Starting up a business is not cheap

[alpha spark]

Hi everyone just some advice needed starting up on my own as come as an expensive one need self employed nearly 2 years but want to start generating my own work joined napit nearly

 

[revjames]

plus wages, holiday pay, sick pay (or insurance)... wear and tear, vehicle expenses tooling, ongoing training, advertising etc. oh yes and you have to pay lots of tax and VAT......

not trying to put you off... best of luck

 

[Smilers]

I think keeping your overheads down is key when you start up Napit cost me

 

[alpha spark]

It weren't 1300 for it sign written it had dents scratches and was starting to rust so had filled sprayed shined up a bit not too sure weather to sign write it yet as I mainly sub to a firm and don't think it would go down too well with them not wanting to be the next ng baileys only thinking of being a sole trader may look at a apprentice if things go well and maybe odd subby if needed

 

[ProDave]

Forget the storage unit. Work from home. My garage is my storage unit, monthly cost

 

[alpha spark]

I live in a terraced house with no shed or garage I've a friend who has bikes I let him store them in there for a 50 PCM so it's only 150 really good to keep my van in though as its a dump where I live

 

[Electroglow]

Plan materials for the job your doing... Then u won't have nay left over well not much any way..

Just keep things u need most days in the van eg switches mcbs ect...

There 150 saved already.. My napit was about 450 per year not 700.

 

[steptoe]

alpha, I do agree about starting up on your own not being cheap, but, there are a lot of expenses you should have already taken care of,

van, 1300 for work that probably should have already been done, there again, some folks would need to buy a van anyway.

storage, do you really NEED to be renting a unit at this stage? every penny counts, keep the spares under the stairs.

cert programme, download some free certs and pen and paper, or there are even free fillable certs in the downloads section here that you can PC fill if you want to give printed certs, logo changable too!

business cards, <

 

[Jono Pashley]

www.vistaprint.co.uk/offer43

try that 500 premium business cards for a fiver

 

[Sharpend]

Alpha, if your work is purely subbing is it necessary to even have Part p? Usually you are working under your contractors umbrella?? Ask yourself what percentage of your own work that requires part p you do then ask is it really worth the extra investment at his stage?

 

[steptoe]

www.vistaprint.co.uk/offer43try that 500 premium business cards for a fiver

I think mine cost <

 

[alpha spark]

I've gone with vista print ended up getting conned into get this half price etc etc. yes I'm a subby but don't want to keep working for other people all my life I want to eventually work for my self yes I had pi as I'm a subby but not got pi yet. I chose to be part p has I've been offered work in which I can make the scam money back easily over a year hopefully and may lead to more work yeah I've gone for expensive mfts as I'm a real tool snob the regs I had to buy new as I had the Red ones only a year for my 17th to be told by napit they would prefer the green one also I've got the storage for my van when I don't use it but also have lots of materials which are from previous employers oops (we all do it ) and they can be used on jobs and still charge for so that's a bonus I suppose

As for the napit fee I had to pay

 

[Zeespark]

Napit is

 

[alpha spark]

The free cards look tacky in my opinion I had double sided shiny ones made with imported logos on both sides I know I'm only to blame for paying over the odds on things but hopefully it will be worth it hi zee where is

 

[Apache]

Im just in the proces of looking at new cards, they are upwards of a

 

[steptoe]

The free cards look tacky in my opinion I had double sided shiny ones made with imported logos on both sides I know I'm only to blame for paying over the odds on things but hopefully it will be worth it hi zee where is

 

[alpha spark]

I can tell your a Jurassic spark where as im more of a upto date spark who likes all the mod cons I don't want my business to look look cheap or tacky I'm not saying your does but every one has different tastes opinions budgets etc you might not be bothered to drive around in a banged up escort van have cheap business cards have the basic tools to get the job done I'm not saying u do but I am more modern like the fancy tools and tech etc I appreciate everyone's opinions and will take some into account

End of the day no what image your business has it comes down to getting the job done with quality workmanship woman ship in my case and that the client is happy and would use u again I appreciate your views steps your life experience is something you have greater than mine including technical knowledge no doubt thanks

 

[NozSpark]

Just because you have all the tools does not mean that you have a clue.

In this day and age I'd be watching your expenditure a bit closer.

 

[Robin Spark]

Alpha Spark just be wary that lots of other companies would like to fool you into spending your hard earned cash on their products or services, after all that is business! However, if you dont learn to take control of your cashflow now, then like many other businesses you may not last very long

Like Steps, I downloaded my images etc and had good quality double sided business cards from Vistaprint for

 

[Jono Pashley]

following up like others have said the premium cards are of a very good quality especially when compared to the price