Plumbers earnings

Work still getting on your tits eh Paul?
You looking for a skilled Corgi man? I'm up for a bit of the seaside...
 
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Stuck in the trap of too many overhead costs for a one man band but not sufficient good work to maintain a workforce of your callibre. My attempts at achieving a contribution to fixed costs and overheads from lesser staff and trainees has been worse than a miserable failure. the profits that should have gone to me and the wife (the shareholders) have gone into paying them more than their productivity.

So I am now strictly not employing, and shall reduce what overheads possible to in future. Sadly many are imposed by a greedy government whose ethic is that anyone self employed is an entrepreneur who by very nature is the enemy of a labour government because of labour's reson detre; socialism.

I have made some very bad management decisions

1/ to purchase a Ducato Maxi secondhand which is now sold off for salvage value having cost the business an average of £450 a month over it's short life with me.

2/ to pay wages to people to "get through the work" which just turns you into a van driver running around keeping people fed with supplies and a alround fixit man going round at all hours puting right their work. the resultant drain on your own resources doubles effect of their underperformance to the business.

3/ too much spent on directories, I am at the end of my teather with all the leaches selling us stuff and plan to pay nothing out in this overhead next year if I have the guts, will certainly cut it right back.

Fully expecting to make a further set of bad moves. It is really very hard to make a living.

Just when you think you have all the training costs covered they take away your lifetime unvented qually and change it to 5 years, and now they tell us we have to train specilly to use analysers despite me being a manufacturers service agent trained by them in use of said equipment for the purposes corgi now say we need to acs it for.

In any other sphere there would be apl (acreditation of prior learning)applied and I nor any other service agent wouldn't be required to fund the training organisations their certifying bodies or corgi for yet another take off of our dwindling profits.
 
To baffled onlookers If this sounds depressing it isn't meant to be it is an honest explanation of why gas fitters have to command a high price because for them to be in a position to come and do your "small job won't take you long" and to ensure your safety their costs are gargantuan.
 
I should add that my new leased van costs the business just 198 a month and geting ridof the apprentice saves the business 400 a month plus additional productivity effect of me not being distracted from my skilled work trying to pull up a typical 17 year old's socks for him. In our day we were constantly told to pull up our own socks which turned us out a lot more capable than the miserable bunch the computer game generation has thrust out into the workforce..

I expect we'll be an anarchic society before my life is over.
 
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Cheer you up a bit more paul part L is also getting changed to 5 years so more expense...
 
Hi again Paul. It is pretty grim isn't it. I'm in pretty much the same position. This year had been pretty rough work wise, been a journeyman plumber literally!
Worked in Scotland, London and across the NW just to keep afloat. it could be worse tho - you could of ended up subbing for an EAGA contractor.
I have never come across such a shower of **** in my life. To earn a wage comensurate to the hours put in you needed to be doing a system conversion and boiler move in a day!!!
As you know to do this SERIOUS corners are being cut. I was sent out with 'one of our best engineers' on my first job.
When I asked where the test nipple was on the ideal isar (ha ha ha ha ) we installed (him having installed the flue by cutting it with an angle grinder and not even de-burring) he couldn't ****ing find it!!!
Having never seen the use for it...
The tale goes IDs on new installs, vast overcharging to the most vunerable (£825 to recarcass the gas in a 2 bed house for example) in society, warmfront being totally exploited by landlords.
Now back on my own and as you intend to do have slashed my overheads right back, starting with simple things like changing my energy suppliers, telco, internet provider, getting rid of business bank account. My monthly outgoings are now HALF what they where and I can at a push survive on a days work a week...
The best form of advertising I have found on a cost basis is the local free sheet, because is is about a quarter the cost of the daily and people have it lying about.
So I'm back to where I was 4 years ago: at one point I had two men, a yard etc, but I am able to sleep at night knowing I'm not ripping people off, not endangering life, not having to watch my workers, doing a good job and not having to take orders from ****tards.
The construction industry is venal and corrupt always has been always will be.
All the best to you mate.
 
Just my 2p - I own a small plumbing and heating company ( buyout when the Previous owner retired ) I'm 25 and feel that I may have made a mistake !!
I employ 3 plumbers all of which earn more than myself ( admittedly that is partly due to the huge bank loan ) but I am amazed still at the amount of customers who truly believe I am trying to rip them off with my prices !

I am becoming increasingly more worried at the prospect of paying for :
CORGI , OFTEC, UNVENTED, PART L etc.. etc... and thats not including vans - servicing Tax/MOT Diesal repairs

I'm starting to think that I would have been much better off as an employee - in terms of stress levels and believe it or not earning potential
My wage is ok but my hourly rate is appalling
 
work alone , two or three days a week.youll be quids in.expansion is evil. i now never seem to be able to have time off , cant afford to. the more you work , the more it costs , the less you have.
 
it is hard for all honest business and even for a few of the dis-honest ones :LOL: it is amazing how the mood changes when you get a few good well paid job in...then it is back to the hard grind.
 
mehran said:
it is hard for all honest business and even for a few of the dis-honest ones :LOL: it is amazing how the mood changes when you get a few good well paid job in...then it is back to the hard grind.
Click to expand...


My guvnor has had two heart attacks and he is 45!!!!!!!!!!!!!! due to running his own business

but he has a couple of loyal lads (modesty forbids me saying I am one) who take the load for him a bit

Mind you he took a while to realise that loyality costs, and not just money, and he is brilliant with us core lads.

I think if you can get some lads who are up for the firm and more importantly the guvnor realises this and rewards it. then you can calm the stress and overheads a bit.

But then I went pop years ago so I got it badly wrong, cost me a house and a marriage and I made an oath NEVER to do it again.

:)
 
:( cheer up your all making me depressed.

can't see how your making it so hard for yourselfs
get up 8.30 be at customers for 9.30 home 6.00 latest

do a few callouts at night. and still time to relax :cool:

and we're all happy :LOL:
 
hi-spec plumbing heating said:
:( cheer up your all making me depressed.

can't see how your making it so hard for yourselfs
get up 8.30 be at customers for 9.30 home 6.00 latest

do a few callouts at night. and still time to relax :cool:

and we're all happy :LOL:
Click to expand...


nice if thats what happens

finished meself at half nine. we have more work than we know what to do with but everyone that calls up for a job only wants to FIT boilers!!!!!!!!
 
>wants to FIT boilers!!!!!!!!

drive me mad every day fitting boiler's like abit of change few shower's, drain's few main supply's
 
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