Did any of you find it hard when you first started up by yourself?

[Guy]

We've been launched a week tomorrow and so far only had one call but he wasn't happy with my 35 pound call out charge. I had interest by people approaching me when they have seen my van but they are waiting till they get paid to book the work.

I am on Yell.com for all local areas on the first page. I have a Google ad words campaign and i have been doing flier drops etc. So far to no real avail.

My wife is getting concerned because we have bills to pay and i keep trying to say it's only been a week. So should we be worried or is this normal?

Where are we going wrong? Any suggestions please?

 

[islandview]

Its always tough in the begining. I started out on my own about 4 years ago and I am still building it up. The one thing I did when I started was to have 3 months worth of bills put aside in a seperate b/account to cover for days not working. I am with Yell.com and I advertise in local magazines. I also have my van sign written and a website.
Have you tried sites like rated people or my workman. I have used those sites when I am quite, just to get me by.

 

[Guy]

Hello islandview thanks for the reply. I also have my van sign written. I am not currently on ratedpeople.com but will have to look into it. I am on Buildersbum but it seems very quiet there. I think rated people is a good idea but i'm not prepared to pay up front when i can't guarantee i'm going to get the work.

 

[islandview]

Be very careful with rated people and only use it when you need to.

I have had loads of trouble with it, mostly people wasting my time just looking for a rough idea of costs to see if they can afford to have the work done.

You can claim your money back but not the time and diesel you spent to look at the job.

Have you got a website?

 

[Guy]

Yeah i was afraid of that. Yeah i have a website. I had GBBO build the basic template and then made changes to it to improve it.

Here it is Pipes, Mains, Drips & Drains

 

[traineedrip]

Just over 2 years in and yes you can go a couple of weeks without a call. It takes ages to build it all up. Depends on the area but are you advertising in the right places? Ive had adverts out covering a huge area and no reponse. Then popped an advert into local village monthly and got calls straight away. Might be worth knocking on a few doors, introducing yourself and asking How they would find an emergency plumber? There may be a local freebie your not aware of.

 

[dontknowitall]

I've been going for around 3 years and am still quiet from time to time. It takes a while to get yourself established.

You've had one call in your first week? That's busy for a new business that no one's heard of!! And I'm not joking. It's the harsh reality. When did you last see a plumber or builder or electrician or decorator or carpenter turn up to someone living in your street? This year? The construction industry is suffering at the moment and with house prices beginning to drop it's not likely to help the construction industry either.

I'm also finding that the well established plumbers (and builders and electricians, etc, etc) around where I live have also been suffering over the last year or two. Hopefully you'll find a successful niche in the fairly new future.

 

[fuzzy]

keep going, get fed up, try harder, theres no other way is there?

 

[md68]

The first year to 18 months is hard but you've just got to stick at it.
Flyers can be a good source of work. I normally get 4-5 jobs per thousand. The local paper is next to useless but the internet is good. Have you got yourself listed on Google's local business centre so you come up in the organic search? Have you tried joining local business networking groups? ~I've always done quite well out of these.

 

[Guy]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. md68, yeah mate i have added myself to google local business centre but i don't come up in the organic search. There are tons of others. I have verified my listing in the hope that i would come up on the left hand side in that little block of local plumbers but i don't show up.

I haven't attended any networking groups yet but i do intend to.