Self Employed info

[axel132132]

Hi all

I have just qualified in January of this year, i was working for a company that has now gone under. This is the 3rd company i have worked for that has gone bust recently.

I am wondering if anyone has been self employed and whether going self employed is a good idea, obviously the pro's are working for self being own boss etc.

What is the best way of getting work do you think? Would it be advertising in yellow pages or posting leaflets out or what ways do you find most successful. I have my own website Unicorn Electrical

The other issue is with just qualifying i've never had to design anything before, im going to buy NICEIC Domestic Installer so that i am part P.

Im new to all of this so any info would be greatly appreciated

Kind Regards
Dave

 

[sedgy34]

The problem at the moment is there is too little work around being chased by too many sparks,you then have a dog eat dog situation where it becomes survival of the cheapest,you may tell yourself different but believe me when you aint done a job for a few weeks you got bills to pay and the mortgage is due the temptation to undercut in order to win the work is there,only to realise when you have done the work and got paid (assuming payment is forthcoming at all)the job wasnt worth doing for that price in the first place.

I was NIC registered self employed sparkie for 5 years so i can speak from experience,going back on the books was the best move i made,self employed aint all its cracked up to be lads.

well said mr magoo!! however the term dog eat dog really annoys me :boxing_smiley:

 

[Mr Magoo]

Sorry,i do have another way of putting it but swearing aint allowed.:tt1:

 

[alarm man]

The other issue im finding atm is getting another job to be fair, no one is taking on but i could always charge less than companies but still make enough money an average of like £400 / month would be good enough really

£400 a month is pocket money not a wage..the uk will be a third world country if people charge that

 

[Guitarist]

The other issue im finding atm is getting another job to be fair, no one is taking on but i could always charge less than companies but still make enough money an average of like £400 / month would be good enough really

If you make less than £400 a week you will go under as a sole trader.

 

[Steve_P]

There's companies in London charging more than that a day!

 

[Guitarist]

There's companies in London charging more than that a day!

Exactly...

 

[axel132132]

I ment a week lol, really appreciating the advice.. Ive had mixed reviews my gf sisters bf went self employed an e loves it makes so much etc etc its finding the work i mean ive got abit on but its the overall designing knowledge i lack really

 

[Guitarist]

I ment a week lol, really appreciating the advice.. Ive had mixed reviews my gf sisters bf went self employed an e loves it makes so much etc etc its finding the work i mean ive got abit on but its the overall designing knowledge i lack really

Stick to the smaller jobs until you become more confident, keep studying, and put your thickest skin on each day

 

[sedgy34]

I'm moving to London then

 

[axel132132]

Yeh sounds good to me, at my old company when we fitted a board in a garage external to the house we used a catenary wire with FP cable.. FP cable is pretty expensive ive no idea what other external cables are around as i want to feed a garage 30m from board which will have 1 socket and 1 lighting circuit on it.

How do i go about working out what cable size i need (Forgot how to do this as never needed to)
What external cable should i use (Anyone send me link to some cheap cable)

All the help i can get would be greatly appreciated!