Woodwork trades: How busy are you?

[joiner_sim]

Hi everyone,

The whole of the company I work for has just shut down (apart from the sales team & management) for two weeks, so we're taking it as some of our paid holiday.... with the promise of work for March & April. I can only hope the ball starts rolling again and orders pile up again.

Just out of curiousity I thought I'd conduct a poll to gauge how work generally is at the minute....

 

[Cowboy _Builder]

I have between 9 and 12 months work booked in 60% joinery and i turn jobs down most weeks .
I know some "Tradesmen" who have nothing .....most of my work is for old clients in the Nottingham area but i also travel to France to work mostly for expats.

 

[Dusty]

Working as normal , not flat out but never a day off .

Kind regards Sam

 

[Lons]

Not short of work as i have a solid customer base but definately quiet out there with less new work I think and noticeably more competition at keener prices. I just turn it down if prices get stupid.

With the housing market still poor, there are a lot of people still improving rather than moving so work to be had.

Bob

 

[chippy1970]

I'm quiet , trouble with me for years I've relied on one subby I work for who is usually busy. We build big houses and do the odd refurb but things have been up n down lately.

I need to get more of my own work but how ???

I did a nice job of my own last week , earnt double what I would earn subbing and the customer was over the moon which makes you feel good :grin::grin:

 

[JonnyD]

I am fairly busy and enquiries have picked up in the last month or so. I don't deal much with the new build side so most jobs come about as refurbs and modernising upgrading etc.

Chippy I've found the best way of building up work and a clientbase is doing a good job for a fair price and relying on recommendations and referrals.

Cheers

Jon

 

[Lons]

I did a nice job of my own last week , earnt double what I would earn subbing and the customer was over the moon which makes you feel good :grin:

Chippy I've found the best way of building up work and a clientbase is doing a good job for a fair price and relying on recommendations and referrals.

Hi Chippy

I agree with Jon but it looks like you've already started. trouble is that it takes time to build up the reputation you need to get a regular customer base.
When you get a satisfied customer as you state then don't be frightened to ask them to recommend you, most are more than delighted to "boast" how they've found a great tradesman.

On a personal note, I've always resisted price wars. I give a reasonable price which gives me a good return and that's it. The majority of people won't take the cheapest but go for something in the middle and are prepared to pay for a decent job. I'm at the stage where a number of my customers don't ask for a price and don't get alternative quotes as they know I won't rip them off.

If you do quote then I'm sure you already know to give a comprehensive estimate so no room for confusion on either side and no excuse to withold payment.

Good luck with it.

Bob

 

[chippy1970]

Jon,bob,

Yeah I know what you mean I've been a self employed chippy since the early 90's but the trouble is I've found it easy to work for builders most of the time as its regular work. While you're doing that your own stuff dries up as people forget or just think you're too busy . Funny thing is a job came in tonight while replying to this thread.

I do like working for subbys sometimes as I doubt I would have worked on half of the flashy jobs up town without them. :grin:

 

[Lons]

Jon,bob,

Yeah I know what you mean I've been a self employed chippy since the early 90's but the trouble is I've found it easy to work for builders most of the time as its regular work. While you're doing that your own stuff dries up as people forget or just think you're too busy . Funny thing is a job came in tonight while replying to this thread.

I do like working for subbys sometimes as I doubt I would have worked on half of the flashy jobs up town without them. :grin:

Sounds good. Word of a good tradesman soon gets around.
One of the first sizeable jobs I took on was a large complicated kitchen extension. There were 4 of us and I stayed back every night and cleaned up with a pressure washer just as I would at home. I got countless jobs from that and people don't forget even though it's 16 years ago.
I got a kitchen job last month out of the blue and just found out that she'd had a bathroom fitted but wouldn't employ them again as they left a mess every night. Somebody told her I don't - which is true! The other company were quite a bit cheaper than me as well.

The biggest hurdle I found initially wasn't getting work, it was working on my own, often in an empty house as they just leave keys with me. After running a branch with 28 employees it was a bit of a culture shock. Soon start talking to yourself (never answered back yet though) :lol:

I take a mix of jobs and on the bigger ones enlist help so at least there's somebody to make the tea and crack a few jokes with.

Bob

 

[petermillard]

I'll just add that I've found it pays not to be too sniffy about taking on smaller jobs when working direct with domestic customers as these often lead to bigger jobs. Agree 100% with Bob that most customers are only too happy to have 'bragging rights' about a tradesman that's good and tidy; sometimes I think people rate tidiness above everything else!

Cheers, Pete

 

[tomatwark]

I know a lot of the jobbing joiners up here are fighting for the same work and prices are getting a bit silly ( low),

The main reason for this is that a lot of guys have either been laid off and have gone and bought vans and gone on their own or have been working as subcontractors but have to look elsewhere because of the lack of new builds.

This is a problem across the building trades, the plumber who services my boiler at home was saying a couple of weeks back that most of their work at the moment is for regulars, small jobs like servicing and leaks etc and the bigger stuff they are having to fight for.

My customers still want furniture and kitchens made so I am OK at the moment.

Tom

 

[marcus]

The biggest hurdle I found initially wasn't getting work, it was working on my own, often in an empty house as they just leave keys with me. After running a branch with 28 employees it was a bit of a culture shock. Soon start talking to yourself (never answered back yet though)

Give it time! I work on my own mostly and have very interesting discussions.

Re busyness, I have work for the next six weeks lined up, so not stellar, but not too bad given I've not been in this area very long.

 

[joiner_sim]

Thanks for the feedback guys. With 50% of the votes being to "Quiet" its hard to expect any company to keep going at full steam ahead in these difficult times. I am now officially on holiday now, have just spent today and yesterday training for forklift trucks! Think I'm going to use my time off to start a couple of projects

Unlike probably everyone on here, I am currently working in a very small market..... (few pics attached)!
-A complete bespoke pre-fab building service for agriculture. These buildings contain alot more woodwork in them than what you can see....

 

[promhandicam]

Things aren't too bad 6- 8 weeks work and I'm getting a lot of good recommendations. In a way, with the sort of work I do, I wouldn't want to have too much more work booked in as many new customers aren't prepared to wait several months for someone to do a job.

Chris, as someone else said be prepared to do small jobs - a lot of people won't. One of my best jobs in terms of referrals and repeat work was a £50 job trimming a couple of internal doors after a new carpet was fitted. As a result of that one job I've probably had £20,000 worth of work from various different people who the customer recommend me to. My adverts say that I will do anything from hanging a picture to fitting a kitchen and I've done both on more than one occasion!

 

[Atkins joinery]

I'm pretty busy, i have been busier in the past but still plenty on. Most of the time I have 8 weeks in front never really changes no matter what time of year. Lots of calls for quotes coming in.

I would say my work load is 80% existing customers or friends of people ive worked for 20% new customers

I also took an apprentice on for the first time so technically ive expanded!

Its a terrible feeling not having much on. I remember it when i set up, never run out but sometimes i got close, didnt last long though and word of mouth kicked in.

With reference to what someone said about dropping prices, i sometimes get hammered quote wise by some cash in hand guy with no work but if asked to drop price i just say, no, its a fair price reflecting what it costs to do the job. Sometimes i still get the job and they may have been trying it on.

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[Lons]

With reference to what someone said about dropping prices, i sometimes get hammered quote wise by some cash in hand guy with no work but if asked to drop price i just say, no, its a fair price reflecting what it costs to do the job. Sometimes i still get the job and they may have been trying it on.

Exactly my approach.

My view has always been that if a customer sees you drop the price they will come to one of several conclusions:
You overpriced to start with - (tried a rip off)
You're desperate for the work - (never a good thing to admit even if true)
You're a push over - (they will try it on any other job you do and will tell their mates they did so word will get around)

The other side is that you could resent taking the job if you feel undervalued and that isn't the way to work IMO

I give a fair price and that's it. If it's too expensive then I'll try to offer different materials or design to suit their budget but my price is my price.
Customers might say they want a cheap price, and they do but not at the expense of quality, (Rolls for the price of a Mini). What they really want is value for money.

I did have one a few years ago: A car dealer wanted the walls of a room clad with polypropylene to use to spray underseal to new 4x4s. From memory my quote was £1600 and the owner demanded a discount. After ringing me 3 times I said I'd look at it then I added £200 and took it off again as discount. He was pleased and immediately gave me the job so I told him what I'd done and his repy was "doesn't matter as long as I show a discount". :?
I still don't understand his logic but he was delighted with the job and recommended me to others. Nowt as queer as folk :lol:

Bob

 

[tomatwark]

I said a few days ago that things were OK.

It does not help I have discovered today that one of the trade customers of mine has gone under owing me a couple of grand.

But just have to brush myself off swear a lot and then carry on.

At least I have other work to get on with.

Tom

 

[RogerBoyle]

Tom
I was stung for 4K last year
with a guy that had a 28 day wait before payment
I did hear that he owed the builder 22K for the other trades
Not nice ,,not nice at all

Roger