first month

[Mr Tiler]

Best advise I ever got was..
1st year You support the business.
2nd year it will support itself.
3rd year it will support you!

live by those rules and you won't go far wrong matey,

tell ya what if it all works out il have that tattoo'd on my backside lol, that's the exact same thing my advisor told me when we met lol

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No real way of minimising gap sizes other than carefully sorting through and selecting those that have a more uniformed face profile for the areas with sockets. Your ones look more like a porcelain split face effect tile rather than a true split face mosaic so lay as you would any normal tile.

ok Geoff thanks for the advise mate

 

[charlie1]

At times like this there is only one question the TF must ask itself...

what would rainsco do?

 

[Ian]

Recess the tile where the sockets will sit, that'll test your skill mate :lol:

 

[High Peak Tiling]

focus on your website and drop cards in all the tile shops in your area , your website will bring in about 50% of your work if ranked correctly. I have not spent a penny on advertising in over a year now, started with google add words found the local paper and flyer dropping a waste of time facebook is quite good too

Very sorry for hijacking your thread Ash matey.
PR, do you use organic or paid add words?

 

[Qwerty]

Recess the tile where the sockets will sit, that'll test your skill mate :lol:

Here are some pics of that exact method from a chap over the pond....


Still able to see some gaps!!!

 

[Mr Tiler]

what about grinding out an angle around the whole socket and sitting the casing inside? may be a little unsightly though as more of the tile would stick out more than other bits... if that sounds rite lol

 

[Andy Allen]

those tiles look like the same rubbish I fitted from topps a couple of weeks ago, they recommend you butt joint them only filling in any gaps that can be seen, grouting them is a nightmare so is cutting them.....good luck...your going to need it !!

 

[TJ Smiler]

Cashflow is gonna be a problem until you get up and running with more work more often. Someone else here said don't be affraid to ask for a small deposite upfront and they are right too, you should be asking that. You will get times like this job where it's a bit more difficult. Your very unlikely to get credit from any shops too, it's important that you tell your customer that if you are supplying the materials that you will need that re-funded the day you start the job, most are fine with this as they can see what there money is being spent on.

There were so many times where i would borrow a score from a pal just to buy one bag of addy, turn up on the job and do a bit of work so they can see what your about (and see all your tools on-site) then i would have a friendly chat with them and make up some reason as to why i didn't pick up all there materials (you could say that you had to go help someone out on their job late the night before and you didn't have time to pick them up, anything, just make it sound like your the dogs) Then tell them that you left your bank card at home and is there any chance you could take some money off the job rather than having to drive all the way home (loosing time off their job). I always used to say that it weren't a problem if they didn't want to do it (but cos you have now done a days graft and all your tools are there they are 9 times out of 10 fine with this) or you could just be completely honest with them and tell them your skint, weigh it up withe each customer.

I know it don't sound to professional like this but you are gonna have to do whatever it takes and at times swallow your pride just to get a job done............. Remember, the customer is human and they too at some point in their life would have forgottoen their keys or wallet or something else and they know you are know different, as long as you word it right and are polite and don't put pressure on them they should be fine (and they don't know your skint.

Also start putting into your quotes now that you wont ask for FULL payment until the job is complete and they are happy with your job but you do ask for a small amount after your first days work (say £100 - £200) to cover your material costs (remember they dont know your skint so they aint standing there thinking you need the money so you can get screwed) and besides this is perfectly normal practice in the building game......... When you get bigger and cashflow is not a problem then i personally never ask for anything but we all have our different ways and you'll find what best suits you too.

As for the socket issue on your job i would just tile it as normal and if it looks too sore i would Silicon or i would grind off any large lumps that are making it stick out so it sits a bit more flush with the tiles, each to their own mate.... horses for courses and all that. good luck

 

[Gazzer]

here are the tiles I will be using on Monday guys, any tips or advice for this type it is the falce split face type. only problems I have managed to think of is when it comes to grouting its gonna be a nightmare lol. thanks View attachment 57726

Got a link to these tiles ?

 

[Mr Tiler]

nah mate I didn't catch the name of the tile when I was looking at them

 

[Ajax123]

im in profit, but not by much at all lol. I know it is going to be slow so I am not getting down about it.. but also looking for some sort of either part time or full time work now too so I can fund a load of advertising to give me a little boost hopefully. but a profit is a profit in my eyes so my first month has gone well lol. cheers

Cor blimey... Don't let the tax man know...

 

[Gazzer]

nah mate I didn't catch the name of the tile when I was looking at them

Well did you get the photo from ?

 

[Mr Tiler]

that photo is from the showroom I had to pop back there to get a suggestion on what grout to be used on the walls and floor

 

[Andy Allen]

Is it from topps?

 

[prceramics]

Very sorry for hijacking your thread Ash matey.
PR, do you use organic or paid add words?

Just ones hidden for the search engines and in the txt on the Web pages are all geared up to help with the search I don't pay a penny , Google places helps too