Self Employed

[nysk2008]

Hi all and Happy Christmas!!!

Just want some of your thoughts. As of the end of January I have decided to go self employed as a plumber. I am not yet qualified but am most of my way through NVQ Level 2 and have also been working alongside a qualified plumber for 6 or so months.

In a wierd way I am v.worried about going into a customers house and fu**ing jobs up. The guy I was working for says dont worry and dont be scared of water which is all fine but very different when your on your own.

Second is that I am not Gas (not yet), can I make a living without this?

Thirdly - Had my van for 1 month, used it 4 times - broken down once already - just my luck!

Anyone been or is in the same boat as me? I dont doubt my skills, maybe a confidence thing?

Would be good to hear everyones thoughts

 

[wnjswozo]

i would try and get a job ,six months isnt long enough to gain experaince,.
i,m old school 5 yr apprent,then took 10 years exp working to be confident in everything.big step working for yourself

 

[andyg0507]

if your already working with a qualified plumber would there not be a chance you could carry on working for him.

self employment is a major step, with alot of other things i.e

public liability insurance
fuel bills
tools
van insurance
tax bills
vat bills

the list goes on.

i dont know your circumstances but if you can get by being employed for a few years you will learn so much.

good luck wich ever you choose

 

[nysk2008]

Cheers for the advice so far. The guy I am working for is superb and I have learn't so much. If I had it my way I would carry on working for him and moulding myself into a real competant plumber - thing is he is having to rely on gas work as his bathroom etc work is drying up (no pun), not alot of good for me without being gas myself as cant touch a thing apart from loft work and a few odds and ends

I appreciate going it alone is a massive step but the guy I have been working for as said I can call him at anytime if I get stuck on a job but I know things dont always work out like this.

I have made a few mates in the trade so maybe I will ask a few favours for work and aim to get at least 24 months under my belt.

Fair play to you old school types because this is v.hard to get going.

 

[so-solar]

I did a 6 year apprentiship and stayed with the same firm for 11 years, i have been sub contracting for the last year, i am about to go alone and to be honest i am worrying. I have my own gas safe and all the paperwork you could ask for but this does not generate work, you need to really do some market research and get a bit of business knowledge as well as on the tools knowledge! I am not knocking you for trying but 6 months is a little to quickly in my opinion. But good luck and i wish you well

 

[nysk2008]

Thanks So-Solar. I'd better get on the internet and get myself some hardcore experience! Good luck to you too and I hope it goes 110% the way you want it too - sounds like all you lot have worked your nuts off to get where you are now - full respect

Cheers

 

[Bernie2]

I have been in the game a long time. But if your after work you have got to change your mind set and be a bit of a salesman.

You are after all, selling a product. So put yourself in the customers seat and ask yourself would you buy what you are offering?

As to confidence.

Well some things in Plumbing can be picked up very quickly and are relatively easy to do if they are straight forward.

Things like bathroom suites are not really hard if you think about it. If you can set out, solder, bend pipe, drill and put screws in as well as use a spanner for tightening then you have got nearly all the required manual skills, for many tasks.

The rest is mostly knowledge based, so long as you stay away from lead work .

If you can read and understand what your doing that is all you need. After all that is all a college course does.

The thing is, experience usually gives speed and confidence of having done something similar before, that is all.

So stay within your capabilities, learn a bit more then you can branch out doing more and different jobs

 

[stevetheplumber]

Cheers for the advice so far. The guy I am working for is superb and I have learn't so much. If I had it my way I would carry on working for him and moulding myself into a real competant plumber - thing is he is having to rely on gas work as his bathroom etc work is drying up (no pun), not alot of good for me without being gas myself as cant touch a thing apart from loft work and a few odds and ends

I appreciate going it alone is a massive step but the guy I have been working for as said I can call him at anytime if I get stuck on a job but I know things dont always work out like this.

I have made a few mates in the trade so maybe I will ask a few favours for work and aim to get at least 24 months under my belt.

Fair play to you old school types because this is v.hard to get going.

theres a clue in what you said above the guy your working for is struggling to find work

 

[johnmcginty]

Yes you can make a good living just fixing leaks and doing emergency work, drainage etc first year made a loss ( massive loss ) (scared of water) then realised I had to up my auntie from £50 advertising a month to around £700 and that seemed to do the trick. Take a big s***, dive in and swim. Hope it works ........Only if you are finding it impossible to get work mind

 

[Kip]

Been self employed now for 2 months, im only 19 and its actually not as hard as you think. I do have a fire and fireplace showroom on my side though, get alot of work passed through and that has generated more work when getting chatting to the customers. Also put a free ad in the yellow pages which has brought in a chunk of work this month. My advice is speak to companys, in the gas world theres always companies looking for subbies, not so sure on the plumbing side of the game. But good luck.

 

[northcarr]

Its not all fun being self employed but i have been on my own for 4yrs now yes it is hard to find work all the time but you just have to manage your cash flow when times are good put a litle away (a lot of my mates dont and then panic) .I went back on the books for a while i thought i had found a top job (goverment) never again ouch turned out to be awfull back in my van again at least i know if i work hard i earn a good living

 

[stevetheplumber]

Its not all fun being self employed but i have been on my own for 4yrs now yes it is hard to find work all the time but you just have to manage your cash flow when times are good put a litle away (a lot of my mates dont and then panic) .I went back on the books for a while i thought i had found a top job (goverment) never again ouch turned out to be awfull back in my van again at least i know if i work hard i earn a good living

ive been doing that for 30 years with partners or working with builders is ok but i struggle when im alone now partly it gets lonley

 

[wnjswozo]

totally agree with you steve,nothing worse than working on your own,i end fed up,luckily have an apprentice/business partner

 

[Plum Bob 66]

Hi

You made the leap of faith, so have faith in your own abilities. I went self employed whilst still doing my training. So far have done emergency callouts, rads, trvs and toilet instals, so far, so good. Your confidence grows with each job you do. Im a great believer intaking your time and not rushing a job through. Lastly and its obvious realy, never attempt a job that is beyond your knowledge base. I have been going for one month now, whilst working part time in a second job and have had about 15 jobs, mainly small, but thats how it begins, do a good job and the word of mouth spreads and presto in comes the business, obviously remember the revers applies if you mess it up.

Plum Bob 66

 

[WHPES]

I'm too busy when working to get lonely. As long as I have the radio on.

When on properties being refurbished I usually have the dog in with me provided it's OK with the customer.

I do enjoy getting jobs which make you think, particularly industrial work where you have to calculate flow rates, pressure drops along pipes, using Reynolds Numbers, work out pump sizes and specify pipe sizes. This sort of thing is a challenge (but no good unless you know what you are doing!).