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Re: work dead
I would have thought it made more sense to have stuff repaired when money is tight and replace when things pick up.
That said, the last few weeks repairs have dropped off and i’ve sold quite a few Amica’s and Beko’s. I’d sooner do repairs more satisfaction and better margins 😉work is slow and found out this morning that my wife is loosing her job at the end of the summer, school budget cut backs…. tough times ahead
Re: work dead
RocketMan wrote:
What else can I do while I’ve got the budget and time??Downsize?
Re: more training. I suppose if it’s free, why not? Still I doubt the value of too much diversification. As a one man band, it’s tough enough trying to keep up on technical/parts etc. with just three or four appliance types. You might need a bigger van if you’re going to do gas on the same run and you’ll need to be clever to know where to find the right tool when you want it.
It comes down to, “jack of all…” OTOH, being a joat’s is a bit more variety in your life.
Mike.Re: work dead
Gas servicing is not really worth the financial cost.
If you pass this week you still have to pay the £480 to register with Gas Safe, which is the full 12 month price, yet you only get 9 months, then you pay some more.
Plus the equipment, reg books.
Most gas hobs now cost minus £150.00, gas ovens/cookers are getting rare, there are no gas tumble dryers.
Most faults that are gas related are getting less, most of mine are leaks under guarantee caused by faulty installations.
I get around 3 a month gas jobs and I make probably £60.00 if I’m lucky on all three jobs.
Re: work dead
Reminds me of something I heard on radio about a year ago. Apparently lots of public money had been going into training plumbers. But when they finished the training they found there were no jobs. What a surprise! Whitegoods (DAPSE) was was once a popular thing to teach the unemployed to get them back into work. I guess it kind of worked for me, although I’d only been out a few weeks. Those of my college mates with whom I maintained contact soon jacked it in!
Mike.appleelectrics wrote:we have just dropped our gas safe as the costs involved made it uneconomical
This is an interesting point you’ve brought up there Simon. As I was under the impression, rightly or wrongly it appears, that being registered as a Gas Safe engineer was a money maker in our trade? Dual fuel appliance service and installation, gas tumble dryers, hobs etc etc. So reading between the lines then, the cost to be gas safe outweighs the potential income from it then does it?
Refrideration/air conditioning appears to be the way forward as far as I can tell anyway. Speaking to a few commercial fridge guys of late it seems they are stacked out with work. One chap I had a long chat with goes round shops and pubs under contract to Coca Cola. Replacing compressors on display coolers and cabinets in shops and supermarkets. His mate coins it by fixing drinks coolers behind the bars of pubs and hotels. Coca Cola/Schweppes/Pepsi are real good payers right now and their contracts are very long term…apparently that is? 😉
Re: work dead
lee8 wrote:Gas servicing is not really worth the financial cost.
If you pass this week you still have to pay the £480 to register with Gas Safe, which is the full 12 month price, yet you only get 9 months, then you pay some more.
Plus the equipment, reg books.
Most gas hobs now cost minus £150.00, gas ovens/cookers are getting rare, there are no gas tumble dryers.
Most faults that are gas related are getting less, most of mine are leaks under guarantee caused by faulty installations.
I get around 3 a month gas jobs and I make probably £60.00 if I’m lucky on all three jobs.
😮 who,s taking you for a chump,thats only £20 per job,you should get at least triple that.Re: work dead
lee8 wrote:Gas servicing is not really worth the financial cost.
If you pass this week you still have to pay the £480 to register with Gas Safe, which is the full 12 month price, yet you only get 9 months, then you pay some more.
Plus the equipment, reg books.
Most gas hobs now cost minus £150.00, gas ovens/cookers are getting rare, there are no gas tumble dryers.
Most faults that are gas related are getting less, most of mine are leaks under guarantee caused by faulty installations.
I get around 3 a month gas jobs and I make probably £60.00 if I’m lucky on all three jobs.
This is exactly where I was 5 years ago.
The only reason to stay registered was the big manufacturer contract and when that went it was goodbye CORGI.
Then I got out of VAT and got rid of all the evil monkeys 😀Steve
Re: work dead
It’s been a bit slow up here for the last three weeks, about 50{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} down.
It was the same last year, previous 15 years I had no quite periods all year.
Last couple of days has seen more calls coming in 😀Everyone is on holiday, I was talking to a customer who owns a big caravan site in this area, he was telling me that this time last year they saw a massive increase in visitors over previous years. This year he said it’s even busier, he figures that it’s down to the bank holidays being close together same as last year and people choosing not to risk bookng a holiday abroad with all the air travel problems.
On the down side I have had the odd phone call to attend fridges in holiday static caravans where they have asked me to go out on a weekend including Sundays as they are only there at that time, they are on holiday . I am working……. 👿After last year I have not panicked, next year I am going to have a holiday.
Re: work dead
Ironically ive got 6 decent jobs booked in for tomorrow, more than i had during most of last week 😯 I’ve heard of feast & famine but the way it is right now is doing my nut!
One week you’re seriously thinking its the end of the road for the game, & then the next the phone miraculously springs back to life 😯
Really pisses me off when its like this though, cant plan for anything, a predictible monthly income is looking more & more desirable.Trouble is i doubt very much if i could take orders from anyone now..prob lucky to last a week without whacking someone 🙂 The curse of self employment i’m afraid.. i think it actually leaves you unemployable! scary thought 😯
Re: work dead
Madmac wrote:
Trouble is i doubt very much if i could take orders from anyone now..prob lucky to last a week without whacking someone 🙂 The curse of self employment i’m afraid.. i think it actually leaves you unemployable! scary thought 😯
Phew… thought it was just me… 🙂Re: work dead
wards wrote:
😮 who,s taking you for a chump,thats only £20 per job,you should get at least triple that.Profit, by defintion the remaining amount after all costs deducted. :rolls:
Once an appliance has been isolated and a drop test still shows a leak, its not much time involved.
We don’t repair pipe work and every tom dick and harry round my area has done a gas course, so call outs are low as there are so many to choose from.
Thanks to the govt now giving out grants to people to retrain, the market is swamped.
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