Day to day running of a business...

[RandomHero]

Hi, I apologise if this is in the wrong section.

I am nearly at the end of my college course to become a gas engineer and I will soon be gas safe registered. I have been on placement with Scottish Gas and hope to work for them for a year or two and then I would, ultimately, like to work for myself.

Having been with Scottish Gas I am unsure how a self employed business would run on a daily basis. For example I am unsure what way people are paid for breakdowns etc. Is it a call out charge? How do you charge if you need to come back with a part? If the job recalls is the customer expected to pay again?

I know it will be a good while before I consider going self employed but I would like to start planning ahead.

I understand all the legal obligations but I am just looking for any info regarding the day to day running of a gas business. Any help, hints and tips etc are greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Vast difference between working for a company and doing it for yourself and something you will learn as time go's on, At the moment , you work fixed hours Know what you will be earning, get all your training paid for, holidays, sick pay, van with fuel etc. don't get customers calling 24/7 don't have to chase payments don't have to spend countless unpaid hours pricing jobs & doing paper work. Don't believe all the story's about earning vast amounts of money & working less hours to earn it. and there is a massive amount of competition out there, some people make it a lot more fail, These days having a permanent job with regular wage is something to hold on to, do some research have a look at the number of self employed people in your area, I know in my area new start up people come & go as often as changing your socks, most get into loads of debt last on average 6 mths the odd one or two make it. Think long and hard B4 you dip your feet in the water!! Good Luck with your decision

 

[RandomHero]

Thanks for the reply. I understand what you're saying and it makes sense. I may get a job with Scottish Gas and settle in and stay there but I've always liked the idea of working for myself. It's not a decision to make quickly so I want to figure everything out before I even attempted it. I'm going to find out about competition in the area.

At the moment Im trying to figure out how the day to day would work. I used to have a small tiling business which lasted 2 years (recession hit and I went to Australia for a year) so I understand the legalities etc. Im just not sure how a self employed gas engineer would work day to day.

 

[Atouchofgas]

Is it just gas you do or plumbing and gas?
What sort of training have you had from SG?
Not being noisy just trying to what you strengths and weaknesses are. If you've only done service and maintenance then would you find enough customers to do that and survive?

 

[RandomHero]

Its just gas I do and it's only been servicing and repair I have been involved in. I will only consider going self employed if my research into the market where I live says its profitable and I'm skilled enough in every aspect of gas work. I really want to learn and get experience on installs and boiler changes and I know a guy I may ask to work beside for free to gain experience.

 

[Atouchofgas]

Well at least you are doing the right thing by researching before jumping in head first
My advice, stay as long as you can to get really good at fault finding, on days off / holidays see if there's any manufacturers course you can attend etc

 

[RandomHero]

Well at least you are doing the right thing by researching before jumping in head first
My advice, stay as long as you can to get really good at fault finding, on days off / holidays see if there's any manufacturers course you can attend etc

I never thought of manufacturers courses thanks for that. Are these courses usually free?

still wondering how the day to day runs though. can you give me any info regarding that?

thanks

 

[jtsplumbing]

There is no day to day in this game every day is a challenge biggest problem is going to be will I have work tomorrow, just doing service/breakdown work is going to be difficult its not a niche market most of us do it, another thing to think about is what commitments you have & what you need to earn to stay afloat, you will get weeks with out any work if like this area service work seems to be at certain times or year, in a lot of cases people don't bother until something go's wrong with system, you will need to be able to cover all of the system and controls not just the boiler, and will need to do plumbing work as well, to go SE now costs a small fortune to start up and remember when you leave SG you will not be gas safe registered, and that will take a short time to do

 

[RandomHero]

Thanks, I'll start my research on the market in my area and take it from there. Got a lot of learning to do in the mean time.

I was looking for advice on how to charge people etc. Call out charge, then how do you charge once you come back to fit the part and do you charge for a recall etc?

 

[RandomHero]

Do people, for instance, not charge for a recall once a part is fitted if it's under a certain amount of time?

 

[AlexGas]

Do people, for instance, not charge for a recall once a part is fitted if it's under a certain amount of time?

One step at the time… get your ticket, work for Scottish Gas and by that time you’ll know much more.

 

[MOSSEP]

Day to day will be like this;

If your not very busy, wake up, wonder if the phone will ring, go out and do the one job that you have booked in and wonder how you will get anymore money knowing that you have nothing booked in tomorrow or the rest of the week. Get home early, feel a bit depressed and consider spending what you have on advertising,

If your busy, wake up a couple of hours before you need to, spend the morning pricing jobs, emailing customers, and sourcing materials. Worry how you will fit in all of your jobs and fret every time the phone rings that it might be more work that you stupidly agree to. If your really really busy you'll also spend the day babysitting any staff or subdues that you might have. You'll also have the pleasure of spending the night and weekends doing what you did in the morning.

Occasionally you may have a few days where it seems manageable!

Have fun!

 

[jtsplumbing]

Do people, for instance, not charge for a recall once a part is fitted if it's under a certain amount of time?

No one can tell what or how to charge ! that is something you have to work out for your self, just remember something that you charge for other fitters will not, and that can cost you the job, same as how much you charge, if you do a good job , if your costs are fair, if you turn up on time , these and lots of other factors will determine how well you do, Never take as true what other engineers tell you about how busy they are or what they earn ! Lots of negative's about being SE, and you need to take these into consideration don't think its all easy money and lots of free time (Well maybe the free time) if you cant handle stress or you worry about things then don't do it.