Career change and going self employed
Discussion
Evening All,
I'm age 36 with 2 kids who i have 3 nights a week.
I wasted my younger years at school, didn't bother going to college and getting a trade and just spent the past 20 years winging my working life really in various dead end jobs to done success, what I lack in skills or training I make up in drive and determination.
I worked on the railway for several years, started at the bottom and worked my way upto being a train driver, unfortunately ADHD and an inability to concentrate on something dull for long periods of time meant that didn't work out.
After leaving the trains I got a job working for a government department that was recruiting and seemed to pay reasonably well for the area (£40k).
I've been working for the government department for less than 18 months and I absolutely hate it, I wake up every morning dreading work, I seem to work a lot of weekends like almost 50% of them, I have to work Christmas's every other year which isn't ideal with 2 young kids at home. It's just not at all family friendly and this was topped off by having a row with my manager recently about me needing to leave work in a hurry due to a medical emergency with my 4 year old son.
The thing about my son was the final straw for me, I've decided I don't want to be there but obviously need the money for now.
There's not a lot if any jobs locally that will pay anywhere near 40k a year to someone unskilled and unqualified so I got me thinking how else could I make that money.
Fast forward 2 weeks anf we needed some work doing in our bathroom recently due to damp making all the tiles and render basicly fall off the walls, we struggled to find a plumber to even have availability to quote let alone to give us a price for a full tear out and refit so a decent size job, they were all just booked up for months.
This got me thinking there's obviously more demand than supply locally and if I was to retrain than plumbing would be something I'd be intrested in doing.p
I'm generally pretty handy and can do most things within reason although it's all self taught, I've just never tried plumbing so couldn't give it a go.
I've done some research and there's somewhere fairly locally that does adult plumbing course, in either 6 weeks or 2 weekends a month for 7 months.
I can't see anyway I can wangle 6 weeks off work to do the 6 week course and I work weekends which are set out on a roster and none flexible so I couldn't get the weekend courses to line up either.
Which got me thinking maybe this will take more planing than I originally hoped it would. I figure it's only going to get harder as I get older so if I'm going to do it I need to do it sooner rather than later.
I find I quite often pick up odd jobs locally from friends and family, painting fences, putting up curtains and shelves or pushing mowers around, i generally work at least a day a week odd jobbing for friends and family.
This got me thinking if I could create a handyman business and do this sort of thing full time I could potentially get out of the job I'm in which round in turn give me the flexibility to then retrain and get a trade.
I love the idea of working for myself and helped my ex set up a small cleaning business so I'm not going into self employment completely blind but would obviously be keen to hear your opinions.
Do you think I'm mad?
Do you think it's possible to change your fate you chose when you were young and stupid and do it the "hard way"?
I've worked out what I earn now and what I'd need to earn roughly to be on similar money, I don't mind rejigging finances for a bit if needed and savings taking a hit if it can pick up.
So I've thought about pricing, I'm in the south east which helps I guess as everythings more expensive here.
I'm thinking of keeping rates to myself and quoting job only but basing it off perceived rates set out below.
First hour £50
Hours after that £30
Half day £120
Full day £200
I figure someone who can't put curtains up wouldn't be against paying £50 (1hr) for them to be fitted, I'd only need 3 jobs a day like that to earn what I am now.
Let me know what you think?
Thanks
I'm age 36 with 2 kids who i have 3 nights a week.
I wasted my younger years at school, didn't bother going to college and getting a trade and just spent the past 20 years winging my working life really in various dead end jobs to done success, what I lack in skills or training I make up in drive and determination.
I worked on the railway for several years, started at the bottom and worked my way upto being a train driver, unfortunately ADHD and an inability to concentrate on something dull for long periods of time meant that didn't work out.
After leaving the trains I got a job working for a government department that was recruiting and seemed to pay reasonably well for the area (£40k).
I've been working for the government department for less than 18 months and I absolutely hate it, I wake up every morning dreading work, I seem to work a lot of weekends like almost 50% of them, I have to work Christmas's every other year which isn't ideal with 2 young kids at home. It's just not at all family friendly and this was topped off by having a row with my manager recently about me needing to leave work in a hurry due to a medical emergency with my 4 year old son.
The thing about my son was the final straw for me, I've decided I don't want to be there but obviously need the money for now.
There's not a lot if any jobs locally that will pay anywhere near 40k a year to someone unskilled and unqualified so I got me thinking how else could I make that money.
Fast forward 2 weeks anf we needed some work doing in our bathroom recently due to damp making all the tiles and render basicly fall off the walls, we struggled to find a plumber to even have availability to quote let alone to give us a price for a full tear out and refit so a decent size job, they were all just booked up for months.
This got me thinking there's obviously more demand than supply locally and if I was to retrain than plumbing would be something I'd be intrested in doing.p
I'm generally pretty handy and can do most things within reason although it's all self taught, I've just never tried plumbing so couldn't give it a go.
I've done some research and there's somewhere fairly locally that does adult plumbing course, in either 6 weeks or 2 weekends a month for 7 months.
I can't see anyway I can wangle 6 weeks off work to do the 6 week course and I work weekends which are set out on a roster and none flexible so I couldn't get the weekend courses to line up either.
Which got me thinking maybe this will take more planing than I originally hoped it would. I figure it's only going to get harder as I get older so if I'm going to do it I need to do it sooner rather than later.
I find I quite often pick up odd jobs locally from friends and family, painting fences, putting up curtains and shelves or pushing mowers around, i generally work at least a day a week odd jobbing for friends and family.
This got me thinking if I could create a handyman business and do this sort of thing full time I could potentially get out of the job I'm in which round in turn give me the flexibility to then retrain and get a trade.
I love the idea of working for myself and helped my ex set up a small cleaning business so I'm not going into self employment completely blind but would obviously be keen to hear your opinions.
Do you think I'm mad?
Do you think it's possible to change your fate you chose when you were young and stupid and do it the "hard way"?
I've worked out what I earn now and what I'd need to earn roughly to be on similar money, I don't mind rejigging finances for a bit if needed and savings taking a hit if it can pick up.
So I've thought about pricing, I'm in the south east which helps I guess as everythings more expensive here.
I'm thinking of keeping rates to myself and quoting job only but basing it off perceived rates set out below.
First hour £50
Hours after that £30
Half day £120
Full day £200
I figure someone who can't put curtains up wouldn't be against paying £50 (1hr) for them to be fitted, I'd only need 3 jobs a day like that to earn what I am now.
Let me know what you think?
Thanks
I'm self-employed. Always have been really, except bar jobs when younger etc. I'm essentially unemployable as I'm not a team player at all. Works great for me but I have no kids to worry about so I can take risks. You might not have that option. I think the tricky thing for you will be the transition. It takes a long time to build up a reputation and customer base to provide you with a bedrock of income. How will you achieve this whilst still paying the rent/mortgage and providing for the kids?
For what it's worth, I think you should definitely go for it. I made a career change to go self employed at 50 (poss a bit late) and never regretted it at all. I would add a few pointers though:
- as someones already said, it'll take some time to build up a customer base. Rather than go all in from full time employed to full time self employed, could you go part time with your current job and ease your way into self employed?
- your reputation is everything. When you do jobs for non-family/friends first impressions count hugely and you must turn up on time, look reasonably presentable/polite and do a great job. Don't short change people and, when you do f
k up, admit it and put it right.
- Whatever you decide upon, set your rates and stick to them. Don't discount...you want to develop a reputation of doing a top job, and doing stuff on the cheap is contrary to this. If you are reliable, folks will pay for a reliable handyman.
Good luck!
- as someones already said, it'll take some time to build up a customer base. Rather than go all in from full time employed to full time self employed, could you go part time with your current job and ease your way into self employed?
- your reputation is everything. When you do jobs for non-family/friends first impressions count hugely and you must turn up on time, look reasonably presentable/polite and do a great job. Don't short change people and, when you do f
k up, admit it and put it right.- Whatever you decide upon, set your rates and stick to them. Don't discount...you want to develop a reputation of doing a top job, and doing stuff on the cheap is contrary to this. If you are reliable, folks will pay for a reliable handyman.
Good luck!
I would have a look into taskrabbit - they were working with ikea a few years back and when I last got my set of wardrobes done with them it was £270 odd but saved my back and half a day fathing about getting stressed with the missus. Husband and wife team came and had it done in about an hour and a half.
Go for it.
Never been a better time in terms of demand, and only likely to grow. DIY has become more regulated and young householders less inclined to undertake this type of work themselves.
Try and be more clear the service you will offer, as the rates vary a lot.
Our plumber (who is great) charges £150 for the 1st hour and then up to £400 for full day planned job - and he has months of work in progress. Whereas someone local that can put IKEA furniture together, and curtain poles charges £35 (first hour).
If you have not already, join your local Facebook page (and the surrounding areas), do a search for posts about handyman, building, bathroom, plumbing, decorate, maintenance etc and you will get a feeling of the type of work in demand.
I’d suggest your rate are too low (start higher and drop them if you need to)
Even the chap that blows leaves and cuts the lawn charges £40 (1 hour and little travel time between jobs).
Never been a better time in terms of demand, and only likely to grow. DIY has become more regulated and young householders less inclined to undertake this type of work themselves.
Try and be more clear the service you will offer, as the rates vary a lot.
Our plumber (who is great) charges £150 for the 1st hour and then up to £400 for full day planned job - and he has months of work in progress. Whereas someone local that can put IKEA furniture together, and curtain poles charges £35 (first hour).
If you have not already, join your local Facebook page (and the surrounding areas), do a search for posts about handyman, building, bathroom, plumbing, decorate, maintenance etc and you will get a feeling of the type of work in demand.
I’d suggest your rate are too low (start higher and drop them if you need to)
Even the chap that blows leaves and cuts the lawn charges £40 (1 hour and little travel time between jobs).
Cakey_ said:
Do you think I'm mad?
Do you think it's possible to change your fate you chose when you were young and stupid and do it the "hard way"?
No. You're not mad. You're actually the ideal age to make the leap. Young enough to have the drive, energy and enthusiasm, sufficient time ahead of you to recover if it all goes south but old enough to have the necessary life experience.Do you think it's possible to change your fate you chose when you were young and stupid and do it the "hard way"?
Cakey_ said:
unfortunately ADHD and an inability to concentrate on something dull for long periods of time meant that didn't work out.
You need to be aware that self employment will require periods of your time that necessitate concentration on things you don't particularly enjoy. My son has ADHD and is a high-level self-employed Personal Trainer and Coach. He struggled a lot early on applying the necessary focus on things like admin, marketing and compliance matters. He eventually figured out how to address this (compartmentalising non-productive but essential tasks into small, scheduled bite-size activities over the course of a week) and is now flying. But he still lapses so do keep a watching eye on this. Keep in mind that self employment can be as much as 60% earning and 40% admin.
Cakey_ said:
I'm thinking of keeping rates to myself and quoting job only but basing it off perceived rates set out below.
Absolutely. Price each job as it is presented to you, tailored to the customer. As you progress, you will build intuition as to what to charge.Cakey_ said:
First hour £50
Hours after that £30
Half day £120
Full day £200
Seems about right.Hours after that £30
Half day £120
Full day £200
You should also consider where you can bring in added value to your services. If you need materials for a job and you buy those materials, then it's perfectly reasonable to add a margin to them when you bill the customer. For some jobs, you could earn as much on the margins as you would on the time you spend.
Cakey_ said:
I'd only need 3 jobs a day like that to earn what I am now.
Yes... but be careful on this. It will take a lot of effort and not a little investment to get to the point of having three customers a day. It will come but before that you need to factor in the time necessary to build up a head of steam in terms of marketing, visibility, reputation, etc.Couple of other things:
You will absolutely need business insurance; especially public liability and professional indemnity. This doesn't come cheap. Search out InsuranceJon on PH for this.
Social Media is your marketing friend. Paid-for advertising doesn't cost a lot and will get you some good local visibility early on.
Think creatively on the marketing side of things. A good example is a mate of mine who, finding himself out of work, started a Gardening Business. He offered his services to the local Church for free and started tending the church yard, graves, etc. Did a good job and became a 'face' there. This led to him getting a batch regular paid gardening jobs from quite a few of the parishioners.
Similarly, I live in a small village and the busiest tradespeople are those who play an active role in village life - helping out at the annual fete, volunteering for this and that - so become known in the area you're going to target.
And post this same post in the Business section! Plenty there who've been there on this and have the t-shirt!
HTH and good luck.
You can do it for sure. 3 customers a day is a bit optimistic though. You’d be better off with fewer customers and a higher day rate for more work done. Don’t forget to charge a wage for your business upkeep as well. Treat the business as an extra person working for you so if you’re charging £x per day for you then make sure you also charge £x per day for the business on every job too. You’ll have to decide those rates but make sure you do it.
Start a business account and a separate savings account for your tax and vat payments. You won’t need to be vat registered straightaway but you’ll get there soon enough once you get busy.
Get an accountant. Use xero accounting software to keep track of your expenses and incoming money. Get a separate credit card and make all business purchases on that. Never use it for personal.
Use xero to find out how much you owe and then pay into your tax/vat savings account and pay your business credit card off every Friday. Keep as much as you can in the business account and pay yourself a wage every Friday too. If you do this early you won’t get into a position where you one day find yourself owing loads of tax. It’s easy done when self employed.
Make a website. Not too tough with a bit of homework. Make sure you’re on google maps etc and the free trade directories. You don’t necessarily need to pay for those to start.
Make some headed quoting forms. Don’t just send quotes by text.
There are other things you’ll need to do but they’re just off the top of my head. You sound very capable of doing it.
Good luck!
Start a business account and a separate savings account for your tax and vat payments. You won’t need to be vat registered straightaway but you’ll get there soon enough once you get busy.
Get an accountant. Use xero accounting software to keep track of your expenses and incoming money. Get a separate credit card and make all business purchases on that. Never use it for personal.
Use xero to find out how much you owe and then pay into your tax/vat savings account and pay your business credit card off every Friday. Keep as much as you can in the business account and pay yourself a wage every Friday too. If you do this early you won’t get into a position where you one day find yourself owing loads of tax. It’s easy done when self employed.
Make a website. Not too tough with a bit of homework. Make sure you’re on google maps etc and the free trade directories. You don’t necessarily need to pay for those to start.
Make some headed quoting forms. Don’t just send quotes by text.
There are other things you’ll need to do but they’re just off the top of my head. You sound very capable of doing it.
Good luck!
Wow loads of really positive replies, thank you all.
In terms of transitioning, one of the downsides to my current job is working weekends occasionally but this does free up the odd weekday which I plan to start working for myself.
Unfortunately flexible working isn't an option where I am so it's going to be a case of trying to do 1 ish days a week and get that building up then be really brave and take the leap, obviously I'll have annual leave and toil I could also use to work potentially.
I'm due to work Christmas day 2025 and my goal is to be out before then.
For various reasons I can't actually get started on the tools properly until mid march, so thinking of officially starting in April for tax purposes.
I'm looking at buying a cheap ish van and my plan is to wait until I'm in the tax year I'll be working then I can write off some income as expenses, I don't need much income for the first year as I'll be employed still but not paying huge amounts of tax on my 1 day a week will be a huge bonus.
I've had a brief look into public liability insurance and direct line quoted something like £100 a year which is peanuts for what you get.
In terms of transitioning, one of the downsides to my current job is working weekends occasionally but this does free up the odd weekday which I plan to start working for myself.
Unfortunately flexible working isn't an option where I am so it's going to be a case of trying to do 1 ish days a week and get that building up then be really brave and take the leap, obviously I'll have annual leave and toil I could also use to work potentially.
I'm due to work Christmas day 2025 and my goal is to be out before then.
For various reasons I can't actually get started on the tools properly until mid march, so thinking of officially starting in April for tax purposes.
I'm looking at buying a cheap ish van and my plan is to wait until I'm in the tax year I'll be working then I can write off some income as expenses, I don't need much income for the first year as I'll be employed still but not paying huge amounts of tax on my 1 day a week will be a huge bonus.
I've had a brief look into public liability insurance and direct line quoted something like £100 a year which is peanuts for what you get.
Cakey_ said:
I've had a brief look into public liability insurance and direct line quoted something like £100 a year which is peanuts for what you get.
Be careful! Read the schedule and don't forget professional indemnity. If you drill through someone's water pipes or accidentally burst a tank, you're liable for the repairs that could run into many, many thousands. I'd advise speaking to an insurance professional who can tailor a policy precisely to your needs.The £1 you earn by using your own skill and wits is worth much more than the £1 you get paid for sitting at a desk following orders.
As long as you're competent at admin - keeping the books, tax, any pertinent legislation - then the main issue IMHO is finding enough work to earn an amount you feel comfortable with. Remember that when you're self-employed, if you don't work, you earn nothing. No sick leave, no paternal leave, no paid holidays. Consider your pension too.
'Foraging on the plains of self-employment'. Freedom and reward, but with risk. Then again, you're not likely to make yourself redundant!
As long as you're competent at admin - keeping the books, tax, any pertinent legislation - then the main issue IMHO is finding enough work to earn an amount you feel comfortable with. Remember that when you're self-employed, if you don't work, you earn nothing. No sick leave, no paternal leave, no paid holidays. Consider your pension too.
'Foraging on the plains of self-employment'. Freedom and reward, but with risk. Then again, you're not likely to make yourself redundant!
Cakey_ said:
I've had a brief look into public liability insurance and direct line quoted something like £100 a year which is peanuts for what you get.
Wouldn't they want to know how much experience you have?Seems to me a new guy starting out is a higher risk than an established guy with 10 years under his belt.
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