Is it worth it?

oxygenman

Hi Folks,

Just looking for a bit of feedback. I'm a qualified plumber and living in Galway for the last 2 years. I got laid off 4 months ago (who hasn't) and am finding it very difficult to find another job. Lately I've been thinking about buying a little van and putting my name into the local papers and trying to get work that way. I'll get registered as a sole trader and get insurance and all that legal stuff so no worries on that front. Also I'm fully qualified to OFTEC standard for oil boiler services and Gas installations, etc.

So what I'm asking is, is it worth it? I'm not looking to make a fortune, just looking for work to keep me busy. Is there people out there who still require little plumbing jobs or is it a bad idea?

Any feedback will do?

to be honest I was looking for a plumber during the week and refused to look in the papers/golden pages etc preferring a word of mouth recommendation instead.

not saying everyone would do the same as me, but with the amount of cowboys around its possible

Xiney

You may qualify for BTWEA if you're on JSB. If you're on JSA you have to be on it for 12 months.

I'd be inclined to agree that I'd probably ask for a personal recommendation for a plumber over looking through the golden pages.

oxygenman

Hi Dave,

Thanks for that, I'm qualified for nearly 20 years so lots of experience. Word of mouth is better than any advertising so getting my name out there will be the hardest part. Just doing a bit of research at the moment to see if people are looking for plumbers to do little jobs.

ScumLord

A friend of mine is convinced that if someone offered to do odd jobs, even things like changing plugs that they'd get plenty of work. Charge for an hour and get as much done around the house for them in that hour as you can. Most people won't get things fixed because they don't want to call in all the various professionals as it would cost to much.

Mrs OBumble

ScumLord wrote: »

A friend of mine is convinced that if someone offered to do odd jobs, even things like changing plugs that they'd get plenty of work. Charge for an hour and get as much done around the house for them in that hour as you can. Most people won't get things fixed because they don't want to call in all the various professionals as it would cost to much.

Mr Just makes his living as a self-employed, unqualified but multi-skilled, handyman. I'd estimate that the recession has cut his business in half. Things have loooked up a bit in the last six months, but they're still not great. He gets most of his work through word-of-mouth (though has let me build him a brand/website recently) and has spent 15 years building a client base of folks who he knows will pay on the day, and getting rid of the chancers who don't, won't, or "will have it on Thursday, honest".

(I was recently talking to a SME-business accountant who enlightened me that even in the good times, folks here were relatively slow at paying bills - an amazing number of businesses have apparently been built on the back of suppliers rather than official credit. And it's worse now, of course, when credit's a lot harder to get.)

I doubt that the "pay for an hour of my time" approach would work because of the problems with getting materials - an hour could easily be spent working out exactly what sort of tap/fuse/light-fitting/screw/hinge what ever is needed, heading to whereever to get it (traffic!), going back and fitting it.

OP I think it comes down to how much risk you're willing to take: will the small van plus a year's insurance (of it and your PL) consume your life savings? Will losing eligibility for welfare if it fails be a problem for you? (That's a slight overstatement - and there is talk of a new scheme to make it things easier for the self-employed soon.) In your two years here, have you built up a network of contact that you can start working to get jobs? Have you done much research about the competition - try ringing some of the numbers already in the local papers and see what sort of answers you get about a hypothetical job.

A couple of places for you to check out:
The Entrepreneural and Business Management forum on boards.ie
The County Enterprise Board (I've no knowledge of how good they are, but they are the official support agency for folks startng "low potential" small businesses)
WIN - a networking group for professionals who've been "unwaged" - these folks have totally changed my thinking about certain business opportunities.

Happy decisions!

Discodog

Definitely go for it. The key to getting work is to be reliable & trustworthy. People value this above anything else. I would not advertise in the papers etc as it just makes you one of a crowd. I find it amazing when people mention in radio ads that they are in Golden Pages. It's like saying "check out all my competitors".

Everything that you do or say must reinforce the image that you are a guy who can be totally relied upon. Follow up any hint of business immediately. If you arrange to see a job be there bang on time & return phone calls promptly.

The average standard of customer service in Ireland is dire. It is the one easy way to stand out that doesn't cost you anything. I would do a simple leaflet outlining what you do. It should emphasise that you will give a accurate quote at no charge, that you charge by the job & not by the hour, & that no job is too small. Put a bit in about yourself so that you reinforce the trust element. You have spare time so get leafleting. Try & target where you go. Retired people are often a good source of business & they will recommend you.

Whenever you do a job ask the customer if you can use them as a reference. Make sure that, in the early days, you go the extra mile so as to build your reputation. Be really nice to people as that is what they will remember & talk about. There is always a little something extra that you can do for free that makes you stand out.

A friend of mine often gets work by targeting women in DIY stores. He will see a woman looking at paint, self assembly furniture etc & start a conversation. He will be helpful, charming & he will hand them a business card. He has recently completed a huge 2 month job that started by him offering to concrete in a clothes dryer for the woman who was buying it !.

PS If you already have a car do not waste money on a van unless you can change at no cost. You should devote every cent to getting customers so that you can start building that reputation.

oxygenman

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all your feedback. A lot of what ye said makes very good sense and I will take it on board if I decide to go for it. Getting a van and insurance wouldn't cause me that much difficulty and herself has a vast network of friends so hopefully they could put the word out there for me.

This is the first time I've done anything about it and as I said, it's only feedback I'm looking for. Next thing is to check out whats already out there in terms of plumbers and prices etc...so I'll keep researching.

Keep your feedback coming please..every little bit helps.

Discodog

If you are already unemployed what is to stop you giving it as try. You are in the ideal position with nothing to lose.

jkforde

Go for it. Keep costs low, charge fair price (means keeping that perennial bastard greed at bay, this is hard), always be up for some amount of haggling, be honest (telling someone that you can do a job by X and cynically stringing them out is THE best way of getting bad word-of-mouth), and most of all, enjoy the work and dealing with people. Oh, and smile!

Discodog

That has to be the most annoying thing of all when a guy uses the principle of why finish a job when I have another one to start !.

A client of mine employed a big Galway painting firm to paint her house. They started in May & finally collected the ladders in October !.

snubbleste

Also put up a photo of yorself, you may find some of the lady posters developing urgent plumbing problems

tonyhiggins

snubbleste wrote: »

Also put up a photo of yorself, you may find some of the lady posters developing urgent plumbing problems

Err.....

cats.life

can you put a plugg in the sky to stop it bloody raining ??i,ll pay ya 2million euro.;):(

hoodrats

cats.life wrote: »

can you put a plugg in the sky to stop it bloody raining ??i,ll pay ya 2million euro.;):(

where did you get the 2million euros from?

oxygenman

hi Folks,

Afraid I can't stop the rain, definetly can't put photo up (get no work at all) I'll lose all social benefits early next year anyway cos herself is working, so will be means tested against her and will get nothing from this lovely government.

So I'll keep on researching, I have a few months before I decide to go for it or not, would be looking at next January if I decide to go for it.

Keep that feed back coming please

Xiney

if you go for it while you're still on JSB, you might qualify for a grant from BTWEA.

Make an appointment with Oonagh Monaghan in the Galway City Partnership.

Discodog

Don't fall into the trap of putting it off. January is never a good time as people are short of cash from Christmas.

There is nothing to stop you doing some marketing & see if the phone rings.

Mrs OBumble

oxygenman wrote: »

I'll lose all social benefits early next year anyway cos herself is working, so will be means tested against her and will get nothing from this lovely government.

Know that feeling .. different reason, but same result.

Oddly enough, it's actually freeing to register as self-employed at that point, 'cos you can pursue any little opportunity that comes up, and still qualify for stamps (which you really, really do want to do, because it affects your eligibility for pension eventually and for other benefits in about two years time). The other option is to sign for "stamps" only, and under that scheme you have to visit welfare twice for every tiny bit of temping work you get.

If you go under BWEA, you can start working on self-employment now, even though you're on JSB. If you don't do it, then you're right, you have to wait 'til JSB ends.

Some more advice:

Think a bit about a brand and logo. Don't get too fancy at first - just enough to give you a sense of yourself as a business. "Joe Bloggs, Plumber and Gasfitter" (or whatever) is fine so long as you've decided that's the image you want to give. Vistaprint do a large number of standard-design business cards pretty cheaply. Or another option is to do by-hand ones: PM my if you want the MS Word template I've used - 10 cards per page, and iSupply will colour-print onto medium weight card for about E1.30 per page. Personally I'd advise going for smaller quantities at first, while you test out the brand and get the details right.

You can get a .com website for $US12.50 per year, and a Facebook page for free. Neither are essential for a service that's focussing on networking as a marketing approach, but they do lend a bit of credibility if you're trying to sell yourself to a stranger. And even if you don't plan to use 'em, it's a good idea to register them so no one else can (esp if you're using a bit of a quirky name).

Someone else advised to always turn up on time. I agree in principle, but Galway traffic (weird traffic jams in unexpected places/times) can make that a bit hard. But IMHO the key is to communicate: if you can't do what you promised, call and let them know.

gaillimhabu

I've a few small jobs for doing if interested fellow boardie. Well it's a rented house but landlady asked me to try find someone.

dec25532

oxygenman wrote: »

hi Folks,

Afraid I can't stop the rain, definetly can't put photo up (get no work at all) I'll lose all social benefits early next year anyway cos herself is working, so will be means tested against her and will get nothing from this lovely government.

So I'll keep on researching, I have a few months before I decide to go for it or not, would be looking at next January if I decide to go for it.

Keep that feed back coming please

Brother was an out of work carpenter. Between the few jobs that he had, he did leaflet drops in estates around the city and got work while delivering the leaflets to doors as he met householders face to face on occasions. It has snowballed since then and he is getting a lot of small jobs here and there but enough to keep him going. Has about two months work ahead of him because of this. Might be worth a try.