Hi there.
There isn't jkust a flood of tilers up thre due to the location of the centre. There's a flood of tilers all over the UK due to the huge amount of training centres about these days.
You're clearly up to speed with your tiling and you are aware you'll still be learning after 10 years, as you do with any job, which is good to know.
I think the case of 'where and how to get business' comes in to play here. You're in a competitive market that's actually still growing. The Tile Association have not long published something which tells us that these days tiles are changed far more than they used t be, they used to be treated like a perminent fixture where you'd replace them only when you had to due to damage or whatever whereas these days due to the range, style and quality available at a better price people actually change their tiles as much as carpet now.
I think it's just a case of getting your business model different from those already in place to give the customers choices to choose between tilers rather than just price.
You have an added advantage over existing older tilers that might not be up to speed on the adhesives available these days and whatever, but on the same note they have the added advantage of existing customer passing on their name.
So really you're all in the same boat. If it is you've spent time and money on your business logistics but have't spent more than a phone call to your local newpapers etc, then maybe you need to invest in the advertising of your name a bit more. If you're getting quotes but none are turning into jobs then that's a different story. Maybe you need to invest time in getting your 'talk' right when you're quoting, maybe your technique of how you go about your quote or something.
I can understand the frusration of entering a whole new career path and so far it's looking not too positive but I can only chat about what you need to do it's still you that needs to do something about it.
We'll help where we can but we need to know what you feel is going wrong currently.
- Are you getting quotes in, and calls at the very least?
- When you're quoting are you covering the whole job in simple terms and making sure the customer knows why they need to choose you? (your skill, your knowledge, your current "offer" you have on, your access to cheaper tiles maybe or whatever that may be)
- Are there more advertising avenues you can tackle?
- Have you really just jumped in to the trade based on your need for the nice amount of cash an existing reputable tiler can make?
- Have you tried contacting comapnies to mix your trades with theirs (plumbers, sparkys, chippys etc).
I've moved your thread to the professionals chat room which is hidden from regular members and have granted you access to it too. Have a look at some of the tpics discussed in there to help you out a bit but let us know more info about your case and we might be able to help you get more work in.
But the industry isn't to blame. Tilers are still needed.
