1. The Lone Man is under capitalized and cannot handle or afford mistakes or miscommunications. His liability insurance does not cover contract disputes or miscommunications.
2. Lack of capital means the Lone Man will take risks and cut corners to save money because he cannot afford a mistake. Usually, you’ll find that he’ll bid your project below his cost to get the job and cannot afford quality parts or the time to do the job correctly.
3. The Lone Man does not provide proper documentation of his Worker’s Compensation insurance and claims to not “need” it. His general liability insurance is bare bones with a deductible he cannot even cover.
4. The Lone Man provides you only with a cell phone number and P.O. box which makes it easy for him to disappear.
5. The Lone Man does not have access to a wealth of information or an entire company of specialists when dealing with a unique problem or situation.
6. The Lone Man generally does not have an account at an electrical supply house and cannot get quality parts. He generally buys everything from a “Box Store.” He works out of his garage so he does not keep specialty parts on hand.
7. The Lone Man can only be one place at a time and therefore cannot respond immediately to callbacks, warranty claims, or other issues.
8. The Lone Man is hard to contact. He has no office, secretary, or a live person to answer your call.
9. The Lone Man is not accountable to a supervisor or boss. He cannot be fired for mistreating the customer or doing bad work.
10. The Lone Man has no backup if he needs help. So he takes risks and cuts corners.
11. The Lone Man has not invested in ALL the tools necessary to do the job correctly so he cuts corners and takes risks. He uses a ladder too short or the wrong bit or the wrong tool for the application and the customer gets a less than perfect project or installation.
12. The Lone Man does not have a fully stocked vehicle so he makes multiple trips to the local hardware store. This makes even a small job take longer.
13. If the Lone Man moves, quits, gets a job, dies, changes his cell phone number, breaks a leg, goes to jail, joins the army, etc…your warranty is GONE.
14. The Lone Man generally does not have forms or invoices so he leaves the customer nothing for future home buyers or in case of a dispute.
15. The Lone Man is not background checked or drug screened.
16. The Lone Man’s entire credibility comes from one referral. Generally, that referral doesn’t know any more about him than you do.
17. The Lone Man does not wear shoe booties to protect your floor.
18. The Lone Man generally cannot take your credit card.
