hi all

[mick8551]

hello my names mick and i live in good old dudley in the west midlands . at the moment im at a sort of crossroads in my life . i currentley drive a hgv for a living and with my take home pay of £247.00 per week i,m finding things a bit hard you could say . with a morgage , 3 kids , etc . any way i,m looking at becoming a tiler , , i bet youve heard that once or twice on here . i ve had an intrest in tiling for a good many years as i have done afew tiling jobs for family and freinds over the years ,and i really enjoy it . but as you can see from my post its time to move on into another job , is it possible to make a living out of tiling , thanks mick

 

[suave]

welcome to the forum mick

 

[doug boardley]

Hi mick and welcome to the forums. There's a lot of good established tilers around the country that are struggling in the current economic climate at the moment so it would be a big risk to pack in a job and take a plunge into tiling, imo.:welcome:

 

[Ian]

Welcome along

 

[Max@ableskills]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[Stewart]

If it's something you want to do then consider some courses while continuing to work, and if starts to work out for you, then make the change over gradual. As Doug said, there are many established tilers struggling just now.

 

[foxworth]

Hello and welcome Nick, As posted above with the economic downturn the work load has slowed slightly and with the vat increase customers will want to part with less. So id say its a gamble to chuck in the towel and start a new trade. In my opinion you could keep up the work for friends and family, maybe advertise in your local shop window slowly picking up experience and extra cash then it'll go from there. Also check out the mapei website there offering a free days training on the tools and product knowledge. Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[aph257]

welcome Mick. tbo it's tough at the mo and if your getting that every week then i'd bare it out til better times as it'll take some time to build up a client base just to earn that much. i've been self employed now coming up to a year and it's breaking even, i take home a lot less than you are at the moment. Thankfully i had all the start up costs etc already so no loans and i have other income otherwise I wouldn't have made it. Sorry if that sounds harsh but i don't want you to get into a bigger mess.

 

[DHTiling]

Hello and welcome..

 

[White Room]

Hi and welcome

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Hi and:welcome:

 

[diamondtiling]

Welcome Mick.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

:welcome:Mick - this IS the best job in the world and despite some doom and gloom an Established Tiler should have plenty of work IMHO.

If not then your not Established, and in that case the economic climate could be tough for some.
Knowing when to make that step into the unknown is the most difficult decision and so you must research your potential before jumping into a career changing situation.
The best time to look for another job is when you've got one - so that puts you in a strong position, so take your time - look for some links in the Forum for training courses, how to get business, and generally being able to maximise the knowledge available to you.

Good luck - keep posting - and enjoy your time with the Tilers Forum.

 

[enduro]

Welcome to the forum Mick.

 

[mick8551]

thanks for the welcomes ,and your opinions . at the moment i,m looking into going on a course while still working and of course i,m not giving up my job just yet , my plan is to go on a course then look into doing a few tiling jobs on a weekend to gain some experience ,it is something i want to do ,not just a fad, hopefully when this downturn does start to go the other way i will have enough experience to do it full time . do you think this is the best way to go about it . thanks mick