Just the way it goes!

[sellers]

after having 3 months of solid work of 60 hour weeks,

the past 2 have been abismal, 3-4 days out of 10. Then today about 5 phone calls and 2 visits for jobs quoted for all going for the go ahead asap, about 6-7weeks work.

All good! Apart from I go away in 3.5 weeks for nearly all of august!

:coffee

 

[Zeespark]

Sellers, even though I am not Part P yet, I am getting little local jobs in (non Part P) so its helping Me save for the assessment, so things may have turned a corner hopefully.

AndyGuinness

 

[Hilbily]

Sounds great

 

[Zeespark]

It is when I can walk to My job with materials pretty much in My tool box and drill box in hand

AndyGuinness

 

[Evans Electric]

Last two weeks = 5 hours invoicable work .

My M8 last two weeks = 16 hours.

Bob the Breakdown = chucked it in .

Chris the Sparks = Painting garage doors somewhere.

 

[nsbs]

Its really difficult at the moment, depends where you are in the country and how established your business is, and the profile of your customers. For those starting out it must be a nightmare at the moment.

Ian

 

[Megaohm7]

Its really difficult at the moment, depends where you are in the country and how established your business is, and the profile of your customers. For those starting out it must be a nightmare at the moment. Ian

I've just started out on my own and I've advertised in the local rags and the advertising is going on the van too. I've had some work but not much and I've done work that I'm still waiting to get paid for (just helping another spark ) and I've got a couple of jobs lined up to start in about 3 weeks. I've always wanted to be my own boss but it is very hard at the moment.

 

[streetlighter]

I've just started out on my own and I've advertised in the local rags and the advertising is going on the van too. I've had some work but not much and I've done work that I'm still waiting to get paid for (just helping another spark ) and I've got a couple of jobs lined up to start in about 3 weeks. I've always wanted to be my own boss but it is very hard at the moment.

Iv just started out on my own aswell, officially since may when i became Part P with elecsa, have spent a fortune on registering the business, advertising in local papers, business cards, leaflets, signage on the car, and then getting everything sorted for me part p and buying me MFT etc! and we have had a grand total of about 5 hours invoicable since then! trafic is gradually picking up on the website that the missus built for us from scratch, who needs it all bells n whistles and designed by a Website developer when i got the missus!

we get people ringing, saying they want this and that doing so i quote it and then they say oh no too expensive! iv got a friend that will do it for x amount! there is times i wana knock it on the head but the missus keeps telling me NO perservere!

 

[Zeespark]

Your wife is right mate, if you can start a business during a recession and keep it afloat, you will never have huge issues to deal with.

AndyGuinness

 

[steptoe]

remember streetlighter,

you can always be a busy fool

 

[thebantam]

It is bad for work at the moment, though i've just accepted a job offer with a company who manufactures food processing machinery. It's not what I want to do, but it is a job! :yawn

Hopefully I will one day set up on my own ray

 

[PC Electrics]

I found it rocky between Easter and Whitsun, but it's starting to pick up again now. Odd because it usually goes quieter in the summer months (which is fine 'cos I like my hols too).

 

[ProDave]

after having 3 months of solid work of 60 hour weeks,the past 2 have been abismal, 3-4 days out of 10. Then today about 5 phone calls and 2 visits for jobs quoted for all going for the go ahead asap, about 6-7weeks work.

What is your business plan based on? i.e how many hours of paid work do you need each week to earn a living?

If you can make a decent living on 40 hours per week, but have been doing 60 hours for the last 3 months, then you will have "over earned" about 6 weeks wages.

Which means you don't need to worry at all, unless you are still short of work in 6 weeks time.

In the mean time, treat it as some well earned holiday and enjoy life.

I'm probably similar to you, that I've had an unusually busy period, but after 2 more weeks of booked work there's not much in the pipeline.

But I'm looking forward to a rest now that summer is here I would rather work less. Safe in the knowledge that if all else fails, it will all go mental again come November when every year the christmas rush starts. If it's quiet from now until November, I won't be losing sleep.

 

[Megaohm7]

Your wife is right mate, if you can start a business during a recession and keep it afloat, you will never have huge issues to deal with.AndyGuinness

I know how he feels but His wife is right. Keep at it matey, all your hard work will be rewarded.....Hopefuly!! That's what I keep telling myself.

 

[sellers]

Dave, i do not have a business plan so to speak. I have my rates,what I charge and what falls inline with the general price range around here.

I'm 24 and still live with my parents, a mortgage will be looming next year! So for now, I could work 1 day a week and live. I enjoy my work and I enjoy the money so even if I have plenty of money in the bank I still want to work full weeks. Ideally, I need a deposit for a house, a vw transporter and a new car would be nice. So plenty to work for.

 

[ProDave]

Dave, i do not have a business plan so to speak. I have my rates,what I charge and what falls inline with the general price range around here.I'm 24 and still live with my parents, a mortgage will be looming next year! So for now, I could work 1 day a week and live. I enjoy my work and I enjoy the money so even if I have plenty of money in the bank I still want to work full weeks. Ideally, I need a deposit for a house, a vw transporter and a new car would be nice. So plenty to work for.

Perhaps when you need to apply for a mortgage you will need a business plan to convince a mortgage lender you know what your business is doing and where it's heading? One of the things they may want is a breakdown of your cost of living and a calculation of your survival income. Anything beyond that is then disposable income.

But in any event you should be building up a deposit and more importantly building up a track record of earnings.

I'm nearer the other end of the working life, where i'm wanting to slow down, work less and have more free time, so perhaps my attitude to slack periods is different.

But it sounds like you have things well planned out, so lets hope the work picks up again to enable you to achieve that.

P.S, am I the only one who regularly every year gets a "Christmas rush" starting in November, when everybody realises their extensions, renovations, alterations etc must be finished by Christmas? It happens every year and is always my busiest time of year. Usually it spills over into January and February as that's then catching up with all the less urgent jobs that got pushed back by the Christmas rush jobs.