What would you do?

[Millsy 82]

After a bit of advice as I'm in 2 minds.

I have been self employed now for coming up 2 years, I keep having dry spells and the last one has lasted since christmas. I have had lots of little jobs but nothing big like boiler changes and full installs. This is my fault as I was quite busy and let my advertising lapse (Big mistake) these dry spells really do my nut in and I lose all faith in myself and end up like a deranged dog pacing up and down just hoping that my phone rings.

Around me a few companies are advertising for engineers and the wages are not bad ranging from 25-32K which has got me really thinking I have got to do something either pump the rest of my money into advertising and just hope it picks up or say f##k it and just go back employed.

What has got me though is that around me I have a great name and all my customers love me so I know if I stick with it I will come good at some point.

I do enjoy being self employed as I enjoy the variation of work, I enjoy not having a boss breathing down my neck and if something is out of my depth then I know not to touch it.

What I hate is the chasing of money and working in the evening doing pricing etc and most of all other trades not getting back to me like sparks and tilers.

If I do stay self employed then I will be looking into having my van properly sign written and uniform as soon as funds allow. I also need to look into why I'm not winning 1 install out of the last 6 or 7 that I've priced.

 

[Masood]

Tricky one mate. Can you approach the companies advertising for engineers and offer to sub for them to fill the quiet times?

 

[hammers4spanner]

First tax year nearly upon us so see what your earnings are at the end of it . If you are earning 30 k a year and having dry spells then personally i would embrace those dry patches .
Or maybe just do a bit of subbing to top those dry spells off.

Second i often price jobs that i don't get maybe 5/6 on the bounce then suddenly get everything and then back and forth so you are not alone.

It can be annoying tho as when you price several on the bounce and don't get it can be frustrating.

I am becoming more aware tho that the more you put in the more the return is so if you stopped advertising then that could have been your problem?

 

[Millsy 82]

Tricky one mate. Can you approach the companies advertising for engineers and offer to sub for them to fill the quiet times?

They are all looking for paye as far as I'm aware. I have kept looking for subbing but the problem is they all want 40 hours a week so I may as well go employed and save all the hassle.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Oh and another thing i price couple bathrooms a month and never get them so move away from them more now . Better off going back reparin g the fudge up people leave on them easy pay days.

 

[woodsy]

It's very hard to give advice on this as only you can really decide. Only thing I can say is that most of your points are very unlikely to alter as in my experience it's the normal run of most one man bands with fluctuations being the normal cycle of business. Chasing money is part of all business's and office work on an evening is normally a necessity as doing it through the day is lost earning potential. I also think that many one man bands are considering similar options at the moment as the trade is flooded with supposed plumbers and Internet websites offering goods at our costs. It's a slightly negative / downbeat prospective but one that is I feel true. Only you can decide whether the pro's out way the cons for you.

 

[rpm]

Do you ever go back and ask why you didn`t get the job?

 

[townfanjon]

Yep hard one this pal, getting a regular wage packet , holidays , being able to be poorly , and getting paid for it , are massive . But for every day you are self employed you will find it harder to go back to a 'normal ' job.
I am a right help arent I , LOL.

 

[Rickster123]

Get back on the cards. Paid holiday, free van and van repairs, fuel card, power tools and work ware paid for. No expensive phone bills. No skint months. And home in time for tea every day! No hassle in the evenings, no chasing payment, no phonecalls on a Sunday. Joyous!

 

[Millsy 82]

First tax year nearly upon us so see what your earnings are at the end of it . If you are earning 30 k a year and having dry spells then personally i would embrace those dry patches .
Or maybe just do a bit of subbing to top those dry spells off.

Second i often price jobs that i don't get maybe 5/6 on the bounce then suddenly get everything and then back and forth so you are not alone.

It can be annoying tho as when you price several on the bounce and don't get it can be frustrating.

I am becoming more aware tho that the more you put in the more the return is so if you stopped advertising then that could have been your problem?

If I had earnt 30k I would enjoy the quiet times. My aim for this year was to hit 10k which I should be there or there abouts.

I have priced 6 or so boiler changes over the last couple of months prices are still roughly the same as when I was getting them and getting nothing not even calls to say I'm too dear can you drop.

 

[Millsy 82]

It's very hard to give advice on this as only you can really decide. Only thing I can say is that most of your points are very unlikely to alter as in my experience it's the normal run of most one man bands with fluctuations being the normal cycle of business. Chasing money is part of all business's and office work on an evening is normally a necessity as doing it through the day is lost earning potential. I also think that many one man bands are considering similar options at the moment as the trade is flooded with supposed plumbers and Internet websites offering goods at our costs. It's a slightly negative / downbeat prospective but one that is I feel true. Only you can decide whether the pro's out way the cons for you.

The bits I hate I can live with and the fluctuation I can live with its this dry spell has gone on for 6 weeks. I have had 2 calls this week!

I know it takes time to build up a business and I'm certain that if I stick with it I will be fine in the long run but it's just at the moment I'm going nuts lol.

 

[woodsy]

Well fully understand, I've been going a few years now and if it's any consolation it's been very quiet for me too since Xmas .

 

[townfanjon]

Well fully understand, I've been going a few years now and if it's any consolation it's been very quiet for me too since Xmas .

Not to alter Milseys thread , yes my phone has been quiet since xmas but strangely there's plenty on !!

 

[mfgs]

it took me 3 years of working for myself to make what I would have earned had I been employed, then the 4th year I earned more than I could have done working for someone. The first couple of years are always going to be difficult and you really need to push with the advertising, or maybe try and find a local firm who are busy to subby to for a couple days a week. Having a bit of work like that and a few contacts can be very beneficial to both of you.

 

[plumben]

After a bit of advice as I'm in 2 minds.

I have been self employed now for coming up 2 years, I keep having dry spells and the last one has lasted since christmas. I have had lots of little jobs but nothing big like boiler changes and full installs. This is my fault as I was quite busy and let my advertising lapse (Big mistake) these dry spells really do my nut in and I lose all faith in myself and end up like a deranged dog pacing up and down just hoping that my phone rings.

Around me a few companies are advertising for engineers and the wages are not bad ranging from 25-32K which has got me really thinking I have got to do something either pump the rest of my money into advertising and just hope it picks up or say f##k it and just go back employed.

What has got me though is that around me I have a great name and all my customers love me so I know if I stick with it I will come good at some point.

I do enjoy being self employed as I enjoy the variation of work, I enjoy not having a boss breathing down my neck and if something is out of my depth then I know not to touch it.

What I hate is the chasing of money and working in the evening doing pricing etc and most of all other trades not getting back to me like sparks and tilers.

If I do stay self employed then I will be looking into having my van properly sign written and uniform as soon as funds allow. I also need to look into why I'm not winning 1 install out of the last 6 or 7 that I've priced.

I'm just coming up to my first year SE I had nearly no work till the middle of Feb, now I've got work coming out of everywhere, if you take a job on the card you might get let go in a year or two and be worse off after building your own name,
You'll always have no work after Christmas, best thing to do is try to book work in by the end of the year for January/Feb

 

[Millsy 82]

Get back on the cards. Paid holiday, free van and van repairs, fuel card, power tools and work ware paid for. No expensive phone bills. No skint months. And home in time for tea every day! No hassle in the evenings, no chasing payment, no phonecalls on a Sunday. Joyous!

That's the appealing thing apart from the home in time for tea every night, of all the jobs I've had more often than not I ended up working late, which was a reason for going self employed so I had a bit more control over what I was working and if I need to do work at home I am still at home.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Could you handle an idiot boss again tho?

Or all the back stabbing that goes on?

I think about it now and then but then i snap out of it

 

[Millsy 82]

Do you ever go back and ask why you didn`t get the job?

A few of them have been the boiler is shot and I said I can do a breakdown first and if you go for the install I will knock it off. They have both gone for just a price to replace.

An example was a Halstead finest where the fan had quite obviously packed in and a water leak from the bottom. The boiler was 15+ years old and he wanted a price to replace for a new boiler in a different position so that's what I did and he phoned me a couple of days after he got my estimate and said a friend had a fan so he just had that done!

 

[Millsy 82]

Could you handle an idiot boss again tho?

Or all the back stabbing that goes on?

I think about it now and then but then i snap out of it

The thing I know I will hate is every company has that 1 bloke who you know shouldn't change a tap washer let alone do breakdowns and you have to follow them with a van full of parts that they've ordered and you still don't have the right one!

 

[Millsy 82]

I'm just coming up to my first year SE I had nearly no work till the middle of Feb, now I've got work coming out of everywhere, if you take a job on the card you might get let go in a year or two and be worse off after building your own name,
You'll always have no work after Christmas, best thing to do is try to book work in by the end of the year for January/Feb

I've spoken to a couple of lads around me and they are either stacked out or dead like me.

I have seen a spate of new vans flying around so wondering if that's something to do with it.

 

[hammers4spanner]

How come you stopped advertising?

 

[Millsy 82]

I got quite busy and let a few lapse. 1 I didn't seem to get any work from or nobody ever said they found me from there.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Are Mears still doing cornwall?

 

[Millsy 82]

I went for them a year ago but they wanted 5 days a week. Which at the time I couldn't do that as I always filled at least 3 days so I said about doing 3 days a week and they weren't interested.

 

[plumben]

I've spoken to a couple of lads around me and they are either stacked out or dead like me.

I have seen a spate of new vans flying around so wondering if that's something to do with it.

It might be worth advertising for a few other jobs, Like painting/decorating/landscaping or gutter cleaning

 

[jtsplumbing]

Are Mears still doing cornwall?

My mate & me did some subby work for Mears about 3 years back (Launceston) and must say it was the worst Co I have ever dealt with, to say they couldn't organise a P-up is an understatement, I know we all knock emergency Co or Agency work but as long as you don't rely on them for work they can fill in the blank spots,

 

[Millsy 82]

It might be worth advertising for a few other jobs, Like painting/decorating/landscaping or gutter cleaning

Painting and decorating? I would definitely go on the books if I had to do that! Lol.

 

[Millsy 82]

Well I'm off to see a local firm today see what they offer me and then discuss it with my girlfriend over the weekend.

 

[Phil]

The grass is always greener...

It takes 6-7 years from starting a business to make a go of it. After 2 years I wasn't even earning enough to pay income tax.

I've got 7 years of happy customers and they do all my advertising for me.

 

[Millsy 82]

Oh great cheer me up a little why don't you, I can't do 6-7 years of scratting around I will end up nuts or murdering someone!!!!! Lol.

 

[Phil]

I was exactly where you are now after 2 years...wandering the streets delivering my leaflets starring at my phone thinking "is this thing working?"

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Where are you based Millsy?

 

[rocketmanbkk]

I've given myself 5 yrs. just at end of yr3 coming up.

Not setting the world on fire but happy in myself, no stress, do what I want but would like at least 1 plumb job a day.

 

[Millsy 82]

I'm in Cornwall.

I gave myself 3 years and am in my 2nd. I am money wise about where I thought I would be so that's not worrying me it's this climbing the walls with nothing to do that's getting me and this last week in particular has a most killed me as I've had 1 phone call. It has turned into a days work so I'm happy with that but I was hoping for more by now. Not necessarily full weeks every week but at least 2 full days a week.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Ok, too far for me to give you anything I can't do!!

Just do what makes you happy I say.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Do you do LPG as well as Nat Gas ? if not have you thought about doing the changeover course ??

 

[Millsy 82]

Yeah I've got gas, oil, lpg, unvented.

 

[Millsy 82]

I spoke to the company today nice bloke but wages are pants (but I think that's just every company around here) so after a long discussion with my girlfriend over it (after all it is her paying for everything at the moment) and we have decided to keep trying and get my advertisements out again as they were. So hopefully I will start getting busy again and not be stupid and keep on top of my advertising!

 

[woodsy]

Well good on you. I hope it picks up sharpish.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Good don't give up yet early days, But try a few agencies they usely come up with odd days or even weeks, & you can just use them to fill in dead spots, also get on some National emergency company's, even give Corgi a try ,anything is better than nothing but it keep the money coming in, its just a dead time, Have you tried any of the holiday parks ??

 

[Ray Stafford]

it's this climbing the walls with nothing to do

I dont mean this to sound harsh, but you don't have "nothing to do". You have your next paid job to find.

Following up old quotes
Leafleting new areas
Calling potential clients

anything, so long as it moves the business forward.

Waiting for the phone to ring is not only psychologically damaging, its also wasting your supreme asset - your time and energy.

 

[newcastle phill]

Have yo say - following up old quotes has been valuable for me on two fronts.

(Recently)
1. I have managed to recover 2 boiler installs from nothing.
2. I have asked for feedback on what was wrong with my quotes as a package.

From the feedback i have managed to refine my pitch and also persuade the dithering daniels into going with the job.

When you spend so much time trying to woooo customers you need to get that return and if it means hearing (on occasion) some home truths then so be it.
Often it comes down to price then theres the chance to give a bit of wiggle or sell extras to make the deal better (when you buy them for trade)

 

[WaterTight]

Following up old quotes

This is something I never do. Even if a third of those I followed up turned out to be gagging to hire me but had just let it slip their mind I still wouldn't do it because I'd have to speak to the soulless ghouls who had shunned my advances.

 

[newcastle phill]

That often isnt the case tho. Sometimes people forget or put things ln a back burner

 

[hammers4spanner]

I get about 5 calls a day on average and to be honest i came away from contract and site work about 8 month ago fully

 

[Rickster123]

I get about 5 calls a day on average and to be honest i came away from contract and site work about 8 month ago fully

And deep down you still miss it don't you!!

 

[Phil]

No calls for me today...

 

[hammers4spanner]

And deep down you still miss it don't you!!

er no