Tiling as a career?

[mikebidd]

Iv been meeting to write this for a while but havent been in the right mood, m not trying too be grumpy or ruin anyones dreams but just thought i should write it so people thinking off tiling can see both sides off coin???

Righty
Last year i had my own dismantlers but around october it started dieing off which was a little unusual as it doesnt normally die off till a few weeks before xmas (i think most trades do that?) Not a worry tho as id put abit aside for such times. Xmas came and went and my "rainy day" fund was getting empty. So one night me and the wife wee sat around having a chat about a change in courier. And tiling got mentioned, So we did a little research and ecided it was the way too go. So i booked in to talk to somebody at a local Training center who i had a chat with and was shown around. As i dont claim anythig i had too pay for course my self. But after coming home and having another chat with misses about what id been told. Like theres loads off tiling work and not enough tilers, And be lead to beliive id do the course and rop straight into work. We did our sums and if i sold my car it would cover the course tools and a few weeks bills and mortgage etc.

So off i went too the course and even tho it was a good course (some things were abit dodgy) we were still told we could earn 45 quid an hour easy and if we dropped that price a little work would be endless. the course was a quick one but i still finished it early. I loved tiling as you could tke a step back and think "iv done that" and the feeling was lovely as if your like e theres very few things your good at lol.

The first couple off weeks i didnt expect work too be honust i just followed the advice i was given on here and put adds in my local paper Yell.com thompsons google etc etc. But no work this went on for a few weeks I still have ever had a phone call from any off thiose avenues.l i got offered a job which i was warned about on here but did any way too which i didnt get paid for.
Things were really bad as there was no money coming in there were arguements at home and my self esteem got really low. Id never been so skint in my life!!

Im not a bad tiler i take my time and am proud at what i do iv done my own kitchen and bathroom and familys house and people have always commented on how well it looks.

Im also not saying that tiling is a bad career because there are many people on here that have made a good livig out off it AND will give advice and help people out as much as they can ll for free just out off the kindness off there hearts.

It wasnt until very recently that i got a grip and some cash and managed too start up doing the cars again. Which has made me feel 100% better.

I just read threads about people thinking about starting up and looking into vans etc before even starting. And think woooooooooo kid slow down abit lol.

In short the best thing about my tiling career is finding this site lol

Good luck to any one who is thinking about it.

P.S iv put it in here because i didnt want too put people off of a career in tiling just make them think twice about how too go about it. You can eave it delete it or move it.

mike

 

[SandyFloor]

You've painted a realistic picture there, Mike. There's no one out there throwing highly paying work at a newly trained tiler despite what some training centres may say. Anyone considering this needs to do a lot of research into further on-the-job training and marketing.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

You've painted a realistic picture there, Mike. There's no one out there throwing highly paying work at a newly trained tiler despite what some training centres may say. Anyone considering this needs to do a lot of research into further on-the-job training and marketing.

Amen to that Bro

 

[doug boardley]

I think the training course were reading thr "pre recession" script Mike, (even then, a very optimistic script)

 

[united]

Great post Mike

I'm glad things are starting to work out for you again

 

[faithhealer]

said this a few times Mike but the cars seem to work for you and long may they do so for you good luck mate

 

[White Room]

If thats your comfort zone then so be it

 

[marbleman]

A tilers life is not as easy as it seems. dont get me wrong i have been tiling for 30 + years and still enjoy it, and well paid for the work i do ,
It takes time to build a business and become good at what you do , and most of these courses will only teach you the basic format for tiling , but something is better than nothing ,
Health issues in are trade, as there are many , bad back problems, knees elboes wrists ankles will take a hammering . skin problems , arthirus of joints , possible lung problems if you dont take proper care.

But i wish you all the best in the trade just keep on learning , reading , listening and give it time and you earn good money in the end

Regards
Marbleman

 

[user123]

Well done for writing all this, Mike

Having been on a short course myself, albeit an extremely good one (NETT) I think selective listening may come into it, too, with some. There were quite a few participants on my course who had never been self employed in their life, who had the course paid for them by some scheme - they were REALLY surprised I was there voluntarily and that I paid for it myself!! - and seemed to choose to ignore Darren's very realistic and repeated advice, that 'the work won't come looking for you, you have to make it happen'. He talked a lot about marketing with detailed information how to go abut it, and about the importance of doing a good job and making yourself liked and remembered by the customer for the right reasons etc etc but he did also say that there is good money to be earned (for those who are willing to use hard craft, attention to quality, business sense, marketing etc etc).

Later, in the canteen, I heard some other course members mention just that, the good money bit, somehow within half an hour the cautions were forgotten and the easy money was beckoning, I was quite shocked really, it was really silly talk, and in no way representative of what was covered in the morning. And I realized that for those who have never been self-employed this may be a real issue, the not knowing what that really means, being self motivated when there is no boss telling you what to do and who can be blamed when things go wrong, no sick pay, no holiday pay, no automatic pension, and the buck stops with you. We all have to be self motivated to make things happen and it is then where natural talents play a part, too - your car business a case in point, you are obviously good at it and something about it makes the energy flow, and good for you!

And there are times when things just don't seem to work out very well, they happen for everyone, and these days aren't easy, and it is those times that show who is cut out for taking control of their lives, again you are a good example, you picked yourself up after a tough time and decided to do what works for you, GREAT!!
Anyone who thinks there is easy money in anything, well, wake up.

Great post, Mike.