Electricians

Just Electrical Sydney started as a nights-and-weekends thing, jobs for family and friends after his seven-to-three. About three years ago Bill went out on his own, and the old shop’s two apprentices came with him. Today it’s Bill plus four electricians and four apprentices, a part-time admin on the phones, five cars on the road, and a warehouse in Marrickville since the start of this year.

The hiring rule is kindness before skill. “Skills can always be taught.” What can’t be taught is being someone a customer is glad to find on the doorstep: on time, tidy, respectful. Around Annandale the house is usually double brick, so rewiring means chasing out walls, the semis are tight and damp, and the roof space on a 35-degree day is, in Bill’s words, “not great”.

His advice after 12 years: don’t pick an electrician on price alone. The work is mostly hidden. “If someone’s doing a dodgy job up in your roof, you’re not going to know.” Check the insurance, read the reviews, look up the licence. If your switchboard still runs ceramic fuses, book a safety check. “Just because it’s been working for the last 50 years doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

Bill mostly runs the business rather than the tools now (“sitting behind a computer all day kind of does my head in”) and gets back out when an apprentice sprains an ankle. Just Electrical Sydney covers the Inner West, handles general electrical and data work (solar and batteries he leaves to the solar trade), and answers after-hours emergencies.