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Starting up self-employed. (Read 4854 times)
BigBad
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Starting up self-employed.
Jun 10th, 2004, 5:54am
 
Hi all,
I am just about to take the plunge into self-employed status, which will confront me with a whole new list of problems and questions which I hope to either deal with or bluff my way past!

The reason I am writing though is that I have very little experience in estimating the work of house wiring etc and how to go about charging a client for it.  

Can anyone give some guidelines on what sort of monetary figures we could be looking at for wiring traditional build houses and how to agree price work figures without ending up on a loser? Some ideas of past experiences would be of excellent help to me.

I'm an Approved spark and BS7671 qualified by the way.

I would like to keep this thread updated with my progress down this path of self-employment as I go.  

Wish me luck!
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rabbit_rabbit
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #1 - Jun 10th, 2004, 7:57am
 
I wish you luck in your new adventure.

It sounds like you are preparing to do commercial work - wiring of new houses etc.? This being the case I am unable to help you much as I have been out of commercial for a long time andonly do domestic work.

BUT, like domestic I would think it is very regional. I say this based on other threads related to this subject both here and on other forums.

Sorry I cannot be of greater help. By the way for domestic work where I am (Hampshire) £25 to £30 per hour is a 'going rate' - plus materials of course.

RR
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Gerrin2old
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #2 - Jun 13th, 2004, 4:06pm
 
Hi BB,

Estimating for any work is usually a gamble of sorts, my suggestions to you are:-
1) cost the materials required (from wholesalers) and add between 10 + 25% to the total.
2) decide what you want to earn per hour or per day for your labour.
3) "estimate" how long you reckon the work will take you to complete and multiply by your hourly / daily rate.
4) add 10% to the cost of labour and materials for contingencies and you will arrive a your price.
5) dont forget to add VAT where appropriate.

As you are just starting out you may want to be very competetive with your prices, but make sure that you are not working for next to nothing.  Experience gained as you go along will tell you whether your estimates are too cheap or too expensive.

Good luck
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BigBad
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Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #3 - Jun 13th, 2004, 10:36pm
 
Thanks Gerrin2old!

Thats about the same as I had been thinking, but since I have been PAYE all my working life to date, I am trying to track things backwards to try to come to figures that would at least have me balancing my books to the same as on PAYE.

Kind of hard to explain I think, but I mean I am trying to note down all the additional expenses that I have to consider before setting out my prices. ie. advertising costs, consumables, fuel costs, hiring casual labour as required etc. Also, I believe working self-employed would mean my state pension would need to be looked into, or I get a private one. I also need to consider some insurance for sickness, injury and probably even a liability insurance in case I am responsible for damage to customer property Embarrassed.

Gee!, this is even more complicated than I thought, I still have much research to do ???.

Thanks again for your reply and your advice, seems like sound advice.

BigBad.
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ban-all-sheds
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #4 - Jun 14th, 2004, 2:27am
 
[quote author=BigBad  link=1086843248/0#3 date=1087162617]... and probably even a liability insurance in case I am responsible for damage to customer property Embarrassed.. [/quote]

At least £2M PLI would be essential.
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Beanzy
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #5 - Jun 14th, 2004, 2:56am
 
Compile a stock list for items you'll need to keep to hand. See what offers the local wholesalers have each month as you'll be buying a load atr first you should get good discounts.
Itemise your toolkit requirements, don't forget crimping tools etc. (this will grow as time passes)
Test kit costs.
Will you buy / lease a van?. Don't forget to allow a bit for fitting it out.
Storage & organisation, if you start off with agood system you'll save hours and panics searching.
Answerphone etc.
Mobile phone costs.
Workwear.
Heavy duty tools for chasing, drilling & chiselling.
Worklights & maybe LV transformers if not going battery powered.
Access equipment (ladders/steps etc)
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rabbit_rabbit
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #6 - Jun 14th, 2004, 4:35pm
 
And don't forget all those items Beanzy listed can be offset against tax.

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ROBBO
Re: Starting up self-employed.
Reply #7 - Jun 19th, 2004, 4:56pm
 
[quote author=rabbit_rabbit  link=1086843248/0#6 date=1087227325]And don't forget all those items Beanzy listed can be offset against tax.

[/quote]


"T*X" I thought disgustingly vulgar foul mouthed swear words were now banned from this forum.????
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