Welcome to Volume Two of Beyond the Installation.
Following on from last month’s article, where I spoke about the break in at our offices and everything that came with it, it got me thinking a little more about the business as a whole, where we are today, where we started, and everything that has happened in between.
When you’re busy running a business you’re normally thinking about the next job, the next customer, the next problem that needs solving or simply what needs doing tomorrow morning. Every now and then, something makes you reflect on just how much has changed; not only within the business, but within the industry and in your own way of thinking.
I’ve been working in the electrical industry for over 20 years now, and when you do anything for that length of time, you inevitably look back and realise that some of the things you were absolutely certain about at the start… you might not be quite so certain about anymore.
The industry has changed massively during that time, and particularly over the last few years with the growth of solar, battery storage, EV charging and smart energy technology. I think I’ve probably changed just as much with it.
So, for this month’s Beyond the Installation, I thought I’d take a look back at some of the things that more than 20 years in the trade has changed my mind about; what I’ve learned, what I value differently now, and perhaps a few things I wish I’d understood a little earlier.
Turns out, 20 years doing something teaches you quite a lot, including how much I still have to learn.
So, as always, grab a brew, take 5 minutes and have a read on if you’re interested 😀
What 20 Years in the Trade Has Changed My Mind About
Having given this amount of time to one particular thing, you’d like to think you’d have picked up a few things along the way. I’ve certainly changed my mind about plenty.
When I first started in the electrical industry, things were relatively simple. I was an electrician. You turned up, did the job properly, got paid and moved onto the next one.
Today, I’m still an electrician at heart, but I also run a business operating across electrical installations, solar PV, battery storage, EV charging and air conditioning. Somewhere between those early days and where we are now, I’ve realised that some of the things I thought were important really weren’t and some of the things I probably didn’t think about enough turned out to matter enormously.
Experience doesn’t mean knowing everything
When you’re younger in the trade, there’s a temptation to think being good means having the answer to everything, judging every installation on a surface level and almost thinking anything other than my way is the wrong way. Twenty years later, I think almost the opposite.
The electrical and renewable industries are changing ridiculously quickly. Solar technology, battery storage, EV charging, smart energy management, regulations and manufacturers are constantly moving forward.
Nobody knows everything.
Experience is knowing when something doesn’t look right. It’s knowing where to find the answer. It’s knowing when to pick up the phone and ask somebody else.
Some of the best conversations we have at M J Wallace are between our own installers. Learning from each other’s experiences can be invaluable. Someone has seen something before, worked with that manufacturer or simply approaches the problem completely differently.
Twenty years ago I probably thought experience meant having all the answers. Now I think it means knowing you don’t.
The cheapest product isn’t usually the cheapest solution
I’ve installed enough equipment over the years to learn this one. There’s always something cheaper; a cheaper consumer unit, a cheaper inverter, a cheaper battery or a cheaper EV charger.
Sometimes cheaper equipment is absolutely fine but price and value are two very different things.
Saving a few hundred pounds at installation doesn’t look quite as clever when something fails five years later and the manufacturer has disappeared, replacement parts aren’t available or nobody wants to support it.
These days I’m much more interested in what happens in year 5, 10 or 15 than what something costs on day one – which can be challenging when trying to communicate this to potential clients.
Good workmanship is often the stuff nobody sees
When I was younger, I probably judged an installation mostly by how it looked when it was finished.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like things a certain way and the guys will tell you how they often have to guess “Mike’s way” of doing something.
Some of the most important parts of an installation are completely invisible once we’ve left. The customer doesn’t see correct cable calculations, proper terminations or how we route cables through the fabric of the building.
A beautiful installation photograph doesn’t tell you whether any of those things have been done correctly.
Instagram has probably made our industry more obsessed with how installations look than ever before. Presentation matters, but what’s behind the cover matters more.
Saying no can be better business than saying yes
This one took me a while.
When you’re building a business, every enquiry feels like an opportunity you need to win. You want the job, you feel like you need the opportunity. Fear of missing out was a real thing.
As the years have gone on, I’ve realised that there are some jobs you shouldn’t take. Sometimes the existing installation isn’t suitable. Sometimes what the customer wants simply isn’t something we’re comfortable putting our name against. We have even been asked to cut corners to reach a particular price by customers or even other installers/builders.
Years ago, losing a job bothered me and I worried about telling people ‘no’. Now, if the only alternative is doing something we don’t believe is right, I’m perfectly comfortable walking away.
Not every job is worth winning.
The people matter more than the products
You can buy the best inverter in the world, have the newest test equipment, smartest software and nicest vans but none of it means much without good people.
Over the years I’ve worked alongside some brilliant electricians and installers. I’ve also learned that technical ability is only part of what makes somebody good at this job.
I can teach someone how to install a solar panel, wire an inverter or commission a battery system. What I can’t teach is conscientiousness – knowing what a good job looks like and caring enough to do it properly, even when nobody is watching. It’s turning up when you say you will, respecting someone’s home, staying that extra half an hour to get something right, and taking five minutes to neatly clip a cable in a loft that the customer may never see. Technical ability can be taught; pride, attitude and attention to detail are much harder to instil. In our industry, those qualities are invaluable.
Problems are part of the job
I used to think a successful installation was one where absolutely nothing went wrong. I don’t anymore.
We’re working on existing buildings, with equipment made by different manufacturers, connected to electrical installations that may have been altered numerous times over several decades, things happen. The wrong component arrives. A cable route turns out to be impossible. Existing wiring isn’t what the survey suggested. Equipment develops a fault or software refuses to communicate.
The measure of a company isn’t whether it ever encounters problems.
It’s what happens next.
Do you disappear?
Do you blame somebody else?
Or do you work the problem until it’s sorted?
I’ve become much more interested in that than pretending every installation is perfect from beginning to end.
Your reputation takes years to build and minutes to ruin
I’ve been asked a few times over the years why I didn’t give the business some flashy name. Why M J Wallace?
The answer is actually pretty simple. I never wanted to hide behind a random, faceless company name. I wanted to put my own name on the business because I knew that, by doing so, I’d have to be proud of everything that went out under it.
My family name means a lot to me. It represents where I’ve come from, my heritage and, hopefully, something I can leave behind one day. When your own name is written on the vans, the workwear, the quotations and ultimately the work itself, there’s nowhere to hide. Every job becomes a reflection of you.
A reputation takes years to build and minutes to ruin. One bad decision, one job you knew wasn’t good enough, one negative review or one customer you didn’t treat properly can undo an enormous amount of hard work. That thought has always stayed with me.
It doesn’t mean we’ll never make mistakes – we’re human and occasionally things will go wrong. What matters is how you deal with them. You turn up, take responsibility and put things right.
For me, M J Wallace isn’t simply the name of the company. It’s my name, my family’s name and my reputation. That gives me a very personal reason to protect it.
I want to build something that I’m proud to put my name to today, and something I’ll still be proud to have my name on many years from now.
There will always be pressure to grow faster, sell more, squeeze another job into the diary or choose the cheaper option but ultimately every installation becomes part of your reputation.
Ten years from now nobody will remember whether we managed to squeeze an extra installation into a particular week but a customer would remember a poor installation and they will remember how we treated them.
I’m still changing my mind everyday
Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson. Twenty years in this industry hasn’t convinced me that I’ve figured everything out. Quite the opposite.
Technology will change, regulations too, meaning constant training and up-skilling are high on my list of priorities.
The way people use energy will change. Products we’re installing today will eventually look ancient and I’m sure there are things I believe today that I’ll look back on in another ten years and wonder what I was thinking.
That’s probably a good thing.
Because the day you decide you’ve learned everything there is to know about your trade is probably the day you should stop doing it.
Twenty years teaches you a lot but perhaps the most useful thing it teaches you is to keep learning.
Anyway, thats my lot for this month, thanks for reading.
