HOJ
Established Member
I'm going to struggle to offer any specific advice, but sometimes lost leaders can pay dividends, more so when you've got nothing else, best advertising I've ever done.
Most younger fellas here start out working for a larger shop. They acquire experience, knowledge and the bosses might pass on
the smaller jobs to them, which they do in their spare time. They slowly build up their network of clients while having a reliable source
of income. Usually after 5-6 years they go on their own.
Like you, I started out self employed from day one. Looking back, I think it probably wasn't the best choice I made.
Your circumstances are probably very different than mine, so pay no attention.
Some very good advice here, and unfortunately this bit is true particularly when starting out, The amount of hours that go into making a proper piece of furniture just price it beyond peoples expectations of value, I tried to get in with the monied people by making solid oak equestrian equipment, and this would have been successful had I stuck with it, but it would have needed huge amounts of time and effort to display my wares at various equestrian events and in the event I struck lucky and my word-of-mouth client base made it unnecessary.I have found that good quality, well thought out, nicely proportioned fitted furniture pays the bills.
Free standing furniture does not.
I think you need to understand kitchen appliances and installation of appliances, before you take on a kitchen.
Trends are important in the kitchen world.
I mainly do kitchens, I like the size of kitchen projects.
Just be aware invariably you are installing a kitchen following building works, so you will need to supply service drawings. Also expect delays, we regularly store a kitchen for up to 3 months.
Hello,
Having recently going self employed at the middle of this year, I'm a little underwhelmed at how much I've done, i.e. not enough. I've had around 4 jobs completed and done, 3 of which were from MyBuilder. How long did it take everyone else to build up a constant flow of work?
I currently do furniture and the like, I enjoy this sort of work as it's got an element of maths, design and practical. I was thinking of starting to advertise and make kitchens. E.g. design it, make it and then hire a fitter to install it. But with kitchens not being in my portfolio shall we say, I'm a bit apprehensive.
The cabinets don't look too different to a fitted wardrobe at face value, however I'm sure there are bold differences I'm non the wiser of.
Just wanted everyone's advice as it sometimes helps to have a second/third/fourth etc opinion/set of eyes.
Tldr; how long to build up a customer base
Tldr; are kitchens harder to make than a fitted wardrobe
Thanks,
Designer1
I quickly learnt to buy the appliances and get them delivered to the workshop…..integrated appliances are always designed for overlay, not in-frame….and the solutions aren’t consistent across brands.
This is not true. We have received 2 1 star reviews for stays in our holdiay cottages on google and both were removed. It may depend on circumstances and how you report it though. Both of ours had no comment and we had no record of ever hosting anyone with that name. If you can't get it removed, don't be a sarky asshat when replying. It just turns off other customers even more.you could set a Google my business page (just be aware, if you get a bad review you can’t get it removed)
Unfortunately it is a cut throat game now in many trades where too many will give cheap prices to get the job and then will cut corners to try and make up for it later, so get a fixed price and not a day rate and make sure any so called extras are genuine.Dont underprice yourself, everybody can race to the bottom & you will see a lot of that today!
There is no comparison between a school leaver and someone in their mid 20s. With a school leaver (in my experience and individuals vary very much) you spend a lot of time teaching them how to be a mature adult, as well as the skills themselves, lots of problems which cost time and money. Some of the mistakes are made due to a lack of life skills. Teaching skills can be very rewarding but also needs a lot of patience, and especially with the young. Teaching the old can be hard too, as they can get fixed in their ways, but someone in their mid 20s is ideal I think, its just that some of the financial incentives are not available which is why some employers might rule them out. The government tells us not to discriminate while doing so themselves quite blatantly.That's the problem, trying to find someone willing to take me on at an age of mid twenties is nigh on impossible when they can take on a school leaver and pay £174 a week. No one is interested unfortunately.
There is no comparison between a school leaver and someone in their mid 20s. With a school leaver (in my experience and individuals vary very much) you spend a lot of time teaching them how to be a mature adult, as well as the skills themselves, lots of problems which cost time and money. Some of the mistakes are made due to a lack of life skills. Teaching skills can be very rewarding but also needs a lot of patience, and especially with the young. Teaching the old can be hard too, as they can get fixed in their ways, but someone in their mid 20s is ideal I think, its just that some of the financial incentives are not available which is why some employers might rule them out. The government tells us not to discriminate while doing so themselves quite blatantly.
I think that is why engineers do not make good entrepreneurs, we enjoy the making to much and also why some good partnerships work where one does the making and the other runs the business.I think you need to remember that the "making" side of a furniture business is not the most important aspect of the business. It's marketing, sales, market fit, cashflow, supplier management, client management etc. etc.
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