OK I have finally made up my mind.....I can't take it anymore.

[YeLLowBoaT]

When my lease is up then end of april. I am leaving CA, Not sure exactly where I Will be going. At this point in I am leaning towards southern OR, AZ would not be out of the Question. The cost of doing biz in CA is just too high, too much BS and too much headache. I have 13 more jobs that I am commited too. After that I am will not longer be taking on new jobs in CA.

[Debbolas]

I would move to Arizona, that is where all the beautiful people live
:D

[Slider]

I hear ya.It takes me over a year to get permits on some jobs.

[Dave C]

the least they could do is send you a thank you card for the all the welfare you paid......
The insurance getting to you also? I didn't even know they had #'s that high ;)

[SoCalSouthpaw]

Sell drugs

[ELIMINAT THIS]

the least they could do is send you a thank you card for the all the welfare you paid......
The insurance getting to you also? I didn't even know they had #'s that high ;)
Everybody bitches about the cost of Insurance on Cats they would crap there pants if they insured 1 truck and 1 driver in ca. :mad: :mad:

[YeLLowBoaT]

I hear ya.It takes me over a year to get permits on some jobs.
yep and and my INS and bond are killing me. I pay 1800 a month for my INS and bond. Then there is my 1 employee...you don't want to know how much that cost me...I could be making a killing if I was not legal.
I take in some where around 20k a month... when all is said and done I only see about 2-3.5k of that.

[Phat Matt]

yep and and my INS and bond are killing me. I pay 1800 a month for my INS and bond. Then there is my 1 employee...you don't want to know how much that cost me...I could be making a killing if I was not legal.
I take in some where around 20k a month... when all is said and done I only see about 2-3.5k of that.
Yeah, that doesn't sound right. :(

[jbtrailerjim]

yep and and my INS and bond are killing me. I pay 1800 a month for my INS and bond. Then there is my 1 employee...you don't want to know how much that cost me...I could be making a killing if I was not legal.
I take in some where around 20k a month... when all is said and done I only see about 2-3.5k of that.
I can't say I blame you. California is tough to do business in. We are going to pay around 40k for workmans comp this year for 15 employee's. It's down from what we paid last year though which was around 70k. That does not count our garage keepers/general liabilty which was another 40k last year.

[Dribble]

OK here's what I don't get (but I have a regular job). If you're a small business person in CA. And your competition is other CA small businesses, then isn't your overhead the same and isn't that passed on to the end customer? For example, I have a neighbor that has been a general contractor for six years. Lives in a million dollar house with a buttload of toys. The neighbor across from me is a house painter. Another million dollar house and another buttload of toys. They both have employees and pay taxes comp etc. My best friend owns dump trucks has seven drivers. Another millionaire (with a major buttload of toys).
So my question is... If it is so tough to do business in Cali where the hell are all the rich people around here getting all their money???

[phxsleek]

Phoenix is the place to be,,, I moved here 6 years ago. the weather is awesome, and so is the boating!!! :crossx:

[YeLLowBoaT]

OK here's what I don't get (but I have a regular job). If you're a small business person in CA. And your competition is other CA small businesses, then isn't your overhead the same and isn't that passed on to the end customer? For example, I have a neighbor that has been a general contractor for six years. Lives in a million dollar house with a buttload of toys. The neighbor across from me is a house painter. Another million dollar house and another buttload of toys. They both have employees and pay taxes comp etc. My best friend owns dump trucks has seven drivers. Another millionaire (with a major buttload of toys).
So my question is... If it is so tough to do business in Cali where the hell are all the rich people around here getting all their money???
Most ppl with "alot of toys" are in debt up too thier eyeballs. If I got bigger I would be raking in the cash.... I just can't find skilled ppl that want to work... hell I am paying 35 a hr to my 1 employee. Yeah I know its its about 5-10 above what every 1 else paying, but he busts his ass for me and I never have to worry about leaving him on a job site.
There are alot of "contractors" out there right now making alot of $$$, but alot of them are not doing it "by the book". I love when I give some 1 a bid for about 3k and they say "so and so got it done for this" for about 1k and I tell them the material alone costs about that.....
here is a pretty genral break down of my "average" month
20k gross
5k for materal
9k for employee( this one is really hurting me.)
1800 for ins/ bonds
-400 for truck
grand total
3800 now thats not inculding all the odds and ends.
now whats funny is if I added 2 more employess my rater per empolyee per hr would go down by half ... fooking bastards.

[Dribble]

I don't think the house painter is doing it by the book, but I know the general is. He has two employees and I know his comp is outrageous. He says the same thing but most fly by night contractors end up screwing people in the end. I flat won't hire someone without a license and workmans comp. I will pay more to make sure I have a professional on the job. The general is a good friend and when I sold him my last boat he wrote me a check for $25,000.00. I know he's making good money.
I just don't think you'll do much better in the Peoples Republic of Oregon.

[lawbreaker2]

Not to be mean or anything like that, But if all you cali folk move to az, then the laws will follow you there in 5 to 10 years. :rolleyes: Starting to think I should just stay here in ohio, Nobody botters me here, except the state troopers.

[YeLLowBoaT]

I actually know 3 contractors that moved in the bend area that almost trippled thier yearly income... only working 7-8 months a year...I think I could live with that...... :) Plus I have a uncle that is breaking ground on 270 condos in may that he keeps trying to get me up there to help him run.

[MOBrien]

...........We are going to pay around 40k for workmans comp this year for 15 employee's. It's down from what we paid last year though which was around 70k. That does not count our garage keepers/general liabilty which was another 40k last year.
wow, what kind of wage payroll associated with those 15 employees? Add all that up in there too and you're talkin some serious coin. :rolleyes:

[H20 Toie]

quittere :p

[Jordy]

Phoenix is the place to be,,, I moved here 6 years ago. the weather is awesome, and so is the boating!!! :crossx:
Phoenix sucks. I don't know how people live there. From what I hear the summers get so hot you can cook on the sidewalks. That's miserable. I'd keep looking. :D

[a catered life]

OK here's what I don't get (but I have a regular job). If you're a small business person in CA. And your competition is other CA small businesses, then isn't your overhead the same and isn't that passed on to the end customer? For example, I have a neighbor that has been a general contractor for six years. Lives in a million dollar house with a buttload of toys. The neighbor across from me is a house painter. Another million dollar house and another buttload of toys. They both have employees and pay taxes comp etc. My best friend owns dump trucks has seven drivers. Another millionaire (with a major buttload of toys).
So my question is... If it is so tough to do business in Cali where the hell are all the rich people around here getting all their money???
good question but if you two neighbors have million dollar homes your must be 1.5 million at least :p

[a catered life]

When my lease is up then end of april. I am leaving CA, Not sure exactly where I Will be going. At this point in I am leaning towards southern OR, AZ would not be out of the Question. The cost of doing biz in CA is just too high, too much BS and too much headache. I have 13 more jobs that I am commited too. After that I am will not longer be taking on new jobs in CA.
i understand your position but i must ask what kind of work do you do and will you be able to be as successful outside of cali?

[R.A.D.man]

I can't say I blame you. California is tough to do business in. We are going to pay around 40k for workmans comp this year for 15 employee's. It's down from what we paid last year though which was around 70k. That does not count our garage keepers/general liabilty which was another 40k last year.
I am very similar in size to you, my WC is very similar to yours dependant on EMR ratings. I am in Texas by the way. It often feels like we are working more to keep the insurance companies in business than ourselves.

[Dribble]

good question but if you two neighbors have million dollar homes your must be 1.5 million at least :p
Actually we're the poor people in the neighborhood. Our house is only about 750K.

[Big Kahunaa]

and no smog in parts of az

[Dave C]

it would be the same if a) everyone played by the same rules but they don't (they cheat) and b) you were actually able to pass along the cost "increases" to the customer (which is the biggest fallacy there is)
OK here's what I don't get (but I have a regular job). If you're a small business person in CA. And your competition is other CA small businesses, then isn't your overhead the same and isn't that passed on to the end customer? For example, I have a neighbor that has been a general contractor for six years. Lives in a million dollar house with a buttload of toys. The neighbor across from me is a house painter. Another million dollar house and another buttload of toys. They both have employees and pay taxes comp etc. My best friend owns dump trucks has seven drivers. Another millionaire (with a major buttload of toys).
So my question is... If it is so tough to do business in Cali where the hell are all the rich people around here getting all their money???

[Dave C]

and the people..... :yuk: and whats with that smell that hits you when you get off the plane... its smells like ass...
Phoenix sucks. I don't know how people live there. From what I hear the summers get so hot you can cook on the sidewalks. That's miserable. I'd keep looking. :D

[jbtrailerjim]

OK here's what I don't get (but I have a regular job). If you're a small business person in CA. And your competition is other CA small businesses, then isn't your overhead the same and isn't that passed on to the end customer? For example, I have a neighbor that has been a general contractor for six years. Lives in a million dollar house with a buttload of toys. The neighbor across from me is a house painter. Another million dollar house and another buttload of toys. They both have employees and pay taxes comp etc. My best friend owns dump trucks has seven drivers. Another millionaire (with a major buttload of toys).
So my question is... If it is so tough to do business in Cali where the hell are all the rich people around here getting all their money???
I wish I could pass along all of our increased overhead on to our customers but it does not always work that way. The problem is, there is a lot of competitors that don't do everything by the book. They don't carry workmans comp, they pay there employees cash under the table, they will put unlicensed border jumpers in their company service trucks, and send them over to customer locations. My father and I refuse to run that type of business.
Luckily a lot of our customers are huge corporations and they are starting to make their vendors provide proof of liability and workmans comp insurance. So these type of companys realize it cost more to business with a company that is legitimate. But there is still a lot of companys that don't care and they are just worried about the cost.
We are constantly encourgaging our customers to verify if the vendors they use carry all the necessary insurance. The insurance is there not just to protect us in the event of an accident but also to protect them.