v. new

[onelovestory]

Hello guys, must say this website is fascinating and offers an absolute wealth of info.

I come from an engineering background but would like to make the switch as I am SICK of working for other people and want more than anything to become self-employed. I have no kids and no debt( i.e. I need max. £200 a week to live, is this reasonable, and quickly) and feel my engineering background would equip me well( Discipline, precision, thoroughness etc.).

Is tiling a good choice? Are there other trades more lucrative, accessible. my feeling was I could throw myself into tiling for a while and once I had some steady work coming in, attempt to get supplementary tiling qualifications and possibly other skills, like plumbing or plastering so I could maybe do a full bathroom installation?? I mean is becoming self-employed easy? What kind of outlay are you looking at for tools etc.?

You guys know what it's like on the ground. Are there armies of tilers undercutting each other, slitting each another's throats for work or is it a relatively safe career path provided of course you are conscientious and hard working. Is it common for people to take up tiling, find there's no work then go back to whatever they were doing? I have no links to any other trade so I would have to build everything up from scratch, is this feasible? To be honest I'm kind of like **** it, if it goes **** up I'll just go back to getting ****ed up the arse by a multinational corporation, but I would love to hear some of your insights. I am in north east scotland BTW.

I thank all you kind gents in advance. Peace out.

 

[grumpygrouter]

Plent of room for tilers in your area, though "precision" from engineering can sometimes get in the way. I am originally from an aeronautical background and used to working to fractions of a mm, it can cloud my judgement sometimes as to how "good" something needs to be, to be acceptable.

Grumpy

PS Welcome to the forums

 

[DHTiling]

hello amd welcome to forums...........dave.....

Good luck if you choose tiling as your new career..............dave...

 

[Varley]

Hello mate and welcome to the forums 🙂

Becoming self employed is a piece of p**s, staying self employed is a different ball game, it's all in the marketing side of the game and there is plenty of info on this site to get you started.

 

[GazTech]

hello and welcome OLS,you will have an eye for straight and flat then mate....You are halfway there !

 

[brian c]

It would be beneficial to you if you know other tradesmen ,so they can help you get established, Making 200 a week should be a doddle,but build it up by working at weekends then take it from there,Good luck m8.