Starting out.

[SHINTO]

Alright lads, I was just wondering if anyone could help me out. I have a Nvq 2 in plumbing and Nvq 3 in domestic gas, I've been working in the industry for about 3 or 4 years now, mostly bits of agency work, working with friends here and there and some jobs I have got myself. All of this was basically aiming towards getting my quals as I was in college full time and now I have them I'm finding it hard to get anything permanent. I didnt do an apprenticeship, I just went to college and did as much work as I could when I could. My question is how did you guys break into the industry, and do you have any advice?

 

[T & H Plumbing]

Im going thru the same thing as we speak, ive had some good advice from guys on here and im in the middle of applying for a start up grant and going at it myself, only domestic plumbing with no gas, but from the advice ive gained on here and advice ive had from friends and my business mentor only thing i need to do is get the customer base and i think i will do fine

so far i have made a business page on facebook, printed flyers and posted them round my local area, the Maine thing you need to do is put your name on the map, if people dont know about you your not going to get far, im ramming my business name down peoples throats every 5 mins (in a nice way) its all about getting your name out there m8 once you done a few jobs your reputation will get about

i wish you luck you have a lot of hard work ahead of you but you will only become what you put into it

 

[SHINTO]

Im going thru the same thing as we speak, ive had some good advice from guys on here and im in the middle of applying for a start up grant and going at it myself, only domestic plumbing with no gas, but from the advice ive gained on here and advice ive had from friends and my business mentor only thing i need to do is get the customer base and i think i will do fine

so far i have made a business page on facebook, printed flyers and posted them round my local area, the Maine thing you need to do is put your name on the map, if people dont know about you your not going to get far, im ramming my business name down peoples throats every 5 mins (in a nice way) its all about getting your name out there m8 once you done a few jobs your reputation will get about

i wish you luck you have a lot of hard work ahead of you but you will only become what you put into it [/Q


You're right it is all about getting your name out to get the work coming in and I have just began doing that, business cards in local businesses and online ads and stuff like that and i'm sure things will change with some hard work and patience. Thanks for the positive reply anyway mate and wish you good luck aswel.

 

[T & H Plumbing]

i have found using your local buy n sell pages on facebook to advertise your page helps too, i spam about 20 pages near me every 6 hours

 

[kris]

I was very lucky 19 years ago i was staying on at school to my highers and half way through my year was offered an apprenticeship, the owner of a plumbing n heating company (19 staff) stayed next door to the techy teacher and when he was looking for an apprentice he always asked his nieghbour (techy teacher) if there was any pupils good at techy , so the teacher put my name forward and i was offered an apprenticeship, (very lucky)
,
Best pieces of advice i can give is always do a quality job and have good communication with your customers, ( really goes without saying)
So best of luck to you guys