Looks like another one bites the dust

[Octopus]

This is the one thing that drives me mad. Every day I have a call from some numpty that expects a job done for nothing.
Only last week I had somebody phone me to replace a pir flood security light. I quoted my price plus the cost of the light.
His reply was. ((((WHAT!!!! It's a 20 quid job))).
Now who on the Mother Earth is going to do a call out for£20?

So he thinks he can get a new light and fitted for £20.00 - what a numpty

Try advertising/marketing in a different area!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Theres work and theres work

I dont get how an estate car is more practical than a van

Sorry but you project an image of your business when you turn up on a job, especially from new clients when responding to an advert enquiry

if i wanted a to hire a professional tradesmen, and some chancer turned up in a rusty old estate........lol!

but then if it works for you, crack on!

Rusty old estate???

All four of them were hatchbacks and three of those cars were never more than 3 years old and the last one was brand new.

I could get all my plumbing AND electrical toolboxes plus power tools in the boot without folding the back seats down and full 3 metre lengths of tube / conduit etc fitted nicely through the specially designed snow ski hatch. Ladders were carried on the roof bars which were only fitted when needed.

Nothing was left on show to give the game away to any toe rag so yes, it did work for me and I did crack on!!

Thank you for your interest!

Keeky Chunt!!

 

[davesparks]

Mine was about £25k.





but that was running a Flightcase company.

Sod building flightcases for a lark! We build our own in-house for our gear. But I'll be buggered if I'm doing it for anyone else!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Sod building flightcases for a lark! We build our own in-house for our gear. But I'll be buggered if I'm doing it for anyone else!

Haha ..... I know what you mean.

I started building them for my PA hire company then people started asking me to so supply them and it just took off.

Next thing I knew the PA business was gone and I was in a 3,000 square feet factory unit with panel saws, cross cut saws, mitre saws, air drills & air pop riveters and the compressor to drive them and a bunch of ex-shipyard lads plus a YTS lad to do the actual work while I was out & about getting the orders and designing the things on AutoCAD which I went to night classes to learn how to use.

 

[davesparks]

If we had proper workshop facilities like that I wouldn't mind so much.

But a skil saw, wobbly table saw, router and rivet gun with no space at all is far less entertaining.

 

[Geordie Spark]

If we had proper workshop facilities like that I wouldn't mind so much.

But a skil saw, wobbly table saw, router and rivet gun with no space at all is far less entertaining.

I know.

I started in my back yard during the summer and moved into the back bedroom during the winter!!

Then I moved in with a Shop Fitter who also made coffins as a sideline for a while and used his saws.

We once had the VAT man pay a visit to check our books and gave him a coffin propped up on a couple of saw stools for his desk and put it in the dirtiest, noisiest place in the shop.

He never came back,

 

[Uglyduckling]

I know.

I started in my back yard during the summer and moved into the back bedroom during the winter!!

Then I moved in with a Shop Fitter who also made coffins as a sideline for a while and used his saws.

We once had the VAT man pay a visit to check our books and gave him a coffin propped up on a couple of saw stools for his desk and put it in the dirtiest, noisiest place in the shop.

He never came back,

Sorry but ive got to reply to this one.
You gave the VAT man a coffin????
No wonder he never came back.
If a customer gave me a coffin I would run and run and run and not stop running. LOL.

 

[ferg]

This time last year, or close to it, I was sitting on my well padded rear wondering where it all went wrong.

Right now I'm wondering what it was that caused the work avalanche.

I still have all the customers I had when I started out plus all the customers I've picked up along the way.

My van is rough but it turns up on time, the job gets done well, neatly and cleanly.

As others have already said spend your time and effort building up your own customer base.

Word of mouth is king.

There will always be someone who can do the job cheaper, so let them.

I'm not the cheapest, the best or the most expensive but I just plod away making sure I keep every customer as happy as I can.

If a customer wants you to sit down and have a cup of tea with them... do it.

If they want you to get in and out fast... do it.

If they want you to ask permission for every slight deviation.. ask.

TBF the only customers I have lost are the ones I don't want.

 

[Octopus]

This time last year, or close to it, I was sitting on my well padded rear wondering where it all went wrong.

Right now I'm wondering what it was that caused the work avalanche.

I still have all the customers I had when I started out plus all the customers I've picked up along the way.

My van is rough but it turns up on time, the job gets done well, neatly and cleanly.

As others have already said spend your time and effort building up your own customer base.

Word of mouth is king.

There will always be someone who can do the job cheaper, so let them.

I'm not the cheapest, the best or the most expensive but I just plod away making sure I keep every customer as happy as I can.

If a customer wants you to sit down and have a cup of tea with them... do it.

If they want you to get in and out fast... do it.

If they want you to ask permission for every slight deviation.. ask.

TBF the only customers I have lost are the ones I don't want.

I think the whole British Isles is experiencing the same thing at the moment. I've had 49 calls about work this month..... so far

 

[Welchyboy1]

Thankyou everybody for for all your replies.
Yes you are all correct about investing alittle in marketing. I like the sign written torches and mugs idea. That's the biggest problem with flyers etc. within hours they end up in the bottom of a hamsters cage or worse.
To be totally honest I have a couple of mugs in the cupboard from car garages that used to service cars of mine over 10 years ago.
People don't chuck away mugs or torches. So I'm going to invest in a few to give out to customers that have work done.
100% Thankyou for that idea.
Now to this reply that I have quoted.
This is the one thing that drives me mad. Every day I have a call from some numpty that expects a job done for nothing.
Only last week I had somebody phone me to replace a pir flood security light. I quoted my price plus the cost of the light.
His reply was. ((((WHAT!!!! It's a 20 quid job))).
Now who on the Mother Earth is going to do a call out for£20?
i don't know where people get there ideas from but there not from this day and age.
The problem is that everything is still going up daily. Our shopping has doubled in price. Not to mention our costs being electricians. My out goings have increased and go up every year.
Now. If you were to phone one of the big company's. Ie Electricity board. British Gas and alike. You start off with a call out over £100 plus VAT.
So us smaller guys should be getting similar or close to it.
It won't matter if you drop and drop your prices there will always be some mug out there that will do it cheaper. Even if you charged a fiver call out there will be some nob that will do it for 4 quid.
Why bother. This is the biggest reason that I feel like chucking it all in and going back to a steady job.
I feel like I'm ****ing in the wind.
I think if things don't improve soon I'm going to have to

Sorry but forget making silly gimmics like mugs etc, if your service is good enough you simply wont need to do things like that

you need to focus on getting decent regular customers, you will always get people who expect jobs for silly money, give them your price and move on

Cheap customers are extremely detrimental to your business, you cannot afford to work for people like that, and need to quickly avoid them completely, my nose is so finely tuned i can sniff one of these types out before ive answered the phone to them, they are also usually the most fussy and will waste your time, they also seem to hang around with other cheapskates too

once you get a regular base of decent, good paying customers, you will find they generally socialise and mix with similiar minded good paying people, who hold value and reliability over price, treat these clients like gold dust, and give them an unbelivable service everytime

Dont ever give them an excuse to go anywhere else

this then takes on a snowball effect and you then end up very busy with good quality work/customers

This is the tradesmens nirvana, that you only reach if your good and reliable enough, sorry but you cant cheat or short cut to get to this point

sadly you normally dont find these sorts of customers on the sites you are using to find work

good luck

 

[Geordie Spark]

This time last year, or close to it, I was sitting on my well padded rear wondering where it all went wrong.

Right now I'm wondering what it was that caused the work avalanche.

I still have all the customers I had when I started out plus all the customers I've picked up along the way.

My van is rough but it turns up on time, the job gets done well, neatly and cleanly.

As others have already said spend your time and effort building up your own customer base.

Word of mouth is king.

There will always be someone who can do the job cheaper, so let them.

I'm not the cheapest, the best or the most expensive but I just plod away making sure I keep every customer as happy as I can.

If a customer wants you to sit down and have a cup of tea with them... do it.

If they want you to get in and out fast... do it.

If they want you to ask permission for every slight deviation.. ask.

TBF the only customers I have lost are the ones I don't want.

VERY well said!!

I would agree with all of that - especially the flashy van bit.