help with own wee firm!?! (1 Viewer)

jamieBhibby

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right guys all help/advice/personal experiences needed on your own firms please??? me and a friend are trying to start our own wee firm nothing big just local we have the gear and are pritty much good to go....just looking for help or tips on finding work and just....getting out there really!! all feedback welcome negative too! i understand this is not going to be an easy task especially with the current state of the construction industry!!

cheers for now guys i look forward to picking some of your brains!!
 
Best of luck Jamie with your new venture mate.

As you have identified, the current downturn, it will be tough out there mate, dog eat dog, there are jobs going up now for silly money, however, we need to put a loaf of bread on the table for our family, we no longer can put Jam on it, but JSA is a insult to a willing and able experienced worker.

Regards
Paddy
 
Best of luck Jamie with your new venture mate.

As you have identified, the current downturn, it will be tough out there mate, dog eat dog, there are jobs going up now for silly money, however, we need to put a loaf of bread on the table for our family, we no longer can put Jam on it, but JSA is a insult to a willing and able experienced worker.

Regards
Paddy

yeah mate its not good at the moment there is a lot of firms here that are doing jobs just to pay wages and its f**king stupid! if they all undercut each other all it dose is make it harder for anyone to get a decent wage! like you say tho need to put the food on the table and the way i see it the amount of time i spend hunting for work to make some ar**holes bank balance bigger could be spent trying to get my own firm up and running and make a better living for myself and those working with me!

cheers for now paddy
 
yeah mate its not good at the moment there is a lot of firms here that are doing jobs just to pay wages and its f**king stupid! if they all undercut each other all it dose is make it harder for anyone to get a decent wage! like you say tho need to put the food on the table and the way i see it the amount of time i spend hunting for work to make some ar**holes bank balance bigger could be spent trying to get my own firm up and running and make a better living for myself and those working with me!

cheers for now paddy

As a buisness, the reasons of gaining a contract, are Price,reputation or both, however, in your locality for Small,Medium, enterprises (SME's) would it be a feasible option to have a covert seminar regarding other SME's to fix a std rate regarding tendering? just a thought.
Paddy
 
As a buisness, the reasons of gaining a contract, are Price,reputation or both, however, in your locality for Small,Medium, enterprises (SME's) would it be a feasible option to have a covert seminar regarding other SME's to fix a std rate regarding tendering? just a thought.
Paddy

im not sure i know what this means mate??!covert seminar? bit goblydygook!!! do you mean agree a fixed rate with the small businesses in my area???

cheers again mate:eek:
 
yep mate
sorry about the gobblydook, get together and say this is what we will charge per lm, and stick by it, or form a Cooperative, and divvy the graft.

Paddy
 
got ya mate!! iv kinda done that i sent out a sort of marketing pack to 50 small businesses in my area with a pricing list for hire of materials and labour charges aswell as a sample qoute. we are offering ten percent discount to try our services if you show us the letter also....just to try coax them in to giving us a try! i think the fact we use t+f rather than cuplock or kwiqstage like evryone else up here in edinburgh is a bit of a selling point as u dont see many t+f jobs around. also iv pointed out in my marketing that the fact its all t+f means we are totaly compliant with tg20:08 and that they will have peace of mind that we are conforming to those regulations.
 
Jaimee
Good promotion m8
T&F as you say, is the profesionals choice, and with the knowledge of TG20:08, your potential clients can be rest assured, they will recieve value and quality, for their initial outlay.

Paddy
 
best of luck to you

hope it goes well

martin
 
JamieBhibby if it were me i would ask a local builders merchants or tool hire shop if i could erect a small tower on their unit,sheet or net it do a right bib and brace job,sign board,its bound to get the shops customers asking whats going on,and in the process get free advertising for your new firm,good luck in the future mate..Plenty of trades using those tool and merchant yards..
 
JamieBhibby if it were me i would ask a local builders merchants or tool hire shop if i could erect a small tower on their unit,sheet or net it do a right bib and brace job,sign board,its bound to get the shops customers asking whats going on,and in the process get free advertising for your new firm,good luck in the future mate..Plenty of trades using those tool and merchant yards..

thats a good idea mate cheers! i may well try blag a wee tower up some where and get the signs on it!:toung:
 
Well us in Birmingham are a small firm which has been trading for many years now. I think the key for us has been that we have stuck to what we know. We mainly do domestic (Street) work and have not looked at expanding upon that. Sometimes you can try too much and spread yourselves too much.

We offer a cheap and reliable service. I personally give phone calls to our customers to tell them when a job is going up/down and when it is completed (up/down). Just a personal touch, but I think that good communication helps and is professional.

Also don't go mad with advertising in places like yellow pages etc... We find that we get most work from word of mouth and sign boards. If your jobs look neat and tidy and have a nice clear sign then you are good to go.
 
Jamie

Firstly...best of luck my friend...it takes a lot of guts to "Get off the tit" so to speak especially when you have regular outgoings that need to be met each week/month.

Secondly...I take it you have already have a small customer base as you wouldnt have taken the plunge?? Well these guys are gonna be priceless!! treat them like demi-gods because these boys are going to spread the word to all there fellow buliders about how GOOD you are which in turn should increase your customer base etc etc...there is NO better recommendation than word of mouth...END OF.

I could go chapter and verse into business development but it could go on and on but I would say finally...Mail shots have very little success as the literature will usually hit the recycling bin before the appropriate person has seen it (Opened by the Secretary etc etc)...back it up with a phone call...get to know who the appropriate person is and try and set a meeting to sell you business to them in person...Its better if they can put a face to the product.

If you need any other advice please feel free to pm me mate I will help in anyway I can especially seeing as your in Scotland and not Sheffield!!:D
 
Jaimie,

As everybody else has said, good luck on your new venture. The one piece of advice I would offer is maybe a bit biased given another of my customers has gone to the wall over the weekend, so keep that in mind when you read the following.:mad:

There are no demi gods out there, only ***** that will try and screw as much as they can from you for as little money as they can get away with. Don't be bullied, stand your ground and don't even load the truck until all the paper work is in place, e.g. signed estimates and they have accepted your terms and conditions. Remember, when you both have oppossing items on t&c it is normally the last document on the table that wins. Make your customer earn the payment dates, start with 2 week term then give them 4 weeks as the trust is earned. Find a good debt recovery team to work with and get their charges inserted in to your t&c so the bad debtor has to pay those as well.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into yet another rant, but F**K sake.

Apart from that, it's all plain sailing.:D Good luck.
 
Jamie

Firstly...best of luck my friend...it takes a lot of guts to "Get off the tit" so to speak especially when you have regular outgoings that need to be met each week/month.

Secondly...I take it you have already have a small customer base as you wouldnt have taken the plunge?? Well these guys are gonna be priceless!! treat them like demi-gods because these boys are going to spread the word to all there fellow buliders about how GOOD you are which in turn should increase your customer base etc etc...there is NO better recommendation than word of mouth...END OF.

I could go chapter and verse into business development but it could go on and on but I would say finally...Mail shots have very little success as the literature will usually hit the recycling bin before the appropriate person has seen it (Opened by the Secretary etc etc)...back it up with a phone call...get to know who the appropriate person is and try and set a meeting to sell you business to them in person...Its better if they can put a face to the product.

If you need any other advice please feel free to pm me mate I will help in anyway I can especially seeing as your in Scotland and not Sheffield!!:D

cheers mate i may well pester you now when questions pop in ma head!!
 
all the best to you, if you can make it now you will be ok then when things pick up
 
Jamie

Firstly, Good luck with your Firm, my Brother and I started a small Family Scaffolding Firm some time ago, as with you, we specialised in T+F Structures---we Targeted our Nearest Power Station and offered our services during Shout Downs ect, our Local Ship Repairers and offered Local Scaffolding Companies an ad hoc Labour only Service.

As discussed on other Threads, due to the heavy usage of System Scaffold Systems, T+F Structures are fast becoming a Specialisim---if you can find your niche then you will do well---stay small dont over stretch your self's and recruit from Family...Keep us all posted on your progress M8...
 
Walk before you run..

I Just closed my firm after 10 years in business and I have to say I am enjoying the break.(although the black economy is roaring and keeping me interested).

3 Things you need to run a good business apart from long hours and hard work are,

1.A good bank manager (hard to find at the moment but stay away from the big banks).
2.A good accountant that knows the ins/outs on contracting tax.
3.A good solicitor just in case.

But the main thing is enjoy it, it can be good fun and financially rewarding and always treat people the way you would like to be treated.

Best of Luck
 
Good luck with it mate, I think most points have been pretty well covered already. My bit of advice is simple.

Cash in the bank.

You're going top need a decent lump of money just sat there, especially the way things are in this climate. Cashflow is key so make sure you're VERY well set up before you even kick off because at the moment even some of our best payers are taking on average 2-3 months to pay for each job.

You need to be prepared to earn very little for quite a while so get some money behind you to live on seperate from your business capital.

I set up 4 years ago and it was tough enough then luckily I have a missus that earns decent money and at the time a very understanding bank manager, you're probably not going to turn a decent profit for at least 3 years so be prepared for a struggle!

Sorry if it comes across a bit gloomy but it's an honest opinion. :)
 
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