Going on your own..

[Blobber]

I went on my own in about 1987 when the Electrical contracting company I worked for went bust, I had a very good relationship with the customers so managed to pick up a ready made customer base and picked up more by word of mouth until 2010ish when I started to wind it down

Good points for me were as follows
Doing what you wanted when you wanted
Buying tools you didnt really need but wanted!
Buying decent motors
Having the latest tech, PCs/phones etc
Luckily had a really good bunch of customers

Not so good points for me
Paper work, paper work and more paperwork
Finding a decent accountant
No paid holidays
No sick pay
Customers trying to contact you 24/7

I think the biggest killer these days is if you need premises with the costs involved that still have to be paid even if your not earning, I would say go for it as if it goes pairshaped you can always get employment somewhere!

 

[500e]

As @premmington
Says Create yourself a simple filling system - a simple accounting system and keep on top of the entries.
An old book keeper set us up with that and suggested an accountant, we have only just changed from that Partnership after best part of 60 years

 

[winchman]

If you are really good at fixing bikes and lets say you charge £30 per hour.
Then why would you do paper work when you could get some one to do it for less and possibly better?
Its about making the best use of your time
For example a one man band garage I know only does clutches nothing else. He has a retired chap who pops in mid morning lifts the gear box off with him if need be and makes him a brew, whist he fits clutch then lifts it back on and tidy's up, I think he does one hour a day, this allows him to do two clutches per day and very minimal overheads, imagine what the overheads would be if you had two full time people?
Its about finding the best plan and some work is not worth having. A few motor traders I know only do cambelts and servicing wont touch anything else.

 

[redlig]

People over the years - have talked to me about business and risk.

I am just a simple person.

1. I am car mechanic so I had tools and was always gonna be buying more tools.

2. I bought the freehold of my workshop - but buying property is not risky - it is one of the best things you can do in life.

3. Cashflow is fast in the motortrade - mostly the punter pay when they take the car - long before you gotta pay for the parts - there is no 90day wait for money - its is all pay or don't get your car back - or we sell your car off to cover the bill. It not like putting a new roof on someones house and driving off in your van and waiting for the cash.

----------

If I had a PAYE job - it is risky too - if you get things wrong - you get the sack - if your boss gets things wrong - you get made redundant.

If anything the best bit of self employment is - you have full control and other peoples mistakes don't affect you - only your own!

Everybody moans about the administration part of running a business - insurance/tax/invoicing/purchasing - but in reality if you can sort the bills out for a household - it's no more involved doing the same for a small business. Create yourself a simple filling system - a simple accouting system and keep on top of the entries.

All I wanted from self employment was to earn more than someone else would pay me - I done that - that was the simple measure I set myself - I have acheived this - so I declare my efforts a success...

If I was going to do it all again - I would not have gone into the motor repair trade - I would have gone into the building game or a VAT exempt type business - serving the disabled - or even funerals...

But you don't get a second go at life kids...

I did 10 years before retirement working for a charity working with the the disabled and elderly . Not overpaid but certainly the most rewarding of all my jobs.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Personally I would keep the day job and see if you can make the bikes work in your spare time.
The comment above re people not using bikes like they used to more of a weekend luxury item is true, I don't know many who commute on a bike now.

Well there's me?

 

[premmington]

Well there's me?

And me - I commute the 1.25mile trip to work on a small Honda - but nobody is gonna get rich out of repairing my AFS110 Honda Wave.

 

[ajlelectronics]

And me - I commute the 1.25mile trip to work on a small Honda - but nobody is gonna get rich out of repairing my AFS110 Honda Wave.

Nobody I know will touch mine if I wanted them to, too afraid of taking her clothes off I reckon! Luckily I can tackle anything required.

 

[premmington]

If you are really good at fixing bikes and lets say you charge £30 per hour.
Then why would you do paper work when you could get some one to do it for less and possibly better?
Its about making the best use of your time
For example a one man band garage I know only does clutches nothing else. He has a retired chap who pops in mid morning lifts the gear box off with him if need be and makes him a brew, whist he fits clutch then lifts it back on and tidy's up, I think he does one hour a day, this allows him to do two clutches per day and very minimal overheads, imagine what the overheads would be if you had two full time people?
Its about finding the best plan and some work is not worth having. A few motor traders I know only do cambelts and servicing wont touch anything else.

£30 quid per hour is not gonna touch the sides - more like £60 an hour to make a profit.

And that is if you are not trading in the South of England paying huge costs per Sq metre of workshop space.

 

[addjunkie]

Cant add anything else except, learn quickly the jobs /customers not to tackle or even think about!

 

[premmington]

Cant add anything else except, learn quickly the jobs /customers not to tackle or even think about!

Leaning to say "no" is a good skill...

If you not gonna earn or get paid - pass on it...

 

[brightspark]

Leaning to say "no" is good skill...

If you not gonna earn or get paid - pass on it...

2 things a builder told me starting off you cant spend a pocket full of thank you very muches down the supermarket and cant have a rolls royce for the price of a mini so make the job pay

 

[premmington]

2 things a builder told me starting off you cant spend a pocket full of thank you very muches down the supermarket and cant have a rolls royce for the price of a mini so make the job pay

In the garage trade -

"you are better off sitting about drinking tea than bolting expensive parts you paid for onto customers cars that drive off without paying"

 

[Keith 66]

£30 quid per hour is not gonna touch the sides - more like £60 an hour to make a profit.

And that is if you are not trading in the South of England paying huge costs per Sq metre of workshop space.

I went on my own in 1984 when i was lucky enough to get offered a 1500 sqft workshop on a local farm, started with rent at £30 a week, Had it for 18 years until the Council caught up with us & demanded business rates. At the end the rent had risen to £50 a week. Doesnt sound a lot but you only needed a few months with little work to knock you back. As boatbuilding & repairs was highly seasonal this meant often!
When our son came along i was the stay at home husband & the yard became even less viable so i pulled the plug on it.
Premises costs down here are such now that my trade simply would be economic suicide.
£60 an hour? look at BOE inflation calculator, today that is the equivalent of £19.44 an hour in 84, even then i was hard pushed to earn anywhere near that, £12 was as much as the market would stand. Today forget it!