Business advice for the up & coming Sparky

Just wondering if anyone knows  someone who  could be described as, say,  a business expert  , who would care to post on here with some general advice to  those  amongst us who are just starting up  ,   or have been going for a while  but are struggling  or can't quite see the right way to go .

It made me think while watching Dragon's Den ...The Dragons are extremely knowledgeable  in their field  of how to market a product  etc  .       As I have said  & many others on here ,  we are NOT businessmen ...we are electricians who are in business .  

I know we have been through this before and that many have their own slant on how to go about it  but new people join .. or existing members may be wondering  about becoming self employed ......    its not for everyone . ... it scares some  to change from.......  turn up , put a shift in , go home ,  draw your wage,   to wondering where next weeks money is coming from . 

Whether a Dragon could advise a Sparks or plumber I'm not sure ...probably could.  

Some advice from myself  for what it's worth :-

1)   If you are totally peed off with working for someone  else  and work has become a drudge ...go for it  !!!   ( You can always revert back ) 

2)   Identify your skills and stick with them .   They're the ones that will earn your living .  

3)  Our trade functions, basically,  on the right people knowing  who you are ,  where you are , your contact details  .     My builder neighbour thinks  small domestic  jobs are a waste  of time    

       He thinks subbing is the way to go .   I tell him hes wrong , hes already been ripped off three times  .     I tell him , a pleasant guy turns up at your house to hang one door ,  your a an excellent         tradesman ,   you have now  inherited the whole extended family of would be clients  who may be wanting , a new kitchen , an extension , a patio,   they're scared of  cowboy builders  but               they  know you .      Does he listen  ?  No .  Subbing is the way  he says.    Theres no future in it , you just earn  the fortunes of others .    Does he  get his van liveried  so everyone local  gets  to know              who & what he is          ?  NO  :C

I'll stop there to give others a chance ,     but it would be good to see the advice  from a  "Dragon"    if there are any around   .         

Interesting deke, I used to think that being totally self employed and the extended family theory was the way to go, however since moving 14yr ago to an area where it takes 25 yr to be a local, I changed to subbing. Now whilst I may be contributing to someone else's fortune, I don't do bad @£1000+ p.wk which allows me to live a comfortable lifestyle without the headache of finding the work, quoting for work, sourcing best materials and all the extra paperwork that goes without saying. 

Now of course if you can get contracts of your own within the commercial/industrial sector and be in a position to employ/sub others and make money off the back of them then that's a different ball game, of course being capable of managing all the necessary's that go with it is a distinct advantage. 

But being a one man sole trader on a mainly domestic environment then it's one hell of a fight to make a good living, fighting with the non registered, non qualified, the cowboys and the unemployed chancers for the same customer base. 

However if you're a one man sole trader that's has a certain set of skills and xan work in a niche area then the world's your oyster. 

Im no dragon just old and experienced. 

I'm just old  . 

Yes I understand that subbing can work for some ,   and it sounds like you are in a good position yourself .        The reason I put that in  was the number of subbing disasters  I've heard of lately .      Seems to be too many in construction who think they can become  a big shot  by using subbies then  ripping them off  .  

Sharpend said:

to an area where it takes 25 yr to be a local,

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Where was that  ...Royston Vesey  ?   

I'd like to hear what a business "expert "  advised for the likes of  one man bands , sparks , plumbers, chippies ,  etc. 

I've said this before  ....at a site meeting some bloke  is talking about investing or some such ... looks at me and says  " You're in business , you know what I mean "    

I had to say "No idea what you're talking about  TBH ... I'm an electrician who is in business ....I'm not a "businessman "  in any sense of the word . " 

i find doing the work is the easy bit,

Getting to quote for work, can be hard, get cards, sign on van, get talking to everyone, be nice, get known, get online (face book next door etc, use it as a portfolio reference for people. dont expect people to google electrician and get work from your website)if your any good you will get passed around. I have had plenty customers that had me install a light and then got me back for bigger projects and works costing 5 figures.  Now i have too much work all within 3 miles.

finding time - finding time to look at work is hard. im booked out mon-fri, half the evenings running kids to clubs. I rarely look at jobs more then 15 mins away, or i would have to take an hour or 2 to go look and come back + fuel, those ones i usually quote a price and hourly rate . People often have to phone me a couple times and wait a few weeks to get me to do anything. It weeds out the chaff and time wasters. Have had people request i look at a job on 15:00 on a wednesday, i explain unless they want to pay me for the afternoon that wont happen.  Not going to make any money if you spend hours a week looking at jobs for free aand not earning anything.

Paper work - takes up a lot of my time,  quotes, confirmations, orders, invoices, certificates, recepts, accounts. I can spend an easy 1-2 hours a night a few nights a week. Often i do a days work, run kids around, get dinner late, get kids to bed and start paperwork 22:00-00:00, i keep going until i have done what i need to do, even if its 2:00-3:00 in the morning. Keep on top of the paperwork.

Costs - work out your costs. i work out mine over 5 years, then per year. I go on 200 full working days a year i earn money, the rest are lost sorting it out. As a sole trader i came up with £22 per day for 200 days a year , including running van but not including fuel and van repayments.

Pricing - Used to be my biggest problem. Now i have a formula that works for me, but basicly what everyone on here does.  My hours + materials + costs = job price.  I always make sure customer knows what options there is and what i plan to do, that they are happy, rough cost and how it would happen

Organised - getting organised for the day. I am booked out for months in advance, i am getting parts ready for start date, parts that sometimes take a week or 2 to arrive. I usually get specificationa and logistics organised with customers via email, then we borh have a record of it. A recent one day job of preparing for a wall mounted TV resulted in 6 emails to offer options, choices and confirmation of what was going to happen.

Doing the job - the easy bit, turn up when you say, be polite, clean, considerate, be helpful. If i have to stop to change the plan and offer different solutions, i do so. What matters to me is the finish of the job, not that i complete it in a day because i priced it so.

Getting paid - can be an art.

Its a small world -  Its amazing how many customers pass me to friends. Its even more amazing how people i have never met before turn out to know some of my other customers or friends . As i am good people people tell everyone they know to use me when they need an electrician. Bite your tounge, take the bollox and make sure you have quoted enough to cover it.

^^^ wot he wrote.

It's easy to see where people go wrong, they tend to take customers for mugs, don't turn up on time, costs spiral with no explanation, don't tidy up and won't answer calls if things go wrong later ...

This is very true, presentation, efficiency and cleanliness are key attributes for success. Treat others as you would like to be treated if you were the customer- that goes for any which way you choose to trade. 

Being organised at your end prior to getting to customer followed with good communication are also major players, too many people think that because they are doing the customers job that the customer owes them, wrong without the customer you're just pretending you're a tradesman. 

Sharpend said:

Interesting deke, I used to think that being totally self employed and the extended family theory was the way to go, however since moving 14yr ago to an area where it takes 25 yr to be a local, I changed to subbing. Now whilst I may be contributing to someone else's fortune, I don't do bad @£1000+ p.wk which allows me to live a comfortable lifestyle without the headache of finding the work, quoting for work, sourcing best materials and all the extra paperwork that goes without saying. 

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1/ it's a myth that the main contractor is making a fortune, as anyone who has ever employed others will have found out

2/ even if they are making lots of money, the stress of managing finances customers and work is high - they should be making significant amounts of money!

3/ £1k per week - good money, think I would take that quite happily  :^O

The rules of business haven’t changed, no matter what trade or service you provide...

Using Dragons Den example... time and time again some punter comes in asking for investment and when questioned about the costs they crumble....

You have GOT TO KNOW your business costs!!!!!!

And using an Alan Sugar Apprentice example...  he very often says something along the lines of  “I am a business man I like to take a gamble or risk”....

ALL business is a gamble, risk, investment....

i.e. someone invests some time or money, or both into some goods or services, that another person must be willing to give an equal or greater amount in return for, at some future date so as not to make a loss..

Supplying Goods or Services involves the cost of your materials + time, (these are specific to one job or contract)

Also the running costs, overheads, needed to keep the business running, insurance, advertising, transport, office admin costs etc,  (These are still there irrespective of any jobs or contracts you may be investing in).

The above bits are the value of your investment..

The amount you get back and the speed you get it back will define how much of a profit or not you make on your investment.

(Don’t forget to allow for unforeseen glitches during a job which WILL happen and knock your costings about!)

So you deduct the costs of your investment from the gross return then you will see how much you have really made on any job, or contract.

Once you have got your business costs well and truly sorted, (i.e. you know how much to charge to keep afloat),

you can then go out and promote and market your business to win your proportion of the work that is out there...

You don’t have to be the cheapest to win a job and if you drop below your minimum charge then in most cases you are better off not getting the job anyway!

Guinness

pewter said:

getting organised for the day. I am booked out for months in advance, i am getting parts ready for start date, parts that sometimes take a week or 2 to arrive. I usually get specificationa and logistics organised with customers via email, then we borh have a record of it. A recent one day job of preparing for a wall mounte

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Cracking post from Pewter there .    I say that because he reflects my own ideas.   :innocent

His comment on being organised  is important .   I know my local wholesalers well & many of their customers ,  I notice over the years how poorly  some organise themselves .       You 'd think at first they've copped for some rushed , panic job and have dashed in to grab materials ...but no ...its how they are always .    

I usually do paperwork on Friday evenings  , keep a small notebook  in the van which is good for memory jogging .    A couple of extras on a job  say , I'm liable to forget  TBH  without noting it down .       

pewter said:

Getting paid - can be an art

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This could be a whole  different thread ....entitled  " Nightmare" 

pewter said:

, get known, get online (face book next door etc, use it as a portfolio reference for people. dont expect people to google electrician

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For a local sparky  I think this is a good site  , usually covers say, a 2-3 mile radius .  Its important for tradesmen  recommendations  ...well worth  it .      I don't quite get Facebook TBH   :C