British Gas Vs Working For Yourself

[SafeGasInstall]

it is your £ you spent them your self.....other people don't spent there £ they simply invest them !

 

[quality]

Image is what a new van can give but a new van and crap service goes nowhere, well it does but its down the pan
If anybody is thinking of starting out make sure your good at what you do and have tools to do the job and last but not least customers who need jobs doing

 

[smillsey]

if you treat customers with respect no matter who they are, they will NORMALLY treat you with the same,

If you are a shy and shifty by nature person you have no chance, they wont trust you and will not want to pay you anything.

Trust is without doubt the seller when you are a small company. Without that you wont get anything,

If you can look at yourself for a bit and work out what you would want from a plumber/boiler engineer or whatever flavour you are first... Then BECOME that person.....

 

[mboshier]

Damm! really wanted that £24000 WV Transporter! lol

 

[SafeGasInstall]

Why not go for a VW transporter

 

[gaspastemania]

transporter !!!!
What are you a sparky ?

 

[yorkieplumber]

Damm! really wanted that £24000 WV Transporter! lol

Just got the above in December, but let me put that in perspective, i have been on my own for nearly 29 years and boy the first 3 years were tough, then things SLOWLY picked up, been self employed is not a bunch of roses i hear comments like i have more time for family etc, thats total bollocks you have to graft harder and work longer hours to make a decent living, but having said all that if you do get your head down you can earn decent money, just make sure you charge accordingly, read to many posts on here about what some of you guys charge and i cringe a lot of you are working to cheap.

 

[cr0ft]

A very interesting thread. I'm literally just starting my 3rd year of trading but just about to post my 2nd full year of accounts at the end of next month. I'm setup as a limited company and (with net profit and wage) made around £12k in year one and looking closer to £16k this year. A very very low wage in relation to the amount of hours I've put into it. Even now I still get the odd month that is really quiet (this one is in particular). Then I phone round the other people I know, the merchants etc and find they're all having quiet months too which makes me feel better.

There's been so many occasions where I've thought of throwing in the towel and that's were the recession's been great in focussing the mind. Difficult to throw the towel in when there's no jobs to go to!

I charge towards the top end of what plumbers do in my area, around £200 per day for labour. I don't seem to lose a lot of quotes though so I actually think dropping my prices would make me less money, not more.

On a regular basis I see the results of people who charge £100-£150 a day and realise that actually there is a market for the guy that wants to charge sensible rates.

But would I leave a job on £40k and startup a business in the current climate? I would have to be madder than a nut-house to do that.

PS on the subject of vans, British Gas sell all there vans on Ebay once they get past 3 years old. Keep an eye out and it's possible to pick up a Renault Master with 30k on it, full racking, ladder/pipe carrier rack etc for £3k. I did and it's been a fantastic runaround - you get a full service history with them and 25k on no major problems yet. Doesn't cost that much more to run than a small van either.

 

[GQuigley67]

did u have to get the BG van resprayed though ?

 

[cr0ft]

Nope it came with all the signage already removed. Got my own signage off Ebay which is still fine, that cost me £89 complete with my own large logo on the back of the van. A real bargain!

 

[gasleak]

hitachi capital are leasing company for bg vans and sell off the vans at bca car auctions up and down the country, if you want to miss out the middle man???

 

[mike_s]

I think you'd be absolutely barmy to leave a stable job on that money. I'm self employed and have been for 2 years but I am carrying on my dads business which has been established 20 years and that I have been working with for 7 years.
He previously worked for british gas for 28 years and after I finnish my gas nvq level 3 around May I'm sure I'll apply for british gas.
Reasons being:
EXPENSES! Ok so for one I contribute 240 pounds a month into a personal pension fund, thats probably only to retire on 12k a year if I'm lucky. Working for british gas I wouldn't have to invest so much.
Advertising. Our website has a great google ranking but we spend around 250 a month on advertising in the local papers, which do bring in a lot of work, as does the website but the competition is very high.
I need a new van if I carry on my dads business after the summer, oh and obviously have to pay for insurance and expenses on top of that.
He's 65 so I will also have to hire an apprentice soon, there goes another 400 a month plus I'll need employers liability insurance on top of our public liability.
I have built up all my tools and qualifications now which cost around 3k altogether in the last year. I only got a cheap van for 800 quid and my next one would only be between 3-5k.
STRESS! Long working hours, being self employed is not a 9-5 job it feels more like an 8-8 job minimum, as after I've finnished my main work for the day I have to do break downs, estimates, invoices, research etc. So that means I don't have much time for sport and going to the gym which I love.
I'm saving up for a mortgage, I need 2-3 years of good accounts before I'll get one self employed and can only borrow 4-5 times my average net profit, first year was 8 grand, second year around 15 and I'm sure it will be more like 20-30 once my dad retires. But if I got a 30k job for BG I could borrow 150 grand once I had the deposit.
When work dries up and I have rent and bills to pay and a holiday booked, what do u do, put more into advertising, do leaflet drops, all you can do.

Ok yep being your own boss can be extremely rewarding and flexible, if an important personal issue come I can always attend to that rather than being told when I can and can't work, I can earn a good weeks wage in just a few days then make time for the weekend (except in winter)
More than anything I'm really proud of how we've built the business up, I built and written our website myself, oh thats another cost, plus I want a professional logo designed, then that needs to go on van, clothes, adverts etc. But anyway the business makes me feel great most of the time and is very rewarding, I can potentially earn more money self employed and the trade is an exciting one to be in with renewables and super efficiency systems etc but to me there are more important things in life if you are already earning 40-50k like you claim. Thanks for reading sorry it's long, I just can't make my mind up what to do and I've thought about it almost every day the last few months.
www.ainsdalegas.co.uk

 

[the_ace]

I've had this same dilemma for a while but every one I know who works for BG hates it and I mean hates it, if you can put up with your TSM breathing down your neck all the time and constant pressure to work faster not to mention all the glove wearing nonsense then go for it but the grass isn't always greener.

 

[hydrotherm]

Got to agree with the ace . Couldnt wait to get away from BG for all the reasons he said. Most of the SMs really think they are one step away from being God.

 

[dwb78]

on that wage its not greener, tho you should have enough capital to get a strong start as forking out for parts can run into the hundreds

 

[armyash]

I have heard if you work for BG you have to sign to stay with them for a number of years is this correct?

 

[franz]

The grass aint green when the van breaks down and you wait 3hrs for the AA and pay 350£ to get it fixed.
Sitting in a cold van dont earn money.
What a crap day!!!!!!

 

[Dannypipe]

Being self employed always comes with grief which have all been mentioned, but nothings beats being your own man, choosing how you work, and setting your own standards.

I don't earn 50K a year...yet, but I'm working hard to get there and reckon in a few years I'll be there.

Been running my business for three years and took a salary of about £30K last year, but put at least £5K back into the business maybe more, training, tools etc.

I often work an 8 hour day, spend a couple of hours with the wife and kids then do paper work till 11pm, but I'm proud of the business, and aspire to bigger things. Surely that IS greener grass than working for THE MAN, even if the money isn't as good.

 

[GQuigley67]

totally agree with you dannypipe

having just recently started quite enjoying it already doing my own work at my own pace and helping people out, more satisfiying than working on a building site making a company thousands and you get pennies !! I was told off someone in our office that every plumber for the company was expected to earn the company £2300 a week !

 

[Dannypipe]

£2300 quid a week, probably true....which is staggering, but the big firms shaft everyone, the staff and the customer.

 

[Heating-eng]

Hi guys,

I am currently working for Bg and have been for the last 7 years. Like most BG engineers I am not happy with usually stuff already mentioned on this site. It has now got to the stage were i am considering going it alone.

But is the grass really greener on the other side?

I earn a decent wage usually between 40-50k a year + all the other benifits for working for a firm. But what am i likely to earn working for myself and going as a contractor to firms like BG.

I know it a bit like asking how long is a piece of string.

I have just left BG i know what you mean about the pressure.
I was an engineer but for the last 4 years i was on sales selling boilers and central heating (earning about 70k).
Things were changing too much for me and i didnt feel like i could stay any more.
Things are quite hard and getting work is not easy so if you need to earn a good wage then if i was you i would stay at BG.
Hope this helps.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

But why did you leave if you would recommend bg

 

[Heating-eng]

But why did you leave if you would recommend bg

I don,t need to earn the money i used to do any more and at least at BG you get a wage every month.
If i could of worked part time for them i would have stayed.

 

[crunchy]

where do i sign up well benifit of being S/E is you can always refuse jobs i suppose but then you have to find jobs to replace those at least with BG you have your work given to you on a plate given a van etc regular wage paid hol sick etc 40 to 50 k plus those i know where i would stay

 

[GrahamM]

where do i sign up well benifit of being S/E is you can always refuse jobs i suppose but then you have to find jobs to replace those at least with BG you have your work given to you on a plate given a van etc regular wage paid hol sick etc 40 to 50 k plus those i know where i would stay

Working as an Engineer for BG would be great if it was not for the constant pressure to make sales targets by pushing magnetic filters, boiler/system upgrades, powerflushes and energy. They are constantly on you back.

Last I heard the basic pay for a technical engineer was circa £30K.