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WaterTight

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How many years did it take you to go from your first private customer to having a workload sufficient to consider yourself full-time?

I understand things are quieter than usual for many but if, averaged over the year say, you will expect to work most of the day for most of the working days of the month, this question is for you. I'm also aware the routes getting you to this situation will vary (include them if you think they're relevant i.e. inheriting a customer-base or subbing half your work off a company.)

And looking at the industry now would you suspect the road would be that much longer if you were starting down it again today?
 
Sane here, about 4 years.

I believe that location plays a big part in it now more than ever in these trying times. The big cities seem to have too many plumbers chasing too much work. Small to medium sized towns seem to have a better balance between work and the amount of plumbers chasing it, but again that's down to Regional location too.
 
The benchmark has always been 5 years,get past that and you can class yourself as established..........or so they say

Thats as long as you are
Building your customer base and do not fall into the trap of putting all your eggs in one basket.........and you know your job and move with the times

Imho
 
It took me 4 years to get to a situation where I was more or less full time self-employed, then came the recession. Since last September spent a lot of time posting flyers, putting ads in local shops etc and still spending too much time sat on my backside.
 
Only advertising I do is BNI . Not for everyone but has worked bloody well for me
 
bod said:
Only advertising I do is BNI . Not for everyone but has worked bloody well for me
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this will seem a silly question to those who know the answer (like most questions) but as i dont know then i ask
"what is BNI"
 
Only downside to BNI is they only allow one company per trade, so if there is already a plumber in your local BNI, you cant get involved! there are 4 BNI groups local to me and each one already has a plumber
 
I'd be putting yourself on there subs list so if the plumber leaves your in
 
Didnt know you could do that, thanks Bod. TBH I would like a few more years experience before I joined someone like BNI, don't want to throw my money away
 
Like I said it's not for everyone but on my first visit I got a job for 8k enough profit in that to pay for my years membership subs extra holiday an still some change lol
 
how much is your membership bod? do you literally just meet up every week and share jobs with each other?
 
PlumbersMate said:
how much is your membership bod? do you literally just meet up every week and share jobs with each other?
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It's about 440 a year membership , a one off admin payment 125 and then 30 a month for room and food , yes weekly meet where we swap referrals , I've had some top draw cherry ones , one that me and ecowarm are teaming up on next week in London
 
have been sent a text message for an invite to join last week, but not sure where to take it yet.?

another problem is there asking for a 'quality p&h company'. i do the middle bit but not sure of the 2 ends.
is the invite for a one man band or established firm & how much?.
 
What ever you can handle redsaw What chapter isig I'll check tere stats
 
i have no idea, just a cold call text recieved?.
is this a normal way to do things, she did leave her first name.
 
Not that i know off , it's usually you've done work for one of the currrent members or a contact of there's and your names been mentioned Or they have work already for a plumber
 
The best way of advertising is to advertise to the right people. I.e. the well of types who aren't going to be wanting you to work for peanuts. Local church magazines are great for that, as are the small booklets that get sent round different areas of town. If you can get advertising and known to the posh areas of town your onto a winner. There's nothing worse than turning up at a crap house where the customer is haggling you on the price and you end up working for nothing.
 
Church magazines tend not to have websites.

Best method is to look for them in your local shops (or even church!), pick up a copy and contact the necessary person, who's details will be inside (or phone one of the advertisers for contact details.)
 
i was at it for about 6 years work on then dead quiet for ages then busy again on an on then dropped on a housing association doing landlord checks and any work that might need as and when so things are ok at the moment got 380 houses so working most days and even some weekends but i nearly packed it in just befour i got sorted because it can be spirit crushing when things are tough .had 5 years of regular work now but some of my mates have not been so lucky and thats all it is luck stick at it you will get thier good luck
 
excellent question,

I find the same, get 3 weeks quiet, 6 weeks, so busy I havent got enough time in the day, when I talk to family about it, they turn around and say "well save money for the quiet times" if only it was that easy, the busy times pay for the quiet times. the quiet times, nothing gets paid.

But hopefully in my second year, have got loads to keep me going, next year might not be the same.

i am only just getting reccomendations and repeat customers, had a few in last 2 months, from when I first started. suppose its one of those things, you only think about your plumbing every 1-2 years. so any customers that you did work for before will remember you, but it will take a little while for them to use you again.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I've been advertising my services and working for myself as often as comes up for about 2 years. I average 4 or 5 small-medium jobs a week and about a quarter comes from repeat business, about 10 percent have used me more than 4 times. I've also been offered the chance to join a company with an established friend who is busy with the view to building into a bigger company as a partnership with a generous offer on the table. That would require a full-time commitment and my own business would become weekend/evening slots, prob involve turning work down before long and may eventually as good as cease. Which after two years building it up would be a hard choice.

With the information I've got from this thread it looks like staying working for myself I could hope to be roughly full time in 2/3 years. So therein lies the choice. Not between what I'm doing now and what I'm being offered but where I'd be in each venture in 2/3 years time.
 
hello watertight i posted about 1500 biz cards before crimbo i had 2 calls the last time i had a job was 3 weeks ago i charge £35 for first hour then £12.50 every half hour so i dont think im to expensive i only do plumbing not gas work so i dint know what im doing wrong but ill keep trying
 
philtheflush said:
hello watertight i posted about 1500 biz cards before crimbo i had 2 calls the last time i had a job was 3 weeks ago i charge £35 for first hour then £12.50 every half hour so i dont think im to expensive i only do plumbing not gas work so i dint know what im doing wrong but ill keep trying
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Too cheap, being cheap doesnt mean you will get all the work, most people get 3 quotes and will settle for middle priced quote.
 
i started in nov 08 and its only in the last 9 months that we have started to relax because the phone does ring
i'm still not working full time all the time, very up and down like others have said.
in the current economic climate i would say 5 years to get established rather than 3
 
I've been going just over 6 years and I would say that its the last 9 months that it's continuous work, even to the point of being able to pick and choose. But even before that when it's been quiet I've only missed a day or half a day here and there.

It's all going to be related to the area you are in, the type of work you do, the quality of the competition and price.
 
jase158 said:
Too cheap, being cheap doesnt mean you will get all the work, most people get 3 quotes and will settle for middle priced quote.
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I don't think he's too cheap, I don't think people like paying by the half hour, also, depends on the area he works.

£35 for the first hour then £25 per hour, this equates to £210 per day. Most people here would be very happy on with that.
 
philtheflush said:
hello watertight i posted about 1500 biz cards before crimbo i had 2 calls the last time i had a job was 3 weeks ago i charge £35 for first hour then £12.50 every half hour so i dont think im to expensive i only do plumbing not gas work so i dint know what im doing wrong but ill keep trying
Click to expand...

Your not doing anything wrong, do you advertise emergency work, does your business card look cheap, run up at home on a £50 printer or done by a pro. Do you only use a mobile number, a lot of people will not call someone on a mobile only.

I had a call last week from a leaflet drop done over a year ago! only a £45 job but I've already a had call from a neighbour. This happens quite often.

Look at the card from an objective point of view, ask a good friend to look at it and ask for an honest opinion.

Bit like your wife asking you 'do I look good in this'

We all know the answer she wants, if she wanted the truth she'd ask a mate!
 
^^ I agree. And I don't think people go for the middle quote anymore. I think that's a thing of the past now. People want to screw the price down to a minimum. I've lost out on jobs over £30 on a boiler swap! I think the days of writing your own pay cheque in this industry are sadly over for a while.
 
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