(Not including referrals) How does a tiler find work?

[learningtotile]

1) The 4 week course will just about teach you the basics to do your own bathroom. No way at all will it give you the skills to go out straight away and charge full whack for someone's dream bathroom - I agree

2) Whatever it is that the other blokes in the tile shop charge, I wouldn't take any notice. They've maybe been doing it 20 yrs, so I'd forget the big bucks. It might take you a week to do a 2 day job. - I agree

3) In 3-5yrs you will possibly be a decent tiler plodding through basic work - I very much doubt that you'll be winning the big contracts and employing a team of tilers. - Could not disagree more!

4) Do the course, keep learning, learn more, do DIY jobs and family stuff... then in 6 months if you've still got big dreams, then come back on and ask for advice re business plans, marketing, etc - I might just do that!

 

[jonnyc]

ash its not about filling out a questionaire correctly to what i want.
it is what scott wants .
i respect his ambition .
he is at least up front about how he sees his way forward.
i will not say this will be easy but i dont know him.
I did what a lot of pro tilers would have told me i could not do , if i was on a forum like this 28 years ago.
tiling is a profession i guess but you dont have to be a brillaint tiler to make a living in the tiling world.
i knew i could never compete with the old schoool professionals when i started so i chose to do stuff that they probably werent interested in because they were earning good money doing what they knew best.
i was lucky that when terracotta and slate came in as new flooring in the kitchen i was there ,but i cannot claim that i was an expert.but neither was anyone else.
so i and many others got lucky at that point in time.
i would like to think that i have learnt a bit since but havent we all in this game to keep ahead

 

[Mr Tiler]

I know mate I was only joking... he had to be honest because if it was not what he wanted things would go sour pretty early on. but maybe in a few months he will see sense and regret such an offer. each to there own I don't want to sound like you guys but that is an opportunity that should of been taken he would benefit a lot more in the long run to go with you for a few years....hes just thinking about here and now but I know what I would do because training under someone like yourself jonny... I know I would be earning a half decent wage with you... and then a tone of money later on.

 

[charlie1]

To answer your question, you will find work initially by being cheaper than the rest. But it will be hard because you will also be slow, combined with low wages in comparison to other tilers who are fast and higher wages... So you see the curve you must learn. Ever job will not be worth the money but it certainly be worth the experience, in the end you will either sink or swim. Good luck

 

[RDTiling]

Very well put Charlie.

Although I've 'made money' on the jobs I've done (in that the bank balance is in positive figures) in comparison to those who have been doing it for years, it would probably be classed as a loss. It took me 3 full days to prep and tile as 5sqm floor as a first job.

Was it worth it? From an experience point of view damn tootin' it was and I enjoyed every minute of it.

 

[RDTiling]

To answer your original question, I think a lot of people overlook just how powerful a Facebook page is. If you have 100 friends, you can get your business name out to 100 people in one post.

The hope is that they then share with their friends and so on. I've managed to get a few small jobs that way (mainly floor tile replacement jobs) but with starting out, I'm not going to be choosy.