What do you do to afford your cars...? If it's not too rude.
Discussion
irfan1712 said:
Is there much call for this? No sarcasm im generally interested. Car 'Sourcing' - what / where do you find vehicles that jo bloggs couldnt find themselves through the regular means.. who or what are your normal clients?
im in the classifieds of most websites everyday generally looking. After typing that and then thinking about it, i just realized how sad i am lol.
I have access to many vehicles not on the market. In addition most of my clients are now overseas (post Brexit). im in the classifieds of most websites everyday generally looking. After typing that and then thinking about it, i just realized how sad i am lol.
Most of my clients are HNW individuals or people that want a sale/purchase with discretion.
swerni said:
okgo said:
The hatred of 'sales' is a very 'young uni grad' attitude to things. I've heard it time and time again from people how they would do ANYTHING but end up in sales (as if all sales jobs are exactly the same). Guess what, most of them still earn s
te money and moan about it 
I only have a second hand car, so I'm sure its not of interest to OP. The answer to the question is likely much more about how people prioritise their income vs how much they earn. There are (by definition) going to be a lot of people on average money on this forum, yet the general standard of car is much higher. There are also huge national divides, and if you're lucky to have a well paid job in a cheap part of the country, then clearly you're straight away going to have a lot more money to spend on non essential things.
Don't go into sales, it's a ste money and moan about it I only have a second hand car, so I'm sure its not of interest to OP. The answer to the question is likely much more about how people prioritise their income vs how much they earn. There are (by definition) going to be a lot of people on average money on this forum, yet the general standard of car is much higher. There are also huge national divides, and if you're lucky to have a well paid job in a cheap part of the country, then clearly you're straight away going to have a lot more money to spend on non essential things.
Edited by okgo on Wednesday 22 February 10:36
t and you're sat behind a desk all day or driving up and down the motorway in your poverty specced diesel, all for a small handful of figs. h-fest that ensues, however... I've found it quite interesting reading this thread. I'm now not going to wave my dick around, but would take issue with the idea of avoiding sales as a career. Indeed, most MD / CEO's and the like either come from a sales or a finance background and what sales does do is give you a good grounding on the basics of business (I don't want to be all Alan Sugar here, but there's some truth in it). Personally, I started on a graduate training thing in a medium sized company and after 2 years deliberately looked for a sales role as it felt like a piece of 'education' that I'd missed out on. I then spent the best part of 10 years in sales roles within IT, in a number of companies, but more at the consultative sales end. Remember, sales can be about 'who does your tampons?' and flogging it up and down the M4, but it can be an awful lot more complex and sophisticated, intellectual, challenging... It all comes down to what you're selling and who to. My stints included more senior sales roles / bus dev, before moving into a more operationally focused role that included responsibility for client management and relations. Then, I was promoted to MD of that business when I was about 35. Subsequently I moved to be CEO of another medium-sized business at the age of 40. At that point I was on a decent salary, but not in the realms of affording a supercar. I did, however, manage to stretch things out to a shed + a secondhand GranTurismo. The thing that then changed gears for me was that the company was sold and I had the opportunity to get some equity in the business, and when the business was sold a few years later...well, the big house, the nice cars etc... all came along. Could I have achieved this without a grounding in sales? Possibly, but it'd have been an awful lot harder and I genuinely don't believe that I would have been as successful without it. The Sales Director also did pretty well out of this process!
So, don't dismiss sales as a career option or as a step to other things.
BigR said:
I rarely reply to anything on PH because of the bh-fest that ensues, however... I've found it quite interesting reading this thread. I'm now not going to wave my dick around, but would take issue with the idea of avoiding sales as a career. Indeed, most MD / CEO's and the like either come from a sales or a finance background and what sales does do is give you a good grounding on the basics of business (I don't want to be all Alan Sugar here, but there's some truth in it). Personally, I started on a graduate training thing in a medium sized company and after 2 years deliberately looked for a sales role as it felt like a piece of 'education' that I'd missed out on. I then spent the best part of 10 years in sales roles within IT, in a number of companies, but more at the consultative sales end. Remember, sales can be about 'who does your tampons?' and flogging it up and down the M4, but it can be an awful lot more complex and sophisticated, intellectual, challenging... It all comes down to what you're selling and who to. My stints included more senior sales roles / bus dev, before moving into a more operationally focused role that included responsibility for client management and relations. Then, I was promoted to MD of that business when I was about 35. Subsequently I moved to be CEO of another medium-sized business at the age of 40. At that point I was on a decent salary, but not in the realms of affording a supercar. I did, however, manage to stretch things out to a shed + a secondhand GranTurismo.
The thing that then changed gears for me was that the company was sold and I had the opportunity to get some equity in the business, and when the business was sold a few years later...well, the big house, the nice cars etc... all came along. Could I have achieved this without a grounding in sales? Possibly, but it'd have been an awful lot harder and I genuinely don't believe that I would have been as successful without it. The Sales Director also did pretty well out of this process!
So, don't dismiss sales as a career option or as a step to other things.
Good story there. And indeed (swerni was being sarcastic btw) there are many types of sales, and if the product is interesting and not straight forward, then its far more consultative than the job title can let on. I think careers advisors are guilty potentially of blanket slating sales as failure as I've certainly heard it many times from grad mates that they'd do anything to avoid 'taking a sales job' like its some last resort if all else fails. h-fest that ensues, however... I've found it quite interesting reading this thread. I'm now not going to wave my dick around, but would take issue with the idea of avoiding sales as a career. Indeed, most MD / CEO's and the like either come from a sales or a finance background and what sales does do is give you a good grounding on the basics of business (I don't want to be all Alan Sugar here, but there's some truth in it). Personally, I started on a graduate training thing in a medium sized company and after 2 years deliberately looked for a sales role as it felt like a piece of 'education' that I'd missed out on. I then spent the best part of 10 years in sales roles within IT, in a number of companies, but more at the consultative sales end. Remember, sales can be about 'who does your tampons?' and flogging it up and down the M4, but it can be an awful lot more complex and sophisticated, intellectual, challenging... It all comes down to what you're selling and who to. My stints included more senior sales roles / bus dev, before moving into a more operationally focused role that included responsibility for client management and relations. Then, I was promoted to MD of that business when I was about 35. Subsequently I moved to be CEO of another medium-sized business at the age of 40. At that point I was on a decent salary, but not in the realms of affording a supercar. I did, however, manage to stretch things out to a shed + a secondhand GranTurismo. The thing that then changed gears for me was that the company was sold and I had the opportunity to get some equity in the business, and when the business was sold a few years later...well, the big house, the nice cars etc... all came along. Could I have achieved this without a grounding in sales? Possibly, but it'd have been an awful lot harder and I genuinely don't believe that I would have been as successful without it. The Sales Director also did pretty well out of this process!
So, don't dismiss sales as a career option or as a step to other things.
BigR said:
Could I have achieved this without a grounding in sales? Possibly, but it'd have been an awful lot harder and I genuinely don't believe that I would have been as successful without it.
So, don't dismiss sales as a career option or as a step to other things.
I've built my career as a techy and since being a self employed contractor I couldn't agree with this statement more. I used to resent salesmen when I was working for someone else as an engineer, but have since learnt that I need to have a salesman hat on and have spent a lot of my personal time reading and learning what it takes to become a good salesman. Now the next logical step to progress involves more of a sales engineering position. So, don't dismiss sales as a career option or as a step to other things.
n17ves said:
Evanivitch said:
Some of the best paid doctors are those that sell lifestyle choices like plastic surgery.
And some buy into practices and don't sell a thing.One doctor i know of who used to be a surgeon has a small cosmetic practice doing the usual botox type stuff and that works well, but that is a semi retired, couple of mornings a week type thing.
Medical products can be very lucrative, i know the chap who invented http://rediscoveryourgo.com/bhrbirminghamhipresurf... and he has done extremely well out of it. He was an extrelmely well regarded orthopaedic surgeon, but had to sell it to anyone and everyone in the local area and when the results were quantified it exploded worldwide, lamborghinis were the nett result
Relationship building, marketing and self promotion (call it Sales if you want a simple tag) is at the heart of EVERY successful commercial entity. an orthopaedic surgeon explaining his product's benefits in an international lecture demo is no different to a bleach sales rep hammering up and down the m5 in his insignia. It's still sales...
a 'nice' car is objective though
I drive a £250 Xantia Estate that I think is a really nice car that I like very much. But I prefer cars at this end of the market, and don't really like modern cars.
It annoys me when people come up in some new golf and say 'do you like my new car?' as I only don't outright say No is I don't like to be rude. Driving a 14 plate company golf to barnsley and back to Marlow the other week confirmed that.
Fair play to rich people, I'm not rich, but I do enjoy spannering so that helps me run an OK car on shed budget, as a job like a clutch soon turns from £400 to £130 and a saturdays work... and I learn something
I drive a £250 Xantia Estate that I think is a really nice car that I like very much. But I prefer cars at this end of the market, and don't really like modern cars.
It annoys me when people come up in some new golf and say 'do you like my new car?' as I only don't outright say No is I don't like to be rude. Driving a 14 plate company golf to barnsley and back to Marlow the other week confirmed that.
Fair play to rich people, I'm not rich, but I do enjoy spannering so that helps me run an OK car on shed budget, as a job like a clutch soon turns from £400 to £130 and a saturdays work... and I learn something
swerni said:
But there's this assumption that, if you're doing well you won't be happy.
I think that well paid jobs tend to be well paid because they are difficult/challenging in some way, jobs that are difficult/challenging can require you to dedicate a lot of your time to them. This takes its toll long term and does often equate to being unhappy. Not always the case, but I would say often the case.
patmahe said:
swerni said:
But there's this assumption that, if you're doing well you won't be happy.
I think that well paid jobs tend to be well paid because they are difficult/challenging in some way, jobs that are difficult/challenging can require you to dedicate a lot of your time to them. This takes its toll long term and does often equate to being unhappy. Not always the case, but I would say often the case.
I worked for a large bank (one with a horse logo) in the 1980s and 1990s. When I started there was a premium on intelligence and on those who could pass the banking exams. As a consequence, smart people who understood banking were the ones who, generally speaking, got promoted.
Then the sales culture arrived and the sales targets. Suddenly, the gobby ones who could bamboozle clients into buying st they didnt need were being promoted like nobodys business. Mostly these employees were, frankly, thick as st. The smart people suddenly didn't get a look in.
Such people ended up running the bank. What could possibly go wrong.....
Then the sales culture arrived and the sales targets. Suddenly, the gobby ones who could bamboozle clients into buying s
t they didnt need were being promoted like nobodys business. Mostly these employees were, frankly, thick as st. The smart people suddenly didn't get a look in.Such people ended up running the bank. What could possibly go wrong.....
blueg33 said:
I love my job and would recommend property development especially land buying to anyone. Every day is different, its rewarding. I pay 25 year old development managers a min of £40k, an experienced land manager can expect to earn £100k pa
Slightly OT.Edited by blueg33 on Saturday 18th February 19:35
About 2 years ago I saw a similiar post from yourself recommending Land buying. At that point i had just finished a Real Estate degree and about to go down the commercial agency graduate route.
However, on the back of your post (and further) research, I went down the land route. Had offers from the large housebuilders as Land graduate, but decided to work for a meduim-sized niche residential housebuilder as a land Grad. Subsequently dealt with land/site finding, land sales, commercial investment management and just completed on a large freehold investment sale to a fund.
Not at the level you pay 25yr old develoment managers (currently £26k at 25 based in South East) but is a interesting career path. Residentail care providers are doing well though and not bad place to be working in currently.
OddCat said:
I worked for a large bank (one with a horse logo) in the 1980s and 1990s. When I started there was a premium on intelligence and on those who could pass the banking exams. As a consequence, smart people who understood banking were the ones who, generally speaking, got promoted.
Then the sales culture arrived and the sales targets. Suddenly, the gobby ones who could bamboozle clients into buying st they didnt need were being promoted like nobodys business. Mostly these employees were, frankly, thick as st. The smart people suddenly didn't get a look in.
Such people ended up running the bank. What could possibly go wrong.....
That's interestng, my business bank is the horsey one. When I was about to start my first business in the early 90s, the manager allocated to me asked for the usual business plan and the usual fiction aka cashflow forecast in order to open an account, but he took the time to understand what my business was all about (take a bow Mike Cornish, hope he's still around and firing on all cylinders). Old school and prepared to listen. After that, with no naming and shaming, it's been down-hill all the way with managers who weren't and aren't interested in how that business or the second business ticked, giving inapplicable advice which sounded like it came from a screen menu. Hopeless. ETA when Mrs TB and me got a third business going we barely bothered listening, it was a waste of time.Then the sales culture arrived and the sales targets. Suddenly, the gobby ones who could bamboozle clients into buying s
t they didnt need were being promoted like nobodys business. Mostly these employees were, frankly, thick as st. The smart people suddenly didn't get a look in.Such people ended up running the bank. What could possibly go wrong.....
I would say you need to do something you enjoy above all else. You spend a long time at work and it is very easy to be miserable.
I work in financial services in the city. It is hard, pressured and on occasion the hours are very long.
I earn a reasonable amount but am not that materialistic at all. I do however have all the cars and everything else in life that I want. Arguably you could say my motivation for working and pushing myself is reducing as I get older.
But what I want above all else is time to actually enjoy things. I don't drive enough and I don't spend enough time with family.
I could happily have 'just' an old M3 or something similar worth £8-10k and with the time to drive and enjoy it, arguably I would be more satisfied.
Money is all well and good but having enough to have what you personally want in life is more important IMO.
I work in financial services in the city. It is hard, pressured and on occasion the hours are very long.
I earn a reasonable amount but am not that materialistic at all. I do however have all the cars and everything else in life that I want. Arguably you could say my motivation for working and pushing myself is reducing as I get older.
But what I want above all else is time to actually enjoy things. I don't drive enough and I don't spend enough time with family.
I could happily have 'just' an old M3 or something similar worth £8-10k and with the time to drive and enjoy it, arguably I would be more satisfied.
Money is all well and good but having enough to have what you personally want in life is more important IMO.
I have the issue that I could never think of a dream job when I was younger so had nothing to chase, and if you asked me now I would still have no idea.
I became a marine engineer which I did enjoy, had a couple of great jobs with small companies where I loved working. Last one I worked for laid us all off in November so that they could outsource all their manufacturing. I now work for a very well known Motor Yacht manufacturer who employes about 2300 people. I'm not a fan of large companies. The money is OK for now, I get £33k basic, theres a few guys who are working 70+ hours a week and earning £1400 a week. I don't want to waste that much of my life at work as I like getting out in my boat and on my motorbikes.
One of my best mates is a marine electrician so we are thinking of going into business together as between us we can do pretty much anything anyone wants on their boats. We also both have our own boats so we can do on water repairs which a lot of companies don't do and customers don't want to pay to have their boat on a boatyard mooring or taken out of the water.
It's a struggle trying to do this whilst we both have full time jobs. Both have bills and stuff to pay so can't give up work, and with the evenings being dark we are limited to weekends currently.
I became a marine engineer which I did enjoy, had a couple of great jobs with small companies where I loved working. Last one I worked for laid us all off in November so that they could outsource all their manufacturing. I now work for a very well known Motor Yacht manufacturer who employes about 2300 people. I'm not a fan of large companies. The money is OK for now, I get £33k basic, theres a few guys who are working 70+ hours a week and earning £1400 a week. I don't want to waste that much of my life at work as I like getting out in my boat and on my motorbikes.
One of my best mates is a marine electrician so we are thinking of going into business together as between us we can do pretty much anything anyone wants on their boats. We also both have our own boats so we can do on water repairs which a lot of companies don't do and customers don't want to pay to have their boat on a boatyard mooring or taken out of the water.
It's a struggle trying to do this whilst we both have full time jobs. Both have bills and stuff to pay so can't give up work, and with the evenings being dark we are limited to weekends currently.
SidewaysSi said:
I would say you need to do something you enjoy above all else. You spend a long time at work and it is very easy to be miserable.
I work in financial services in the city. It is hard, pressured and on occasion the hours are very long.
I earn a reasonable amount but am not that materialistic at all. I do however have all the cars and everything else in life that I want. Arguably you could say my motivation for working and pushing myself is reducing as I get older.
But what I want above all else is time to actually enjoy things. I don't drive enough and I don't spend enough time with family.
I could happily have 'just' an old M3 or something similar worth £8-10k and with the time to drive and enjoy it, arguably I would be more satisfied.
Money is all well and good but having enough to have what you personally want in life is more important IMO.
I think it's more important to have a PLAN than to be immediately happy in a job personally.I work in financial services in the city. It is hard, pressured and on occasion the hours are very long.
I earn a reasonable amount but am not that materialistic at all. I do however have all the cars and everything else in life that I want. Arguably you could say my motivation for working and pushing myself is reducing as I get older.
But what I want above all else is time to actually enjoy things. I don't drive enough and I don't spend enough time with family.
I could happily have 'just' an old M3 or something similar worth £8-10k and with the time to drive and enjoy it, arguably I would be more satisfied.
Money is all well and good but having enough to have what you personally want in life is more important IMO.
People treat job satisfaction as an instant perk that is either there or not when they sign up, rather than something that has to be earned and hunted. I HATED my job to start with and now after a few years enjoying it am just very bored of it (Construction commercial management & contracts etc - it's not all bad, gives me some travel, has its good days). But I've done it well for 10 years and it's now paying a very good salary and has enabled me to get a house I love, cars that I love and a bit of job satisfaction, and best of all in a few months pack it in and become fully self employed in my dream job working for myself and under my own terms.
If I'd chased happiness from the get-go chances are my situation would be very different now - but equally if I'd chased it sooner and made a plan, I could have probably done what I'm doing at least 3 years or so ago..
Edited by antacid on Friday 24th February 00:30
antacid said:
I think it's more important to have a PLAN than to be immediately happy in a job personally.
People treat job satisfaction as an instant perk that is either there or not when they sign up, rather than something that has to be earned and hunted.
^^^^This in spades. 2.5 years in my role before I found satisfaction with it. Now I wouldn't give it up for anything, I love it.People treat job satisfaction as an instant perk that is either there or not when they sign up, rather than something that has to be earned and hunted.
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