Is now a bad time to start a business?

Slinky

Do you have a small local or parish magazine? These work really well for trades people (I run two of them and my trades people are always busy). Other cheap places to advertise are cards in the Post office/newsagents shop windows.

Micheal_thomas

Flashdaisy wrote: »

Hi all

Firstly, please excuse me if I've put this in the wrong section, I wasn't sure where to put it lol.

Right, my OH is a subcontractor electrician who is currently having problems getting paid by the company he is working for. It has been many weeks since he has been paid. In my opinion rather than keep working 12 hours a day uncertain of whether he will ever be paid for it or not, I think he should bang some flyers out (I have even offered to do the legwork on his behalf :rotfl:), and try and get some self-employed work. He is fully qualified and registered with the necessary governing bodies to be able to do this BTW.

He says that now isn't a good time to start a business, what with the "credit crunch", but I think that although you might not get an incredible volume of work at the moment, people always need electricians, don't they?

We have 2 young children and I am a stay at home mum, so obviously we don't have another income and it's important to me that we get things a bit sorted asap.

Any advice/opinions/suggestions would be much appreciated. Cheers

Thanks for sharing a very nice post. I feel like any one can start a business sitting at home as it needs no employment hassles and no monitoring staff. One can work for long or short hours. But in order to make money online its better to read some good internet marketing e-books, know about the products which will be useful in business.

brandguru

If you require any business development advice or web/graphic design, feel free to contact me

ukbill69

Go for it, plan goals and stick to them!

flaura

Flashdaisy wrote: »

Hi all

Firstly, please excuse me if I've put this in the wrong section, I wasn't sure where to put it lol.

Right, my OH is a subcontractor electrician who is currently having problems getting paid by the company he is working for. It has been many weeks since he has been paid. In my opinion rather than keep working 12 hours a day uncertain of whether he will ever be paid for it or not, I think he should bang some flyers out (I have even offered to do the legwork on his behalf :rotfl:), and try and get some self-employed work. He is fully qualified and registered with the necessary governing bodies to be able to do this BTW.

He says that now isn't a good time to start a business, what with the "credit crunch", but I think that although you might not get an incredible volume of work at the moment, people always need electricians, don't they?

We have 2 young children and I am a stay at home mum, so obviously we don't have another income and it's important to me that we get things a bit sorted asap.

Any advice/opinions/suggestions would be much appreciated. Cheers

you can currently get flyers free on vista print nice posh glossy ones and 250 free business cards....

smallbiznews

They say it's never a bad time to start a good business. I think that might be a little simplistic in these turbulent times (!), but the fact remains that if your OH is skilled and hard working (which he clearly is), he should be able to pick up some custom.

The normal risks of starting a business don't really apply here because a) he is already a sub-contractor (self-employed?) and b) he is facing cashflow problems anyway because of his employer's late/non-payment.

My advice would be to start by doing some research into your local market, asking friends, family etc if they need jobs done and then expand the business with some marketing etc (you could try fliers but I suspect word-of-mouth marketing would be the best endorsement in this instance).

You don't need to jump in with both feet and launch an all-singing all-dancing business -take your time and do what you can to keep the cash coming in ;-)

mamamoi

I'm Just wondering about the free flyers on vistaprint as I have had a look around their site and can't see anything about this? I see the business cards etc but no flyers.

Thanks mamamoi

ebas

Hi Flashdaisy and All,

Flashdaisy - I really hope things work out for you both - you seem like a loyal and supportive partner and deserve a story with a happy ending. As the partner of an about to become self-employed electrician and the mother of two children the following info may be of use to you, as it covers both angles: possible free advertising over five years for your partner and a part-time income for yourself.

I am involved in the day-to-day the promotion of small to medium sized businesses in the Surrey / Middlesex area, and a company local to me is just about to launch a UK-wide licensed local leaflet distribution business based on its own successfully trialled model. Due to its particularly low entry cost, I believe this could really take off, and could easily be configured to be of quite some benefit to shops, service providers and those self-employed looking for effective but inexpensive local marketing.

I know one of the directors, and the license costs just £97 per year inclusive of support and training, and any partner of a self employed tradesperson or other small business owner who would be happy to deliver leaflets for just a few hours per week could effectively advertise their partner's business for free whilst at the same time bringing in a part-time income for themselves.

Whilst this opportunity is most likely aimed at those looking to top up their pensions, insulate against the credit crunch or at mums looking for an extra income, from my point of view I think of it as being a good opportunity for small businesses with a limited marketing budget and a supportive partner.

Before writing this I checked with the YourLeafletBusiness director whom I know, and he is quite ok about me mentioning as described his company on this site, and would appreciate any feedback.

I hope this proves to be of help, and wish all of you either about to start up or already running your own business every success. The same goes for all you partners of small business owners whose support is equally as important. Best wishes, Ebas.

Micheal_thomas

Thank you for your kind wishes. The business plan will help you in making crucial decisions about your venture. You can use the help of consultants, the Internet, various books and other mentors who have had some experiences in the business. Include the clear process that your business will follow and the persons whose help will be needed for the success of the venture

Horace

I set up my business at the end of October last year. I was at a recent open day held at my local chamber of commerce which was aimed at start up businesses - they have an offer on for membership at the mo which is £170 plus VAT for membership but you get loads for it. I was talking to someone saying that I was wondering if I had set up in business at the right time and they said that if you can set up and make it work during a recession then you can do anything. The Chanber of Commerce also run courses for people who are thinking of starting up a business and these cover everything you need to know including writing a business plan - these courses are free.

Vistaprint do leaflets but you have to wary of Vistaprint because they will try and slip their advert on there so you have to make sure you proof read everything properly and they will also try and sign you up to their VIP club for which they will charge.

Another place to look for cheap flyers is https://www.ooprint.co.uk - they seem to be similar to Vistaprint, I have never used them so cannot comment on whether or not they are any good.


HTH and good luck, I am pleased that I set up my business and hopefully I will get some clients soon mind you if not I have fingers in lots of pies so I won't become destitute:D