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I went over a plan with a pretty good sized landscape contractor today. Afterward, we hung out and talked about different things for over an hour. One of the subjects that came up was commercial install work. I asked if he sees a lot of competition in it.
He said that regardless of how many companies are bidding on good sized commercial work, there is usually just two or three other companies that are true competition in that they are just as likely to get the job as he is. The reason he gave was very simple. He has the equipment and man power to quickly have 10 to 20 guys on site, organized, and productive on very short notice. He said the GCs won't bother with anyone who does not have that capability. He went further to say that if you need to get 10-20 guys in there, you better have the GC convinced that you have twice as many working for you at the same time in other places. It is all about getting called in to get lots done in very short windows of time. That really limits the competition.
He can tell by looking at the size and scope of work, whether there is a greater possibility that smaller companies are capable of getting the job done and will drive the bidding prices down. He'll pass on the bid because he knows it will be a waste of time because he'll either be over the other bids or won't make any money if he gets it.
Interestingly enough, he talked about other jobs where he knew he would be amongst the lesser qualified.
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