Our company in S. Texas has been in business for 25 yrs and the two biggest problems we have expierenced has been getting full payment when due and competition from either bootleggers working on the side or UNLICENSED "so called electricians". Thankfully the State of Texas has a enforcement arm and are doing what they can to stop unlicensed work. I laways said when you see contractors driving new pickups and flashy toys the bottom is fixing to fall out. I got caught in that position once years ago a learned a really good lesson from that. We have seen this 2 times in the last 25 years. All the ones that were chasing the new housing market have now FLOODED the small job and service/repair jobs resulting cutting into our bread and butter work. Don't worry though....many of thos guys will be out of business soon because they didn't plan for the long haul. remember they have the trucks and toy payments to make. Yes it is going to be a tough winter to survive this year but rely on your repeat business and referrals from word of mouth. If you do a good job at a fair price your customer will call you again. Its ok to make a profit, nothing wrong with that, but please don't give it away. That ruins the market as a whole. If you can't make a profit you are better to stay at home and let the other guy lose his fanny and few times till he is out of business. Slow times are also likely times to catch people in their office who are normally busy and not available. It never hurts to seek new business. You lose some customers each year for a number of reasons so alway be on the hustle for new opportunities. Hopefully the reputable contractors will survice this mess. When life feeds you lemons, break out the tequila !.. ...