I Was Too Dumb to Quit, Persistence Beats Talent in Estimating
In electrical estimating, persistence consistently outperforms natural talent. Estimators who show up, learn from mistakes, and build repeatable systems over time develop skills that no amount of raw ability can replicate. Refusing to quit—not being gifted—is the real competitive edge in this industry.
I started in this trade in 1973 digging ditches. I had no formal estimating training. No mentor handed me a blueprint and said, “Here’s how it works.” I figured it out by doing it badly, fixing it, and doing it again. And again. If I had quit every time I felt like I was in over my head, I wouldn’t have spent the next 50 years helping contractors win more work and make more money.
That stubbornness—some people might call it being too dumb to quit—turned out to be the best thing I had going for me.
Why Does Natural Talent Fail Estimators Over Time?
Talented people often have an invisible problem: things come easy early, so they never build the habits that carry you through the hard parts. When the numbers don’t work, when they miss a scope item and lose margin on a job, they take it personally. Some walk away.
Less naturally gifted estimators do something different. They write it down. They build a checklist. They ask why it went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen the same way twice. That process—slow and unglamorous as it is—compounds into real expertise.
Persistence isn’t the consolation prize for people who lack talent. It’s what actually builds skill.
A Real Story: Repetition as the Great Equalizer
I’ve watched estimators come and go for decades. One that sticks with me was a guy who struggled with nearly everything in his first year—reading specs, pricing material, calculating labor units. His numbers were slow and often off. A more “talented” estimator might have finished twice as fast.
But he kept showing up. He reviewed every bid after results came in. He asked why he was high, why he was low, and what he missed. Within three years, he was one of the most consistent estimators I’d seen. His accuracy wasn’t natural. It was earned through repetition and a refusal to stop learning.
That’s the story I tried to capture in my book, Everybody Has A First: “Lessons from a Lifetime in Electrical Contracting and Business“. Every expert was once a beginner. Every strong estimate was once a painful loss.
How Does Persistence Build Long-Term Estimating Competency?
There are three areas where staying power matters most:
Accuracy. Producing reliable electrical estimates doesn’t happen after ten bids or even fifty. It takes thousands of estimates, hundreds of post-bid reviews, and a willingness to measure your misses honestly. The estimators who stick around long enough to go through that cycle become genuinely difficult to compete against.
Client relationships. General contractors and owners don’t trust a new name on a bid sheet. Trust is built through years of showing up with clean numbers, on time, without drama. That kind of reputation can’t be faked or fast-tracked—it accumulates through consistent, reliable work over a long period.
Market knowledge. Labor costs shift. Material prices move. Subcontractor availability changes by region and season. The estimators who stay in the field long enough absorb this knowledge automatically. It becomes instinct. That instinct is worth more than any innate skill.
What Can You Do Right Now to Build Persistence Into Your Process?
Three things that actually work:
- Show up on bad days: The bids you want to skip—the complicated ones, the ones where the specs are a mess—those are where you learn the most. Do them anyway.
- Treat every mistake as data: When a job goes over budget or a bid comes in way off, don’t move on. Sit with it. Find the number that was wrong and trace it back to a decision you made during estimating. That feedback loop is how accuracy gets built.
- Build systems, not memory: Checklists, templates, and bid review protocols don’t slow you down. They protect you from the mistakes that repeat themselves when you’re working fast under deadline pressure.
Persistence Is the Real Competitive Advantage in Electrical Estimating
Talent gets you started. Persistence gets you there.
The electrical estimating field rewards people who stay long enough to understand it deeply—who have seen enough jobs go right and wrong to know the difference before it shows up on a cost report. That knowledge doesn’t come fast, and it doesn’t come easy. But it does come to the people who refuse to quit.
I’ve been in this industry for over 50 years. The most successful estimators and contractors I’ve known weren’t always the most gifted. They were the ones who were too stubborn—or maybe too dumb—to stop.
Frequently Asked
Questions
Does natural talent matter at all in electrical estimating?
Natural aptitude can give an estimator a faster start, but it rarely determines long-term success. Electrical estimating requires accurate takeoffs, labor productivity knowledge, material pricing, and client relationship skills—none of which develop fully without years of repetition and real-world feedback.
How long does it take to become a competent electrical estimator?
Most experienced contractors would say it takes a minimum of three to five years of consistent estimating work before someone develops reliable accuracy. Building deep market knowledge and strong client relationships typically takes much longer—often a decade or more.
What’s the most common reason new electrical estimators quit?
Early losses and missed bids are discouraging, especially when the estimator doesn’t understand why the numbers were wrong. Without a feedback process—reviewing results, identifying errors, and adjusting—the mistakes repeat and the frustration compounds until quitting feels like the only option.
What habits separate persistent estimators from those who burn out?
The most resilient estimators treat bid reviews as non-negotiable, build checklists that catch recurring errors, and measure their results over time rather than reacting to individual wins or losses. They focus on process consistency rather than outcome anxiety.
Where can I learn more about building a career in electrical contracting and estimating?
Steve Griffin’s book, Everybody Has A First: “Lessons from a Lifetime in Electrical Contracting and Business”, covers the real-world lessons behind building a successful career—from the first estimate to owning a contracting business. Available on Amazon.
Steve Griffin
Founder of Best Bid Electrical Estimating Software
Electrician • Estimator • Contractor • Author • Software Developer
From digging ditches in 1973 to creating one of the industry’s longest-running electrical estimating software systems, Steve Griffin has spent more than 50 years helping contractors win more work and make more money.
