Help needed re starting/building up business

[amlu]

working for builders on house renovation projects is an option. just be careful that they pay on time

 

[oldtimer]

Sophie pm me your email and I will send you some info on flyers

 

[grantr37]

Hello all

I'm posting on behalf of my husband because I want to help him with his business. He really wants to go it alone having worked sub contracting for a while for various contractors. He had thought about working on sites but he cant get an ECS card because he hasn't got an level 3 NVQ. He has got 2360 1 & 2, 17th edition update and AM1, he also has 10 years trade experience both domestic and commercial. I've looked into him doing an NVQ and its £750 which isnt an option at the moment financially.

He's very demotivated and feels that there is so much red tape involved in just doing his job. Also the subcontractor work has dried up and we are really struggling to manage.

I just wanted some opinions really on what you perceive his options to be and how best to go about it. If he chooses to start up on his own I know he'll need to join niceic or napit etc but none of this will guarantee him any work, do you have any practical advice on setting up and getting work coming in?

Many thanks

Where abouts roughly are you looking to set up business? I will advise if I can, and might also be able to put some work in your husband's direction, especially with Lighting where I have a few good contacts, and electrical work at the banks....

 

[thekingiam]

for small domestic work advertise on gumtree it's free ime getting more work from this site than the yellow pages.

 

[Sophie Marchant]

Where abouts roughly are you looking to set up business? I will advise if I can, and might also be able to put some work in your husband's direction, especially with Lighting where I have a few good contacts, and electrical work at the banks....

thanks Grant, I've pm'd you

 

[Robert Turnbull]

To be honest it sounds like he's ready to roll,

The nvq3 will gain no advantage to him in setting up his own business.

Get advertising and looking for work and any money made get elecsa registration going again.

 

[partypest]

You have to speculate to accumulate, that's a fact. It really is the chicken an egg when you start out on your own. You will have to spend money to get work in, but maybe you'll find some advice on here as to where that money would be wisely spent. A JIB will only get the opportunity to get site work, it doesn't guarantee it and neither does the NVQ if you're going out on your own. The tools you need are basic hand tools, the correct test equipment and the last thing is competency. If he has all those, he can get started. Next step is letting people know you exist and that you're an attractive proposition. When I started out, which incidentally took several attempts to get right, I spent money all over the place, effectively giving to anyone who rang up and asked for it. The best places to advertise are local parish magazine, local free paper and the local paid for paper. Speak to the people there and tell them you need a discount to get started, some sort of introductory offer to get things rolling. You can use some reasoning here, if their paper brings work, you'll want to keep your ad with them, try it, you could get lucky, I did. Next is the van, this is a precious plot of advertising space that is often overlooked. Pop to your nearest vehicle graphic place and tell them you're just starting out and money is really tight but you realise how important sign writing is. Ask them to just put some basic lettering on, like " Domestic & Commercial Electrician Call Bob 07xxx xxxxxx". Simple, basic but it does work. Admittedly it doesn't have the draw and impact of a full vinyl digital print wrap, but it's an advert and it has an audience everywhere it goes. It also doesn't cost £1000+, you might get it for £50 or so, which is very cheap advertising. The plain truth, if you're getting your own work, is you need to advertise. The more you advertise, the more work you get. Start small, get a bit of cash in, spend on some more advertising, get the ball rolling and so long as you keep pushing, it'll keep rolling. Push a bit harder, the ball rolls faster. When you can, get listed in Yell, people still look in there for local trades. Next step, get a simple web site on the go. You don't need any programming skills, Moonfruit is a good start for anyone building their own site, they provide the tools, domain, email hosting and make it really cheap and simple, then you can start investing in Google Adwords to catch business from people searching online. If you spend wisely, you'll have regular money coming in, in no time. Lastly, play nice and make friends, an investment in people pays dividends. Good luck.

 

[Essexboy7]

Hi guys

Thanks for all your replies, believe me I'm not after new tvs etc I just want a bit of security and to know that the bills are going to be paid, I've sacrificed a lot already for him to do what he wants to do and I'm not after material possessions I just want to not be worrying about money constantly. I'm also currently on maternity leave so we are down one income and my maternity pay ended last month. I also understand that hard work is required, we talked about it last night and he thinks its better to get the part P first then once he's built up a bit of money he can pay to do the NVQ. He's not afraid of a bit of hard work but does need some help with how to promote his business so I was just after some ideas from the more experienced tradesmen who post on here. What worked for you and what didn't work? We're thinking flyers will be a good idea, are there any other reasonably priced ways of getting his name out there to start getting the work in?

Sophie in this day and age anyone taking a chance as a self employed tradesman cannot be sure of having security and regular money coming in.EVERY single spark i know has periods of no work and no income.What if your husband has an accident and is out of work for 6 weeks?Dont think the Dole will help you they will tell you to go away as you are self employed.Thats 6 weeks with no money.Then when he is fit and able he might have no work for a further 4 weeks.Have you got that sort of money in the bank to cover that?I dont know anyone who has.Self employment is a big gamble.It works out nicely for a lot of people and for a lot of other people it destroys them.His best bet is to become a fully qualified spark as that will give him more options and open more doors for him.And as for geting part P and building up money thats based on an assumption he will have enough regular work to pay all the usual bills and put money aside for an NVQ.Go to night school for 3 years and study to be an Accountant would be a safer bet.I wish i had done something like that years ago