A commercial builder I had worked with previously asked for a proposal on a data cabling project. They were remodeling 2 floors of a commercial office building for Lockheed Martin, and were asked to bid on the cabling system.

I had done phone systems and networking at many offices, including the contractors own office space, and they knew I had installed communications cabling for lots of large residences. However, this was ~350 phone/network locations over 2 floors, and there were a lot of hoops to jump thru because the client was a defence contractor, so I was hesitant. After voicing my concerns, the builder asked me to find someone who was experienced doing that kind of work, and then manage that portion of the project for them.

After a few interviews, I engaged with someone who had done a lot of large commercial networks, and together we prepared a quote. To my surprise, we were awarded the contract. A few employees of my previous venture, along with a few contractors he had worked with on similar projects, did all of the work. It was several months of occasional long days and nights, working around other trades and coming back after the modular furniture was installed to finish at each cubicle.

In the end, as we delivered a binder showing the cabling plan and test results for each cable to the Lockheed representative, we were told it was the smoothest cabling job they had ever experienced. I learned a lot from that project. And, even though after everyone was paid I ended up being the lowest paid member of the team, it was worth the effort. Sometimes it's not how much money we make that matters, but what we learn from the experience.