starting out on my own

[bradley2910]

What's the story with starting my own business but not joining a scheme straight away? Got my 2391 and have insurance but joining a scheme I cannot afford straight away ?

 

[binky]

Use building control for notifiable works - you can sell this to customer on basis of having independent inspection. For non-notifiable works, you can issue your own certificates, NICEIC do green versions for unregistered sparks, or you can knock-up your own based on example templates in regs book

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

What's the story with starting my own business but not joining a scheme straight away? Got my 2391 and have insurance but joining a scheme I cannot afford straight away ?

1/ Tell HMRC you are going self employed..

2/ Start your business..

3/ Advertise..

4/ Do work..

5/ Get paid..

6/ Tell the TAXMAN and pay due taxes...

Those are the ONLY essential bits!!!!

There is NO obligation for anyone to be a member of any electrical body or scheme..

membership is purely voluntary...

There can be some financial benefits..

and improved options for gaining more work if you ARE a member...

But you don't have to be...

Certain types of domestic work HAVE to be notified to LABC...

but there are ways that even a DIY can notify and do their own work!!

Have a read of the Approved document P.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/AD_P_wm.pdf

Read it ALL..

its NOT very long..

That will explain things re- the various option for notifiable works..

:coffee

 

[martinxxxxxx]

What's the story with starting my own business but not joining a scheme straight away? Got my 2391 and have insurance but joining a scheme I cannot afford straight away ?

Whats the story with having your 2391 but not having someone to guide you on starting out on your own? I think you should just go for it! Elecsa allow you to pay in instalments so just book up and get on with it. For you with your 2391 the assessment will be a breeze. Then you can be fully legit.

 

[m4tty]

Elecsa is

 

[Marvo]

Just a tester and any drill and basic hand tools will get you going - the rest is bs that we all like to have

Some of the kit is just nice to have but I'm not sure it's all BS. A loop impedence tester, megger tester, RCD ramp tester, clamp meter etc would be pretty much essential if your going solo.

 

[martinxxxxxx]

Thats what i meant by tester. Multifunction does all of that

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 23:23 ---------- Previous post was made at 23:20 ----------

The BS is things like fusefinders, dewalt this, dewalt that. Cable tracers, core drills, wall chasers, dewalt radios, fancy toolbelts, 2-way radios etc.

One calibrated multifuncion meter

some tools

a drill (b&q

 

[steptoe]

You are not going to keep customers happy if it takes you 2 days to sort something out that would have took 2 hours with the right kit.

Turning up with a b&q drill hardly inspires confidence for repeat work

RCD ramp and clamp are fairly necessary on your own if fault finding.

2way radios are not much use if you are a one man band!

At a guess, if you have most stuff for working to someone, then after buying an MFT and van a

 

[springcrocus]

The most important thing is to have customers and keep them happy

but be honest, don't BS them.

 

[Doc Hudson]

What's the story with starting my own business but not joining a scheme straight away? Got my 2391 and have insurance but joining a scheme I cannot afford straight away ?

Are you aiming at the domestic market or commercial / industrial work, or mixture of both? If you are expecting to be doing over 60% of your work in the domestic sector then I would suggest that membership of one of the schemes is an essential business overhead that will pay for itself. As with all businesses, essential and non-essential overheads have to be considered, i.e. do you need transport -vs- do you need a brand new van? Self employed electricians overheads are actually very small compared to some business. If you are aiming for domestic work but cannot afford scheme membership it could be argued that your business model is not viable. Have you asked for other sources of financial support to help cover start-up overheads, any start-up grants available, private loans, bank loans, overdraft facility etc. Have you contacted you local chamber of commerce or searched business link about any start-up assistance. Business support, information and advice | Business Link A lot of small businesses fail because they fail to plan. As the saying goes "Failure to plan is planing to fail". Small overheads <

 

[Sharpend]

Just remember that you are only as good as your conscious allows you!!!

No conscious probably cowboy mentality, good conscious then respectable tradesman, which will keep customers coming back.

 

[ProDave]

a drill (b&q

 

[soulman]

I started up over a year ago now and it has turned out to be very successful. But i have been in business many years doing something completely different. You have to spend money when you start, get a loan use your credit card or whatever. Starting a new business is a risk if you need to borrow. You need a decent set of tools, drills etc & test equipment. You will also need a van or some sort of transport, you will also need a little stock , such as cable etc; You will definately need to be with a scheme if doing domestic. You will also need most of your capital for advertising, otherwise nobody know's you exist. Plan it out and work out exactly what is needed. Once you are on your way, then you can upgrade your Tools, van, etc; I just purchased my second van a few months ago, upgraded from the berlingo which got me started. Pay your self a wage & leave the rest in the bank for loans, tax, tools, materials etc; Dont be fooled into thinking it's easy, the first few years is very difficult.

Cheers