Advice on starting up

[ste b]

I am thinking of starting up on my own soon but need a little advice on how to go about it all, i was thinking of the little cards you can get made,probably make myself on computer,but is there a law to posting these through peoples doors and will ii have to inform the tax people straight away even though i will be still in full time employment with my current employers,i know it takes a long time to build up some sort of business so is this the best way or is there some other way thats easier....not really sure who will employ me when i complete my c and g plumbing course so i am putting the feelers out early to give me some options for the future,any help would be grateful,not just for me im sure......cheers

 

[Phil]

Ste, what do you do at the moment? You can't be a plumber with another full time job, especially when your inexperienced because what happends when you start a job on Sunday and get yourself in a mess and have to go back the next day but you have to be at work on Monday morning?

I would leave it for a few months and see if things pick up.

 

[ste b]

Yeah i know what your saying,at the moment i work full time mon -fri, as a cabinet fitter,but even when i finish the c and g i cant finish and start a business from scratch with no income,it just impossible at the mo,probably the same for a few people at the moment,i dont want to go about asking for work with a plumber because from what i read and heard plumbers like to work alone,but i wont turn it down if i am asked,basically what i want to do is get a full time job in the plumbing industry and try to build up some experience and hopefully along the way build up a good reputation so i can slowly start up on my own,the thing is i am confused to what type of company will take on a person straight from college with c and g cert......i am not in any rush to start like tommorrow on my own i am just curious and dont want this course to be a waste of my time..cheers for the reply it is appreciated........

 

[sonray ltd]

all sounds a bit of a fairy tail.
but in the re world it don't work like that.

>get a full time job in the plumbing industry and try to build up some experience

we are in a recession people are losing their jobs. plumbing companys have got so much to choose from when it comes to employing people
and having no experience is going to make it hard if not impossible for you.

even working for a company i don't think your be happy taking a big drop in wages with no experience let aloan self employed you would be lucky to scrap £8000 first yr without counting buying a van,tools,stock,advertising,liability insurance,staionary the list gos on.


then you do all that to find its not the job for you

good luck what ever you choose to do.

 

[newbie1]

its the people pushing these courses that are to blame
ime not a plumber my son is,he went to college to do the 6129 and then lost his job just after completion after he had been out for 2yrs during holidays and 2 days a week with a plumber.he was lucky enough to find someone else and did his ccn1/cen1/ckr1/cpa1 and energy effiecency then landed a job with a company and has been on site 8 months
he has come on a lot in those 8 months but is still learning and has a long way to go,he is desperate for some boiler experience but work is thin on the ground at moment
its nigh on impossible to do a 8-10 week course then go make a living and as sonray said jobs rarely go to plan and allways take longer than planned
hopefully the olympics will provide some much needed work for the industry
i am nearly 48 and do plan to do the 6129 but only because i hope to do private work with my son to gain experience
these companies are spouting rubbish when they talk of huge salarys if you good and lucky 30k might be achievable with a lot of blood sweat and tears but working on ur own isnt easy ,try lifting a double convector onto the wall brackets on ur own

 

[uug197h]

Ste B dont be put off by the doom and gloom as a cabinet fitter if you do a plumbing course you could work for a kitchen fitting company they would take you on as a cabinet fitter/plumber you would gain some yet limited experiance but you have to start some where, if you go self employed as a kitchen fitter when you are confident you can start to branch out

good luck

 

[dontknowitall]

uug197h - nice to see an optimist during the credit crunch! I qualified in March last year having had dead end desk type jobs (and no jobs) for around 8 years. I started self employment in March and was lucky to find one large job which paid for my course, van, stock and tools and have had various other small jobs to build up my experience.

Ste B - There is work out there - not much in the way of new instalments (e.g. bathrooms) but taps still leak, loos still break, people are moving houses and want a basin replaced, etc. And hopefully this cold weather will bring in some burst pipes!!

But, as in all walks of life, there's no easy way to rich pickings. It takes hard work and patience. Don't expect to make thousands in your first year or so.

 

[ste b]

For sonray........
i will just throw in the towel then lol, i dont think so.van,tools,advetising aint a problem mate,i pretty sure plumbing is the way i want to go and recession or not i will be trying my best not to let that get in the way.

For newbie 1 ,
I glad to hear your son doing ok and good luck for you in the future,hope you accieve your 6129,and i dont mind working hard,god i been doin it all my working life,lol.

For uug197h, thats not really your name is it,
Cheers for that comment, that is one of the ideas i had in mind, nice to see someone else who does not just think doom and gloom.......cheers

Dontknowitall
Cheers, we need more peeps like uug 197h hey,and yeah your right about taps and fittings,i got a list of little jobs i done allready,shame there family related and its hard if not impossible to charge people in the family,i just see it has experience, got a bathroom lined up to fit, its not the first one so dont panic people lol, and one or 2 other little jobs which i wont be expected to get paid,so yeah there is work out there,just need to build up a reputation,like i say tools and transport aint a problem,i dont expect to make thousands ad retire at 50,i just want a bit of security and a job i like,i know it will be hard to get going on own, but hey you gotta start somewhere,this forum is a gem of a find and i can assure the forum mods this is in my fav sites and wont be going for a long time,lol, cheers for al your replys, keep well,speak soon.........

 

[tomplumb]

im fairly new to the trade in some peoples eyes .. been out of my time 8 years and am jus slowly startin to get set up on me own!

my advice is take it steady .. keep ya job and try to get some plumbing work on weekends or some lil bits on evenings .. build experience slowly liek that pal your onto a winner while still gettin a nice wage from ya job

good luck dude!

tom

 

[LM Ceramics]

Ste B dont be put off by the doom and gloom as a cabinet fitter if you do a plumbing course you could work for a kitchen fitting company they would take you on as a cabinet fitter/plumber you would gain some yet limited experiance but you have to start some where, if you go self employed as a kitchen fitter when you are confident you can start to branch out

good luck

good point uug i do some work for a local kitchen company tiling and they have a plumber/kitchen fitter so he s learning things all the time worth ago

 

[gouldymufc]

Im pretty much in the same boat mate, im kind of going on my own and have small jobs like changing taps, ball valves ect lined up and every little helps...i have kept my day job which is labouring on a site and then at 5 when i have work i'll go straight from work to the job. Theres absolutely no worry about getting tools up together or getting a van ect like you have been told, you just pick tools up a bit at a time as and when you know you'll them. Something that i have started doing is getting my little brother to deliver leaflets door to door (for a small price!), once i have completed a job i normally stick a few ''we are currently working in your area'' leaflets to a few doors either side. I'd make sure that you have public liability insurance cuz its better to be safe than sorry! There are a few sites that you can advertise for free on- gumtree.com and vivastreet.com but i also advertise in local papers which costs about 130 quid for 6 weeks. There is definately work out there and i beleive that if i take it slowly and try to get my name about then things will get better and better...im like you- im not aiming to make millions and millions, im just looking to do something that i enjoy and would eventually do it day in day out.

 

[buffy27]

;;; good neat work and manner;;; thats what a plumber told me before . word of mouth is where most of your work will come from.1 small job can lead to 10 bigger jobs.most lads i know in ireland get there work from the old idea of passing on the number of "a good plumber" . they all advertise aswell but get little feed back from it.anyway there s loads of maintenance work out there.domestic bits and bobs.best of luckmy brains a sponge

 

[Benfoord]

I work on a country estate as a Laborer/ Trainee plumber. Problem is they haven't given me much plumbing work to do and I rent a flat have bills to pay etc. I would like to go self employed and just do plumbing repairs, fit new bathrooms etc. How possible do you think this is? I have some experience and am half way through a city and guilds course.

 

[BrianL]

Re: Lots of work out there

There's lots of work out there you just need to work hard to find it, do all the small jobs too. Too many people not doing the little jobs and too many plumbers letting customers down.

Build up your customer base by word of mouth, people will pay good money for a good plumber.

Good luck

 

[Grumpygrouter]

I work on a country estate as a Laborer/ Trainee plumber. Problem is they haven't given me much plumbing work to do and I rent a flat have bills to pay etc. I would like to go self employed and just do plumbing repairs, fit new bathrooms etc. How possible do you think this is? I have some experience and am half way through a city and guilds course.

Anything is possible if you have a mind to do it. Look at Richard Branson, hardly a qualification to his name, can't even interpret a set of company accounts but he seems to do ok....

 

[bobplum]

I am thinking of starting up on my own soon but need a little advice on how to go about it all, i was thinking of the little cards you can get made,probably make myself on computer,but is there a law to posting these through peoples doors and will ii have to inform the tax people straight away even though i will be still in full time employment with my current employers,i know it takes a long time to build up some sort of business so is this the best way or is there some other way thats easier....not really sure who will employ me when i complete my c and g plumbing course so i am putting the feelers out early to give me some options for the future,any help would be grateful,not just for me im sure......cheers

you have to inform the inland revenue/national insurance people within three months of starting self employment,you can be employed and self employed at the same time
i would not bother with cards go for a small ad in the local papers