too much work on!!!

[CXR100]

anybody else having this problem at the moment?? i work for somebody during the day as a plumber (and now a gsr gas engineer haha) but get a lot of work on my own at night! i have built this up working from the boot of a peugeot 306! doing a few jobs, that was ideal!!!! but now getting loads of work my self, at the moment i have 2 bathrooms underway (in empty houses thank god!) another one to start including all the tiling and another one and the cladding ! 1 kithchen to plumb in , some heating pipes to move in an atticc for a loft hatch , a radiator to be re located, somebody with a problem with a hot water tank , i jest cant get the motivation to unload tools from work van into my van and go do it every night after work and every weekend any more! anybody got any ideas? i dont advertise anywhere its all from word of mouth! ive increased prices but work keeps on catching up with me!!

 

[Jimbob]

Yeah but go full time and you'll soon get through that lot.

I'm busiest iv ever been, and have been so for the past 18 months and it's not letting up. Got at least 6 months of work for 2 blokes ahead of me

 

[village idiot]

Just stop taking on the work or plan accordingly. Keep it up and you'll soon be running late on all your jobs

 

[chris watkins]

Yeah, put your prices up you are working too cheap !!!!

 

[jase158]

carry on breaking your back and making a good living
or take the plunge and go it alone, you decision not ours,
1 question though- how long will this busy spell last?
I am absolutely flat out, booked up until end of January, but will it stay like this?

 

[CXR100]

thats what im also wondering jase, dont want to risk going alone, because sometimes it goes quiet as you say! was going to go gsr under my own name as well , but decided last muinuet againt it as i was getting enough work anyway

 

[Roger Welton]

Flat out also, but it cant last, booked up through most of jan at tnhe moment but if this mild spell continues can see a slower spring.

 

[CXR100]

at the moment im wishing for about ten inches of snow to fall!!! cat think of a better excuse to get a week off!

 

[Killy Bing]

Trying to not take too much work on, i dont want to get swamped and leave un happy customers :/

 

[SimonG]

When you're self employed one of the worst things you can do is take too much on and spread yourself too thin. Its all about cashflow, you need it to come in as quick as its going out.

 

[Ermintrude]

Trying to not take too much work on, i dont want to get swamped and leave un happy customers :/

Sensible!

 

[MK_Swans]

Sometimes it's hard to say no though!

oh could you have a look at my heating. Next thing something else booked in and another week of thunder looks off the misses

i feel eel your pain!

 

[Leo21]

Slow down, your not a machine. It takes an awful lot of work to be self employed, only you can call that one. You also gave to charge a hell of a lot more to cover your overheads, it's amazing how they mount up.

 

[mickie]

Dunno how you guys do it, i guess you've been going years ? i got maybe 5 phone calls, wondering if i should bother staying self employed or getting a job at nissan..

 

[Leo21]

Dunno how you guys do it, i guess you've been going years ? i got maybe 5 phone calls, wondering if i should bother staying self employed or getting a job at nissan..

It takes time and a lot of effort to establish yourself as self employed. Loads of wasted time quoting and sussing your way round. Give it time, and if it's for you you'll succeed.

 

[Killy Bing]

It takes time and a lot of effort to establish yourself as self employed. Loads of wasted time quoting and sussing your way round. Give it time, and if it's for you you'll succeed.

And when it starts to turn, you're always ill prepared and lose your head for the first few months.... After the storm passes you're on your way to making it a success.

 

[townfanjon]

I think most of the self-employed lads on here will agree with this statement-
You think you work hard ? .... well you have never even come close to 'working' until you have worked for yourself. But my own opinion is I can defo see light at the end of the tunnel, I have never been as buzy , and recently have been turning work down, so there is obviously work there.
However, if you have the bug to go self-employed, have a go, and good luck if you do.

 

[mfgs]

When you are self employed you will either have no work or too much work. The past week I didn't get in doors before about 8pm at the earliest and I was leaving at 6.30am every day. Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't get in until midnight, every job I had has been an absolute nightmare and could not have gone any worse, it has been tiring and stressful.

 

[spikewt]

If you go at it alone, be prepared to never be fully happy with your situation. You will either be to busy at work for anything personal, manage somehow to squeeze a day off and feel like you need to be at work cause its stacking up (oh and the phone still rings when ya off) or have no work and worry which don't happen hardly ever.
Been at it 4 years now. I can moan like hell in the hard times but iv never been happier.
Just take the rough with the smooth! ;-)