Going out on my own

[RogerS]

Don't under-estimate the cost of consumables, glues etc. I usually add £30-50 a job to cover this.

And, as others have said, don't be tempted to undercharge.

If you do have a radio in your workshop and have other people working there or customers calling then you'll need a licence (a right PITA TBH).

And lastly, all the best for the future.

 

[RobinBHM]

Don't under-estimate the cost of consumables, glues etc. I usually add £30-50 a job to cover this.

And, as others have said, don't be tempted to undercharge.

If you do have a radio in your workshop and have other people working there or customers calling then you'll need a licence (a right PITA TBH).

And lastly, all the best for the future.

Not just one licence, both PRS and PPL will be happy to hold their hand out. Makes me mad, the CEO of the PPL gets paid about £500k pa.

 

[doctor Bob]

I started out 12 years ago, fairly similar situation to you, main difference is i have a business partner which unusually has worked perfectly.

My top tip .......... suck up to the customers, do the odd favour for free, if they have a baby send flowers, if they recommend you to someone take them a gift.

There is a lot of talk here about making sure that you charge correct, which is true, however a few favours which may cost you a few hundred may well be worth many thousands in the long term. Reputation is everything.

Do not slag off the competition, just point out why you are better.

Everything you make does not have to be 100%, however it has to be to a standard that you would accept it in your own home.

Finally, controversially, the customer is not always right, if I feel the customers design is wrong I will strongly urge them to change it.

 

[Adam9453]

Extremely good advice from dr Bob.
I can only stress the sentiment more. Do everything you can to ensure that the client is not just happy but thrilled with what you've done.
I like to do something extra on top of the original remit so you give them a nice surprise just as you finish. This will leave most people so happy they can't help tell everyone about the nice thing you did and obviously how good the overall job was.
This is what I would call underpromising but over delivering.
If you then Sweeten the deal further with gifts for referrals etc then it can only help

 

[porker]

Good Luck on your new venture. Admire people like you that do this.

I can't offer anything on the experience side but as a customer of several small businesses recently I would also agree with the points made - I always want something written down which is often not the case and I also want the invoice as soon as reasonable. I'm a good payer and I want to know what is agreed. I also understand changing my mind costs but a lot of people don't. I have a guy who does a lot of bits and pieces round our village and he does great work but what annoys me is that he won't invoice for 3 months and wonders why he has problems chasing the money with some of his customers.

I have helped a few people with their 'business plan' before and a constant theme is that they are not always realistic about there costs and don't charge enough. You need to factor in everything. Because I put business cases together in my day job my advice would be to minimise your costs if possible in the early days as it can make the challenge of making profit that bit easier.

 

[Roughcut]

Don't be too cheap as you will end up a busy fool.
Reliability is usually the number 1 customer expectation.
Let the quality of your work do the talking and referrals will follow.
Hand out your business cards at every opportunity.

 

[Monk]

Massive thank you for all the great advice , have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments. I'm going to take everything on board and looking forward to getting stuck in now. I'll keep you guys posted on how I'm doing.
Cheers monk

 

[tomatwark]

Finally, controversially, the customer is not always right, if I feel the customers design is wrong I will strongly urge them to change it.

The bit I would add to this is, when you start a first design meeting ask the customer what they want and then advise what will work and what may not be a good idea, the thing you don't want to do is try to ram a design down their throats which is not really what they want, but use experience gained from other jobs to guide them.

I also make a point of saying that when the first set of drawings are produced, look at them and discuss the bits you don't like, this says to the customer you will work with them and not tell them what they should have.

 

[Boatfixer]

Lots of sound advice above. I would add don't underestimate the amount of time you lose as a one man band running around sorting supplies, measuring up potential work, popping out to get some more screws etc.. It is easy to lose a day a week in the odd hour here and there which you won't be charging for. Make sure you are charging enough for the time you are productive.
Also make sure you keep up to date with the paperwork. No matter how busy the day has been take some time at the end of the day to write up and file expenditure receipts and invoice completed work. It really doesn't take long to get in a right mess with missing receipts, forgetting what you have spent and lost opportunities to charge if you let this slip. As a practicing procrastinator I speak with experience in this field....

Good luck
Graham

 

[Claymore]

Good luck with your new business and make sure you have some sort of medical cover/insurance

Brian