Is the grass greener?

[Zerax]

Laphroiag.that's like Glennfiddich on steroids. smell the peat, taste the peat, sleep like peat.

+1 And also Ardbeg... in fact all/any of the Islay malts are worth exploring I think... unlike the Speyside ones... which are not to me taste at all.

 

[ipf]

Laphroiag.that's like Glennfiddich on steroids. smell the peat, taste the peat, sleep like peat.

Has Pete woke up yet?

 

[Timbo]

Has Pete woke up yet?

Haven't heard him yet!
@Pete999 Wake Up!

 

[Timbo]

The thing is, I have some (what I think are) good ideas for business strategy, and have a couple of contacts I might be able to call on, but everything is always much easier on paper or in your head lol

One question I always like to ask the self employed...would you go back to cards in?

I did back in February. Looked at the amount of time all the hidden things take up, overheads, cost of holidays, etc, and decided the cost difference wasn't too much over against job security.
Since then I've been working flat out. Company van has done almost 36000 miles since mid March.

 

[Pete999]

Haven't heard him yet!
@Pete999 Wake Up!

Cheeky Git bin awake longer than you what do you want?

 

[Pete999]

Laphroiag.that's like Glennfiddich on steroids. smell the peat, taste the peat, sleep like peat.

Looking forward to my GF on Christmas day

 

[Timbo]

Cheeky Git bin awake longer than you what do you want?

Merry Christmas, Pete. ??

 

[Vortigern]

I have only been on the cards when I started out many years ago. Always been self employed and would never consider going back to on the cards. I love the independence and choice. I don't know about getting into domestic work though. I do principally commercial and domestic as fill ins. Horrible domestic compared to commercial. With the skill set you have acquired domestic would be a massive come down. Usually it's work in social housing which is the worst! You should be able to get work in a number of settings with your skills. Going self employed from your position would be an organic changeover consisting of doing moonlighting and slowly building up. If it goes ---- up.... what will the missus say, nothing good I imagine.

 

[Pete999]

Merry Christmas, Pete. ??

And to you and yours MATE

 

[Pete999]

Merry Christmas, Pete. ??

You too Mate, started off bad late last night though Turkey fro TESCO was rotten had to chuck it away desperately looking food in the freezer, found some porkchops, hope the grand kids like pork. although I expect they will be too excited to know the difference, far to busy opening pressies to worry, you all have a wonderful day. ???Hope Sant brings what you wanted, he did good for me , but then again I was in the shop when Mrs Pete999 bought it.????

 

[D Skelton]

I went from self employed to on the cards, haven't looked back since.

Set myself up a nice little business a year after finishing my apprenticeship. Started out bashing houses but very quickly left it behind in favour of commercial and industrial work as my company grew. The domestic market is a free for all and the vast majority of 'successful' domestic electricians making good money aren't electricians but businessmen. Chancers that make their money by paying a load of apprentices peanuts and charging what they can get away with for rushed and shoddy work. It's next to impossible to compete with them. I only know a handful of sparks who stay as one man bands and bash houses for £150 a day (its doable with minimum overheads). They're content with knowing they'll never grow or progress their business and all power to them. But that wasn't me.

I kept my toe in domestic work by doing EICRs but we never carried out remedial work. It was a good way to market the business as a lot of landlords cottoned on pretty quick that we weren't there to just invent jobs that 'needed' doing.

The more we moved into the corporate world the harder we found it to compete also. The minute you find yourself competing with national companies the more you find yourself being undercut as they can afford to take clients on a loss leaders.

The only way we managed to stay profitable was finding a niche, but we had to travel far and wide for the work. We developed good relationships with a few key clients and kept their work because we were leaders in the field and we looked after them. The majority of successful electricians go this way. They find a niche industry and become specialists in their field. It takes a lot of learning and a lot of dedication. I never stopped putting down books and I spent a lot of time actively seeking out opportunities to surround myself with people who knew more than I did. You may be able to apply your skills to this given your background with process control (not a million miles from what I was doing with my company in the end), but it will take time. You'll struggle to find a stable customer base for years only doing that.

The electrical industry is incredibly hard to compete in now. Its saturated and nobody values quality. That said, I did run a successful business however it came at a significant cost to my personal life. 70 hour weeks were really taking their toll.

I ended up being headhunted after making contacts in the railway industry whilst teaching part time. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. Eventually I stopped resisting, sold up and moved on. Initially I took a fair sized pay cut but I'm telling you this, 35 hour weeks, 30 days holiday pay, 6 months full sick pay, the ability to turn off my work phone when I leave the office and never ever ever having to spend another day with the anxiety over next months wage bill never felt so good!

Now after two and a bit years I'm earning what I was with considerably more benefits and I have only a fraction of the stress. I've also enjoyed learning a whole new set of skills and a specialist set of knowledge in a whole other area of the electrical industry. I also enjoy the fact that there are never a shortage of learning opportunities where I am now.

My advice, think very very carefully before jacking it in and going your own way. The grass may appear greener, but there are only two ways to actually achieve it;

1. Legitimately, with patience and years of grit, determination, sleepless nights and a good few years of running at a loss, or
2. Illegitimately, by sacrificing your principles and being prepared to cut corners in every way imaginable.

There will be others who will give other examples of how its possible, but they will likely be the exceptions, not the rule.

 

[Dustydazzler]

You can always sell your soul and join the plethora of youtuber electricians and get loads of sponsored deals and do weekly tool reviews and completions efc...

remember for every sparks earning £600-800 per day their will be some poor shmuck breaking their back for £100 a day or less

if I had my time again I would be a roofer , I just forked out a small fortune for new fascia boards and some minor roof repairs , that’s the game to be in...by my smoke packet calculation they (2 roofers) charged me about £1000 for a days work

 

[telectrix]

You can always sell your soul and join the plethora of youtuber electricians and get loads of sponsored deals and do weekly tool reviews and completions efc...

remember for every sparks earning £600-800 per day their will be some poor shmuck breaking their back for £100 a day or less

if I had my time again I would be a roofer , I just forked out a small fortune for new fascia boards and some minor roof repairs , that’s the game to be in...by my smoke packet calculation they (2 roofers) charged me about £1000 for a days work

should have hired a cherry picker and driver for £300, and done it yersen fer materials cost.

 

[Dustydazzler]

should have hired a cherry picker and driver for £300, and done it yersen fer materials cost.

Believe me Tel , I looked at a few Diy options from hiring scaffolding & paying a mate to help for the day. best price I got for front & back 6m high scaff was £600.00 For a weeks hire.
(can’t do cherry picker for the back roof as you need to go through house to get to back garden)
Pay mate £250.00 for a longs day graft. Plus buy all materials I was up to a grand or more...
paying to have it done was £1400 and they took all the old wood away...

 

[Zerax]

At the end of the day... it all boils down to what you're happy doing. For some, simple local 'house bashing' and trading as a sole trader works fine for them. Yes, they won't become millionaires, but it earns them a living with minimal stress etc.

For others, they may find that boring and seek out something more challenging, or pays better, or gives them regular wage.

It's all down to what 'floats your boat'.