Help A Lost Sole Trader Starting Out

[Oxford]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and I am hoping a few of you guys who are self employed or employers can help me out.

I am a service engineer working for a large multinational security company but I am going to make this year "My Year" to start working for myself in this industry.

I understand it is going to be a hard slog to get the client base and reoccurring revenue to succeed but I have a good general knowledge of this industry, fault finding and basic install knowledge, I have worked in the security industry for 10+ years now.

I have a good bunch of friends from varying backgrounds who are more than happy to help me out on bigger jobs and with the little things as well (all self employed, witch in good!)

But, what I lack is the knowledge of what to do now!

I guess I need to register as a sole trader but thats where it ends!

Can anyone offer me a rough step by step of how to approach this the right way?

How do you guys advertise (on a limited budget?

How do you get your sales leads etc etc..?

I have a family to support and don't want to f' this up!

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[Oxford]

And.......

How do I get the relevant SSAIB or similar accreditation to satisfy clients?

What is the easiest/ quickest relevant accreditation to get and get me started?

I will only be using speech diallers to begin with as I guess this the easiest way to offer monitoring to a client without the relevant accreditation?

As you can see I have been institutionalised by the company I work for and need to break free and breath again!!!

[PeterJames]

Hi Oxford

Welcome to the forum.

Probably the best way to start is by sub contracting, if you write to all your local independents telling them your intentions, how much your daily rate is, and when you will be available from, you should get one or two that offer you a bit off work, which will keep the money coming in whilst you're building up. It is getting busier for most everyone I talk too so its not a bad time to start up.

I would advise always do a good job, don't try and poach customers from companies subcontracting you, and credit check any jobs over £3k

I purchased an established business it was the better way for me, before that I had started to build up a small database installing every weekend whilst still in employment

Good Luck

Pete

And.......

How do I get the relevant SSAIB or similar accreditation to satisfy clients?

What is the easiest/ quickest relevant accreditation to get and get me started?

I will only be using speech diallers to begin with as I guess this the easiest way to offer monitoring to a client without the relevant accreditation?

As you can see I have been institutionalised by the company I work for and need to break free and breath again!!!

Download the application forms from the SSIAB/NSI Website The quickest and easiest is not always the best (As a NSI Gold company I would say that) The forms tell you what you need to do.

You will need to hold original copy of all the relevant standards, not cheap, and have suitable paperwork for the work you intend to do, for starters

[IAS]

I purchase an established business it was the better way for me, before that I had started to build up a small database installing every weekend whilst still in employment

Good Luck

Pete

Hi Oxford and good luck, there will be several on here tell you thats the only way to achieve what you want, at least on of us will tell you he achieved it no problem from fresh (he didn`t, though he thinks he did) and one who will tell you to go it alone you cannot fail.

In either case your too late to the party. Count how many family and friends you have and divide that by half - thats your market for the next two years, not much is it? as Pete says the only way to make your way alone these days is by subbing but in reality all that is is the worst of both worlds.

And beware, unless your a //.B.W.F.// hot installer your on a hiding to nothing, seriously I would stay were you are.

[arfur mo]

Hi all, I am new to this forum and I am hoping a few of you guys who are self employed or employers can help me out.

I am a service engineer working for a large multinational security company but I am going to make this year "My Year" to start working for myself in this industry.

I understand it is going to be a hard slog to get the client base and reoccurring revenue to succeed but I have a good general knowledge of this industry, fault finding and basic install knowledge, I have worked in the security industry for 10+ years now.

I have a good bunch of friends from varying backgrounds who are more than happy to help me out on bigger jobs and with the little things as well (all self employed, witch in good!)

But, what I lack is the knowledge of what to do now!

I guess I need to register as a sole trader but thats where it ends!

Can anyone offer me a rough step by step of how to approach this the right way?

How do you guys advertise (on a limited budget?

How do you get your sales leads etc etc..?

I have a family to support and don't want to f' this up!

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Hi Oxfod,

i hope it all goes well, as one who was doing and also did exactly what your planning to do now, my 1st thought is to be really aware and consider if its wiser and worth waiting for say 6 months. the emergency budget and your start-up timing imo is not the best time to leave secure employment. it is likely going to be extra hard to get rolling if they up the VAT as expected.

that said, there is a stack of advice we can give, absorbing it is another matter, but 1st stop is your bank to see how helpful they will be in getting going. many like NatWest run special schemes with free banking for 2 years - so go grab it. next is a decent accountants who don't have to be expensive (ask your mates who they use), as a guide i pay £220.00 + VAT PA for my guy, who is chartered and i'm VAT registered.

on this point your paying them for what they do, so do most of it yourself to keep costs low. one way is to buy an acounts package, some use Sage starter or heavyweight Sage line 50 financial controller.

i use Intuit QuickBooks Pro V2005 (V2010 is out now), £about £280.00 + VAT but imo worth every penny, and allows me to keep tabs on everything i need to know and send info on a disk to the tax man or accountant.

he/she will guide you through telling the taxman about yourself, don't be to overly concerned, i've always found if treated with respect you also get it back, but they do have a job to do. the days of paying no tax are long gone, these people have all been to Uni why take them on? so best accept it now before you go on.

Discounts for Cash Mate? your going to get this a lot, be careful if you do as you can have a case full of ready's under the bed but can't pay your suppliers because the money did not go through your boks, far better to agree a payment on completion - and bank the cash! don't trouser it.

paperwork is very boring, many good start-up's sink early because they leave off doing it for too long, a really big mistake so get your invoices out promptly, record income and photo copy any cheque's for proof, both in and out as it will save you hours even days on a Tax inspection.

you might be the best engineer in the world (well thats apart from me of course ), but you will soon dead in the water if you don't get the money in before the suppliers want paying, and please don't abuse them by paying late when you have the money, as when you really need their goodwill and credit for that plumb job, they won't be interested.

don't go mad on loads of stock, you need some obviously but remember stock is not a profit and it is also aging all the time you have it for warranty needs.

last and possibly the most valuable comment for the moment, you are only as good as the worst person who works for you (subby mates included), a good rep is hard ongoing work in progress, and destroyed very easily.

all for now

regs

Arfur Mo

[PeterJames]

Hi Oxford and good luck, there will be several on here tell you thats the only way to achieve what you want, at least on of us will tell you he achieved it no problem from fresh (he didn`t, though he thinks he did) and one who will tell you to go it alone you cannot fail.

In either case your too late to the party. Count how many family and friends you have and divide that by half - thats your market for the next two years, not much is it? as Pete says the only way to make your way alone these days is by subbing but in reality all that is is the worst of both worlds.

And beware, unless your a //.B.W.F.// hot installer your on a hiding to nothing, seriously I would stay were you are.

Do you want some eggs to go with that chip on your shoulder Paul LOL!.

[james.wilson]

as ias says where are your sales coming from. it really isnt a case of 'im open so they will come'. ask yourself if you wanted xyz doing who would you call and why. if you work out what you earn now then add whatever costs you need to run your business you will see it isnt cheap. ie do a list of all the things you need and put some budget figures by them. let us know how you get on.

[IAS]

Do you want some eggs to go with that chip on your shoulder Paul LOL!.

I thought i was been quite chilled when I posted that, LOL.

No point beating about the bush, the markets saturated, especially at the "ex ADT" level.

[Oxford]

In either case your too late to the party. Count how many family and friends you have and divide that by half - thats your market for the next two years, not much is it? as Pete says the only way to make your way alone these days is by subbing but in reality all that is is the worst of both worlds.

And beware, unless your a //.B.W.F.// hot installer your on a hiding to nothing, seriously I would stay were you are.

Thanks for the advise guys.

But I really don't understand why I am "late for the party!? And why is "half my family" my market place?

Advertising and flyering is going to get me business, surely?

[IAS]

Thanks for the advise guys.

But I really don't understand why I am "late for the party!? And why is "half my family" my market place?

Advertising and flyering is going to get me business, surely?

just about every "big national company" engineer has had a go,tried and mostly failed at this at least once in their life, friends of mine were doing it 20 years ago - late to the party.

Q - What would you say is a good return from flyers? 80% ............ 75%?

more like 3-5% (thats 3 to 5 not 35)and these figures are for a well known co. not a start up.

add to this we`re currently paying subbies under £100 a day (and thats for the good ones) and they have to cover their work for a year FOC.and as much as you hate where you are now the grass is most definatly brown on the other side of the bridge.