Millionaire Challenge

tinktay84

Hello Wilf and sl1Million

hope to hear more from you both

rictus123

Well whos got there plan down on paper at least? The day to day grind wont get any of us rich..so we need more streams of income. The more the better. i think my route will be a buy to let portfolio.

tinktay84

ive got my business and am also going to build up BTL as well as various other bits and bobs.

Business is going great at the mo and with the extra training and skills im going to be working on I should be able to command quite high rates for more specialised work (sounds so rude hahaha)

Im talking to 2 different brokers to discuss mortgage options and hopefully will get a decent deal together.

My debts are slowly going and I have ordered and paid for vouchers this year so xmas should be good as the £600 of vouchers should be more than enough(kids are still young so dont cost a fortune)

Im gonna be in local paper weds (was supposed to be tues) so that should give me some great (free) advertising.

Now that we all wear bright pink tshirts with website on I think we will get more interest but at the moment im having to tell people they are looking at new year before I can get work done as Im so busy but people seem willing to wait!

anyone else got progress reports/

rictus123

Maybe you should take someone else on then? Get some work done quicker and more money in for xmas? Im away on holiday abroad for a week at the end of this week....once back i plan on working 7 days a week(hopefully find plenty jobs outside 9-5 to keep me busy) and keep the money flowing in 7 days a week. Looking at trying to earn and put away at least £100 a day....will mean a continuious £3,000 in and saved every month. This is an aim as an average though, alot of days work out more, while some days less. Think itl be next year before i achieve that figure. Few good jobs on the go and it wont be totally unrealistic but £3k a month even 6 months over summer that will be £18k, not too bad going

tinktay84

Ive just taken 2 girls on but we are still booked up until xmas.I cant take any more on as that would mean getting another vehicle, more equipment and paying out higher wages to the person who would be doing jobs on their own/supervising. I totally agree with spreading the workload but softly softly at the mo.

In my trade it tends to go quiet in january but the way we are going it doesnt look like we will.I still have to assess the trend and account for it.If I were to take on more people I would then need to let them go in January if we do get a lull. Im hoping we wont but as I say right now I cant risk it.

at this point in time im not taking a wage as I am still building up but in the next 3 months I should be recooping my original investments and taking a wage which is great going

rictus123

Well I'm more than ready to step up the chase in this dream. It's not so much millionare status but my own definition of well off. Sick or injured equals a bit of time off...not forced to work because I can't afford time off. I do not want to be living payday to payday. What I may do is get wages paid into an account and only take out 60% max of what goes in,gradually it will build into a sort of savings account so even when I don't have an income that fortnight or just income is low I can still take out what I'm used to. So if work was to slow for anything Upto 8 weeks I'd be covered for it. The dream has never been more on. Away on holiday just now, its been a massive eye opener about life. I'm ready to take this challenge and destroy all my goals.

tinktay84

well we had our 5 mins of fame in our local paper on Wednesday and I am blown away by what a large piece they did on us! I expected a photo and 4-5 lines but we were in fact the big news of the day in the business section which was pretty good going!Ive been stopped in Tesco car park by people that read the story and everything hehe.

We are still plodding away getting straight with debts etc and I have work booked in for the foreseeable future so its just a bit of a waiting game as i literally am out from 7.30am - 8pm most days at the moment.Just waiting for the rewards which is the hard bit.

anyone got any updates to keep me going and motivated??

lessonlearned

tinktay84 wrote: »

anyone got any updates to keep me going and motivated??

I'm still here.

Business wise not a lot to report - will explain why in a mo.

However, I thought I would just give you a little prod to keep you motivated.Actually Tinktay I think you are doing extremely well, a nice full order book is always a good sign;) I'm enjoying reading about your progress - you are working hard and it looks like it's starting to pay off.

I think just sticking with your two members of staff is a good idea for now. If you try to grow too fast it might be difficult to keep an eye on quality control and as, a fledgling business, this is something you need to watch so that you can build up a good reputation for quality work.

Also if you grow your business organically it will be easier to control costs. Rapid expansion usually means extra borrowing and, although bank rates are still low, unfortunately interest rates on business borrowing aren't very favourable at the moment.

Your newspaper editorial sounds fab, it will also help to keep you noticed and is bound to bring in extra business.

A word of warning - don't panic if the orders full away in January and February - it's often a difficult time for business - but especially anything to do with construction, interior design etc. It might be worth planning ahead and thinking about some sort of special offers/new initiatives to keep up your profile and increase business.

Please don't think I'm being cheeky but here's a few ideas you might find useful.

Newspapers are always looking for something to print - how about something like an article on new trends for Spring. You could also do something similar on your website. Do you have a section on your website for press cuttings and of course, for customer testimonials etc

Have you thought about branching out a little into accessories - cushions, throws, objet d'art etc which complement your work. You could subcontract the sewing work for curtains etc to seamstresses - SAHM's or new graduates from textile/fashion courses at your local college. Just a few ideas.

Anyway re my goals for that (first) million. Thinking big never hurt anyone;) - Reach for moon and you just might grab a star.:rotfl:

Unfortunately have had to put a lot of my plans on hold due to difficulties in finding good care for OH. However, I think we are finally there. I've just today now finally managed to put a good home care package in place - fingers crossed . It is something of a juggling act - having to use two separate care agencies, plus one main carer/pa for 4 days, one for 1 day and then a third for illness/back up and emergencies.

It means mountains of paperwork because we are doing it through Disability Direct but at least this way, because I'm holding the purse strings and managing the budgets, then we can choose the right people and buy in the right help.

I've also finally found a nursing home for respite and eventual permanent residential care for when that becomes necessary.

This home specialises in the care of patients with neurological conditions and is the only place I've found which has any experience of OH's condition - cerebellar ataxia. So ............result at last. It's only taken just over a year to get all this put in place.

So finally I will soon be in a position to make a proper start.

In the meantime I've been reorganising finances, changing bank accounts etc to make the most of what money we have. I've also been looking into a couple of courses I want to take.

Oh - and I've sold some jewellery - one of my sideline businesses is to make and sell my own line of jewellery. It won't make me a fortune but it adds to the coffers. My chiropodist displays it for me (for free) and I've just taken in another batch to hopefully gather some Christmas sales.

So a little progress at last.

tinktay84

Of course im not offended!!!!! All your points are the same thing that i think about. i am waaaaay off being able to hire anymore people anyway as I am currently not earning myself until im through the transitional period (using money from 1 man jobs ive been doing to now complete and pay 3 man jobs) This should smooth out in the next 2 weeks as we have finished 2 big jobs that ive used my own money to staff and they should be paidd in the next few weeks.

With regard to quietening down around january we are geared up for this and are in contact with a large contractors who have said we can ring up as late as 'on the day' and they will have work for us.They have offered us more per day/per person than I pay my staff so I should even out a bit.wish i could do some work for them now to build up some revenue but as I say we are booked solid.I also do work for a landlord who has properties in the hundreds and is using us as his primary decorating company.Also I am now taking bookings for january so hopefully the three elements will keep us going. ive also spoken to the girls and come up with a 'ladies agreement' that if work is quiet they will take unpaid days in exchaange for me making sure it evens up over he year so in summer months they will be offered more days if they want them.

With regards to accessories......RIGHT UP MY STREET!!! Ive already been doing the odd bit of furniture but not offered them for sale yet.Im hoping to get a few bits together to take to some kind of fair. My sister runs a textiles shop so cushion covers etc are easily accessible. On my new website I have pics of a few items we have done (new website is decor-angels and its .com)

great to hear progress is being made wth regards to respite care etc hopefully this will be taking a weight off.Hope everything starts to fall into place for you.

Also great with the jewellery, its good that you can get it displayed for free that must be a great bonus, especially, as you say its just pin money anyway

tinktay84

Hi Guys,

Thought I would pop on while ive got 5 mins! Im up early tomorrow as I am attending a networking breakfast so need to be up at 5am.I thought my days of 5am starts were over but hey ho.

Now im about to have a moan so feel free to skip past this bit....

There is a person that I see on pretty mucha daily basis that keeps complaining about lack of work, I told this person about at least 3 places within walking distance of their home that were currently hiring....they never applied. Then today I was sat listening to this person saying they get £30 a week, £10 buys packed lunch items for week, £10 goes to 'keep' as they live with parents and they only have £10 a week to live off....... I think this person soon realised they were in bad company when I voiced how nice it would be to have £10 that I could spend on anything I wanted and to be able to cover rent, utilities, food etc with just £10 a week.....

I actually feel lucky when I hear people like this talking as I know I have the driive and determination to get a better life and that my life isnt so pants that this is the biggest issue in my life