starting up

dangeruss said:
its £3600 per vehicle in your account for 3 months continuously, and you don't need an O licence for a vehicle with a gross weight of less than 3 tonns i.e. Merc sprinter, Iveco daily etc. If your credits good get a 0% interest credit card with 16 months to pay it back and buy you truck , gear etc with that. Get some decent software like CADS to do your estimates, its a big cost to start but you'll look professional and save time in the long run. Don't get bogged down on building sites ( they are inhabited by bricklayers w*nkers) and you'll need loads of kit. Go for quick turn around jobs like solar. Put you wife on the payroll as a director if she's not working ,she's entitled to earn 9k per year without paying any tax as are you. Remember not to buy a Range Rover sport in your first year and you should do ok.
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You are corect £8000 is for a full o licence and 3grand pluss is for a restricted which us scaffs need its a while since I done mine .i think you can use clear funds on a credit card as proof of funds
 
as someone said it will take 3 to 5 years to start to see a return on your investment but avoid hireing gear if you can I made the mistake of doing this and all ready had a fair bit of own gear, ran a 3.5 ton truck for 2 years before getting 1st wagon still got 1 now and would not be with out it for jobs you can not get wagon near, shop round for your insurance go for roofers pvc companys if you can quicker turn round on your gear, doing site work you will need so much more kit, but like I say if you camn get away with out hireing as 2p a ft do not sound a lot but it starts to add up before you know it and if it is on jobs for a long time the extra hire do not always cover the cost of the gear be ready to give up your social life for a few years but good luck mate and go for it
 
We started up at the end of June this year and did most of the above as the guys have already rightly stated. I read thread after thread on here before taking the plunge and it is well worth taking their sound advice. Constantly buying more and more gear and yet to take a decent wage out of it.
Avoid sites as already stated as it ties up your gear and the brickies are a nightmare wanting this and that at no extra charges!
Get a good supplier of gear that will give you some decent credit once trust is built up and you should be fine!
 
Never hire boards or ladders as it will
cost you dearly! I have never hired anything
And always have the attitude of the more
gear you have the more money you will
have to pay the supplier! Trust me if
you keep things tight and don't go to
cheap plus keep a check on the time
your jobs have been up so you can charge
the extra hire you will be much better of
than working for someone! Trust me the
money in scaffolding is made from extra
hire and adaptions which I have only
just worked out after 12 years of being in
business! It's all about paperwork!
Good luck!
 
hotdog said:
hiya people am new to the site, I have been thinking about starting up on my own, there are no scaffold firms where I live so was wanting some advice on creating a business plan, government grants? etc. I have a little bit of gear but would need more plus a pick up so any advice would be appreciated, cheers.
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A secure yard. Maybe even a 40ft shipping container, would do.
An extended flat bed transit, instead of a 3.5 ton lorry, would mean you wont require an operators licence.
Enough materials for several fronts and backs.
A reliable labourer/2nd fixer to help.

And ofcourse a friend or several whom own either roofing companies or small builders for a steady stream of work.

Youll want quick ups and downs, try not to keep your scaffolds up for too long, a nice quick turn around would mean a regular income, providing uour able to collect payment on time.

Good luck.
 
I dont agree with never hire gear, yes i have spent a fortune on hiring and yes its dead money but when you start with nothing and need 100k's worth of gear what can you do. If i had not of hired gear i would not have been as big as i am now for i would of had to turn alot of work away. A job should always cover your bills including hire of materials and still bring a good profit. If you do happen to have 100-200k sat in the bank then fair enough
 
once again cheers lads, some cracking advice and a lot to think about!
 
I gotta agree wiv proscaf never be affraid of hire but make sure theres enough in the job to cover it- just get ur head around the fact that sometimes yoy av 2 spend money to make money - for instance if a job came in & was worth 3k but needed 100 brds that you dont have,do u spend £1200 on new brds & write off all your profit or hire them for a month costing less than £200.....leaves more profit in the job as well as the brds u hired are tax deductable as a trading cost @ the end of the year so in effect in the long hasnt really cost u anything.
Always make sure any materials hired are returned in full & good order, or be prepared to get charged.but its important to keep up a good relationship wiv the hire company- i would always recommend Generations
 
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