Get in touch with us
We serve home owners and small businesses across the country remotely with things like computer repair, training and support. We also handle onsite work in Oregon, Washington, and Utah currently. Please stay tuned as we expand into your area!
Scheduling a Site Walk Today!
We can send a technician by for a site walk to explore solutions that will fit perfectly in your budget and help to make your life easier.
Office Address :
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah
Mail Us :
scheduling@aguyiknow.com
Call Us :
888-375-7517
503-707-0284 FAXFrequently Asked Questions
Our mission is simple: help your business get more done in less time, for less money, so more of your revenue reaches the bottom line.
We bill only for what you actually use by the minute, by the mile, with parts provided at wholesale cost. No unnecessary markups, inflated project pricing, or long-term commitments.
With complete transparency, you can see what is happening on your project in real time. You can add tasks, remove work you decide to handle yourself, or provide input while the work is being completed. You remain in control throughout the entire project.
This approach is revolutionary in our industry and can save our clients 40% to 60% on the projects we touch. If you have the budget to get the work done, we believe there is no more efficient way to put that money to work inside your business.
Your first site walk is free, and you choose the size of the retainer that funds our work. That gives you complete control over the pace, scope, and size of our engagement. You use us as much, or as little, as you want.
How are bids done?
Bidding work or preparing a quote generally follows the same basic process, whether the project involves constructing a building, repairing a facility, or configuring a website.
First, the contractor estimates the total labor, materials, and transaction costs required to complete the work. That amount is then multiplied by 1.125 to account for overhead and burden, resulting in what is commonly called the loaded cost.
Next, the loaded cost is adjusted to achieve the contractor’s desired profit margin. This is done by dividing the loaded cost by 1 minus the target margin. The result is the margined price.
Finally, an additional 10% buffer is added to help account for unforeseen conditions, minor scope changes, or the time and administrative effort required to obtain a change order if the project begins to exceed the original assumptions.
The formula is:
Quoted Price = ((T&M × 1.125) ÷ (1 − Margin)) × 1.10
Over time, contractors develop a good understanding of how their competitors price similar work and what margins are typical in their market. They use that experience to position their bids competitively, often aiming somewhere near the middle of the market.
Our model works differently. By removing the traditional burden, margin, and contingency buffer, we can often reduce project costs by approximately 40% to 60%, depending on the margin typically applied to that type of work.
We also approach the work itself differently. Beyond eliminating traditional pricing layers, we focus on improving job efficiency and assigning the right level of talent to each task, helping reduce costs even further without sacrificing the quality of the work.
Site walks and first visits are free
We dispatch an estimator or project manager to your site to evaluate the work, understand the scope, and identify any important project requirements. We then send you the necessary paperwork to get started, and once the project is funded, we can begin the work.
Back in the mid 1990's
When the F-16 fleet was grounded, our founder had the opportunity to work with a team involved in helping get the aircraft airborne again. That experience sparked a lasting interest in solving difficult problems through practical, innovative solutions.
That mindset eventually led to the formation of A Guy I Know Inc.
Our first venture was an eBay-based arbitrage business. The model took off quickly. At one point, we were generating roughly 4,000 hits per minute and selling through thousands of Columbia Sportswear backpacks in a matter of minutes during the back-to-school season.
That success also brought challenges. A competing Power Seller accused us of selling stolen merchandise after we entered the market at substantially lower prices. The accusation resulted in approximately six months of investigation and uncertainty while we continued paying thousands of dollars each month to store inventory. During that time, vendors disappeared, potential partners backed away, and even our logistics partner eventually launched a competing operation.
We were ultimately able to reach an employee within eBay's Safe Harbor team who reviewed the situation, identified the problem, and allowed us back onto the platform on a probationary basis. By then, however, the damage had been done and we had already moved on.
Our next chapter focused on field services.
We assembled a team of journeyman electricians and began installing security, surveillance, access control, fire, and life-safety systems throughout the Pacific Northwest for major Fortune 500 companies.
The work itself was successful, but changes in payment terms created a serious cash-flow problem. Payment cycles that had once been measured in days were pushed out to more than 100 days and eventually as far as 180 days. Supporting payroll under those conditions would have required nearly $1 million in working capital at the same time the real estate market was collapsing.
Without access to that level of financing, we could no longer continue operating under that model.
That experience taught us an important lesson: relying on large companies, intermediaries, and subcontracting chains can create risks that have very little to do with the quality of the work being performed.
So we changed direction.
We decided to work directly for customers and become true problem solvers. If a client needed something done and it was legal, safe, and within our capability, we were willing to figure it out. That meant everything from technical installations to pulling raccoons, possums, rats, and spiders out of crawl spaces.
At the same time, members of our team returned to school and expanded their expertise in information technology, marketing, and business.
That is when our service offering began to grow dramatically.
For years, we continued working primarily with larger companies, including publicly traded organizations. Over time, however, we found that long payment cycles, disputed invoices, and unpredictable accounts receivable created unnecessary risk even when the work had been completed successfully and approved.
We gradually shifted our focus toward small and midsized businesses, where relationships are more direct and the work we perform has an immediate impact on the success of the company.
After experiencing another period of unpaid invoices, we made one more important change: we adopted a retainer-funded, time-and-materials billing model. This gives our clients transparency and control while allowing us to focus on performing the work rather than financing it.
Today, A Guy I Know Inc. provides access to more than 150 different disciplines that businesses can engage temporarily, permanently, or simply when a problem needs to be solved.
The company has changed many times over the years, but the original idea has remained the same:
Find the problem. Assemble the right people. Solve it efficiently.
So, how can A Guy I Know help you today?
