Starting a buisness- some advice!

[Will]

My self and two of my workmates are about to start out on our own. We are fed up of working dam hard and not being rewarded for our efforts, while our boss makes all the profit, but hasn't picked up a chainsaw for 10 years.

 

From your experience, what is one good piece of advice you'd give to someone about to start working for themselves?

[A_lopa]

Go out on your own,I had a partner in a tree trimming company doing powerline clearing and got left a stack off bills and a repod car to pay out,Not saying it happens in every case but more than not IMO

[Steve Bullman]

you'll never make enough money to run a business splitting it 2 ways let alone 3 ways..i assume thats what you meant when you said you were going laone? or are you all starting your own businesses?

[Andy Collins]

IMO you'll find yourself working a damn sight harder for yourself, than you did for any co. The day doesnt stop when you put the saws in the shed at the end of the day. IF you are going into partnership with one or more people, think very very hard about it. Many partnerships are doomed to failure from the get-go. Saying that, what have you got to lose?

[Buzz]

Avoid partnerships at all costs, everything has to be split 50/50. How much do you both need to earn then treble that and that will give you an idea of turnover requirments. My advice would be start to seperate business and work together on the bigger stuff.

 

Kit, insurance, vans and chippers all cost big bucks. Good luck ! This industry is a way of life rather than a money making venture, as Andy said be prepared for long hours and not as much profit as you think. Everyone else has to be paid before yourself.

[Yorkshireman]

whos going to make the decisions, who will be doing the admin, the costings pricing of jobs, sourcing of equipment van chipper etc insurance

if the person gets it wrong there will be arguments when the money gets tight.

+ this time of year is not good to be stiking out as very low call demand for established business's let alone that for a brand new business, unless you already have enough work to suffciently support you all

Mind saying that I suppose your gaffer will have a less stressful time 3 wages not to worry about & then if it doesnt work will you go back ? will he let you ?

 

Dont think the grass is all that green , coz when you do you may well come down to earth with quite a heavy bump

 

I cant fault you for having the ambition to work for your self, but then think long & hard about it ,

have you thought about being self employed with your current gaffer ?

 

rgds

Iain

[Mr Ed]

Again, avoid partnerships like the plauge. I've rarely seen it work effectively, but I've seen many disasterous ones.

A few questions -

do you have any work of your own?

if not, where will you get clients?

do you plan on advertising for clients?

do you have any equipment? if not, how will you get it?

 

Your boss may not have picked up a saw for 10 years, but he obviously has a client base and pays you for your services - for wich he deserves a touch of respect.

 

Not being down on you, but as an employer who's seen a few lads do this, I would'nt recommend it.

[Quickthorn]

as an employer who's seen a few lads do this, I would'nt recommend it.

 

Ditto that. I've had more than a few working for me that thought they'd do so much better on their own..none of them have really got anywhere, as far as I know. like others have said, you're probably looking at a 50% increase in your hours of work for a start.

[Mr Ed]

They may not get anywhere, but in the short term they take business away from me, which I resent. after all, if I've spent years of advertising, and building up a client base, why should they get it for nothing?

 

I had one guy, came to me totally green. Taught him how to climbe, etc etc. 6 months later, he decides to go on his own, as I'm obviously making too much profit.

1st thing he does, call into all of my clients he knows of, offering his services - CHEAP.

Well, one of the jobs he got was a large pine dismantle, so he phone s up the crane company, and gets a 20 tonne truck mount as its the cheapest. first pick of the day, he chains up the top of a tight forked pine on one side, and makes his cuts. the top came up, split on two, and dropped straight onto the front cab of the crane, doing about £10k worth of damage. turns out at this point he has no insurance either....

[Quickthorn]

Totally agree, Ed. I've had similar, with people leaving - along with a few of the tools, I suspect - once they think they know it all. I had one, who was always on about setting up on his own, had the nerve to tap up the council countryside officer for whom we were working, when he came on a site visit !

 

Also, in my experience, the ones who moan about how hard they're working to line their boss' pockets are also the first to plonk their arses down and roll a fag once the boss leaves the site.