Thinking of starting On My Own

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Benjy

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Hi there i know there are alot of these types of thread on hear(sorry about that) but im still not sure. Now im not one of those i took a day course now i know everything guys I started labouring for a plasterer when I left school and after the first year he started to teach me the trade then inrolled me in a CITB NVQ in plastering. So all was well but after a few years with him i got gready and someone offered me more money and what seamed like the best job in the world, well got my fingers burnt on that one.

At the time i felt i was too young to go off no my own as i dident think that i would be able to cope so now hear we are 8 years later im a welder but find myself wanting to go back to plastering and feel that the time is right now as

1. where i work at the moment we only do a 4 day week meaning i would be able to start off small ( doing fridays and weekends ect)

2. i wouldent have to quit my current job to start plastering

The problem is i still dont know where to start so was wonding if you guys could point me in the right direction? Sorry for the long post just wanted you all to try and understand my position

Thanks
 
I would say go for it , like you say perhaps start of slow 1-2 days a week ,start building up contacts and a customer base and do a little advertising ,maybe try to sub a bit of work off of plastering contractors to help get your name about ,there are some that are still busy , i think while you have a job to fall back on you shouldn't go far wrong, its only if your plastering work takes off and you get busy they will be your only headache best of luck .
 
apparently all you need to start up is 50p and a trowel my self i fink you need loads of cash to do a good job :)
 
oasis said:
apparently all you need to start up is 50p and a trowel my self i fink you need loads of cash to do a good job :)
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Yeah if only, how much cash in your personal opion would you need to start up then including the fact that i allready own hawks, trowels rules ect. The only other thing that puts me off is things like pay tax (as of course i would be delcaring the extra money that i earn to the tax man)
 
its all down to the person. some people work out of a car and use a mobile number some people have a direct number and a flash van "I think a good image counts for alot "as have been proven to me as customers have said so, but the best way to make good money is make do with what you've got! not like me who buys a new tool every job!
 
business cards, magnetic signs, tshirts, domain name and a website with a home page, mobile and new sim start up for under £100. happy days
 
its just plastering mate .....if there was a secret theory we'd all be sorted, i'd chuck an add in the local rag site works a no-no cause you havent got the time yet
 
Mate you can get all the magnetic signs and buisness card sin the world but you still gotta get the work.I have 2 websites im also in all the major directoires and web directoites i.e yell thomson and yell.com thomson.com and many many more etc i advertise in local paper at a cost £384 for 24 days and still im not flat out with work.
Ive been doing property maintenace work for a long time and currently do work for over 30 landlords looking after over 100 houses which is my bread and butter,but even these guys are only giving me 4-5 days amonth at the minute as there not spending money!!!!! Just emergency repairs only.
Some customers ive quoted work for have told me they had 5 other quotes to find a good price.
When your paying for advertising and running a legitimate business you cant compete with chancers and handymen that work for beer money and a takeaway.
You just think where you gonna get the work from????????? cus it wont just fall from the sky mate.
 
get a small van enough tools and a few business cards cards vista print.co.uk do them for free or did do.

Get Danny to do you a website they are the future! I pull a pile of work in from mine although I have got top spot on google, but I put some effort into that.

If you get a job to price you cant handle then be honest-ish and say you wont get time to do it.

F*ck tax they only waste it or steal it and call it expenses for duck ponds or mortgages they paid off years ago.

Honestly though you will probably stay under the limit certainly in the first year.

Does the welding firm have an acountant? can you have a quick word with them, and see what they advise.
 
nelly.... no joking i had 4 different companies ring me today alone asking if i wanted a website or saying theyll get me on first page of google blah blah blah with my current website.Ask the guys in here theyll tell you the same,websites are now ultra competitive and fast becoming a waste of time unless you can manage them yourself and add relevant stuff every week or two within a couple of months your site wont be no where on google.
Websites were good once but nowdays every tom dick and harry has one.
Companies are giving them away with £52 's worth of advertising (scoot )
Another that's rang me 5 times in 3 days.
Definately worth doing a website dont get me wrong,but only a fool would think youll get high in google for a long period without doing a lot more work on a regular basis to the site
 
oasis said:
u can pay a small fee and some1 will keep making them changes for you @-)
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how much is a small fee?

i get the calls every day and my answer is always the same if nobody will find me how the hell did you lol
 
I build my own sites and spend £1.00 per day maximum advertising on google adwords my sites are normally on first page of google and yahoo without the paid for adverts under certain search terms its all in the key words and meta tags behine the pages have a look at https://www.eifssystems.co.uk then right click the page then view source code then you will see how to optimise your own sites relevant to the traffic you want. buy a domain name from here. for a co.uk its £9.99 for 2 years you get free hosting and a free website builder https://www.freevirtualservers.com/ I knock a basic site up in about 3 hours but have spent days on https://www.render-systems.com
Hope this helps lads ;)
 
I say go for it.
I started off doing jobs for friends and family last year and and slowly started getting more work though word of mouth.
Since April of this year I have been working on average 3 nights per week after work and a one day at the weekend.
 
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