Kabster, I can do all of the above with the exception of pronto programming. I ran into a guy in the field the other day that showed me the basics of programming them and I am tempted to go buy one and teach myself how to do it (excuse to buy a new toy).

All satellite work is pretty much retro to me as I seldom run wires externally on customers houses, I take the feeds into the attic and fish the lines in whenever I can.

Keith, you hit the nail on the head about San Diego being unique in a bad way when it comes to this industry. Everyone who has ever hooked up a tv in this town seems to be touting themselves as a "home theater expert" and it drives the labor rates down.

I had never considered Tweeter as a good outfit to work for. I have seen the in house tech staff for most of the local consumer electronics stores and have seen their work (yikes). I figured Tweeter was another hack outfit. Then I went in there to look for an Ultimate tv reciever. I spoke to the installation manager and I was plesently surprised. They aren't looking for anyone in this area right now but I may apply in the near future.

The work that I do pays me fairly well for now but every time I turn around the pay keeps getting cut or no additonal pay gets added for new systems. So I have to hustle harder and faster to keep my checks the same size. As the pay goes down, guys like myself who have some idea of what they are doing move on to other parts of the low voltage trade and we get replaced with the hacks that seem to be taking the sat business over.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I appreciate the input and will keep looking around.

Rich

Small world, I also live in Oceanside. There is actually a shortage of good help these days.
However the pay scale here in so cal doesn't
start to really pay well until you can run a
a decent size crew. Look for companies wh

Oh no I cut my self off ...

As I was say before i was so rudely cut off

Companies who concentrate on the Rancho Sante Fe area
tend to do very well. There is also an abundance of work there.

Good Luck

Well, it sounds like we'll do just fine when we begin to open stores in SoCal. We've got 5 stores in the bay area (3 more to open in November) and I'm doing ok with finding people. I prefer to train people myself whenever possible, but I am still seeking that elusive skilled lead for one of my crews. We have tremendous growth potential (our parent company has even hinted at 150 stores eventually) and, as we grow, we'll eventually break into very specialized postions like Designer, Programmer, Project Manager and Field Supervisor (all of which we have at our design center in Seattle).
Anyone who is interested in our pay scale can search RC for my earlier posts on installer pay.
I just wish the little mom and pop shops would stop giving away $30-40/hr for people who aren't worth it. The wage inflation is getting out of hand and it seems that many installers think that they should always get this kind of cash, even though the last 6 places they worked for went out of business (or they never actually got 40 hours a week, or any decent benefits).

Jeff Wagner
Custom Installation Manager - California
Magnolia Hi-Fi
jwagner@magnoliahifi.com

This message was edited by Jeff Wagner on 08/07/02 13:03.16.

Richie Rich:
Something occurred to me as I was reading the responses tonight. If you are wanting to be in business for yourself, but have the problem with getting a license, consider this: You can do smaller jobs (I think under $500) without a license in California. There is a tremendous demand for smaller installations, like hooking up equipment that people have purchased at one of the stores like Good Guys, Best Buys, Circuit City, etc. Most installers aren't interested in this element of the market because they can't make any money selling the equipment. However, I know guys that are making a good living ($70K to $80K yearly) just hooking up other people's equipment. I think because of my company's name, "Mr. Hookup", we get dozens of calls every week wanting us to hook up smaller systems, add a cable jack, install a satellite system, program a remote, even some as simple as installing a DVD player. Like so many other companies, we ususally have to turn smaller jobs down. We have kept several smaller guys busy with just our referals. It's hard to make money on smaller jobs paying employee-technicians, but as an independent, you can definately make money. Actually, that is how I started Mr. Hookup twenty years ago and it grew into something much larger.

Many of the larger installation companies, and salesmen in retail stores, would probably send you business if they knew that you were interested.

You can also make very good money selling cables, accessories, remote controls, wire, etc. when you are in that end of the business. You could also sell a few speakers and some lines of equipment as add-on sales. Distributors like Volutone, DBL, Amerisat,and Capitol Sales would be happy to deal with you.

One other advantage of doing smaller jobs-- you don't have to spend endless hours writing proposals! I spend 30 or more hours a week just writing proposals and I get tired of it. It's more fun actually doing the work and since most people in San Diego don't think that they should have to pay for a proposal (we call it a "design"), I spend alot of time looking at jobs, writing proposals, and presenting proposals to customers, without any direct pay for my time. Sometimes the proposals aren't accepted and I have wasted many hours for nothing. When you do small jobs, you come prepared to do the work, and you do it the same day that you see it (usually). When you're done, you get paid right away. Sometimes you will even see green cash (don't forget to claim it).

As you are working in this capacity for a couple of years you will build up a reputation and experience that will get you the big jobs later (if you still want them). Good luck.

Keith

Keith,
I am already doing the odd H/T install like those you mentioned. Problem with that situation is most of the retail stores either have their own in house installers or they are under exclusive contract with an installation management firm.

Best Buy for example contracts ALL of their work thru a company called Digivision. Digivision takes 30-50% of the payout just to shuffle paper around and send it to the installer. They don't like to deal with the one man show companies, prefering to send batches of work to local outfits with many installers. Those companies take their cut out of the money and pass it on to their installers and subs. What was an initial charge of $399 to the customer for a 5.1 system install turns into a $40-60 payout to the actual tech. The tech is supposed to supply his own supplies, tools, truck and gas as well as be responsible for all warranty work and accept all liability for the job.

The sales staff at the stores are FORBIDDEN to refer any customer to outside installers and since they get a cut of selling the install package they are happy to oblige.

This is exactly what is happening to satellite and why I am trying to get away from it. What is a $149 payout for a basic sat install turns into $50 by the time I get it. Too many middlemen taking money to shuffle paper.

The scary part is I have heard rumors of the retailers trying to figure out how to sell structured wiring packages out of their stores. That should be interesting to say the least.

I have found a lot of you guys that do custom, high end H/T work don't like to install satellite systems. ****************************************************** I removed the remainder of this post once I noticed the "no solicitation" rules for this forum.************************************************** I was going to ask you guys to refer me all of your small jobs and sat installs in San Diego that you don't want to do yourself. But since it may be against the forum rules I won't do that.

Rich
richssat@aol(dot)com

Rich
I drive down there once a month to do pronto and lexicon programming and IR trouble shooting .
Occasionally I go down to do a referral install in Del Mar and vicinity .
Maybe I'll hire ya on a we'll see per job basis and see what you know .

Richie Rich:
I can send you some business. I have way more than I can handle. I need nothing in return, just to know that the referals are happy. I turned down another 25 to 30 grand today. I prefer to remain a relatively small company to maintain quality control and keep headaches to a minimum. E-mail me and let me know more about your capablilties.

Keith mrhookup@compuserve.com