thinking about setting up on my own

ive been working that much lately that im getting sick of my compnay and what i do , i have thought about setting up my own ac company but failing that i really would like to repair and restore cars ,not even sure if im up to the job .
think its just one of those ideas im haveing .
would people even bring cars to me if i did setup doing this ?
or am i liveing in a dream world and should stick to what im good at

 

Been through this same predicament myself mate so understand your anguish. There's so much to weigh up, a steady wage against not knowing where the next pay cheque is coming from but you have to be happy in your work I believe. For me it was quite straight forward in that sense, spend another six months back in Afghanistan away from the family or go for redundancy, and the family won on that point. Have to say its hard work but I love being my own boss and doing a job I absolutely love.
Good luck mate with whatever you decide but dont take the decision lightly.

 

You sound like my husband. He's a welder fabricator and he's really good at what he does but he wants to do car restos or work for himself. He's been doing up a dolomite sprint for the last 3 years. We thought buses were rusty - meet a british leyland!!!
In fact I think he'd like to do anything but work where he does at the moment.

 

fair points i do want a bit of a change just not sure if its with another company or on my own ,the wife thinks its not a good idea she likes the wage comeing and no worries about money .
i just want to be abit happyer in what i do and for some reason i like rusty cars

 

Like the others I can completely understand what you are saying. But you have to be careful.
I found myself departing from my permanent and highly paid employment 9 years ago. I was older and smarter than my boss and he got rid of all the people like me over a 12 month period. So I had to make fast choices. I did some temporary work for around 9 months and then decided to set up on my own. You need to consider many issues. On your own you have to be able to do "the job" that clients want, but also have to be abe to do acccounts (make a profit, do VAT and understand how to work with HMRC generally), understand marketing (advertising), be a saleman (quoting for work), be a buyer, a bit of a lawyer, keep answering the phone (all day long if you are lucky), and if you need premises there's a whole lot of issues and costs to think about there.. If you can't do any of these things a business needs to survive you have to pay someone else to do them.
So you need to be careful. Plan your business really carefully, get a professioanl overview before you start, and make sure you have a lot of capital available as however much you think you'll need, it will be at least double that. And more if you grow.
But, if you can get all this sorted and have a great plan you will be happier than you could imagine. There's nothing like being your own boss!
Check out the Business Link website.http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.s=tl&topicId=1073858805 for loads of good advice, tips and hints. And good luck!

 

What others have said do it but don't expect to make money for the first year or 2
You will need a pot to start up as well to cover tools, insurance, materials transport etc.

 

Good advice from Staffordknot.

Remember, profit isn't a dirty word, it's what feeds your family and what puts money in the company bank account to allow for lean times or expansion. Work out your costs and make sure that you are coming out the end with a decent margin. If you only charge your labour as if it's a wage, that's all you'll ever earn and you'll never have the money to expand. Think for the future from the start.

A good accountant is also worth his / her weight in gold. Just keep invoices in neat order, pay them once a month to minimise your admin time and then hand it all over once a quarter for the accountant to sort out your VAT. Try saving money here and you'll end up doing the accounts instead of earning money.

The issue with your wife is more difficult to deal with. My wife was the same, but she knew how *******ed off I was in my job so she went along with it. For years she couldn't get used to the idea that our income wasn't fixed, so I could never say when we would have the money for saved up for home improvements, holidays etc. This was despite the fact that I always earned more working for myself, just couldn't guarantee a fixed income every month.

 

Thanks for the info guys and the links I'm looking into and this info will help me , I know I can make better money doing air con but getting the work will be hard plus may need another person and the start up fees are around 20 k with a van and tools etc .
Going to sit down and try and sort a plan out and go from there .
Thank again people

 

I'd say be carefull of quitting any job which is paying you a wage in these times. The classic car restoration industry is saturated at the moment, even more so the vw restoration scene. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

Well I'll be keeping my job until I set it all up . The air con trade ain't the best too , the industry is harder to get work in .

 

Ive been out of work due to an illness for 4 yrs now, almost spent my savings, come to terms that the amount of time i spend ill and at the hospital it would be much better to try and be self employed doing something i want to do. Im in the process of going through what i need to do as to get started. I know what i want to do which im keeping to myself just now. Just need to work out if i can really earn enough doing it.

Gotta do what you like in life, sometimes its right sometimes its very wrong.

Think hard about it before quitting your job. I dont have a job so not much to lose.

Good luck

 

Hope all goes well for you mate , like I've said I'm thinking about it a lot

 

I would love to do something on my own, I only work part time so don't need to earn loads, I fancy doing an Internet based thing selling things, but just don't know what to sell.
I love jukeboxes and retro things but there seems so many people out there doing it..

 

I've been self employed for the last 20 years and I say "Go for it"
BUT...
don't think for a second that it will be easy.
You really need to have your wife on your side because it affects your whole family.

If you decide to go for it you need to be sure you are going to make a profit as well as surviving and paying your bills.
A good way of getting an unbiased, experts view of your business idea is to take the time, effort and research to prepare a full business plan and then go to several banks trying to raise start up money. They may or may not lend you any money but they will give you a really good idea of whether your plan is viable. For example if you were going to become a 'Morris Dancer'sBell fixer, the bank manager's will be able to tell you if the last ten Morris Dancer's Bell Fixers went bust or made a profit.

 

Just started an electrical business. Sole trader, spent upwards of £8k getting all the bits and pieces together (part p registered, tools, insurance and and and). Completed my first paying job today. I havent sorted everything I should but just going for it really. Couldnt carry on doing what I was doing even thou it was secure.
What's the worst that could happen ;-)

Cheers
s

 

Cheers guys I think the business plan is a good idea and speak to some banks also a wise move staying in my trade as I know about the prices etc .
I do have contacts in the trade luckly my dad and brother have started a air source heat pump company whitch is basically a air con unit in side so hopefully that is more work passed to me for repairs .
Also he still works as a heating / gas engineer and the company do sub out ac work so hopefully more work that could be passed my way ,,, well after a chat and a price list etc but here's hoping .

 

I have to agree. It's a mind field and a worry at times but go for it. You will never know unless you try do good luck