Don't start any job without a signed contract and deposit, if required. Preparing and presenting bids is part of the overall sales and marketing operation. You'll learn a great deal by listening carefully to the customer's desires and needs during your initial meeting. Make sure you address those concerns in the bid. If your bid proposes solutions to their specific problems you have a far better chance to win the job than you would with a cheap price and superficial bid that didn't address their concerns.
Good salesmanship can mean more money on each job.
Product lines have a different set of criteria when it comes to pricing. We'll look at pricing a product in detail in Chapter 10. At some point you may need help to run your business profitably. The decision to hire an employee or employees is a big one because of the responsibility it entails. When you hire someone you are agreeing to provide him or her with work and pay, whether you have that work or not, unless they are temp workers or subcontractors.