People,

I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of business.

It has been a long cold winter and recently we have had some melting of the snow ,although it is presently snowing AGAIN!.

With the snow melting and warmer temps. people with a few bucks and a few ideas are starting to come out of the caves that they hibernated in through the winter.

While it is definitley not the economy we all had hoped for I can feel positive vibes coming in the days ahead.

One of the hardest things for us as self-employed contractors to do is "hold on" to our business through a challenging economy.

If you have not read Whitey's blog posting,I recommend that you do.

When a contractor is out of work and finally has the opportunity to bid on a project the natural thing to do is bid low.

This is common sense based on the fact that you know the prospective client in which you are trying to do work for knows that times are tough and they should be getting a good deal and usually will go with the lowest number(usually).

We as contractors have to determine what our bottom line will be without playing the role of "CUTTHROAT".

While costs skyrocket for materials and fuel, it really sucks that we have to lower our prices to earn a living.

If your clientel is such that they are understanding to the phrase"you get what you pay for" then there should be no problem in pricing your work the way you always have and raising your pricing in accordance with the rising cost of supplies and materials.

My experience is that even the most loyal clients certainly want to save a buck and if they are a business owner,which a lot of my clients are,they will shop you at least to keep you honest during hard times.Lets not forget they are in business to save money just like us.

My whole point to this blog is to simply state that ,while we all would like to raise our prices to move with the rising costs associated with supply and demand,the end result is you do what you have to do to survive (within reason).

I find that the guys that are out there "CUTTING OUR THROATS"usually don't last long and certainly don't last long in this kind of economy.

You can be competitive without working for free!

Think positive and others will follow suit!