Adam (00:00):
What is the best advice you can give to a high schooler who is thinking about going into the trades? 

Jacob (00:06):
Do it. I’m a trade advocate. Do it. 

Adam (00:08):
How did you persuade your parents that what you were doing was good after you dropped out of college? 

Jacob (00:14):
Well, I think they could see that it was good, but what persuaded them was when I actually did it. 

Adam (00:22):
According to Jobber’s latest blue collar report, 82% of Gen Z think that there’s a stronger opportunity in going into the trades for their career. Today, I introduce you to an electrician who is killing it. He decided not to do the traditional thing and he decided to start his own business. He is the entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. You’re going to love him. Jacob Palmer, thanks for being here. I appreciate it. 

Jacob (00:46):
Thanks for having me, Adam. 

Adam (00:47):
Take us back to the early days before you had your license, as you were graduating high school, I guess. What made you think I could become an electrician? 

Jacob (00:54):
So after high school, my full intention was four years of college and a business degree of some sort. The bottom line is I graduated high school class of 2020, COVID year. 

Adam (01:05):
Wow. 

Jacob (01:06):
So my last day of high school was in March before they shut it down for a two week break. And we all know how that turned down. I still went to UNCC. I already got accepted and that’s all I… Obviously you go to college, that’s what you’re supposed to do. It didn’t work. It was all online. It was all Zoom calls. And what I tell people is it was entirely intangible. I wasn’t doing homework for a teacher. I was doing homework for an icon on the Zoom call. So I finished my first two semesters there. I could tell after the second one, well, I could tell after the first one, I didn’t want to keep doing it. My mom hired an electrician for something around the house and he mentioned that he was looking for help. So let’s do it. I had an interest in electricity. I was good in science class. I was good in physics, so I really loved learning about electricity And whatnot. 

Adam (01:58):
That’s a good start. 

Jacob (01:59):
Yeah. The biggest thing I needed to learn was tools and how to work in a house, really, because I had never done anything like that before. So I got started with that electrician and my mom hired, 

Adam (02:12):
Did you ever tinker as a kid with wires and little motors and light bulbs or not? 

Jacob (02:17):
Oh, definitely. Yeah. I would take apart stuff, just see what’s inside of it. I vividly remember taking apart my grandma’s old computer one time and having everything spread out along in her living room. One of my biggest inspiration was my grandfather. He sadly passed away earlier this year, but he was an electrician in the Navy back in the ’70s. Every time I would go up to visit him in the summertime, we would always be making something. We’d get down in his little wood shop and make stuff and he would teach me about wires and what a circuit is, the rudiments of what electricity is. My grandpa is the one who showed me that you can affect the physical world around you. You can make things. 

Adam (03:04):
So you drop out of college more or less? 

Jacob (03:07):
I dropped out of college. I absolutely did. 

Adam (03:09):
It’s easy to say that now, six years later, unemotionally, as if it was easy, but take us back to that decision because that’s a big decision. 

Jacob (03:16):
That was the worst time of my life. 

Adam (03:19):
Oh, wow. Okay. 

Jacob (03:20):
Oh, it was horrible. In high school, I did all sorts of academic extracurriculars. I was an avid participant in DECA. I was good at it. So I did that all four years, and that’s like suit and tie, dress up, it’s business professional stuff. 

Adam (03:35):
Wow. I haven’t heard of that. 

Jacob (03:36):
And then I also participated in student leadership in student organizations. It taught me about what leadership is like and self-direction. And I say all this to say, listen, I fully intended on getting a degree. 

Adam (03:50):
Besides being called a college dropout, was that the scariest thing? The label? 

Jacob (03:53):
The embarrassment. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I didn’t want to be known as a college dropout, but, 

Adam (03:58):
So what did you see that was worth being called that? 

Jacob (04:02):
I left because I hated the online classes. And I could tell I was entirely demotivated. I didn’t want to. 

Adam (04:08):
Well, you could have gone to a different college or you could have waited till they went back in person. You saw something in life. Something pulled you into the trades and electricial work. 

Jacob (04:18):
I guess the college, it just didn’t feel right. 

Adam (04:20):
So did you apprentice under somebody? 

Jacob (04:23):
Yes, I did. Yeah. So that electrician that my mom hired, that’s who I did my apprenticeship with. It was a small business doing service work, which exposed me to such a wide variety of different types of installations, different types of equipment, different problems that exist. I got to go through the inspections process so many times and how permits and inspections work. But the most valuable thing about working for that company was the fact that it was so small. I was pretty much part of the business operations. It was fully transparent. It was me and my boss and I could see what he was doing to run the business. I think that I’m definitely lucky to have been paired up with this company because I hear so much from people saying that they started their apprenticeships and all they do is the basic grunt work. They’re moving around ladders and going. 

Adam (05:15):
They’re helpers, not apprentices. 

Jacob (05:16):
They’re helpers. Exactly. Exactly. 

Adam (05:18):
We have to do better than that. 

Jacob (05:20):
I agree. No, that’s the fastest way to turn somebody around out the doors. 

Adam (05:24):
Right back to college. Yeah. Question, just frankly, were you upfront with him from day one that I’m here for an apprenticeship, then I’ll be out? Did you know that at the time? 

Jacob (05:34):
I knew that my goal was to get an electrical license. I needed to make up for dropping out of college to my parents. I guess that’s what I needed to do something else to make them proud. 

Adam (05:43):
So when you told the guy, “I want to get my license,” that’s code for, “As soon as I get my license, I’m going to go start my own business,” basically, right? 

Jacob (05:52):
Not necessarily, but in my case, yes. I could see that I had something. 

Adam (05:58):
Sure. 

Jacob (05:59):
I knew there was something out there that I was going to do and it wasn’t going to be working for somebody else. 

Adam (06:04):
Did DECA help? 

Jacob (06:05):
DECA, 

Adam (06:06):
High School program? 

Jacob (06:07):
Participating in DECA was the best decision I’ve ever made in my entire life. 

Adam (06:11):
What? 

Jacob (06:12):
No, I feel very, very strongly about that. That’s amazing. And I recommend if there’s high schoolers watching, join DECA. 

Adam (06:19):
Wow. 

Jacob (06:20):
No, it’s really good. So what it teaches you is thinking on your feet, obviously you get 10 minutes to prepare. And man, it’s stressful when you’re in high school because you’re going to go sit across from an adult and you’re wearing a suit. So you think on your feet. Creative problem-solving is a huge part of DECA, thinking outside the box, seeing how you can flip a bad situation. Also with DECA, there’s the actual subject matter stuff that you study. So like the insurance thing that I mentioned, you would study some of the insurance beforehand. But ultimately it’s about professional communication. They teach you about how to give a good handshake and they teach you why it’s important to look somebody in their eyes. 

Adam (07:04):
And sounds like how to think and process information quickly. Jacob, I just love this story of yours. You’re crushing it as an entrepreneur. I’m super proud of you. Let’s pause for a second and talk about Jobber. Something you’ve said is that you started with a CRM from day one when you started your business, and that is such a critical part of starting a business, isn’t it? 

Jacob (07:25):
Absolutely. It gives you that step up, that professional edge over the guy who is still using pen and paper. And part of the reason I like Jobber is because you can start with a basic package. You don’t have to go for the big package. You can start small and then as your business grows, you can upgrade to the other features that Jobber offers to accommodate your growth. 

Adam (07:47):
If you are just starting out your business today and you’re wondering what to do, get a CRM, get Jobber. Jobber will get you started on the right track from day one and you’ll be better for it. So go to jobber.com/podcastdeal, get the exclusive discount, start your free trial and start building your business on Jobber. 

(08:08)
Okay, so then you leave your employer and you go off on your own and the phone’s ringing off the hook at this point or did take some time? 

Jacob (08:17):
Yeah. Okay. So immediately, so there’s a small detail right after I left my job, which was for a month or two, I spent time looking for other jobs. 

Adam (08:30):
Oh, okay. 

Jacob (08:31):
Because I really want it, and I still do, and it’s still in the back of my mind, but I want more skills. I’m an excellent, excellent electrician, but that’s about all the technical skill that I have. I would love to know how to work on cars, but obviously now I can’t go back and do that. So I was looking for more skills in that time. Nobody wanted to hire me because they thought I was a freshly licensed electrician, and I think that was kind of off-putting for some employers maybe. But in any case, I decided that, you know what? Yeah, this is going to be… I’m going to start Palmer Electrical. And yes, then I was on the ground just trying to find leads. And my first few leads came from the neighborhood. The guy across the street was my first job and I put in an outlet for him and just basic stuff. I asked him for a review. I asked him to tell people about me and it just started with the basics. 

Adam (09:23):
How’d you afford all the tools and all this stuff? Did you start with some money? Did you start with nothing? Did you have some money saved up from high school? How did you fund all this? 

Jacob (09:29):
Yeah, so my startup costs were very low. I already owned the tools that I needed from doing my apprenticeship. I had the equipment already, had the know-how and everything. I just put the two together and just started doing basic work. 

Adam (09:43):
What brand do you use? 

Jacob (09:44):
Milwaukee Red Team. 

Adam (09:45):
They’re the best red baby. 

Jacob (09:46):
Red team. The Red Army. 

Adam (09:49):
I love that because specifically for electrical, so much of what they’re buying is your skills and the tools that you require aren’t very expensive and you could drive pretty much whatever car you wanted over there, at least in the early days. You have a sweet car now. Yeah. We’ll get to that in a second, but it’s very low operating expense, very low, right? 

Jacob (10:10):
Yeah, get yourself set up with some general liability insurance. I knew early that CRM was important, so I got started with my CRM software for quoting and invoicing. 

Adam (10:20):
Any tools you recommend to people? Even just the nitty-gritty tools. 

Jacob (10:23):
An electrical contractor, I really like having my NFPA link app, which is the electrical code app basically. There’s other codes and standards on there, but that’s what I use for my day-to-day access to the electrical code. The biggest and most valuable piece of equipment was my truck whenever I finally got out of my Highlander. So I got it. It was a Facebook marketplace special. Nice. It was rough shape. But whenever I got into my service vehicle, it’s an F-150 with a service utility cap and a ladder rack. It’s a professional’s vehicle. It’s not a new one. It’s 2008. She’s worn. And actually I had to get the engine replaced in it a year later. That was a big one, which is obviously a substantial expense for a new business is buying a vehicle. But I would point out that if doing work out of a Toyota Highlander looks like a side hustle. 

Adam (11:15):
Sure. 

Jacob (11:16):
You’re not in it all the way. It’s not as professional. They got the same work. They got the same level of quality experience, but it’s still visually a kid in this Highlander. 

Adam (11:26):
So wrapped vehicles for you then? 

Jacob (11:28):
I recommend a wrapped vehicle. 

Adam (11:30):
What do you have? What do you got? 

Jacob (11:33):
I got my 2008 F-150 utility truck, and then so more recently I acquired a 2026 Tesla Model Y that I,

Adam (11:43):
Ooh, nice. All electric, that makes sense. 

Jacob (11:46):
All electric, yes. I got it wrapped to match the truck, and then I had a ladder rack made for it on top. So I have it set up because, 

Adam (11:56):
Teslas probably don’t come off the factory or ready for a ladder rack, I’m guessing. 

Jacob (11:59):
No, no, not usually. 

Adam (12:00):
It fits your brand, electrical, that’s great. Yeah, that makes sense. 

Jacob (12:04):
Definitely. And so part of the decision of the model Y was because I was on YouTube doing YouTube contest. So it’s really flashy and ridiculous to look at on YouTube. So part of that decision making was that, but also EV charging work is some of my favorite work to do. It doesn’t change anything about who I am or what the work that I do, but it adds perceived credibility on the subject matter of electric vehicles and EV charging because I have one. I showed up in one. And then these days, the gas savings is substantial and noticeable. 

Adam (12:36):
Totally fantastic. Yeah. 

Jacob (12:38):
So yeah, pretty much 80% of the jobs that I do are out of the Tesla. 

Adam (12:43):
I got to ask you, I want to change topics a little bit here. Pricing. One of the biggest problems people have when they first start their business is pricing. A lot of times they just look what the competitor charges and they charge a little less or usually a little bit less and not a whole lot of thought goes into it, frankly. They don’t really think about their profit margins, all these different things. So tell us about your journey with that. How did you figure out your pricing and is it good right now? Is it could be better? 

Jacob (13:06):
That’s one of the trickiest parts of setting up your business is assigning your worth. It’s important that you’re not a crazy outlier with your competition. If you’re being higher or lower is okay, but if you’re way higher or way lower, that’s going to discredit your quote. So try to, the best you can, get an idea of what stuff costs in your market. Also, to the owner who just left their apprenticeship because they got their license and they’re starting fresh, don’t get stuck on the 30 bucks an hour you were getting paid at your last job. Like you said, with your overhead and everything, that really changes things. So what I do is I take the month, add up all my fixed monthly expenses and then divide it by 20 because I work four, five day weeks in a month. So I divide it by 20. 

Adam (14:01):
So 20 work days a month then is what you’re getting at? 

Jacob (14:03):
Yes, exactly. Yes. Figure out how many jobs you’re doing in a week and keep your daily overhead in mind, I guess is what I’m trying to say. 

Adam (14:13):
Yeah. You figure out what you want to make it per day and then you figure out what your average job size is. How many jobs of those can I do in a day? And you just basically work backwards and then you’re like, “Well, hourly wage, okay, $100, whatever it was.” 

Jacob (14:25):
People will always undervalue. Pretty much what I’ve seen, especially in the trades, people will always undervalue themselves at first. Give yourself credit. You’re worth more than you think you are. So if you’re on the fence and if it’s not high enough or too low, then put 5% on it or, 

Adam (14:44):
Whatever. Have you raised your price as much since you started? 

Jacob (14:46):
Yeah. Yeah, I have. Partially due to the change in cost of goods sold that fluctuates a lot, especially these days, copper prices are high. 

Adam (14:56):
Copper’s big for you. 

Jacob (14:57):
So wire fluctuates a lot. But of course that’s cost of goods sold. I also now, I have had enough leads to where I’m becoming more and more selective. So I increase my minimum charge based on that to attract a certain type of customer. 

Adam (15:18):
When your demand goes up, price goes up. Exactly. When you’re being more selective, demand is going up. 

Jacob (15:22):
Yeah. And then I can also justify a higher minimum charge because I can prove my quality with my YouTube channel. I mean, if you have a question, if I’m worth this or not, you can go watch me work and make that judgment call for yourself. 

Adam (15:37):
I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a lot of clients out there that would pay double to hire you. I’ll just be honest. 

Jacob (15:41):
Yeah. Well, I know that I’m leaving money on the table. I have to be honest about that because I don’t run as crazy efficient as a lot of people would expect. Okay. So one detail is I don’t really keep track of job costing. I don’t keep track of that on paper. 

Adam (15:58):
I’m surprised. 

Jacob (15:59):
I know how much I’m charging for the job. I know how much I paid for all this clump of materials here because I just know. And that only works because I’m solo. You can’t do that if you’re running a team, obviously. 

Adam (16:12):
Better allocate that time somewhere else on social media content and other things. Big return. 

Jacob (16:17):
And this isn’t the thinking that the people who built the giant contractors had. I have to be honest about that too. The people who build the big boys out there, they were keeping really close track of all that. But yeah, exactly. So I have to admit that as a shortcoming of mine. My long-term goals don’t involve running a large-scale electrical business. So I give myself that freedom. 

Adam (16:46):
Totally. All right, Jacob, let’s do a lightning round here. Questions. Just give me the best thing you got. Number one, what is the best advice you can give to a high schooler who is thinking about going into the trades? 

Jacob (16:58):
Do it. I’m a trade advocate. Do it. 

Adam (17:00):
How did you persuade your parents that what you were doing was good after you dropped out of college? 

Jacob (17:06):
Well, I think they could see that it was good, but what persuaded them was when I actually did it. 

Adam (17:12):
How can someone reclaim that tinker mentality that you had as a kid? As adults, that tends to fade away. How can we reclaim that? 

Jacob (17:20):
Oh man. Well, I mean, there’s nothing stopping you. I mean, get started, play with something. 

Adam (17:25):
What was the best part of your apprenticeship? 

Jacob (17:27):
The best part of my apprenticeship was whenever I unlocked a new skill, which happened of course several times, but whenever I discovered like, “Oh, hey, look, I can do this now and I don’t need nobody else to do it.” And I have this knowledge that’s valuable. Every time I unlocked a new little thing, that’s the best part. 

Adam (17:45):
Least favorite part of the apprenticeship? 

Jacob (17:47):
Crawl spaces. Crawlspaces. 

Adam (17:50):
And what’s one of your hobbies completely unrelated to work? 

Jacob (17:52):
Roller skating. I love roller skating. 

Adam (17:54):
Roller skating. I love that. 

Jacob (17:56):
My first job, I was a roller skating rink DJ. 

Adam (17:58):
Yes. I’m so glad I asked that question. Jacob, thanks for being here. You’re crushing it. How do people find out more about you? 

Jacob (18:04):
People should check out my YouTube channel, Palmer Electrical, as well as you can find out a whole bunch more about me at palmerelectricalservices.com. 

Adam (18:14):
You are living the American dream. You are taking the bull by the horns, you’re making things happen, taking risks, and you’re being rewarded for it. So great job. I’m really proud of you. 

Jacob (18:24):
Thank you. I’m excited for the future. 

Adam (18:26):
And thank you for all the impact you’ve had on all the people that follow you, on our listeners, your friends, your family. Keep it up. Franchises promise faster growth, but what’s the reality behind the curtain? Next week, we’re having an honest conversation about what makes a franchise partnership work and where they can go wrong. And thank you for listening. I hope that you were inspired by a Gen Z entrepreneur who is just going out there and getting it done. I love it. Great job, Jacob. I’m your host, Adam Sylvester. You can find me at adamsylvester.com. Your team and your clients deserve your very best, so go give it to them.