Has anyone set up in business recently

[cwrplumbing]

No engineers have tried to take the companys customers. Dropping off leaflets feels a safer bet LOL

 

[mrlennie]

Lol it was my advice it is one way of building up business whether it's ethical or not....well it's not really lol

 

[mrlennie]

No engineers have tried to take the companys customers. Dropping off leaflets feels a safer bet LOL

Lol well it depends if you work for your brother in law 5 man business or british gas lol

 

[cwrplumbing]

No but sounds good HA HA HA HA HA

It would be easy as i am a boiler breakdown repair engineer as well as a wet plumber, I go to about 40 customers a week to repair their central heating systems or leaking wc for example. There is the honest customers that will ring the office and advise that the engineer said they would do the job cheaper.LOL

 

[mrlennie]

Lol well I see what you mean. Just speak to the ones who aren't happy with the company haha

 

[johnmcginty]

I find most who set up rarely understand how much outlay is needed in the advertising area, sure after a few years you don't need to advertise at all especially if it's ch installs and everything works off recommendation. You will be looking at spending £500 -800 a month on advertising alone if you are in a big city on start up , there is so much competition it is not even funny, forget the first page of google if you are not at the top you will get nothing . There is a lot i speak to saying they are dry for work and when I ask how much they spend on ads they say £100 a month and oh i have been out flyering and not had anything from it ! I know you wont , then this just makes them think oh i'll just drop my price and do it for less because they grasping for work. Fact is if you are looking to pull in over 3k a month then advertise like crazy. I think there was a day when you could just get a yellow pages add for a grand and thats enough , nowadays everyone is online or people find you from the craziest of places, had a job two days ago from a flyer I handed out in 2006!

 

[Macca2009]

Hi there CRW. I'm in the same boat as you at the moment. I'm wanting to start up on my own but scared ****less of making the jump. I've done bits here and there for family and friends and think I can make a name for myself as a business. I am definitely taking the safe bet and doing it as a second job. I work full time for a company doing reactive maintenance and servicing on schools. I'm finally getting my builders butt in order and getting the ball rolling. Just remember you need your own insurance for your own jobs. I've found it for about £250 including hot works for the year. Have a look on this site in the insurance part and get some quotes. It will be hard and you will have to do a lot of advertising, vista print is cheap for business cards, van magnets ect. Best bet is post the cards yourself when you get time and target posh areas. That way you can charge them that little bit more. The key thing you need to do is every job you do. Put the profit to one side and use it to get your materials for the next job and so on. At the end of the day as long as you've got your main wage coming in. Any extra money you make from self employment stick it to one side and build up enough money for when you do go it alone.

hope it helps pal and good luck.

 

[johnmcginty]

Yeah good luck macca , good plan and attitude , though I will say every time I meet a tiler or spark that hands me a vista print 250 cards free crappy little business card it goes straight in the bin. Spend £50 on some that look good as people will know you have just set up otherwise.

 

[Macca2009]

Cheers John will bear that in mind. Do you know any good printers in Leeds then? I won't post them on your turf lol.

 

[johnmcginty]

i got ot the net , goodprint. Haha did'nt notice you were in leeds, where abouts are you? do you do gas?