I recently finished a job that I put a relatively low bid on because it was for someone close to me personally. I couldn’t stand the idea of profiting greatly from a job for someone I love. It wasn’t guilt. It was something else. It was the feeling that I wished I could just do it as a favor, but all the same I couldn’t take a loss, so the cost I came up with was bare bones. Just enough to get the materials needed and the lowest labor I could justify for myself. Everything was going to be great. Everyone wins. I stay afloat for a few days and someone I care about gets a quality service for a price that anyone would smile about.
The first day was a complete success. I had a tool rental that I would have to pay for by the day and my goal was to use it up as much as possible, hoping that I won’t have to pay the fee again the next day. After about seven hours of grueling labor with a crappy rental, I wiped the sweat from my face with a rag that was almost as filthy as I was. I packed up the tool and headed to the supply store that furnished me with it. I wanted to complain about the quality of it, but decided that it was a life saver and my mission was accomplished.
The second day I ran into some unforeseen problems. I find that phrase a bit funny since foreseen problems aren’t really problems at all. I mean if you predict a problem, and then you don’t plan ahead for it by working it into your busy schedule, your fortune telling skills are not very useful. I went back to the store and spent more money on tools that I was not expecting to spend. This would not have been a big deal, but remember, I was operating on bare bone dollars. In the end I had to eat that extra cost. No worries. The job is finished, successfully and on schedule. I am simply making a note to myself and any possible readers out there to plan for both foreseen problems AND unforeseen problems.
