first month

[Sean SML Tiling]

Did you do your own website or get a company to do it?

im just about to publish mine tonight and still unsure what to put in the seo? any ideas to help me

 

[Chalker]

Had a decent web site for a couple of years. Didnt get one job from it. Just emails from company's selling carp.! Locally we have publication called "on your doorstep" it lists local trades. Got that much work from it I stopped advertising with them.

 

[TJ Smiler]

Profit in your first month? i didn't get a profit for about a year!! It took me almost 6 years of serious hard graft and marketing myself to reach a point where i'm at now.... has paid off though cos i never ever worry about finding work, am booked solid for the next 8 weeks and have jobs confirmed (but with no start dates) right up until December. Get in the tile shops and build a friendship with them and be sure to give them a generous drink if you get a job from them. Pick the phone up and call every single plumber in your area and be honest about yourself and your experience and if you get a job from one, turn up, do a good job and keep there customer happy.... plumbers are always struggling to find a tiler they can trust, and of course give them a drink (and be generous, without making yourself skint though).

I have four plumbers who only use me and if i aint available they make there customers wait or they tell them to source another tiler themselves. Me and one other tiler are also the two highest recommended tilers in a big tile centre which provides me with a ton of work but again i give them a nice drink. Oh yeah and the other tiler, i called him up and we now swap work with each other or pass work over and generally help each other out where we can.... so important to get on well with other trades.

I am not trying to brag with this post mate and if you look back at some of my posts from years ago you will see i was seriously struggling, but with a hell of a lot of hard (like i said 6 years) work and determination and time spent learning i am now in a position where i have so many people i can call for work and my phone rings a dozen times a day from referals, old customers, plumbers, chippy's, builders, tile shops, other tilers that i am now one of them tilers that i used to envy so much........... stick with it mate and it will pay off for you.

Good luck

 

[Mr Tiler]

thank you mate I can see it is not a brag, I have also noticed that when it comes to working for someone it is best to be honest. my first trading job last month was a showroom in Dudley and that has lead to a quote I have to go and do inabit which is a small kitchen splash and a floor rite down my alley. hopefully with a bit of luck I also have just what I need coming up but I will share that if anything actually comes from it but very excited cheers

 

[Deleted member 9966]

TJ Smiler, where you been all this time???

 

[TJ Smiler]

thank you mate I can see it is not a brag, I have also noticed that when it comes to working for someone it is best to be honest. my first trading job last month was a showroom in Dudley and that has lead to a quote I have to go and do inabit which is a small kitchen splash and a floor rite down my alley. hopefully with a bit of luck I also have just what I need coming up but I will share that if anything actually comes from it but very excited cheers

Well you got the right attitude mate, honesty with the other trades goes miles with them and they will be more likely to use you again. I explained to one of the plumbers (who i still work with now) what i was all about and told him that if he uses me on his jobs that while i am still learning i will do it at half the price he would normally pay (of course he snapped my arm off) but as time went by and he could see that i was good and equally important i was reliable and trustworthy i slowly put the prices up, and six years latter i now charge him more than anyone else probably would but he still will only use me (payback for 2 years of half price work lol).

Small kitchens and bathrooms etc are just perfect for you to perfect your trade on. One of the most important things i did was get very pally with another fairly local tiler (he lives about 40 miles away) and i racked his brain for his knowledge, i swallowed my pride and would call him all the time while i was on jobs and i learnt most of the trade through him. I would go up and see him on his jobs and labor for him free of charge on some days in exchange for him teaching me stuff.

Were great pals now and if ever he can't get to a job or needs a hand on a job (he does massive commercial work like Starbucks and Next stores) he always calls me first.

But if i'm honest i put in much more effort than a load of other tilers who done courses and ended up finding a 'normal job' because they thought they would come out of a course and know how to tile like a pro. They were completely disalutioned by how hard this trade is to actually learn and they honestly thought that the work would pile in and they'd be rich within a year!

So if you know up front that it is gonna be hard and at times really hard but are prepared to not just go that extra mile but that extra ten miles then it can turn out to be a fantastic, rewarding and pretty well paid career as it has for me mate.

You can see on my avatar thing that it says i was living in a caravan and that was a very harsh period and reflects that when i first started this career i had absolutely nothing and nowhere proper to live..... Things have now seriously changed and i hope that your first months profit continues month in and month. Well pleased for ya mate

 

[TJ Smiler]

TJ Smiler, where you been all this time???

HaHa hello...... I have been dragging that poxy caravan all around the country with me lol.

Can't beleive how many members there are on here now. I remember when it had just about thread going!!

I see your a moderator of the sight now so i suppose i better behave myself eh?

 

[Mr Tiler]

thanks for the nice reply bud I hope you all the best, went and quoted the small kitchen today ready for a start on mon. only thing is ive been asked to supply the wall addy, floor addy, trim and grouts. and I don't have much money to my name at all. what do I do? can I get credit? or do I call back and say I am a broke *** tiler! lol

 

[Gazzer]

You wont get credit right away. Usually your first trade account will be a cash account. Meaning you will get some discount but will need to pay right away.

 

[Gazzer]

What is it you require anyway ?