charge more for tig welding now but that too will increase soon. Thanks for the comment we appreciate all comments and feedback

[@joecool4836]

Do you charge a minimum of so many hours

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

@@joecool4836 we currently have a one hour minimum in the shop and a 2 hour minimum on the mobile rig

[@shaneheeringa7559]

@@MattcoMetalWorks is your shop rate and mobile rate the same or is mobile more?

[@MattcoMetalWorks]

@@shaneheeringa7559 mobile rate is higher as we have to cover fuel cost etc.

[@jerrywiep3795]

Tank cover fit perfectly I can now drive over it without moving Nice job Matt