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Being self-employed as a licensed contractor in California is an interesting job. Get it right, and you could find yourself making more money than you ever thought possible while working on lots of fun and interesting projects. Get it wrong, and you may find yourself thinking about going back to work for someone else.
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With another July 4 behind us, millions of Americans got the chance to take a day off, enjoy the outdoors, and reflect on just how wonderful it is to be free. But, while “freedom” is a big concept, what exactly does it mean to someone who becomes an independent licensed contractor?
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At CSLS, we are proud of each and every one of our graduates – more than 125,000 of them – who become licensed contractors in California. Many of them go on to become self-employed business owners, while others develop contracting specialties, decide to continue working for their employers, or even take jobs in construction management.

One thing that every one of these graduates has in common, though, is that they love the new sense of freedom they find when they pass their exams. At that moment, they have more choices than they ever did before.
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Even with the wide variety of classes and financing options we have available at CSLS, we occasionally hear from potential students who tell us that California contractor’s exam prep training is just “too expensive.”
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Thousands of construction professionals every year consider coming to CSLS to become licensed contractors, but ultimately decide to wait. We know, because we talk to them every day. More often than not, their excuse for delaying is that they “just don’t have time.”
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CSLS tuition is unlike most of the other expenses or budget items you’ll ever consider. That’s because the “tangible” parts of what we have offer construction professionals – like classroom sessions, textbooks, and other learning materials – don’t really give you an idea of the true value you’re receiving when you register for one of our programs.
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CSLS offers a number of different options for men and women who want to study for their licensed contractors exam. Along with traditional classroom choices, students can opt to learn at home through online, textbook, and recorded self-study materials if they choose.

Which choice is right for you? To help you come to a decision, here are a few pros and cons of self-study learning options for new contractors:
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Almost every business is changing in some ways, but few are seeing the kind of rapid evolution that the California construction industry is. Being a contractor today just isn’t the same as it was 15 or 20 years ago, and it’s important for construction professionals to be prepared.

To give you a sense of why and how, here are four ways the California contracting and construction industry is changing right before our very eyes:
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If you’ve read through a few of our posts, you know we are extraordinarily proud of our 99.9% first-time passing rate. We’ll put our track record up against anyone else’s, and we have tens of thousands of successful graduates to show for it.

At CSLS our success rate isn’t just about marketing, however – it also says a lot about you and your future. Here are a few conclusions you can draw from the fact that almost every person who’s ever come to us has become a licensed contractor:
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On our blog and in our email newsletters, we try to encourage construction professionals across the state to do everything they can to become licensed contractors. There’s just too much at stake – in terms of making money, setting your own schedule, and being in control of your own future – to put off that important step in your career.
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There are a lot of things that separate CSLS from other California contractors license exam prep schools, but one of the differences we are most proud of is that we give our students access to unlimited computerized practice exams. That means they can spend as much time as they want getting ready for their tests on machines that are just like the ones they’ll take their actual exams on.

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At CSLS, our admissions team speaks to dozens of construction professionals every week. All of them want to become licensed contractors in California, but only some take the next step.

Sometimes, students don’t move forward because they don’t meet the state requirements to become a contractor yet, or because they have legitimate emergencies that prevent them from preparing for their contractors exam. More often, though, we hear one of the two worst excuses for avoiding CSLS.
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When new students come to us to become licensed contractors in California, we know it’s generally because they want to become self-employed business owners and make more money. That’s a great goal, and one we certainly wouldn’t want to steer you away from.
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If there is one fear many potential CSLS student share, it’s that they’ll find the process of preparing for the California contractors exam too difficult. After all, most students come to us because they like working outside in the sunshine, not spending lots of hours staring at books.
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Becoming a successful licensed California contractor doesn’t have to begin after you’ve been to CSLS and passed your exam. In fact, there are a number of things you can start doing now that will help you to stay profitable and growing in the future.

Here are four successful contractor habits you should start cultivating today:
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Although most people think of CSLS as the place to go when you want to pass your California licensed contractors exam, the reality is that we do everything we can to help our students start their own construction businesses as successfully as possible. That includes offering different packages that help you incorporate your business.

If you haven’t considered investigating this service in the past, here are four reasons you should look into it today:

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At least once a week, we hear from a potential CSLS student who would like to become a licensed contractor in California, but swears they just “couldn’t find the time to study for the exam.”

On the surface, this seems like a pretty reasonable excuse to put things off. When you dig a bit deeper, though, you find that it’s usually just another way to procrastinate on something that’s important. The fact of the matter is that studying for your California licensed contractors exam probably doesn’t need to take nearly as much time as you think it does.
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