Van

[Deleted member 9966]

Ash, do you think it's worth getting a job, any job, doing something else first? Before starting to set yourself up as a tiler? Going self employed from nothing is a big commitment and is going to test you to the absolute limit. Earn, save some money, start tiling part-time, build up your reputation, upgrade your tools/vehicle, and then go self employed when you have more customers than time in the day...

 

[Gazzer]

I find its still better to call the company up. Today I called my insurance to notify that I have changed my reg plate and they didnt charge. Most companies its a £25 fee.
So far they have been a great company to deal.
A Plan
Address: 119 Coventry St, Kidderminster, Worcestershire DY10 2BH
Phone:01562 756580

 

[Mr Tiler]

just gave them a call there gonna ring back

 

[Mr Tiler]

yep over £3,000 again lol

 

[taffy]

Brick layer is one of the cheapest, carrying tiles is the same as carrying bricks is it not? I used to use my sierra estate, not many of these left now so a mondeo would be your best bet, you cant get a sheet of 8x4 in but the 6x3s fit in

 

[Mr Tiler]

Ash, do you think it's worth getting a job, any job, doing something else first? Before starting to set yourself up as a tiler? Going self employed from nothing is a big commitment and is going to test you to the absolute limit. Earn, save some money, start tiling part-time, build up your reputation, upgrade your tools/vehicle, and then go self employed when you have more customers than time in the day...

hi racer tbh with you I just cant do it any more im tired of walking into work and being told there and then it is my last day. i was nearly fighting with my last boss as it just done me in and its always the same just as you get sorted and comfortable your let go. at least with this self employment i know where i stand with myself and if work does come along then great if not ive learned to cope without the money for now

 

[Deleted member 9966]

hi racer tbh with you I just cant do it any more im tired of walking into work and being told there and then it is my last day. i was nearly fighting with my last boss as it just done me in and its always the same just as you get sorted and comfortable your let go. at least with this self employment i know where i stand with myself and if work does come along then great if not ive learned to cope without the money for now

so don't set your heart on a permanent job somewhere. there's a big emerging market of agency workers. if you go into it with your eyes open, knowing that it might only last a matter of days, months or weeks, then you don't have to get your hopes up for them to be dashed when they let you go. agency workers are in charge of their own destiny, they get to choose who they work for, how long for, if they don't like something about the job they can move on. And please don't anybody give the diatribe that there are no jobs. www.reed.co.uk currently has 1,260 jobs listed within 10 miles of Wolverhampton, and 457 of those in Wolverhampton itself. The UK jobs market is moving towards customer service, telephony, and retail but there are still manufacturing jobs out there and the big emerging market is in care homes and support work.

If you put away £300 a month into savings, you could have your van insurance money in 10 months.

 

[Gazzer]

Did you go to Howdens Ash ?

 

[Mr Tiler]

lol believe me that is not how it works... you can ask to be moved on but you wont get anymore work from that agency and you will be replaced same day. what people don't realise is that your used and abused with these agencies they don't give you a choice your told to be wherever at a certain time and the job isn't hardly described to you... you turn up, the employer tells you whats what and if you don't like the job its tuff, your doin it or your gone. I may sound like im using some sort of excuse but I have done some seriously bad work and although im only 25 I would say I have had roughly 25-30 different jobs easy. I know there are plenty of jobs out there ive heard the same story too about no jobs but the fact is I could go out and get myself a job within a month no problem ive done it for years but its just not what I want to do. I just want to see how this goes for the first 2 yrs and see how it runs then I will know if it is time to carry on seeking full time employment. which I hope very much is not the case... also i don't ant anything getting in the way of what i want to do and im guessing it will be last minute jobs I get at first as ive been told that's how it starts as all the accomplished tillers are busy for weeks on end so i will end up getting the sack each time i take on a job. cheers

- - - Updated - - -

Did you go to Howdens Ash ?

nah Neale i have lost my drivers licence mate got to get a new one

 

[Deleted member 9966]

But Ash, you have no customers, no experience, no van and little in the way of tools. You expect the tax payers to keep on supporting you whilst you're out of work, the government to support you in becoming self-employed yet you won't display any get up and go, and get yourself a job to get yourself where you want to go. With that kind of attitude you'll never move forward. Dreams don't get handed to you on a plate, life isn't fair and despite everything people have said to you on here, you still think you know more than them. You're 25, not 15. By the time I was 25 I had a mortgage and my own house, a full-time job that I hated but an opportunity came along at work and I took it. Now I'm a middle manager in a manufacturing company, with a bigger house and a bigger mortgage, working for some people who I do wonder where they get their brains from but it's part of life's rich tapestry. you do the things you don't like in order to get the things you want.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Oh and just to add, I've been made redundant myself. Just as I was trying to increase my mortgage and buy a bigger house. I was out of work for 8 weeks and that 8 weeks was the most demoralising 8 weeks of my life. I was at home, over winter, with a broken boiler, job hunting, still trying to find a buyer for my house as well as a job. After 8 weeks I secured a temporary role, did that for 8 weeks and secured a permanent role, did that for 8 months and jumped ship to where I am now because of potential redundancies. I've been with my current employer for 5 years, I've been in debt, and I've had to pay my mortgage using my credit card before now. My marriage almost ended during that time. Life is tough for everybody, but unless you go out there and grab by the balls, it stays tough.

 

[Gazzer]

Aint that the truth.

 

[Mr Tiler]

no Neale that aint the truth at all try getting a mortgage when your having 3-4 month gaps of work at a time and whatever money you put away just disappears and your ending up back at square one every year with nothing but... a new temp job. ive also been told too many times now I will be taken on and by the last time I was told that... I don't think I was even lisening.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

you can still have a stable, happy and fulfilling life by working as a temp and renting a house. having a permanent job and mortgage is not the be-all and end-all. but you probably won't realise that until you're my age Ash. get a job Ash, believe me, it's the best thing you can do to help yourself.

 

[Mr Tiler]

im signing off in feb so I don't see how I am expecting anyone to help me or support me. I will just wait for the phone to ring and keep cracking on and if it doesn't work out in either 12 or 24 months I am going to have to carry on the way I was before.

 

[Gazzer]

Who is alking about mortgages ? I though this was about Vans ?
I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that you want your cake and eat it, you also prefer if someone serves it to you too !
You have an excuse for most things when advice is given, you have been given great advice. I dont doubt that you have been through many jobs but there are many people here that have been through the same.
I know for a fact that I have had to fight for everything , no one gifts me a living.
Yes, I understand its hard for you but its still hard for the experienced tilers and other trades. Its hard world out there.

As for my comment "aint that the truth" it was in response to GRR
Quote" Life is tough for everybody, but unless you go out there and grab by the balls, it stays tough."

 

[Mr Tiler]

no I can totally see where you are coming from with me getting back into employment for the time being but I don't want anything to stand in the way of me pushing for what I want rather than holding me back... im getting on now as it is so I just want5 t get the next 5 years out the way hopefully by then will be fully established earning a little bit of money and il be happy... as I said before at least I know where I stand when im my own boss

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Ash, have you ever thought that some customers might want you to work weekends? Well that leaves 5 days during the week where you can work for somebody else. Otherwise you'll be sitting around for 5 days playing xbox and not bringing any extra money in. we live in a 24/7 society now, chances are you could get a job that would be flexible enough to let you have time off when you need it so you can pursue your tiling work.

 

[CJ]

I started out part time.............stayed part time for nearly 5 years. Took time to work up the bottle to go full time.



Back to Vans...

Just had my renewal through today.

£197 fully comp with no claim protection.

Result

Trouble is.........bloody van tax is due as well. £205 chuffing quid.

 

[taffy]

Yes, stay on topic peeps, Put a car on the road to keep costs down, then use the remaining money to print leaflets, bombard your area with them when you have quiet days, get a large STAND OUT advert in your local shops... it will happen, and remember before and after photos

 

[Mr Tiler]

ive left it alone abit to let the comments sink in a little before replying and I just think your too quick to judge guys. believe it or not I actually don't expect to be spoon fed or handed the greatest job in the world... I just want to stick at what I have set out to do from this time last year. now as for experience I can bet every penny I earn this year and next that most guys on here who didn't have a career handed down to them by parents or going to college for 5 years have done jobs with less experience than I have now and even ripped people off. so go and judge them before you come to me ive tried my best to get as much knowledge as possible in a short space of time. im not a dole dosser wasting tax payers money most of it has gone on tools and to say that I have had to learn most of what I know today off my own back I don't think that's lazy at all im more than capable of ripping out a full bathroom and doing it just as good as half of them out there no not you guys obviously because you have spent years mastering what you do and ive been doing it 12 months. lets just see where I am in 12 months time so I can then analyse weather or not it will be a good idea to get another job in the meantime while I carry on learning...

 

[Mr Tiler]

Yes, stay on topic peeps, Put a car on the road to keep costs down, then use the remaining money to print leaflets, bombard your area with them when you have quiet days, get a large STAND OUT advert in your local shops... it will happen, and remember before and after photos

we have already been round with the flyers last week mate also been keeping an eye out for people with skips on there drives/gardens bit of a long shot but they are people who have work done on there houses so always good for the future lol

 

[The D]

RENAULT KANGOO VAN | eBay

 

[AliGage]

Ash. I will start by saying you won me over and Im full of encouragement for you to succeed.
Life throws poo your way and always when your in a position not to cope with it or finance it.
I've lost my business in the past due to a relationship breakdown. My ex cleaned me out and i went from gaining a mortgage on a spacious four bedroom house and turning over 6 figures with ease a year to being homeless and penniless. 5 years on and Im not back where i was. Only just getting out of rented accommodation now. Being a cats whisker away from bankruptcy is soul destroying. Hurts even more when you can't provide for your kids. So i know in a way how you feel.
If you want this to succeed it will take all the strength you don't have to do it. It does for everybody that starts out self employed. Especially when you're starting from nothing.
The one thing i had when i was in your position which you don't is experience. Not just in tiling but running a business. Being self employed is like working two jobs. The admin can be just as exhausting as your day on the tools.
If you haven't got some funds already behind you then until someone is willing to take you on as a labourer then GRR is probably right.
Do the agency work for an income. Say your bills and get a cheap run around to get to work and cart the family around.
Evenings and weekends get leaflets out. But you have to bare in mind the phone still might not ring for six months after the drop. I did a leaflet drop almost two years ago in and area down here and i still get calls now from people that have it pinned to their fridge. There is a trick with the leaflets im happy to share....

Spend a bit more money and get A5 glossy print on a good quality paper. Feels better in the hand when they pick it up. Also fold the leaflets im half before you go dropping. Fold them perfectly! and here's the important bit . . . .




. . . . hide the advert. Fold the leaflet so they have to open it to see what it is. A good quality paper won't show them what's printed. You then have their undivided attention. Curiosity gets the better of everybody in the end.

Use holidays, weekends and evenings to do your tiling work and bank your earnings. Use the income from tiling to fund the business not the household. Spend that money on tools or removing the business.
Do it that way and give it twelve months and you won't need the agencies anymore. Won't quite be rich but you'll be in a better position to go it alone. Provided the business has shown signs of growth. But your diary will tell you that. :thumbup:

 

[The D]

Used RENAULT KANGOO Car for Sale - Auto Trader UK