Silly question

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Q.Silver

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Many moons ago I mentioned that I wanted to go solo. I am almost at that position. What is the best places to lobby for work or is it simply a case of introducing yourself to as many people as possible?
 
Keep your money in your pocket till this latest recession is over, its going to get a lot worse for our trade before it gets any better
 
you might want to try this,when i set up in 91,i got hold of the yellow pages,and looked for local builders,roofers,painters,plasterers,etc,etc,etc.and sent them a business card,saying on it,10 percent discount on first two jobs,sods law says if you send 500 out you should get 50 replys back.nowt to loose ,all to gain.worked for me.
 
Cheers.

I must agree it looks scary out there.

Well advertising wont hurt I suppose. I will give it a go.
 
Q.Silver said:
Cheers.

I must agree it looks scary out there.

Well advertising wont hurt I suppose. I will give it a go.
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Make sure you have insurance.Start with small builders local to you and they will be your bread and butter for years to come treated right, also they won't go overboard with all the EU H&S crap.Make sure that what you you erect is safe and the gear is in good nick, especially your boards, HSE can jump on you, even on small jobs if anything goes wrong.Do not get too screwed down on price,they will know you are new at it and some will take the piss.Learn to walk away if you can't do it for the right price,that's how you end up being a busy fool.One BIG golden rule= DON'T HIRE YOUR GEAR! I have been in business for 30 yrs and have the T shirt. I stopped hiring gear over 25 yrs ago and know it takes all your profit, nearly bust me a couple of times.Buy your gear bit by bit, and after a few years it will get better. And don't do what I have seen many times with so many unsuccessful startups,BUY A BMW . A pickup or wagon will serve you better.Shiny toys are only bought when you have spare cash you can afford.
 
Daffy that is an excellent post.. Take notice is my advice. Get yourself H&S accredited. Pm me for details.
 
Sounds like good advice to me!! From daffy, only been going 11 years but been in the game 20.

Think it is going to get very tough soon, so good luck with it all
 
Reputation is everything! Don't make promises you know you can't keep. As has already been said before, get the yellow pages & contact everyone. Get yourself a portfolio made up & arrange meetings with buyers-managers & use this to sell yourself.
I would advise you to hit the smaller companies first it's less paperwork & aggravation. A lot of the larger firms will want loads & loads of H&S stuff for every job, most will require you to be working to a quality control system such as ISO 9001.
+ with the bigger companies its usually a longer process to get your payments cleared & 1 bad fcuk up could possibly sink you if your not carefull.
Once you have a customer base the real hard work starts. Keeping them......
Good luck with it all mate. Hope it all goes well.
 
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