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Hi
Is being self employed that good,you all seem to be doing so well.Do you ever feel like becoming and employee again.Did you all have a healthy bank balance to start with.
How do you cope with installs and finding the time to attend breakdowns.
I do take my hat of to you chaps,for having the balls but would like to hear the pros and cons
Best Regards bernard
P.S. Hope this helps your stats Aiyub
Well me personally, my reasons were simple, I hated working for the firm that I was working for and all the local firms had dissapeared but my area was saturated with one man bands and the ones who I spoke to tryed to talk me out of it. I gave up paid employment with nothing lined up except an advert in my local paper as I had missed the deadline for the Yellow Pages and took it from there. I am going back 8 years ago now, I had purchased a Austin Maestro van for £1000, I already owned all of my own tools, opened two local accounts for fridge spares and took it from there. I had my first call on the first night of my local paper, never forget it, Mrs.Dwyer, Hotpoint fridge freezer, compresor gone and I replaced the compressor, I was so pleased with myself. Some of the local firms had heard that I had "started up" and because of my reputation locally I was offered work right from the start, some installations some service calls, for my first 3 years I worked at loads of McDonalds and RAF bases and I have not looked back since although all my work now is my own. My turnover for my first year was £34k, now I turnover £150K+, not bad for a one man band. It is much more than luck, very hard work, determination and more important than anything else, careful planning. I have learnt so much about been in business along the way. Would I go back to working for a firm......NEVER!
It gets difficult trying to juggle installations and service calls, quite stressful at times but I manage. Sometimes gets difficult to find someone who can give you a "lift" when installing but we manage. My advice to anyone conteplating self employment in the refrigeration industry is do your homework for your district first, see who your competitors are, provide a service that the big firms can not provide, advertise in the right places and dont give up, it will take at least 3 years to get established, there is work out there, there for the taking, I turn down so much work you would think that I was exaggerating.
Well done Andy :) , but would you not think of expanding?
I did consider it, even went as far as working out costings with the accountant, another self employed colleague of mine suggested we formed a partnership but as I was already the "technical brain" behind his business sorting out his day to day problems I could already see problems and I felt that I would still be doing all the work. What puts me off employing engineers is quite simple, I was once a service manager and had to look after 11 engineers, all the bickering back stabbing, no I cant do stand by this week, I cant work late, I cant work away......too much hassle. My intentions are to work another 7 years which will bring me up to 50 then to give my business away because a sole traders business working from home is not really worth anything but ideal for a local engineer who may be wanting to start up in business with out the risks involved as my business is already established and would make money right from day 1, I would propose to work part time to suit me and I would still be available in the hand over period to "talk" to my customers and to get them used to seen a new face, I would draw a monthly fee for the first 3 years then a final lump sum then the business is theirs and it is then up to them how hard they want to work.Quote:
Originally Posted by chillin out
Hi
Being self employed must b so good you all want to keep it a secret
Regards bernard :)
Apologies Bernard, no secret, just a bit busy right now, I promise to add my advice, experience soon............Kindly bear with me.....
:)
Let me try to help Bernard.
In this industry, i first became self employed via the sub-contract only route.
I was working for a company as a duct fitter/ semi skilled sheet metal worker being payed a pittence.
One day whilst on a big job, i got talking to som subbies, and found out they earned more per day than i earned in a week.
Whats more, the job i was doing on the site, was a job these "highly skilled subbies" had been "back heeling" amongst themseles for several weeks.
None of them were capable of installing the ductwork to the satisfactory standard, that little old me could, for 1/5 of their wages.
It was time to take action!
To cut a long story short, i bought an old astra van with my credit card, met a fella who owned a ductwork company, who bought me my tools and knocked the cost of them, off the price of my first job.
That week i earned £2650. Ten times more than i was used to earning
As the weeks turned to months, months to years, i eventually discovered i wanted to be an AC man. Through sub-contracting my duct fitting skills to AC companies, i learned there was more to work than money, JOB SATISFACTION.
Even though i had installed miles of ductwork, i never felt valued for the end product, only that my nice new shiney ducting was straight and level.
I didn't want this any more, so i started mithering the owner of an AC company to teach my how to install splits.
He eventually agreed, and the day i switched on my first install, i knew this was the game for me.
What i,m getting at is this, i do it for the job satisfaction, i get from going into a building and making the working environment better for the staff of the company.
If i wanted good money, i would carry on fitting ductwork.
If i wanted a regular hours, i would carry on fitting ductwork
As it is, i choose to work 25 hours a day, 8 days a week 13 months a year for not much more than the minimum wage (depending how you do the sums at £5/hr, about £45k/yr) because i enjoy being the man at the top of the pile in my own little eutopia.
To help ease pressure a little bit, me and another, local, one man band joined forces. Now we are a core of a two skilled men, plus a selection of spanner passers. My sidekick is a genuine bona fida fridge engineer, he looks after all the service, breakdown and maintenence side of the business and helps me out on installs when time permits, and i do all the sales, design and installation work.
I you want to be self employed just for the money, stick with the sub-contract, labour only business.
If you want to work all the hours god sends, for less money than you are earning now, set up a little business.
Cheers
eggs
Eggs
Thx for your input. Its now around midnight, I just came back from an install half an hour ago. Im brain dead.........Will sleep till 7:30 then Im installing 2 splits tomorrow...........yes Saturday and Sunday.
So I best get some shut eye...............and mumble a few sweet nothings to the missus............just hope I dont get a swift kick
:D
Thanks for the info chaps and good luck to you in the future.
From a young age I always planned to work for myself,I think I need a few more years experience yet.But unfortunately my lust for being self-employed has gone a little.With having a young family I am worried I may neglect them to much.At the moment I can earn 40,000 plus which I am happy with and if I wish I can just switch my phone of for a weekend and chill.
Regards Bernard
self employment isn't all it's cracked up to be..the one man bands have the constant worry that someone will undercut them and what happens if they get ill? then what??
how about a nice 2 week holiday? -you've gotta be joking..
I first went s/e back in '87 but as part of a partnership..at least that way we each could get away and feel that each had back-up.
Trust could be an issue for partnerships but it never was for us..
Business these days is far far more cut throat and risky.
when we started we were the forth a/c.fridge entry in the local yellow pages. when I left there were 6 PAGES !!
I expect around at least 50% of those one man bands out there 'lovin it' will be running for the cover of a big company in the next 2 years if this recession bites as hard as I expect it to...
If you are earning 40K enjoy it coz if you went s/e you couldn't afford the pay cut.......
cheers
Richard
Tell me about it? I have worked with a bad back (regular) Broken heel after falling from a ladder, broken big toe, absess (sp) to my cornea and most recently a badly gashed finger that I did not have time to get sticthed, thanks LG!Quote:
Originally Posted by rbartlett
Holidays are a real problem for me but I have got cover from another local bloke who only started SE last year so for now I am ok.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbartlett
Air conditioning is very cut throat if you specialise in installations but refrigeration repairs are not so bad, once you are on site your on the spot quote is usually accepted. These days the bulk of my work is from existing customers who seem to prefer dealing with me with out seeking alternative quotations, privide a good personal service and the customer will not go anywhere else from my experience, there is of course always the exception and that is what keeps you on your toes.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbartlett
It all depends what type of work you do, when I started I chose to aim for the smaller business while a mate of mine chose larger business, he did very well until he lost the contracts, mine continued to grow at such a rate I really struggle to fit it all in.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbartlett
Now that is good money working for a firm, I presume before tax and with loads of overtime and stand by, as a sole trader my profit is a lot more than that (before tax) but being SE has plenty of perks without going into them because you do not know who is watching! I guess I am very lucky that I have found the right balance of mainly repairs and maintenance with installations as an added bonus but I am fully aware that if I had a serious accident ........the money pot could stop tomorrow!Quote:
Originally Posted by rbartlett
Well thanks for the info,Not as rosey as first thought And yes I am the stand by guroo
All the best Bernard
Are you all sole traders or do you operate as a limited company for tax and liability purposes.
I have just formed a limited company after being a sole trader for a year.I was advised by my accountant but am wondering how you all go about things, any advice would be great. :)
I find being self employed hard work. You can never switch off and when you get home from 10-12 hours on site there's hours of office work to do.
Saying that I seem to have more money, although debts to suppliers rack up quickly and geting paid can be a job in itself. I now take three holidays a year as I feel that if I work hard then I'm going to make time to play hard. :D
I am a sole trader, have been since 1997, I considered Ltd last year but after discussing it with my accountant she advised me to wait a further year as changes were going to happen. The goverment encouraged sole traders to become Ltd, but ask yourself why? they can now keep tighter checks on you amongst other things, sure they tell you about limited liability and if you go bump you can write off your debts and start again with a clean slate which I do not agree with, I know too many small companies who have been affected by well engineered "gone into liquidation". A mate of mine now wants to deregister. I know I pay 40% tax but I try to spend as much of mine as possible such as last year a new van loaded with extras and loads of tools, a new computer etc,etc,etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by freezy
Good accounts and credit control are a must, I let mine slip occassionally only because I am too busy but I do catch up and have had only 3 small bad debts since started trading. (touch wood)Quote:
Originally Posted by freezy
Quote:
I pay 40% tax but I try to spend as much of mine as possible such as last year a new van loaded with extras and loads of tools, a new computer etc,etc,etc.
I know what you mean but I want to spend my money on fast cars and fast women :D
Hi AbeQuote:
Look the part, down to your Bosche proffessional tools
I was going to make a comment - but I've bit my lip :D
Should I have said De Walt ??
Or Makita???
:confused:
Only joking Abe - but you're getting warmer :DQuote:
Should I have said De Walt
Bernard,
Everybody's experience is different, I could never work for a company again but it's not right for everyone. I am now in the luxurious position of being able to turn down work i don't want, and stick to more profitable or more importantly more reliable and appreciative customers. I manage the business so that I don't work all the hours and very rarely work weekends, in fact I work less than i did when i did standby 1 week in 4. The best part is selling expensive equipment so that you've made money before you even start the job. BUT I made a profit of about £8k in my first year and only twice that in the second. I'm still not rich and never will be but i am a lot happier. And as for worrying about people undercutting me, I just tell customers you get what you pay for.
Simon.:)
I got fed up of being a number on a payroll, the wifes gran died and left her some money and we decided to go for it.
Handed in my resignation and was asked if I'd like to do work for them - to which I agreed,never heard from them though.Consequently I took most of their work in my area.
My first couple of months were slow and I was a bit worried and then the work started to fly in,mainly because I was a bit cheaper than the company I worked for ,but also I could provide a faster response time.
Excellent personal relationships with firms is a must,Taking a firms service manager out for meals and bottles of drink won't hide poor service figures.
When you do some work for a company hand your number out to the engineers so they can pick your brain on technical info.They'll call you to site instead of a competitor.
Financialy a good accountant's essential,bad finacial advice could cost you a lot of money.Would you be better as a sole trader or going Ltd.
Long hours and stress are part and parcel of it,but there's nothing better than the satisfaction of running your own business.
You have to have the determination to succeed and set yourself a goal,if you hit that goal then set yourself another,don't sit back and rest on your laurels otherwise you'll stagnate.
I've been in business 3 years now,my wife runs a subsidiary arm of the company which we're looking at expanding and I'm training up an apprentice (there's plenty of government assistance out there for this).And by the proposed work load it looks as though I'm going to have to employ another engineer some time soon.
If your good at your job and have the determination to succeed there's no reason you won't
After 20+ years on the tools and pushing a desk in this game...... packed it all in and emigrated to spain, all went wrong..... my last 50€ i put an advert in the local paper. rented a citroen saxo (payment a month in arrears) had some of my hand tools but that was it....
That was a year ago.....
wouldnt fancy trying that in the uk, though of course i could possibly have had credit from suppliers and help from a bank (none of that here).
As for asking for support brackets, vibration dampers and pipe and lagging..... let alone negotiating discounts, all in Spanish!!!!! that was fun.... now my technical spanish is good, my conversational is still awfull........
Its hard work.... youre either flat out or at dead stop.... i am loving it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful sunny day today.... finished off an install, ceiling peeps had finished and i had just finished painting and finishing off (Ducted unit so had to replace ceiling)
Driving down the hill...... stunning view across to Gibralter and Africa.... stop and take 5 minutes...
Short skirts LOL that is not the half of it.....
hee hee summers coming.......... lunch on the beach..