matthew.brough

Comforting

Still do the exercise. Seems the more weight I wanna loose the more pays me a visit Chained to this desk doesn't assist matters.

You guys are worrying me. Stu, I've put on about 1 1/2 stone since your visit . . .

When? Thanks for the optimism If it happened today, it would be a major problem.

Indeed. My main issue is MAS. With immense reluctance I have given them a VPN connection to my database so that they can support alarm processing in an emergency situation. Our network is quite redundant and in theory if say MASA failed you could click on B or C, click make active and everything would carry over. Reality is generally receivers fail and don't switch and certain services need restarting. Plan B is getting a good IT person delegated to do IT bits and get MAS to do what he can't do with the hope should we ever have a server failure that they could between them sort it out. I couldn't sit on holiday, isolated from everyone and just hope all was ok. Maybe the comfort would be having a separate mobile that if the pair of them couldn't sort it out they could call. I'd probably rest then.

I hear the message loud and clear. This is one thought behind the current acquisition strategy as part of it is a management team. I'm at the stage I want to do less. The biggest strength and weakness we have is MAS. It's a wonderful piece of software, but the people who understand it are very rare making it hard to comfortably disappear off radar. I'd feel different if we weren't monitoring systems but really that needs a 24x7 uptime. I'm hoping that with some of the companies we are acquiring exists some talent that can be made into good managers so that my services are no longer required

They go away on their own. Not had a family holiday since my cards in days.

I can't compute that. Within 10 seconds of my eyes opening phone checked for texts and emails then spend 1/2 in bed responding to them all. I don't know how you can abstain. I'd got down to checking emails on a weekend once an hour and thought I was making progress.

How can you not resist the temptation to check in between?

Do you have your works email on your phone?

Evil invention. I have an app the monitors our 70 odd servers and the minute something goes wrong it chirps only then to find out it's just a server restart following windows updates. Problem is unless in the early years you want to sign up to the 80 hours week the chance of you failing is so high. Even if you do, no guarantee of success. That's why we turned to acquisition, much easier but couldn't have done that without having the avenue of hard graft completed first. Sometimes on that note I feel bad. Someone has out years into a business and the wolves are at the door only for us or someone else to offer 50p for a business they've out their heart and soul into. Sad reality is hours worked doesn't translate to value in all cases. We are all mad

I've grown quite resentful of said fruit phone. I can't help myself. Got to look at it and if a little red symbol adjacent the mail icon then no stopping me. Got to read and respond. Ridiculous behaviour. Feel like an addict.

Alarm engineer not being one of them judging by my lot! I think we have the whole work life balance screwed. You go abroad and see how horizontal some people are towards work and look in the mirror and think what am I doing?

Partners. Isn't that chapter 2 in the mother of all **** ups business startup guide?

Share your secret of being able to let go and wind down Every minute I'm awake I've got business on the brain and I'd really love to know the secret of doing nothing but relax and enjoy family time. Do you switch mobile off?

Not dissimilar here. One of the reasons when anyone suggests starting up a business I ask if they have any idea what it's like. Of course they don't. Neither did I. How can you explains the roller coaster it is and all the bad things but then carry on. I think the minute it becomes who you are, rather than what you do then there is no going back. Knowing what I know now, I'd have rather not got bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and stayed cards in and had a moderate life. Not that I'm practicing what I preach. A MAS upgrade went wrong earlier so up sorting that out and the family in bed nearly 3 hours ago and not spoken much to either of them much tonight

I must confess, prior to the current venture did much the same at the expense of being with the family. Now my girls nearly 12, I regret that. Cards in and time off would have done nicely in hindsight. Those of you here that are either self employed or directors, could you ever go back to employment? I couldn't even if I was offered the same money I get now with all the greif.

Don't disagree it is nice work, I like the ones we have ourself but we got people to do our manuals etc for us and you pay one way or the other. If you do it yourself it's lost money that you're not earning and if you pay someone else whilst you are you still pay with no guarantee of any work. I know we pay to get updates done but when we originally did it all from scratch it cost a fair few quid.

Me too, can I join?

Imagine starting that 8 year journey today Just to give you an idea we are 6 years into a venture that we have thrown over 1 million pounds at and it is going to take another 2/3 million of cash and probably 4 years to break even let alone make a profit. I'm not suggesting you would need anywhere near that amount but you could burn £50-100k very fast, assuming you could raise the capital now in what would be hard for a startup. We use quite a few subcontractors who have their own little alarm companies and the fact they are spending 3/4 weeks working for us tells me they either aint got the work of their own or working for me makes them more money.

James? Anyway. Being ones own boss can be very exciting but equally the most depressing thing. It is a lonely place to be, especially if you have staff and shareholders to keep happy. The buck stops with you. Council work, forget it. The time and things you will need such as CHAS or Safe contractor and the likes is just a ton of money that you haven't got to get the health and safety manuals written and all the associated fees. You also have no track record with selling to that customer type and chance of you getting any really successful tenders is a low one. A lot also look at your accounts, there is no way the council will trust a start up without cash reserves over an established player with a good net worth. This industry isn't plumbing, it's nothing like it and funny enough I thought of you earlier today. I asked our M&A firm how they had got along with an email broadcast to some insolvency practitioners and administrators for us taking over some alarm companies. In a week we have had interest from over 40 companies who have traded for a few years and are on the verge of being bust. Established players who are switched on will outwit you at practically every corner. I know gold’s that will bang an alarm in for £60/£100 and subsidise the installation to win the contract and wait for the £15-£25 a months to catch up 12/18 months down the line. Do you have the cash to compete with this? If not, why on earth would a customer choose you at £499 + VAT and an unknown when they could have a big brand name at bargain bucket price without the worry or capex. Unlikely ADT will go bust but you are a risk to a prospect. Like I said I aren't trying to be negative but I think you are potentially stepping into the lion’s den and heading for a beating and being eaten alive, heavily in debt and genuinely not something I'd like to happen. He's confusing me with another fat *******

Welcome to tsi. My first suggestion is don't set up on your own. What benefit will it give you? Are you prepared to possible go heavily into debt and to live a lower standard of living that you do today for a number of years before you *might* make some money out of it suplimented by the increase in work hours for no extra pay. If not, this is definatly not a venture for you. As a company we are busy aquiring failing approved companies and there seems to be an ever increasing amount of them around suggesting it isn't maybe the sector to start up in. If you want approval, public liability is just 1 of a few insurances you will need, and that on it's own is costly. You don't need accreditation, but without it, for the time being the work you have been used to doing for your employer might be off limits and that on it's own can cost £2-3k to get it you factor in all the things you will need to buy and time to spend getting it with not a single guarantee of any work. Without approval you could only compete with stan the sparky who will do full comp maintenance for £30 a year and you need a lot of £30 per years to pay your overheads. The other issue is how are you going to recruit customers from stan the sparky? It is a saturated market and unless you have a USP then why would someone move over to you than the guy that they have trusted for a few years as they do now? I don't mean to be negative but these are serious questions you need to have answers for before considering if self employment is for you. What is it that makes you want to leave the comfort of paid employment?