Going freelance

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Hi all, after some thoughts and a little advice from a few on here I am going to consider the jump back into self employment.

 

Its been a while since I ran my own shop, made some mistakes in the past!

 

How many of you are frelance/contract climbers, what sort of kit do you think is reqiured and expected and do you work with a steady groundie or work alone, with their help?

 

Whats insurance like these days?

 

and is it regular enough?

 

are you carefull who you work with for or just take the rough with the smooth?

 

anyone getting nocked much?

[combined tree services]

before running my own company i was a freelance climber but i was foolish and provided way too much kit - i carried every size saw i could need from an ms200t to a ms880 with 4 foot bar , a lowering kit , utility poles etc etc . i was takenb the piss out of but looking back at it i was a fool to provide all that kit for £100 a day

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

before running my own company i was a freelance climber but i was foolish and provided way too much kit - i carried every size saw i could need from an ms200t to a ms880 with 4 foot bar , a lowering kit , utility poles etc etc . i was takenb the piss out of but looking back at it i was a fool to provide all that kit for £100 a day

 

I would tend to agree!

 

bet you was popular though!

[combined tree services]

yeah i was pretty popular with the one man bands , they could then take work on that was way out of their leagu and simply get me in to do it with my kit . in the end i had been taken for a fool once to many times so decided to go out on my own and to be honest i think its the best move i have ever made , i have not been running my own company for about two and a half years and although there have been some serious bumps along the way i am loving it and the guys that work with me are spot on and totally trustworthy ,

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

i miss running my own firm it has to be said, i dont know if I could take another fall like the last one though, destroyed me emotionaly, took a long long time, well you never get over that loss really, it always hurts.

 

lessons learnt though

[combined tree services]

yeah i can imagine it must have been totally sole destroying but if lessons have been learnt from it then why not get up dust your self off and give it another go ?? im sure you will agree that it beats working freelace spending the greater portion of your time climbing minging trees that no one elts wants to do !!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

yes that is the LAST thing i want, been there done that!

 

Ive got some options left yet, maybe when I have completed the degree course I can get the job i need to avoid going it alone again!

 

I am keeping my fingers crossed at the mo on a poss, but if that aint to be then i might have to start thinking of setting up for weekenders at the least.

[combined tree services]

where abouts are you working at the moment ??

[skyhuck]

yeah i can imagine it must have been totally sole destroying but if lessons have been learnt from it then why not get up dust your self off and give it another go ?? im sure you will agree that it beats working freelace spending the greater portion of your time climbing minging trees that no one elts wants to do !!

 

Don't totally agree.

 

Its possible to make good coin as a freelancer, so long as you market yourself properly.

 

You don't have to just set a day rate, you could give a price for each job, thus maximizing your earning potential.

 

In these tight times, firms are looking for GOOD people they can use WHEN they NEED them, instead of have a lot of permanent staff.

[combined tree services]

Don't totally agree.

 

Its possible to make good coin as a freelancer, so long as you market yourself properly.

 

You don't have to just set a day rate, you could give a price for each job, thus maximizing your earning potential.

 

In these tight times, firms are looking for GOOD people they can use WHEN they NEED them, instead of have a lot of permanent staff.

 

i totally agree huck , i guess my problem was i could never say no to a job even the minging ones i think if a was freelance again i would do things totally differently but its been running my own busines thats tought me that :thumbup: