Congratulations to our December Contractor of the Month, Peter E. Gonzalez! Peter is the sole owner of his business, Pete Gonzalez Electric # 638319, located in Napa, California. He has been a licensed electrical contractor for 26 years.
Peter became a contractor so he could have more independence in his work life. One of the biggest challenges he faced was during his time working for his father’s business. A secretary had embezzled money and wrote bad checks, so the IRS closed down their business. It gave Peter the push to start his own business, even though it would have to be from scratch.
Most large jobs propose some kind of challenge, says Peter, but most frequently the projects that have a strict deadline are the hardest. For example, when a store had to be open by Christmas season: “We did a Brooks Brother department store and in the middle of the night, the floor guy chopped off his finger.” Peter continues by saying that mistakes get made while working late hours, but “we got the job done in time for Christmas! Whoo Hoo!”.
As Peter recalls his career, he remembered another difficult time in which he had to let an employee go due to many unfortunate events. He sent the employee to temporarily disconnect power to a job trailer and later found out the wrong trailer had been disconnected. Peter sent the electrician back to disconnect the trailer and found out he once again didn’t disconnect the appropriate job trailer. Later Peter found out this electrician had dyslexia. Peter gave him another chance to measure the conduit runs and wire needed to pull inside the conduit. Every measurement that was recorded was wrong, so Peter had to let him go. It was better to be safe than sorry.
Small businesses deal with tons of taxes and regulations, especially in California. This has been a major hurdle for Peter’s business. However, he is glad that the laws have progressed helping protect the employees and the consumer.
For new contractors, Peter suggests, “Educate yourself on every facet of your business from throwing out the garbage to collecting on your receivables.” Beyond that, Peter says it’s very important to keep your records straight, set goals and plan them out, and continue your contractor education through reading.
CCIS would like to wish Peter Gonzalez the best of luck in his future career and throw him a big thank you for his service to our community! To learn more about Pete Gonzalez Electric, check out Peter’s website at http://hstrial-petegonzalezelec.homestead.com/
If you are interested in becoming our next contractor of the month, please email sadie@ccisbonds.com for an application. If selected, your company will be highlighted in our blog and you will receive a free contractor of the month t-shirt!