Happy Birthday to the fellows below 
I will be getting my licence as soon as I pick an Insurance , I choose 2 companys . which are on this website , so needing some direction on things I need to get done and in what order they should be done ?
Also is there any Free software out there that works ok ?
thank you
Jeff Guyberson
Jeff, I do hope you are planning on doing things right, It does sound like it. But saying that IMO you need to at least get the following things. Decent but resonably priced E&O insurance, starting out you will not need the cadilac version, David Wicker (InspectorPro) is a good start to look at. Decent inspection equipment again don’t cheap out but don’t get all the fancy bells and whistles or you will just break your bank and go hungry. Try out several of the sample inspection programs out there and prepare to pay for one of them. Freeware will look it,be limited and your clients will see the cheap in them. Personally I went with Home Guage but others like it are good. Get a good web site setup, maybe check out Ian at FullView to get an idea of what you want. Plan on not getting a lot of work to begin with, don’t get discouraged it will come but depending on your area, which by the way you need to fill out in your profile so we know where you are, will determine how fast you grow. Don’t fall for the gimmick advertisers who tell you they can get you on page one Google search for $XXX a month, not worth it and you will go broke. See about setting up a FB page it does help a bit, slow but starting out anything helps.But after all that good luck and God bless. Oh and learn to like hotdogs, the cheap ones, you may be eating them for a few months as your business starts to grow.
There can be is a large failure in our industry .
Those who mentor with another inspector seem be able to make a good living much faster then those who do not get out with other inspectors .
I wish you well Roy
This is good advice. The best thing to do after your NACHI courses is find a mentor. Its not easy because people don’t like training their competition. I had to commute 2 hours everyday while I mentored with another inspector who was out of my market. I did this for a few months because only watching a few inspections is not a enough IMO.
The next best thing I have done is starting reading books on business. My favorite is the E-Myth (I have read it four times now). You are a business owner as well as an inspector and that is not easy to learn if you have just been a tradesman, like I was.
Report Host is free for members up to 10 times.
I LOVE IT. No upfront cost. Pretty important to new guys. Reports look as good if not better than all the ones the other guys around here will shove down your throat because they got sucked in. You only pay after you have used your free reports and then not much. Always updating and changing with the times. Simple use. Good customer service.
What have you done to market yourself and company? If nothing you need to start now as there will be a lag between marketing and business. Get that web site up and running ASAP as it will be your primary source of business at first (don’t skimp here). As mentioned look at report software as your report is your product and it should be professional. Think where you’re going with you business and make sure your report software will support it (full integration with other products and support platforms/software is important). Stalk your competitors websites and see what they offer call a few to get a feel for pricing and scheduling. Don’t low ball but its ok to be a little lower say $5-10 then the competition, If you too low you’ll end up with the homes other inspectors don’t want, have a ton of stuff going on (think longer onsite and report writing time I use HG and it has limited integation) or they are price shoppers (who for what ever reason tend to complain more). So in summary market, market, market, NOW.
The system I inspected for my essay is that of a “new build” Galeveston Texas beach house on Crystal beach. The system is brand new and has not been in use other than the builder. This is an aerobic system with two 500 gallon tanks which each have 20" risers for inspection and maintenance. The riser for the effluent tank is missing all but two screws on the riser cap. I inspected the influent tank and found the baffle and pipes in good condition. The power cords were collected above fluid height. The “clear water” was very low due to little use but the pump looked good as did the effluent pipe. I also noted the drain fields were dry and the system appears to be in good working condition.
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]Sorry Mr. McWilliams. You failed to properly read instructions and your little blurb here will earn you no points. Try again.
