If Coljack is reading this thread, and I would be suprised if he is, I would like to offer some advise from someone who was nearly in a similar position although I wouldn't have been entitled to dole money for 6 months as I am self employed.
Before the credit crunch began a few years ago and everyone was able to borrow any amount of money they liked I was running a fairly successful electrical contracting company, I had an apprentice and another lad whom I had trained up. We would have work almost every day, the telephone was ringing and I would manage to get 95% + of each job i quoted for... GREAT. Now since the credit crunch I have lost both employees for different reasons and am on my own, I was lucky enough to have one customer that seemed to have great faith in my ability to do other types of work, he supplied a kitchen and i fitted it, he supplied a shower room suite and i fitted it, he supplied a load of tiles, i fitted them. Now I dont advertise the fact that i fit kitchens but i get one or two every now and again from word of mouth, same with bathrooms. the best part is that the customer is always willing to supply everything (because they think or know they can get a better price) and I am just paid for labor, which is great, there isnt huge cash flow going in and out of the business and I dont need to buy things i cannot afford (such as a kitchen).
Col, I have read your comments of various posts and you seem quite knowledgable and able to problem solve with intuition, so perhaps you could start by doing odd jobs around your area, after all being self employed means that you can pick and choose your jobs (after getting established) and you have no fear of being laid off. I firmly beleive that if you can adapt and be versatile then you can always get work. Some days I can earn some tidy money which is great as that can cover times that I dont earn any, or I do a job for the hell of it, there is not much money in it, but it keeps someone happy and they may pass my name on. I did a job for one guy i fitted a kitchen for, it took me 2 weeks and i had agreed up front to do the job for £400, expecting it to take me just under a week, but there were complications, now earning £40 a day isn't great, but it just covers things, on the upshot, I re fitted his bathroom, fitted a kitchen for his neighbour (and some electrical work for her sister), done some electrical work for another of his friends, and am about to start a bathroom for yet another of his friends!
Get out there mate, i'm sure that if you are pushy you may know a family member, friend of aquaintance that needs something doing, no matter what, if you feel you can acheive a good standard then do it, who knows where it will lead.
The best part about it all is that you learn so much, i am reading up alot lately on tiling as I had to do my own bathroom and spec materials, and as i had never had to do this before it is a big learning curve, these things have always been supplied to me from the customer via the tile shop. but now i am learning more then I can spec things for them.
Good luck mate, if you want to do it, you can, it may be hard at first and be frustrating but it is ultimatly rewarding.
Before the credit crunch began a few years ago and everyone was able to borrow any amount of money they liked I was running a fairly successful electrical contracting company, I had an apprentice and another lad whom I had trained up. We would have work almost every day, the telephone was ringing and I would manage to get 95% + of each job i quoted for... GREAT. Now since the credit crunch I have lost both employees for different reasons and am on my own, I was lucky enough to have one customer that seemed to have great faith in my ability to do other types of work, he supplied a kitchen and i fitted it, he supplied a shower room suite and i fitted it, he supplied a load of tiles, i fitted them. Now I dont advertise the fact that i fit kitchens but i get one or two every now and again from word of mouth, same with bathrooms. the best part is that the customer is always willing to supply everything (because they think or know they can get a better price) and I am just paid for labor, which is great, there isnt huge cash flow going in and out of the business and I dont need to buy things i cannot afford (such as a kitchen).
Col, I have read your comments of various posts and you seem quite knowledgable and able to problem solve with intuition, so perhaps you could start by doing odd jobs around your area, after all being self employed means that you can pick and choose your jobs (after getting established) and you have no fear of being laid off. I firmly beleive that if you can adapt and be versatile then you can always get work. Some days I can earn some tidy money which is great as that can cover times that I dont earn any, or I do a job for the hell of it, there is not much money in it, but it keeps someone happy and they may pass my name on. I did a job for one guy i fitted a kitchen for, it took me 2 weeks and i had agreed up front to do the job for £400, expecting it to take me just under a week, but there were complications, now earning £40 a day isn't great, but it just covers things, on the upshot, I re fitted his bathroom, fitted a kitchen for his neighbour (and some electrical work for her sister), done some electrical work for another of his friends, and am about to start a bathroom for yet another of his friends!
Get out there mate, i'm sure that if you are pushy you may know a family member, friend of aquaintance that needs something doing, no matter what, if you feel you can acheive a good standard then do it, who knows where it will lead.
The best part about it all is that you learn so much, i am reading up alot lately on tiling as I had to do my own bathroom and spec materials, and as i had never had to do this before it is a big learning curve, these things have always been supplied to me from the customer via the tile shop. but now i am learning more then I can spec things for them.
Good luck mate, if you want to do it, you can, it may be hard at first and be frustrating but it is ultimatly rewarding.
