To all you experienced self employed plumbers!

Just a few questions...

How long have you been self employed?

What experience did you have in the trade when you started your business?

Compare the first year you started, to the year 2008, what work were you getting back then, and now? How often were jobs then, and now etc?

Any lessons you have learnt on the way? (so I can avoid the same mistakes)

Don't be shy, some nice detail if you don't mind

Thanks.

Mate ,the one sure thing to get your head round is that there is no short cut to experience.

You have to go through all the good and the bad times to come out the other end.

And also, the old adage that you're only as good as your last job rings true, as well as, it takes a while to build a good reputation, but one poor job to cock it up

Lessons I have learned.

Do not work for council/social housing.

Do not work for landlords or builders, unless you both know them well, and they have proven to be ok.

Do not do budget jobs. If all goes well, you have earned too little. If it goes wrong, you get the blame, the problems, and the bad reputation.

Be the best you can be; the competition is mainly between mediocre people and below.

As long as you work fewer than 50 hours a week, go the extra mile. Do a bit more than you are strictly payed for. It takes time, but in the end it will pay off when you get a good reputation. It also saves you money.

Work locally; good people are needed everywhere, it allows you to have a quick look at a problem at very short notice without incurring cost for lost time and travel. Famous story called: acres of diamonds.

Keep learning, follow courses, read technical books and articles. Spend at least half a day per week on furthering your education.

Give respect, get respect. Respect is different from submission and fear. People may fear a lunatic with a gun, but unlike the gangbanger in his ignorance thinks, they do not respect him.
Saying "yes mr customer","no mr customer" at his every whim, is not respect either.

Sell your service to the decision taker; no point convincing him about the product if she controls the wallet.

And most importantly:

COVERYOURARSE, stay legal, don't do gas, electrical, unvented cylinders or new installation work if you are not qualified.

Year end 05/04/05 first year trading

Net Profit £3,600

I absolutely worked my rocks off for it.

Latest Accounts done to 5th April 2008

Made a loss of (£8,188)

I absolutely worked my rocks off for it.

I I have never had any good years between but have worked imensely hard, kept some people in work, and trained some people..

I have now closed the business started a new limited company and went subcontracting.

Just before I went contracting the phone never rang despight £6,000 advertising budget. The £6,000 a year vehicle expenses and all the other direct debits don't go away just because the money isn't coming in at the other end.

Anyway when I started up the phone rang off the wall from a small £500 presence in the paper.

Lately unless you get a full page you won't be noticed. There is a new plumbers van in town every week, without exageration, and we are a one horse town. Yet there is still a queue of systems analysts and factory workers wanting to rake in all the money we are supposed to be making.

I get so sick of that horrble smile people give you when you say you aren't making any money as though to say "come on it's me you're talking to not the tax man". I am not a violent man though I used to fight in the university Karate team and usually win, but I couldn't half pull out the old Mawashigeri and give there earhole a thwack they wouldn't forget.

People have got no idea whatsoever. The bloke pushing trolleys at Azda is better off than the self employed plumber.

thanks for that paul at least i now know its not just me that is struggling to survive!

what ever I do at the moment doesn't seem to be working
advertising in local paper, yell.com, leaflets being delivered by hand by ourselves and every web page i can find.
nothing seems to be very good at the moment.

People are sitting on their money.
Most of us know that another million are expected to join the dole queues, but precious few are reasonably sure they are safe.

Add the availability of tens of thousands illegal workers, who don't have to worry about working to spec, overheads etc, working very cheap, and you find work gets less, and profit is under heavy pressure.

Don't think it is really necessary to go into the :"how did it get this far?"

Kevin were you in Bournemouth a few years ago? there was a kevin who was pretty well in same straights as me in bournemouth.

Seems to be that coastal towns are a dead loss to run a business in.

You've only got half the coverage in a coastal town.

yes i moved from there to Southampton Via Romsey when I met my current good lady. times were difficult in Bournemouth occasionally, but now they are downright impossible. I advertise in the poole/bournemouth area as well as Southampton and also fareham, winchester, ringwood existing customers don't have any loyalty these days and want everything for nought!
currently only getting 2 -3 jobs a week!

Very sorry to hear that Kevin, it must be impossible for you.
I was brought up in Four Marks Alresford and Alton and went to Winchester often. We went to the Ice rink in Southampton every sunday for a while around 1967. I believe it's a housing estate or something like that.

You would never have thought it was that bad in all those areas, but i totally believe you.

One of my mates here who has never been short of work one of the most skilled people I know hardly had a phone call since November. He's done a few days work that's it. Skill wise he kicks me into a cocked hat, he can do everything right and perfectly finished.

Another guy up the road, I spent a few days with him when we went on a coach trip for tw days at Worcester. He was succesful business mostly taking the cream had all high paying jobs and customers. Few months before christmas was looking very sad. Said he even had to lay his son off, just him on his own hanging on.

But still more vans come into town with shiney new signwriting on, a name you've never heard of.

Living in my road we have the boss of probably largest plumbing firm in town, used to be like clpaham junction with his vans seting off every morning. He's down to 21 blokes and tearing his hair out trying to keep them in work. He's always targeted new builds. We all know that has slowed down.

One of my main customers develops log cabin sites. I do the gas electric and plumbing for him. We were geting 4 days work a month from him, now it's 4 days a year. I am expecting him to go to the wall, and just hoping I get my £2,400 plus VAT for recent work. They are a family firm and i have learned I can trust them, took me a while but they are diamonds. But when turnover goes from one months turnover in a year no business can stand that. I couldn't turn him down expecting him to go bust it wouldn't have been fair to him, anyway I have stock on his site so didn't have to buy much in, so only stand to lose my time.

my ACS comes up for renewal in May 10 and if things have not improved its bye bye gas and self employment after 25 years in the game I've all but given up hope of being busy.

the surge of new vans is incredable and I can't see how they are getting the work. my own is still smart -53 plate connect and I am fairly good on repairs (very occassionally can't fix) have a good reputation and I am always punctual having given an exact time of attendance (which again I advertise clearly)
yet the phone hardly rings now it seems that big insurance companies and manufacturers are slowly squeezing us independants out.
for this week I currently have a cooker install tomorrow night at 5 and another cooker for Saturday that is it! it is not looking good down here to say the least.

Sounds like the situation in this area.

If we hadn't given up the family business when we did (2 1/2 years ago) we'd be struggling now. Probably even have gone to the wall.

There's a lot of social housing and the housing associations have screwed the prices right down so the firm doing the work are cutting down on staff. Another large firm have just had the plug pulled on a large refurb contract for a local authority. They were told last week that they have only got a months work left on it instead of the further year they were expecting.

I didn't know it at the time but I was dead lucky to get the job I did as we are pretty much recession proof due to the grant work. If private sales drop off the first to go are the sub contractors. Means we get more full installs then but at least it's work.

Hi Kevindgas, I'me in Poole and it's really bad, 2005-6 was a good year, 2006-7 was a really good one but the last fiscal year was awfull,half the previous years turnover and working miles from usual customers who ain't spending and I know them very well.Question? Pack it in or carry on? Personally i'me carrying on, if you have survived so far you have done well, try and think positive is my criteria and bo----ks to the banks, they will get their cum uppance and most of them are losing their jobs anyway with all these amalgamations. The alternative to jacking self-employment is what? Join the queue for work, concentrate on the positive! Even my accountant told me " Phone customers and tell them if they don't have work done sooner rather than later then they will be paying more VAT so it's in their interest to have it done now. I could be very wromg but I will maintain a positive attitude and if it all fails I'me gonna be an MP

yes i am lucky enough not to have a mortgage to pay, so i can carry on for a while. biggest problem is boredom
at least the expensive bits are out of the way now for 12 months as all my renewals are done.

at least i get a lay in in the morning