Contractors license proves key to success
Electrician Raul Eduardo (Eddie) Vasquez
Electrician Raul Eduardo (Eddie) Vasquez knew he needed a contractors license to take the next step. To work for companies that would help him grow his business, he knew he had to have the qualifications.
“It always seemed to be out of reach” says Vasquez, “like winning the lottery. And then I saw a sign by the Riverside freeway that said I could go to the California Contractors State Licensing School (CSLS) to get a contractors license. I took the next off-ramp and went directly to the school.”
Vasquez began his career digging ditches to lay electrical services. “I was consistent,” he says. “Others would start on the job and then leave. I stayed because I needed the work to pay my bills. Because of that, the contractor trained me. ‘You be my journeyman,’ he said. I worked for him for four years, learning on the job.”
He followed that with two years of college and after graduation, signed on with a San Bernardino, Calif., electrical contractor to learn commercial construction and higher voltage electrical work. His employer encouraged him to spend three days a week on the job and develop a side business the other two days.
Vasquez quickly found that to move from low paying jobs to corporate accounts meant getting a contractors license. CSLS Director Ernie Barberi, told him the “only regret would be that he didn’t do it sooner.”
“Barberi never gave up on me and I’m really thankful for his support and encouragement,” says Vasquez. “I went back to school in 2010, studied hard, passed the test and got my license. The school provides everything you need. It wasn’t easy, but it’s paid off.”
Doors that were shut to Vasquez when he didn’t have his contractors license and bonding began to open, and in the last two years, he’s had great success working for property management companies. The housing association where he lives contracted with him to look after all the electrical work for the 200 homes of the complex. When the manager left to look after a different, similar-sized complex, Vasquez got the call for that one work too. Then he got another break.
“I have a friend in Pomona who works for a company that manages gas stations in the area,” he says,” and he suggested to his boss that I could take care of electrical problems all over the Inland Empire – Perris, Temecula, San Bernardino, Hemet and Murrieta. I could never have gotten a project like that before.”
The quality of the work he does keeps customers calling. “I don’t advertise or have a website yet but I get regular calls from property managers,” says Vasquez. “Now I work less, travel less and make more money. I can even come home early if I want to.”
For Vasquez the future looks bright. “I want to grow my business slowly,” he says, “and I think the next step is to hire a state-certified electrician to help grow the business. It’s not my dream to make hundreds of thousands of dollars but I would like to be successful and make my customers happy – and if that brings in some money, I’m good with that.”
