I have 8 years to go before I retire and have spent most of my career in the electronics sector on repair & maintenance.Upon being made redundant due to factory closure (What's new?)I did a short 16th edition course at the local college and got a pass. Now I have life's experiences behind me with fitting a 9k5 shower,sockets etc at home and have gleaned through a few books on domestic wiring and am not a mug with a meter,tools etc. Bearing this in mind could anyone please offer me any sensible advice about going self employed doing domestic work only (Short of house rewires at the moment)because trying to get a job at more than
4.50/hour around here at my age is like trying to find 'rocking horse s$*t'
As someone who may shortly be in a similar position due to outsourcing to India... Spread the word locally, start by mopping-up the small jobs the other sparkies are reluctant to touch. Build a reputation for honest reliable work. Work for cash-in-hand (specially on smaller jobs). Use the time and small jobs to try and find a niche market. You have age and experience on your side; people (like me) see age and experience as a big plus point, and youth as a big minus!
I'll second Martin's advice. Also keep an eye on what happens to Part P of the building regs (google this group for a multitude of discussions). Might be an idea to get the Inspection, test and certification (C&G 2391) under you belt. At least then you'll be able to get on board with NICEIC should that become the only legal way of trading as a sparks.
Bear in mind that the real reason for ensuring people get NICEIC'd with part P is for tax reasons rather than any bullshit about safety.
If you have a handy list of practicing tradesmen to consult then the Inland Revenue don't have to do much work in order to perform audits on individuals. And the cash-in-hand response will look extremely dodgy if it interferes with the ability to receive a working mans salary (especially if the outgoings are higher than the taxable income).
Agreed, but, commercial (invoiced) work can be a major pain in the @ss to actually get the money. The company I currently work for don't pay *any* invoice/bill in less then
One of the better things that Labour have done (okay, maybe it's the ONLY thing they've done on the positive side....) is that you can now charge interest on unpaid accounts on a daily basis at several percent above the base rate. It makes it worthwhile having overdue accounts.....
And even before Labour did that, there was nothign to stop you giving discounts for early payment. I have always quoted for work as £x per hour with a 15% discount for early payment. Of course the lower payment is the one I actually want to receive. If they pay late I get an unexpected 15% bonus. It works well. I've even had the CEO of a company in Newbury drive to my home to hand over the cheque on time.
You have the small claims court on your side. And you can threaten to close the company down for unpaid bad debt. That usually gets the attention of the man (or woman) who writes the cheques.
I have found on several occasions in the recent past that if you are experiencing difficulties with a particular company then you send them a polite letter as follows.
The letter should make only relative reference to the outstanding debt situation, and not be construed as a complaint. Just explain that you are a customer/supplier or theirs with enough information provided to identify your account with them - so that they know you are the genuine article. Don't be rude, harsh or ignorant - just polite and factual. No table thumping or playing Mr Angry.
The main thrust of the letter should request details of who the company officer is with respect to the Data Protection Act, and what the procedure is that you should follow in order to have the company release all information held on you - as you wish to check the details they hold on you for accuracy.
The result is that under the DPA the company is in serious breach if they do not give you the person and procedure you are asking for within a reasonable timeframe - say within a week or so. If they play silly buggers at this stage and won't cooperate you dump a complaint to the DPA on them:
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DPA has teeth which are much bigger and sharper than yours, and your favourite company knows they have. The company will not want to be on the wrong end of an enquiry from the DPA because there is some serious money to be lost if that happens - and none of it is yours.
The procedure that the company has to follow is that you will likely be asked to pay an administration fee (in all cases where I made this approach the fee was £10), and be given the name of the company officer with whom to correspond. That's a given - all companies must have an assigned officer responsible for the DPA.
That administration fee will never cover the horrendous level of work needed by the company to respond to your Data Protection request. They are given 40 days to respond to such a request once it is formally submitted and they have to go round the whole company in every nook and cranny to find every reference to you. That's email accounts of every employee, paper systems, the lot. You are entitled to have sight of all information held on you by any company so that you can check it for accuracy.
I've used this approach 3 times in the last six months - with companies that were refusing to deal with a situation in which they were in the wrong and were trying to bluster their way out of. In every single instance my original "problem" was sorted out within 2 weeks, because someone senior enough in the organisation recognised that if I did submit a request under the DPA they would lose so much money chasing it that it wasn't worth the effort of continuing to be obnoxious.
I recommend this approach to everyone. Use the law against them, it costs you the price of a postage stamp (and I recommend using recorded delivery to submit the request about the DPA - that way they know you've got proof you have made the enquiry).
Of course, once you've been paid what you are owed then you might still feel aggreived at the company concerned - in which case you pay your £10 for the DPA enquiry and give them a nasty headache to contend with as they chase round the company trying to pull all details held on you together. I didn't do that myself, but others might feel their favourite company needs a lesson.....
Right on. Gee whiz 90 days! As a now retired caterer I complained, quite by chance, to a fellow community volunteer about how long a local city council, even 'normally' took to pay; they 'cut' cheques only twice a month and anything with a question gets held up. The other person, a practicing 'small contractor' heartily agreed. We both mutually had the opinion that since many of us would not bid on work for that organization and/or would charge 'extra' because of the delay, they were 'shooting themselves in the foot' as it were. That is they were not getting a) The best price and b) If business was generally good they often would get only people desperate for work and therefore quite possibly not the best! This is possibly an area where the bean-counters (accountants) think they are saving money by deferring payment; but the end result could actually be more costly. For example; before I finally retired I was operating a well established business started by my late wife, which I will modestly say had a 30+ year long standing reputation, under her leadership, for quality and service. Basically I inherited her excellent business; when that city invited proposals/bids I did not even bother to reply and I know of at least two competent others, who, in the same line of business did not either! I wish Jack the best of luck; but urge not to waste time on 'slow payers'. Better to be slightly busy and have cash immediately in hand than busier and waiting for payment. Bill collecting can take time too and being owed for one or two 'good' bills can destroy your working cash! Terry.
Well, yes, but you can only do this for companies where you have no intention of continuing any further commercial relationship.
Details of discount for early payment has always been a little bit risky if dealing with unscrupulous players in strong positions because they sometimge pay the discounted bill, but at their liesure (ie well outside your discount period).
Again, courts will provide adequate remedy, but you'd best not need to trade with that company again.
I have known IT contractors who have dealt directly with some huge multi-nationals. One particular fellow started screaming and shouting when his 14 day terms were about 7 days overdue. He was still screaming at them nearly 4 months after the invoice was presented.....
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