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Contact / About | Numbers Cruncher |
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Who is Gene Burch, and how he did get
involved The beginning I am very much your typical contractor in as much as I started out as so many of us do, and after a few years almost went bankrupt as so many of us also do. I entered the industry as an apprentice plumber in 1959. I subsequently went in business in 1975 in Novato California, which is located 25 miles North of San Francisco, where I am still active in the day-to-day operations. Again like most of us I was a very good at my trade but had no idea how to run a business, and was completely clueless about what my costs were and therefore what my hourly labor rate should be to cover them. Rather than find out, I phoned up one of the other plumbers in town, and asked what he charged per hour. Based on what he told me, I then established my rate $2.00 per hour higher than his and I was in business, sound familiar? This very easy, but dangerous way of establishing what to charge for our own companies services is still being used today; and it is exactly why most businesses either fail or do not make a real profit for years. I recently came across an old Chinese Proverb that addresses the folly of not knowing ones costs; it goes like this. To guess is cheap. To guess wrong is expensive. The early years By 1977 we were doing okay and still in business, due to the fact that we did good work and I was working 70 to 80 hours per week. For the next few years whenever we needed extra money for the business, I would borrow it personally since the company had none, and during a couple really bad times we refinanced our home which was appreciating ever year unlike the business. The near demise of our company began with the onset of a brutal 3-year recession at the end of 1989, when my ignorance of what it was really costing to run our business finally caught up with us. The end is in sight By early 1990 we were hopelessly out of control as we had been installing plumbing in new houses built on spec, and the contractors who owed us money were not paying us, and there was no new work to not get paid for. We went from a 10 plumber operation to my two sons and myself, and still owing a lot of money to our suppliers. Out of desperation I attended a Frank Blau business seminar and he confirmed what I already new, I was a very good tradesperson but a lousy businessperson. The funny thing about all of this is I knew in my heart all along that it was bad business not to know what our costs really were, but I was simply afraid to find out. I always had an excuse as to why I did not have time to find out, but I knew someday it was going to come back and bite me. I have since discovered while helping other people over the years that I was not unique in being unaware of what my costs were, and I repeatedly hear similar versions of my own story. A new beginningBased on what I had learned from Frank Blau and others in the industry I knew what I had to do if we were going to ever become a successful company; we needed to convert our old new construction company into a new Flat Rate service and repair company. About the same time I came across an advertisement for a software program from the NSPG Company called "Numbers Cruncher", which claimed it would allow you to determine your cost of doing business in a very quick and easy fashion. That was just what I needed, something easy to use that would help me save our business right away. I ordered the program and since I did not know how to use a computer, I had a contractor friend of mine tell me over the phone how to install and use the program. I then had the bookkeeper give me the numbers I needed and I was ready to go. Even though I really did not know what I was doing, the whole thing only took about an hour and I had the numbers in front of me. I was dumbfounded, our breakeven per hour number was twice what our "going rate’ per hour guesstimate was. Going Flat Rate After seeing how high our breakeven number was, I called Mike Conroy at NSPG and told him there must be something wrong with his software and the numbers had to be wrong. He laughed and said that he heard this all of the time, and that the numbers were probably correct. He then spent some time going over our numbers with me and determined in fact they were. I then purchased a Flat Rate book system and started our new company business model. I had decided that I was not just going to create a job for myself, I was going to create a professional and profitable service and repair company; and ten years later we are in fact both. Over the years I have heard it all, " It will not work in this area, we live in a small town", "I will lose all of my customers", "My competition will not let me go Flat Rate", "My customers are different". But what I hear the most is, "If I charge that much I will never get a job"; even though the contractor is presently losing money on every job they do. How can I help you? I am now representing NSPG and am offering the Numbers Cruncher software program as well as their other products. I can help you by giving you "real world" information and experience gained by salvaging a once failing business and turning it into a successful and prosperous operation. I will offer you straight forward, no nonsense advice on how to change your business and your life. I am not just a salesperson trying to sell you something. I am one of you who have been where you are and I have fixed it! I sincerely do not want anyone to have to go through what I did 10 years ago, and I am here to help you make the changes you need to before that happens. Thank you, Gene Burch |
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