How do we make this job pay?

[roukel01]

Hi Murdoch,
1,First I dont change van very often and do any running repairs myself
2,In my experience yes, its more economical to do it myself
3,I havnt had to advertise once in last 14 months (first couple of years I did though)
4)PPE costs very little
5)Elecsa is not much more than £400
6)good tools dont need replacing often if looked after
And yes I do quotes and other paperwork in the evenings - all these things give me an edge, so dont knock it!

But its not an edge is it? You're working more for less. Bad bad business.

Hows that saying go? Work to live and not live to work??

 

[ipf]

It does seem like the middle ground sparks is becoming a thing of the past like i said on another post, most small works always goes to the bloke with the oldest van. Before long it will only be one man bands and big players left out there which means companies lay off forcing more to start up on their own.
I guess this rings bells to the older guys about in the seventies when materials where high and labour was cheap, bit of da vu jay rodders.

Spot on Needa. 'Ah yes I remember it well'
'Avez vous une cuppa'- that's off the telly too , and a lot will remember who said it.

 

[hyperloop]

Why commission on parts !
I take it you do not give any warranty's on your work then !!??
How else are you going to cover the cost ?
And as for doing your own vat return and not using a accountant just wait for that inspection !
One of our lads did it himself and they had him on the first year , openly said he would have been passed over if he had a accountant ! Easy target !!!!
If you can do it for as little as you possibly can then hats of to you , but i go to work to enable me to spend less time at work in the end , do it for nowt and work 18 hour's day 7 day's a week for the rest of your life feel free , been there done that , seen the light now though thanks !

-Well good luck to you, but my message wasnt to you who have it all sewn up I was replying to the guy who's struggling to make a living

 

[JD6400]

Sewn up ? I am still working , so maybe i must have missed a stitch or two !
I just don't see why we need to work for nothing in this day of age ?

 

[hyperloop]

But its not an edge is it? You're working more for less. Bad bad business.

Hows that saying go? Work to live and not live to work??

The thread was started by a guy who can't understand how he's getting undercut all the time, and how is doing quotes and other admin' in the evening "bad business" - quite the opposite old chap, means I dont have to take time out of my working day when I can be earning, so yes it does give me an edge. How is it that that doesnt make sense to you? and if you dont want to do extra hours / evenings dont moan about struggling to earning a living.

 

[hyperloop]

Sewn up ? I am still working , so maybe i must have missed a stitch or two !
I just don't see why we need to work for nothing in this day of age ?

but we dont work for nothing do we?, I reckon I do ok, Im not making a fortune but ok, all Ive been trying to say is that at the moment most people are so stretched financialy we have to be very competitive, I was just trying to offer some advice to the bloke who started the thread, by the way I don't do vat returns myself - not vat registered, its my tax return I was referring to. used an accountant last year charged £500 and did it myself in a few of hours this year.

 

[morph]

i agree with hyper about the tax return but the rest is hard to believe , especially the costs of the vehicle

 

[hyperloop]

i agree with hyper about the tax return but the rest is hard to believe , especially the costs of the vehicle

Guess I've just been lucky with the van being reliable! Believe me I really am a miser when it come to keeping costs down!

 

[morph]

Guess I've just been lucky with the van being reliable! Believe me I really am a miser when it come to keeping costs down!

my van has been reliable i have spent nothing in 6 years but the tax is £200 ALONE plus mot plus proper insurance i am not spring chicken either and have never claimed so i wish it only cost £400

 

[JD6400]

I agree value for money rules the day and i often get a hard time from several of our employees for NOT charging enough , but even i can not see the point of cutting our throats to work even harder in already tight times.
And as for doing your book work in the evening , why not charge that little extra and employ a part time secretary a few hours a week .
If you have a family i am sure they will appreciate it and maybe you will be even fresher for work in the morning and get that little extra done ?
Sorry it was a typo i meant tax not vat .
Please do not get me wrong i deplore over charging but !

 

[ayjay]

I completely agree ayjay and have done exactly the same job and if we couldn't keep that pace up we would have been off the job only difference was we had plasterers following us

exactly trev, --ok there wasn,t the phone line or all of the modern data stuff to install, and we could use the cavitys to pull the ring cables down ,
in those days we used black &decker drills to drill the holes thro the joists , but they used to over-heat so we had to use a second drill, and hang the overheated one out of the window too cool down!

 

[hyperloop]

I agree value for money rules the day and i often get a hard time from several of our employees for NOT charging enough , but even i can not see the point of cutting our throats to work even harder in already tight times.
And as for doing your book work in the evening , why not charge that little extra and employ a part time secretary a few hours a week .
If you have a family i am sure they will appreciate it and maybe you will be even fresher for work in the morning and get that little extra done ?
Sorry it was a typo i meant tax not vat .
Please do not get me wrong i deplore over charging but !

ok fair enough, but im only talking about an hour or so in the evening maybe 3 times a week when the kids are in bed (theyre only nippers!)its just the way I like to do things. I'm not preaching that everyone should do it this way just saying what I do.

 

[roukel01]

The thread was started by a guy who can't understand how he's getting undercut all the time, and how is doing quotes and other admin' in the evening "bad business" - quite the opposite old chap, means I dont have to take time out of my working day when I can be earning, so yes it does give me an edge. How is it that that doesnt make sense to you? and if you dont want to do extra hours / evenings dont moan about struggling to earning a living.

I haven't moaned about making a living, luckily we're flat out at the moment and have been for a while. My point is that its bad business not to make profit on materials. If you had an accountant to do your books, he/she'd be telling you the same.!

 

[Specialist]

I haven't moaned about making a living, luckily we're flat out at the moment and have been for a while. My point is that its bad business not to make profit on materials. If you had an accountant to do your books, he/she'd be telling you the same.!

They'd charge you a packet for telling you mind Lol:smile5:

 

[roukel01]

They'd charge you a packet for telling you mind Lol:smile5:

True!!! But its a worth while expense I think!