For all tiling newbies........

[DHTiling]

Hi lads and lasses....how are you finding your new chosen careers.?...is it what you expected it to be.?..can you see your selves doing this trade full time.?.if not then why?.. let us all know how you are getting on...... ..

Thanks in advance............
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[garhum]

Its going ok but there are some idiots out there (customers) I had this punter wanting me to lay a travertine floor in a house that was a building site no glass in the windows and only visqueen blue plastic to make the building water proof, I tried to lay the tiles as I was eager to please and make some christmas coin but the adhesive failed leaving the trav looking like crazy paving it ended up me walking off and telling the punter "call me when your ready for me" arghhhhh

 

[Dicko1973]

Did my NETT Course in November but didn't want to make the jump till New Year.
I'm havin a bloody nightmare at my local Topps (Widnes and Warrington), I keep asking what I need to open a cash trade account and get a different answer off each staff member. I don't want to go back because I know at some point i'll lose my temper. You would think they would be happy for the business. I Tried to get it sorted over the hols cause I'm working in Preston when I go back and won't get bloody time to go.

When I do get sorted i'll let you know how its going

Rich

 

[Mr Tiler]

Its been tuff trying to make the jump from my old job into tiling but this year i am going for it, just need a van to get me out there and pro!

 

[Dan]

Did my NETT Course in November but didn't want to make the jump till New Year.
I'm havin a bloody nightmare at my local Topps (Widnes and Warrington), I keep asking what I need to open a cash trade account and get a different answer off each staff member. I don't want to go back because I know at some point i'll lose my temper. You would think they would be happy for the business. I Tried to get it sorted over the hols cause I'm working in Preston when I go back and won't get bloody time to go.

When I do get sorted i'll let you know how its going

Rich

PM Gaz mate. See if he can help. If you're not after a credit account you shouldn't have too much grief.

 

[garhum]

I open a cash account in topps and all i needed was my company letterhead ( I printed one off the pc) and 2 invoices that was easy cos builders merchants will put any name on invoices/ reicepts

hope this helps mate
Gareth

 

[DHTiling]

PM Gaz mate. See if he can help. If you're not after a credit account you shouldn't have too much grief.

Gaz has already got this one in hand.......

 

[Jimmy Boy]

I done NETT course in Nov firstly for my own home projects (3 jobs - bathroom & 2 on-suits) and secondly for some beer tokens doing the odd private job here and there.
So, for Christmas I told the family i'll get the tools I need and they can contribute towards them instead of buying me presents, so I now have all I need to get started.
I have a number of paying jobs lined up all for work colleagues and freinds over the next 3-4 months.
dhceramics, is it possible for someone as in my case who is not full time tiling but doing the odd paid job as and when they occur by reccommendations/word of mouth, to open a trade account? if so, would I need some business cards or letterheaded paper with a business name of my own?

 

[tysfoot]

im the same. last year i was just busy getting my experience up and building on my tool kit. now that i have a near enough decent tool kit and enough experience im going to register self employed any time soon. I need a van also as im using my car... ive changed my name, ordered loads of business cards im in the yellow paes in yell.com and im oing to advertise locally every week.

Just incase im not raking it in at the start i still work part time in the evening a few hours a day. so if i havent got loads of work on i still got income coming in.


Anyone selling any vans, by the way what are the best vans for reliablility

 

[wayne]

sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet. i worked away for a company for 8 years and just set up on my own with one plumber offering me his bathrooms. i just quit my job and thought sod it whatever will be will be. 3 years later and best choice i ever made. now got 4 plumbers and numerous joiners i work for. times were tough at first but stuck at it and now its fine. just dont take for granted that work will throw itself at you. a business needs a lot of hard work to build up. good luck to you all

 

[DHTiling]

I done NETT course in Nov firstly for my own home projects (3 jobs - bathroom & 2 on-suits) and secondly for some beer tokens doing the odd private job here and there.
So, for Christmas I told the family i'll get the tools I need and they can contribute towards them instead of buying me presents, so I now have all I need to get started.
I have a number of paying jobs lined up all for work colleagues and freinds over the next 3-4 months.
dhceramics, is it possible for someone as in my case who is not full time tiling but doing the odd paid job as and when they occur by reccommendations/word of mouth, to open a trade account? if so, would I need some business cards or letterheaded paper with a business name of my own?

hi mate...
Most tiling shops will let you open a cash trade account as long as you can produce a letterhead and some building receipts....
But to open a credit account is harder as you usually need referances and credit checks....

 

[IvegotsTILE]

I did the NETT course at the end of May,jumped in both feet first.Bought all the tools signwritten my car,embroidered t-s and got myself in the local Topps.
I was expecting to go on a different course that was longer and much more expensive but opted for NETT instead and spent the rest of my money on all the tools and other stuff plus tiles to do all my mums house for the experience.
I made sure I got on really well with all the guys at topps by knipping in every week even if it was just to buy a bag of grout even if I didn't need it,it was always at dinner time and I always brought a few fresh sausuge rolls and cans of coke to keep them sweet.
I now get loads of work from topps,the last guy they put my way put me onto a bathroom showroom,I've been working there since the start of November and its all high spec,they also sell the tiles that I've laid in all the bays and the manager says they'll only have my card in the showroom,its also great to use as a showpiece of the standard of work I can do if potential customers want to see my work.
When I started out it was hard waiting for the work to come in(You should have enough money saved aside to pay all your bills and living costs for 3 months if you quit your job).When the first few calls came in to quote I really sold myself but I kept to my guns and didn't quote cheap,I did the job to a great standard even doing the odd few things they asked for without charging and all the time pushing them to get there stuff from topps so I could make some money from supplying the materials and tiles.Also keeping the guys at topps happy.
I can guarantee all my customers are 110%happy with my service and this I think is absolutely key to getting more work in.
I've put in a lot of hard work and long,long hours but I'm starting to earn the sort of money that gives me a good living,I love working for myself and making my customers really happy.

Best of all I love tiling:hurray:

A big thank you to Darren and all the guys at Nett and a big thank you to all the guys that have helped me out on this site,especially Dave and Gaz

 

[Dicko1973]

Thanks Chaps

Gaz is very kindly going to help me out

 

[brian c]

Did my NETT Course in November but didn't want to make the jump till New Year.
I'm havin a bloody nightmare at my local Topps (Widnes and Warrington), I keep asking what I need to open a cash trade account and get a different answer off each staff member. I don't want to go back because I know at some point i'll lose my temper. You would think they would be happy for the business. I Tried to get it sorted over the hols cause I'm working in Preston when I go back and won't get bloody time to go.

When I do get sorted i'll let you know how its going

Rich

Hi Rich,contact GAZ on the forums and im sure he will do his best to sort it out for you m8 as he is a good bloke and is a manager in the Preston branch.
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Hi Rich,contact GAZ on the forums and im sure he will do his best to sort it out for you m8 as he is a good bloke and is a manager in the Preston branch.

sorry i posted this before i read all the posts.

WELL DONE GAZ AS USUAL M8.

 

[Falcone]

Done NETT course in OCT 2007. got all the necessary tools. done my bathroom when I came back for bit of experience. went well (by that I mean the girlfriend liked it lol).

have done 2 floor jobs since then. 1 was a bathroom floor and hall floor. customer loved it and says she will get me to do her kitchen floor when it needs done.

2nd job was a kitchen floor 20sqm for mate at work. done it in one day so i could play football the next day (saturday) took me 18 hours (no break) and about 15 hours in I was getting really disheartened. the job went really well though and my mate loved it but I dont think i'll do an 18 hour shift again soon lol...

done both these jobs in one week. took me 3 days altogether and made £500!! not bad!!

the place i work at the moment has 700 people in it and I have around 8 jobs lined up already from folk there. gonna hand out business cards to folk in there soon. will go part time in a few months. my mate is a tiler and he's letting me shadow him whenever I have spare time which is fine.

hoping tiling really takes off for me this year!!