Plumblocal / Eleclocal

[2520years]

Has anyone had any dealings with these? I'm a newly qualified plumber (City & Guilds) who wouldn't mind some support as he sets out. Plumblocal are a franchising company that give admin support, but also technical support. I'm awaiting their information pack, but wondered if anyone has ever used their services or know anything about their history. Are they established in some part of the country, but they're branching out nationwide? Are they part of another company? Are they going to be on next week's Watchdog?

Cheers.

 

[undercover]

Stay away.......stay well away.

You'll end up paying alot of money for their 'admin' support. Look at their site and look at their fees

 

[2520years]

Thanks undercover.

Funnily enough, since I posted the question my wife looked on the website at their fees...she reckons I'd have to pay nearly £30k up front and then 15% of my takings for five years! Who's got £30k to splash out?! They seem to have a lot of locations covered, so someone obviously has...or rather had.

 

[Boiler Service Centre]

A friend of mine has been with PlumbLocal for a while and it's perfect for him: the amount of sales, marketing and admin work he has to do is significantly reduced (he's not a big one for paperwork!) and he's finding it much easier than he did when he ran as his own business 100%.

I can see it not being the best option for other people though. It really comes down to how much of a head you have for sales, marketing, finance, and building your business. If you're strictly hands on then franchising may well work for you. If you're smart and don't mind taking care of the whole operation from soup to nuts you probably should though.

 

[2520years]

Last time I went with a franchise (a Driving School) it cost me more money than it earned me, so I didn't get in deep and only staye for a trial period of a month.

Some franchises are good and I can see the attraction of having a big name behind you. The fees seem to be disproportionately high in Plumlocal's case though. They imply I could earn £60k so the £30k +15%wouldn't be so bad, but that's unrealistic. How many hours would I have to work for £60k? I'm a hard worker, but I've also got a life. These amounts quoted are usually far from the norm.

 

[corgiman]

Dont forget the fact that you still have to get your own work and pay for your advertising on top of this

all you get for your cash is the name

dont bother, get an ad in your local rag and build yourself up slowly, if you are good, charge a reasonable rate, and are trustworthy then it wont be long before you are earning a decent living WITHOUT a "big name"

 

[wilhelm]

beware of companies offering gifts. they may well be in it for their sake and not yours........shock horror........

 

[2520years]

Even if I wanted to be the Plumblocal man I've realised I couldn't afford it. They're supposed to be ringing me to give me some money off because I'm already qualified, but they're not going to give me £30k off.

Thanks for your replies anyway.

 

[gas4you]

I'll give you £15000 off that price and you can have a franchise from me

 

[corgiman]

I will sell you my job for 10K

 

[alsoundercover]

 

[corgiman]

post is nearly a year old matey

why the