We Went Wrong In Life

[cliffed]

Agree with all,the problem theses days ,it's all fast fix,installing cables etc,it's all too easy,anyone can have a go.Its not gonna be installed neatly,properly or tested correctly but nobody seems to care,bring back the days of trunking & conduit,that's Gita sort the whizz kids out.

 

[Industspark]

This is one reason I haven't done a house wire in years. So many regulations with little reward and respect.

 

[Guitarist]

Basically it's supply and demand, and due to the number of quick courses, there's now too much supply. The guys may be useless and may have never been in a loft before, but they have a shiny van and are part P registered. The only way to stay in business nowadays is to build a large customer base of people who will pay more because nobody else will do.

 

[David M]

I tend to get a feel for customers (after years of experience) who are only really interested in getting the cheapest price rather than focus on getting decent job done. Fortunately I'm now in a position where I can just walk away, as the majority of my work comes from recommendation or regular customers.
As soon as it becomes obvious the potential customer is only interested in the cost, I always give them a high ball park figure then say to them " I recommend you get other quotes in, then call me if my price is competitive" this way it sets a seed in their heads in most cases, and if I get the job I'm quids in and under no pressure.

 

[SteveG]

A tip for all you Sparkies is; Try specialize a bit, stand out from the crowd.
The title 'electrician' has vastly moved on since I was an Apprentice back in the early 1970's.
I'm from a time when electricians tool box's were massive and heavy. You would have in there a full set of stone chisels, 6 pound lump hammers, star drills rawl-drills
A low sweep brace and bit with a full set of wood drills. A full set of wood chisels, a claw hammer, 2 sash knifes and much more besides your pliers side-cutters and screw drivers.
You could hardly carry it.
I started to specialize after a man was called to a factory I was working at, to mend a machine we had all had a go at trying to fix.
He came in a nice car and was well dressed and his toolkit was - pocket tackle and a laptop.
He plugged the laptop into the fancy controller with flashing red lights and after about half an hour he said 'your encoder is faulty'
My what? 'The encoder - i'll get a new one. He got someone to fit it and packed up his laptop and kit and did one.
His bill was more than my weeks wage.
That was nearly 30 years ago and I thought then 'I'm gonna be that man'
And I was/am.
An example; a comical one if you like. Sometime last year I was phoned to ask if I knew anything about a certain type of controller/plc.
It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way home. I said I did and the voice said 'can you be here 8:00 Monday morning.
It was 200 miles from where I live so it was an early start plus I had a lot on and would struggle to fit them in so I wasn't too bothered about the work.
He asked me my rate.... seeing as I didn't care I inflated it to £60 per hour - base to base. He was over the moon. He said he had, had two others in - one at £95 and the other at £110 per hour and neither had sorted it. (the voice in my head said -------s) But I went and lets say it was running perfect when I came away.
And if you want to know what was wrong; a servo drive had lost all its parameters due to a duff battery. I replaced the battery and uploaded and downloaded the parameters from another identical servo drive.

 

[Mablec]

I was made redundant in 2012, took up self employment fully as I am a fully qualified sparks since 1974, keep up to date with latest regs attend update courses run by C&G centres, I am committed to my trade. I set myself a target of £200 a day to include cover cost for van insurances etc. I get that and not interested in what and who earn. " The other mans grass is always greener", my experience tells me it seldom is. Wishes and envy Is a domain for children and my advise is set yourself an achievable target one that you are comfortable with and if you achieve it ...... Cushdy!!