Electrical contractor

A good electrical contractor that speaks both spanish and english should have plenty of work.   Lots of gringos in that area, some prefer an english speaker. 

I'll be building next year, look me up when you move to PR.

will do thank you for the advice!!!

Jyee wrote:

I know the economy  on the island is in a spiral however i will be relocating my electrical contracting company from california to PR. How is the market or are outside investors looking for reliable electrical services around the Rincon aguadilla area?

Just market yourself in Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, stay active and up to date with all the social media trends. If investors is your niche, try to use those keywords in your ads.

Is going to take time but Is all about providing an exceptional service and with no doubt you'll have people calling you and referrals coming your way. I have a excellent electrician from SJ area that i always refer him business. When you're all settled, PM your info.

Quality is not the primary concern of Puerto Ricans- it's price and relationships. As an outsider, you don't satisfy either of these concerns so marketing yourself as a quality (albeit unlicensed) provider won't get you anywhere. You may get one or two jobs from so-called expats but that's it. Then what?

There are few outside investors and even those making inbound investments are going to hire a local project manager to source contractors who certainly will not hire you because they'll be hiring people from within their inner circle. We estadounidenses are nearly alone in the world for being willing to hire anyone no matter their tribe. That isn't the way things are done in PR (or almost anywhere else for that matter).

It's unwise to move to a place where your skills are valued at a drastically lower price than where you're coming from. Do you earn any passive income to fill the gap?

I moved to Switzerland because they pay me more than what the market rate was where I came from. It's economic suicide to go in the other direction.

I know this sounds harsh but I'd hate to see you and your family financially ruined.

Thank you will do !

If he's bringing his company I'm guessing he's  licenced. Everywhere you go you'll have to start all over and about the price, that all depends the nature of the project because you're not going to charge the same as in the states and your quote is going to be different from a residential or for a corporate business. Not to overly charge but neither give it away.

I have a friend that does roofing for a living and in the newspapers they place ads for different projects . If he happened to see one  he'll send a quote/bid, he's from Texas maybe you could do the same.

I'm not saying by marketing yourself you'll have a successful business  because people look for the price and service but in my opinion, providing an amazing service & networking in the long run will win you the right customers.

I prefer to pay more if I have an amazing service than paying for less and have a mediocre job and poor customer service.

Good advice, KWRealEstate. The thing is that in PR no one uses ads (except for gringos) to find a service provider like an electrician. They either already know someone or they know someone who knows someone, so traditional advertising won't generate results.

NomadLawyer wrote:

Good advice, KWRealEstate. The thing is that in PR no one uses ads (except for gringos) to find a service provider like an electrician. They either already know someone or they know someone who knows someone, so traditional advertising won't generate results.

That's probably true if you're not consistent but maybe they had a bad experience with the one they referred and go online and look for one.

Like i mentioned before I've met some wonderful people that I consider my friend and i could say that the mayority do online ads with great success. Sticking for nontraditional forms with give you nontraditional gains and exposure.

In Puerto Rico or in any other state you need to stand out and in order to do so is giving uniqueness where you will stand apart from the crowd.

Everyone knows that in any business it takes at least a year to see results some more. Marketing yourself in different ways gives you advantage where locals lack.  If you're only customers are gringos, those gringos will refer to others.....and so on.

Network....Network and Network everyday!!

I agree in general, KW, but I don't think we can take these lessons and strategies from the States and apply them to PR. The culture is too different in this respect. They would work in Canada, the U.K., Aus, NZ, Ireland to a lesser extent, but not Latin jurisdictions (especially for service providers like electrians - real estate agents serving offshore clients is probably a different matter).

My experience in hiring contractors, this includes Minnesota, Texas, Alaska, and PR) is a mixed bag.   I have had some good ones, some fair ones and a bad one, but thats life.

The one lesson that I think I have learned is to get lots of references,  good recommendations  are more important that the price.   

I have a good local electrical who is very reasonable, a couple plumbers that are spendy and a few others for general work.   The locals will sometimes recommend a relative so you need to be careful.   I'm always on the look out for skilled workers to put in my contacts

NomadLawyer wrote:

I agree in general, KW, but I don't think we can take these lessons and strategies from the States and apply them to PR. The culture is too different in this respect. They would work in Canada, the U.K., Aus, NZ, Ireland to a lesser extent, but not Latin jurisdictions (especially for service providers like electrians - real estate agents serving offshore clients is probably a different matter).

I respect your opinion but Everyone's experiences vary and has different results. Half of my customers as an agent has been thru online marketing and the other half referrals. Yelp has work wonders for a close friend of mine, he's a Master Plumber and he's from Michigan. Now all his customers are from Dorado Beach East, a high end luxury neighborhood in Dorado. It just started with a google search, his customer saw his online ad and after that he has referred the whole neighborhood and like I said providing a unique service will pay off.

NomadLawyer, did you have a bad experience with your business here in the island?

Of course you are right about experiences, RW. I practiced commercial bankruptcy and tax when I was in PR and, sadly for the island, bankruptcy business was good. So yes, certainly, that experience has informed and colored my thinking ever since. (I've since dropped practicing bankruptcy and do solely cross border fund investment tax, US taxation of in-bound investment, and other cross-border financial services taxation for a big firm in Switzerland.)

Please know that it isn't my intention to sound like I disregard your experiences. I can see how being a real estate agent might work if your client base is non-Puerto Rican. I don't see how it's economically possible for a plumber to make a living just off well-off clients from one neighborhood in PR. Are their toilets exploding on a daily basis? Perhaps this gentleman has been really smart with his savings or is drawing some other source of income to make things work. Does he have kids in private school like Jyee will?

As an electrician, how many clients would you need to survive? And to flourish? If you live in Rincón, where I imagine your client base would be mostly or entirely individual homeowners, I imagine you'd need a lot more clients than there actually are, especially to pay private school tuition. (And that's without adjusting for the much lower pay rate.)

Please don't think I am questioning your honesty. I'm just trying to provide a leveling perspective to most people who have the dream of relocating to PR and have come to our happy forum to see if things will work for them. If they don't have an income source outside PR or a solid job (offered and accepted), then they're screwing themselves. Almost a million people have fled the island but somehow a non-puerto Rican without passive income or a corporate/government job is going to succeed where these million have failed?

Estadounidenses are dreamers and doers, something I cherish about us, but when you transplant that wonderful and unique can-do attitude to a culture that is not in line with that thinking, failure is likely.

KW, while I do appreciate your positive outlook on all things PR, Nomad makes some realistic points. Anyone who has lived here can attest to that.

I have personally gone through about 8 mechanics in one year that have left my now abandoned truck  in worse shape. Gone though about 2 lawyers, 10 mortgage people, my current landlord is now without his usual maintenance guy because he simply won't return calls. I have done some minor maintenance myself and my landlord reimburses me.

There is a pervasive trend of unprofessional professionals here on the island. That is not just bad experiences, but usually the case. It takes a while to find the folks that are good at what they do, are available, and also provide good customer service and stand behind their work. Work ethic is what I am talking about.

I'm not saying you cannot find good people that do great work in their respective field on the island, but to dismiss this trend as a bad experience is not telling the whole story.

quote Nomadlawyer, I don't see how it's economically possible for a plumber to make a living just off well-off clients from one neighborhood in PR. Are their toilets exploding on a daily basis? Perhaps this gentleman has been really smart with his savings or is drawing some other source of income to make things work. Does he have kids in private school like Jyee will? quote

This Plumber Friend while in the states, where he was going to be laid off in a year. He started constructing his home in PR. He homeschool his kid, he has a paid off house and car. He's not the riches men I know but what I do know that he lives a simple life and he do know how to manage his money. He instaled solar panels in his home and also his wife works a part time.
You don't need alot to survive here in PR if everything else is covered.

Islandman wrote:

KW, while I do appreciate your positive outlook on all things PR, Nomad makes some realistic points. Anyone who has lived here can attest to that.

I have personally gone through about 8 mechanics in one year that have left my now abandoned truck  in worse shape. Gone though about 2 lawyers, 10 mortgage people, my current landlord is now without his usual maintenance guy because he simply won't return calls. I have done some minor maintenance myself and my landlord reimburses me.

There is a pervasive trend of unprofessional professionals here on the island. That is not just bad experiences, but usually the case. It takes a while to find the folks that are good at what they do, are available, and also provide good customer service and stand behind their work. Work ethic is what I am talking about.

I'm not saying you cannot find good people that do great work in their respective field on the island, but to dismiss this trend as a bad experience is not telling the whole story.

Sorry to hear you've had a bad experience in the island. WOW, Are the lawyers, mechanics. ....recommended? I would love to help, If there's anything I could do, I could recommend you any of my contacts feel free to PM.

I'm hoping to use some of my fast pace, reliable customer service skills I've debvloped in the CA Bay Area. I've heard the hardest thing is getting someone to show up so I'm hoping that's where I come in. I also understand money is relative so I won't make what I do in CA because Cost of living is lower in PR

I've called two electricians for the house we are renting. One was a Perrito electricista, got his number off clasificados and his fee to come out and see what was wrong was $65 and could be at the house in 45 minutes, he said he'd apply that towards the fix if something needed fixing. The other one I think works for the electric company and charged $30 to come out and fix and diagnose not including the breaker that had to be replaced which was $50. Neither took check, only cash. Just an idea of quotes I've gotten. This is in the Carolina area. I think if you you provide good service, decent prices and are on time you'll have no problem! Word of mouth referrals are really the best advertising. But don't sell yourself cheap cause anyone will take advantage of that.

Thanks for the heads up