i know theres a few of you, ive just gone self employed, im doing wall and floor tiling as some of you probably know. just wondering how everyone found the first few months? i officially 'started' the business on the 1st of january, and as yet ive done no tiling work. got a few jobs lined up etc but all in the pipeline stuff that wont be ready for a couple of weeks (posibly one next week though?!).

ive had a little bit of work to do for an elderly woman my mum is a part time carer for, and been earning a bit on the side a few hours a week to keep me going.....but im properly bored of doing fuck all everyday just wanna be working 50-60 hours a week like im used to. how long did it take you to get your name round and get working coming in steadily?

fucking hope its not like this for much longer. its not that i cant afford to be sat about doing fuck all, i just cant stand it!!!

 

first three months are quiet, but get every penny u can cos hidden cost turn up all the time when ur self employed. Keep a safety fund for when you get that unsatisfied customer, u know, the awkward one! but its great being ur own boss! can't beat the flexibility

 

yeah im loving the flexibility, being able to organise to do all sorts of things like the blackpool pissup and not have to worry about blagging the time off from my boss!

 

I would enjoy your time off coz I reckon you will be well buisy soon.
Everyone will be knocking visa card bills off this month.
2years ago my mate went to live in ozz, he's wall and floor tiler and he has been making loads of cash.

good luck.

 

its always quiet after xmas...even in my trade (a plumbing and heating engineer) i used to worry like fook about where the next job was coming from...takes a little time but i dont worry anymore.....its difficult to find a good tiler............just have to watch the old purse strings for a while.................i wouldnt go back to working for anyone again unless i had no other choice!!!!!!!!

 

its all about preperation before xmas and keeping a few jobs on hold for the new year. (fall back jobs) soon pick though as folk will have ordered kitchens, bathrooms etc in the sales. takes a few weeks for the goods to arrive and then hey ohhhhhh off we gooooo.

 

Best thing you can do (according to my brother who's a plasterer) is advertise in the Yellow Pages. Ever since doing that he's been flat out since.

Would also be a good idea to send letters advertising yourself to interior design/architect companies stating your time served (stretch the truth if need be to get your foot in the door), rates etc... Do a good job for them and they'll have constant work for you.

Good Luck

 

Ive been tiling for 10 years and it's alway's slow starting

 

any idea how much it is to advertise in the yellow pages?!

wanna try and get a few jobs done and get some sort of portfolio going, present that to a few of the local bathroom, kitchen and tile showrooms and hopefully get some work through them

 

are you prepared to travel ? if so do contracting work, tons of websites with tons of jobs all around the country that need people like you. this will get you started and a name built for yourself.

my mate has a website with all the work hes done on it, gets him TONS of work, its easier to talk about someone and give the prospective client a webby than it is a name and number to ring.

www.minimalistics.co.uk

 

yeah travelling isnt an issue, but dont you need some sort of health and saftey qualification/card to work on sites?

im planning on starting a website aswell, chips gonna be knocking up one for me, nowt flash, just a gallery basiclly that i can add pics too to show off my talents (or lack of? )

 

Yes you need whats called a CSCS card Construction Skills Certification Scheme, you have to do a health and safety test, then an NVQ to get one as its been running for about 4 years. You need to register with the CITB, (Construction Industry Training Board) to get on the scheme. To be honest all you need to do is register do your health and safety test and blag it when on site say your awaiting your card.

I'm a construction Manager and I get blokes with just the pass certificate for the test

If you need anymore advise please ask

Cheers

Andy

 

the question is what are you doing now to generate business for 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 weeks time???

Get down to printing.com and get some nice leaflets printed up and go stuff 'em through some letterboxes. Get some business cards done and keep 'em in your wallet ready.

local free paper advertising.

write a letter and/or ring up some other companies that maybe interested in sub-contracting to you and offer your services, they may not need you now but at some point you never know.

yellow pages is expensive mate so be prepared £500 for a tiddler I would guess, plus it only comes out now and again so you may have a wait till you get in it next, but I would guess for your trade it would probably generate a bit of business.

basically you need to shout from the rooftops what you can do as everyday your sat around there are tilers out there doing jobs

 

yeah got business cards sorted, planning on dishign them out whereever posible. been getting friends and family to spread the word so to speak which seems to have bought in some jobs for the next month or so.

havnt looked into local papers yet but thats a good idea! theres alocal directory that comes out every 3 months i think, they have adds in for alsorts of things and tradesmen in the area, will make sure im in the next one of them. as said, want to doa few jobs first and use them to showcase my skills and hopefully get soem work through the showrooms in the area, theres 3 tile showrooms within 10mins walk of each other in weston, ones got a bathroom centre nextdoor and theres i think theres a couple of smaller bathroom/kitchen places scattered about, and thats just in weston itself. theres dozens between bristol and taunton!

 

its never easy at the beginning mate so don't get disheartened just keep plugging away and it will all come good, if it was easy everyone would do it!!!

and remember, recommendation is the best sales tool so do a good job and go the extra mile for people and in general it will pay off although you will always get the odd tosser, just put them down to experience LOL!

 

the yellow pages are closing their books ready for the new book in june..if you ring them now you will get in...but they are bloody expensive...personaly im fooking them off this year...in my opinion they are on the way down..and their prices have always gone up ..the internet is taking over advertising now...worth starting in there though..as you can pay monthly

 

i just started on my own to! (mechanic)
Bricking it a bit , but at the moment i am quite busy

 

so you've started your own business, and done no advertising flyers don't work, if you stuff a flyer through my door i would think a number of things,

you are quiet and have to look for work,
not very professional as trades sell themselves,
and it would get stuck in my bin.

As said yellow pages and local paper is your best bet, but you should have started advertising here 2 months ago if your only just left your job. Website won't be that much use, i mean when did you last do a search for kitchen fitters? you don't. you use the yellow pages, or you have heard good things about a local company etc.

Flyer may work if you left them in certain places, where people possibly needed tiling done happen to be good luck hope it all goes well.

 

yeah i agree flyers are a waste of time, the idea with the website though was to have justa small front page explaining what i can do, my contact details etc, then a gallery with some arty shots of some of my work as a showcase to anyone thinking of hiring me. the website will be printed on the next set of cards i get, (or whatever set im on by the time ive got the website sorted) with "visit our site and view gallery at www.whatever.com" or something along those lines across the very bottom of the card.

at the moment im not bothered about having work coming out my arse anyway, ive scored some doorwork which is £50 a night, and got small amounts of other work so even without the tiling side of things i can live fairly comfortably any worry free. takes the pressure off infinatly!