Business start up HINTS or TIPS

[Titanium Trades]

Gent's...and possibly ladies,

Starting up a new business around August time - Titanium Trades - Plumbing/Heating/Tiling/Kitchen fitting/Electrics... Just after any Hints/Tips/ Basic information or professional advice from experienced tradesmen out there who have gone through the dreaded time of becoming self employed. Served 11 years in the Army so always had a nifty pay cheque at the end of each month! Would like the best start as possible and looking to develop my business into a large scale company. looking for advice on areas listed below:

Prices - Hourly rates (Average) for plumber & tilers if its different
Best Van - Vivaro/traffic/primstar etc
Best Merchant - HPS (recommended to me) City plumbing etc
What you found to be the best way of Advertising yourself?
To register for VAT or not???
Best place to buy all the tools?

Any help, hints or tips no matter how small would be much appreciated. Many thanks guys.

 

[mountainman]

Hiya and welcome to the forum.
Your questions have been answered in many posts in recent months and before.
I suggest you scan through these posts, particularly those on workloads and wages, and then decide on your future business.

 

[grahamgas]

Firstly, Welcome to the forum

Only you can decide how much you need to earn to cover all your outgoings, liablity insurance, gas safe/niceic fees etc, van costs, and general business running costs.

Advertising- loacal shops to get your name around, maybe local rag, plumbers merchants etc.

Van - I have a lwb vivaro, and it has been a very good van. I love them, lots hate them.

Merchants- What area are you? HPS are good, as are plumb center for group stock, ie they can get most things next day from feeder. Local independents can offer better deals, but you would need to build up a bit of trade first.Howdens are about the best for kitchens.

very tough out there at the moment for existing businesses let alone new start ups, but dont let that put you off.

Good Luck

Graham

 

[Titanium Trades]

Thanks for that guys, very helpful...ill have a good look through the posts. Graham, do you believe its tough because of the current economic climate?

 

[mountainman]

Economic climate.
BIG maintenance companies going bust and shedding tradesmen.
Lots of six week wonders and partially trained trades.
Even more DIY'ers attempting stuff they wouldn't have contemplated a couple of years ago.

It'll pick up again but like previous collapses will take a few years to recover but unless borrowing becomes easier then the economy will stagnate.

 

[justlead1]

The knowledge and speed of plumbers has a lot to go with the money earnt. £5-00 an hour would be to much for some that I have witnessed. Attendance is not a qualification, so work and think hard to turn out and complete in good time. Having worked a long period self employed I have now come to the conclusion salesmanship is my weakest aspect, which suggests I have worked a lot harder manually than was nesassary if I got the selling right. Good luck

 

[WHPES]

The only advice I offer is don't go into debt setting up your business as with the current climate it could well finish you quite quickly. Be prepared to spend many days doing nothing but trapsing round houses delivering fliers waiting for the phone to ring, and being over the moon when you finally get a job where a customer wants you to rewasher some taps. Long established plumbers (some round here who have been trading for 30 years or more) are really struggling to keep afloat so new entrants to the industry are going to be very pressed indeed.

 

[Titanium Trades]

Thanks very much for your advice Gents, to be honest the main reason I wanted to go forward with a business in the trade industry was due to the 'apparant' need for qualified tradesmen within th uk, by the sounds of things people are struggling to find work? There's a conflict between the social media stating they need tradesmen and the actual experienced people out there like yourselves saying its going to be tough. Is it massively area dependant in regards to the workload?

 

[SimonJohns]

I can't see any work overload ATM. In any areas.

It's all dependant on client base. And quality linked with price.

If your doing boiler changes for 800 cash then you'll get done work. But it's certain not to give you a decent life that you couldn't earn in tescos on the till

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hi , I am down in the S/west and work is pritty slow, local Co closeing and lot's in building trade chaseing any work, you need to look at the start up costs, this can run into large amounts of money, you want to cover a few trades , so will need quite a range of tools, then you have training costs ect, Report i saw this week say's that the building industry will not start picking up for another 2 years at least ! May-be better off looking into some other industry ! But good luck on your chosen path.

 

[Titanium Trades]

Thanks, The initial start up cost is'nt the worry... I am now though worried ill be getting myself into the wrong business! i do have the capital to invest into something and i assumed this industry was the right route. Looks like I was wrong 🙁

 

[markfxy]

Why not set up a website to see what response you get, you can make your own for free using serif you'll need to get it hosted asap if you want to start trading in August.

 

[Titanium Trades]

Thanks, I already have a full website developed... I dont officially leave the Army until Aug so didnt want to go live with any websites etc until i had the tools,van etc to take on the jobs, would be perfect though as id be taking double income. The commitment to buying the tools etc was what i was worried about in regards to it being worth it.

 

[Mike Jackson]

i went self employed again beginning of this tear after being made redundant as I didn't really have a lot of choice. It's even quieter now than it was in January. I've not had a sniff from the last leaflet drop I did. I'm doing a reasonable amount of pricing but the material costs are crippling things at the moment and the only people booming at the moment are the black market guys whon can afford to charge sod all because they are on the rock and roll and are doing it for beer money.

 

[gravytrain]

you need to think seriously about lots of advertising in your area.
there is very little work out there so the only reason someone is going to ring you is because they have seen your adverts
or found you online. a heavyweight yell.com listing with photos/content is a must imo. also get youself a Facebook
profile for your business and start getting likes for it, put photos on there, and link to it fron your website and yell.com
listing. local community magazines and parish mags are good too, make sure you put your address and stress you are local.
you can do a fantastic bathroom or kitchen for someone, who will sing your praises, but this isnt leading to all their friends and neighbours
ringing up and booking you in because everyones scared they are going to lose their jobs so they're not having major works done.

there are lots of plumbers chasing work, many of whom do really good quality work, and offer really good customer service,
so you will need to be at the top of your game from day one.

make sure you stress that you do small maintenence jobs because these are the jobs that people are having done
because they have got to. get you van signwritten.


i started 3 1/2 years ago. if i didnt do loads of advertising i'd go bust. i've started to get previous customers get back to me with more work
but its very slow.

as for prices, just ring round and get some quotes for jobs, see what other people are charging. dont go in really cheap, you'll look like a cowboy
but be competative, people dont always choose the cheapest.

once you've been going for 6 months get proper trade accounts at all the plumbers merchants then its only a short run to a merchant whatever part of town you're in.

i've got accounts at

plumb centre
city plumbing
b and q
screwfix
travis perkins
and one local company.

 

[DustyM]

Titanium,

Gravytrain is spot on. I too went self employed in this trade at the beginning of this year after 20+yrs in the Army. From my limited experience, make sure you value your customers and maintain high customer service standards. Get your van professionally signed and consider wearing a uniform (I have embroidered shirts, jacket etc and always, always turn up clean and presentable.) Do the image thing correctly and half the battle is won. As for your charges - only you will know what's competitive in your area, but do not sell your self short in an attempt to get business; you'll only regret it later on down the line. Above all else, take the pride and self discipline that I know you'll have after serving, and put them to good use in 'being the best' in your chosen arena - good luck pal. Arte et Marte....

 

[moony]

Walk before you run....

Have you got any experience in plumbing/kitchen fitting and tiling and electrics? where have you gained this experience? in a customers house or in a college room ? If you have a significant amount to invest - it would be a shame to lose it pom something like this, property may be a better investment and work for someone else....

I had 15000 to put into starting up my business - i currently employ 1 apprentice and whilst we always have something on - I'm only ever 4 weeks ahead of myself with work, so if phone went quiet for a week or so i would be worrying. I owe nothing out except to merchants - no loans, no overdrafts nothing - but i wouldn't mind another 15 grand in the bank to make things a bit less worrying! So i don't know how much you need to live on or how much you've got to invest but its not the easiest thing to do....

You dont say if you have your gas? or nic for sparking? theres 2 grand there if you haven't, a van ? 5-6 for decent second hand. tools ? that can creep up to silly amounts - and thats before advertising and insurances.....

If your really good at what you do and have had loads of compliments etc etc then go for it - if your new to the trade and jumping in head first my advice would be to keep your money safe and find your feet working with someone first.

 

[WHPES]

The thing is at the moment everyone is keeping a tight hold on the purse strings so you will only get work when people are absolutely desperate, not when they fancy some new bathroom or kitchen, or want to upgrade the heating system etc. I'm patching things up which are really past their best when they really should be replaced.

Two weeks ago I only had 4 hours work all week.

 

[Foodface]

Don't be afraid to give it a go, it is scary out there but if you're a good plumber with good customer service skills and advertise well then it will stand you in good stead. Very few businesses get profitable within the first 2/3 years so do what you can to start and keep your business alive. If things don't pick up with my company then I'll get a part time job to tide me over, as I know every plumbing job I do will eventually lead to more work cos' I'm getting recommendations and happy customers in every job I go to.

Have faith, be prepared to make mistakes and to learn.