Anyone realised self employed is not for them....
Discussion
Ive been self employed now for just over 4 years as an electrical contractor.
I now have a good list of commercial customers and very busy!
I took on a newly qualified electrician at the start of the year and have managed to keep him busy.
He is a good lad with great enthusiasm, however it stresses me out having to keep telling him what to do, or the best way of doing things due to his in-experiance.
Its starting to dawn on me that running a business is not for me.....
I can't be arsed with the spending evenings and weekends sorting out jobs, doing invoices, quotes and all the f
king paperwork etc.
Plus customers are starting to piss me off expecting jobs to be done yesterday!!
I am seriously considering closing the doors and getting a £40K perm job without the stresses.
However it just feels wrong after the last 4 years of working my ass of building the business up!
Has anyone else come to the same realisation that self employed was not for them? and did you jack the business in?
I now have a good list of commercial customers and very busy!
I took on a newly qualified electrician at the start of the year and have managed to keep him busy.
He is a good lad with great enthusiasm, however it stresses me out having to keep telling him what to do, or the best way of doing things due to his in-experiance.
Its starting to dawn on me that running a business is not for me.....
I can't be arsed with the spending evenings and weekends sorting out jobs, doing invoices, quotes and all the f
king paperwork etc.Plus customers are starting to piss me off expecting jobs to be done yesterday!!
I am seriously considering closing the doors and getting a £40K perm job without the stresses.
However it just feels wrong after the last 4 years of working my ass of building the business up!
Has anyone else come to the same realisation that self employed was not for them? and did you jack the business in?
Being self-employed is OK, but I personally would never want to take on staff. You could possibly out-source a lot of the paperwork and I know of plumbers who outsource doing the quotes (bill of materials stuff mainly, I guess) - I suppose that could work for sparks too. If you want/need to maximise your income then you have to accept all the hassle that goes with it
No, well occasionally, but it is usually related to Cash-flow and work load and it passes.
If you really want out then see if you can partner with or find someone to buy you in to their group.
If you have business coming to you then you and your clients are a valuable commoderty.
Interestingly I prefer the initial phases of a project & programming but hate the installing and site work. Finding your opposite number for could also work for you.
V
If you really want out then see if you can partner with or find someone to buy you in to their group.
If you have business coming to you then you and your clients are a valuable commoderty.
Interestingly I prefer the initial phases of a project & programming but hate the installing and site work. Finding your opposite number for could also work for you.
V
The thing is, it doesn't get any easier as you level up. So if you "can't be arsed" now then you might as well get out whilst you can if you just want a stable salaried job.
I ran an electrical contractors with up to 30 staff on the go. It was a nightmare at 30 staff, it was a nightmare at 5. It made the most money somewhere in the middle.
If you want to stick it out then utilise software to make quoting easier, use Google Calendar to plan your schedule better, use Trello to keep on top of projects. Get a call answering service to take quote requests and screen calls. There is quite a lot of stuff you can do for free/cheap to make life easier.
Also, a good apprentice turns into a good electrician who doesn't ask questions all the time, so that pain may only be temporary.
If you're far too busy then put your prices up slightly and book further ahead (Google Calendars) or team up with someone and sub out work rather than turn it down.
Ultimately you need to set a level of where you want to be at, there's no point being inundated with work if you only want to run it yourself. Likewise if you have 10 staff you need to stop being an electrician and start being a manager/marketer/accountant/motivator/planner etc..
You could also consider specialising... do you excel at mains changes or LED lighting upgrades? focus on that instead.
It'd be a shame to give up on four years of growth but at the end of the day this is your daily and you need to fix it if you're not happy.
I eventually got out of electrical contracting for similar reasons. Best thing I ever did. But I definitely didn't get a job!
I ran an electrical contractors with up to 30 staff on the go. It was a nightmare at 30 staff, it was a nightmare at 5. It made the most money somewhere in the middle.
If you want to stick it out then utilise software to make quoting easier, use Google Calendar to plan your schedule better, use Trello to keep on top of projects. Get a call answering service to take quote requests and screen calls. There is quite a lot of stuff you can do for free/cheap to make life easier.
Also, a good apprentice turns into a good electrician who doesn't ask questions all the time, so that pain may only be temporary.
If you're far too busy then put your prices up slightly and book further ahead (Google Calendars) or team up with someone and sub out work rather than turn it down.
Ultimately you need to set a level of where you want to be at, there's no point being inundated with work if you only want to run it yourself. Likewise if you have 10 staff you need to stop being an electrician and start being a manager/marketer/accountant/motivator/planner etc..
You could also consider specialising... do you excel at mains changes or LED lighting upgrades? focus on that instead.
It'd be a shame to give up on four years of growth but at the end of the day this is your daily and you need to fix it if you're not happy.
I eventually got out of electrical contracting for similar reasons. Best thing I ever did. But I definitely didn't get a job!
I've been self employed ten years or so.
I could never go back to regular employment now . Being told what to do, being set deadlines, having to work with people you don't like. Less potential to make more money as well. No thank you.
A few years back I was getting stressed out, customers chasing me wondering where I was. Accounts I'd do last minute and generally wasn't organised with paperwork etc.
I've learnt to keep organised with accounts and the other paperwork it helps keep the stress down to always keep on top of it.
If you have alot of work always tell the customer how long the waiting list is and don't be worried to turn work away if there's too much.
Yes of course it's hard work being self employed . You just have to look at the pros and cons of both but it sounds like your business is doing very well. I wouldn't quit in a hurry.
I could never go back to regular employment now . Being told what to do, being set deadlines, having to work with people you don't like. Less potential to make more money as well. No thank you.
A few years back I was getting stressed out, customers chasing me wondering where I was. Accounts I'd do last minute and generally wasn't organised with paperwork etc.
I've learnt to keep organised with accounts and the other paperwork it helps keep the stress down to always keep on top of it.
If you have alot of work always tell the customer how long the waiting list is and don't be worried to turn work away if there's too much.
Yes of course it's hard work being self employed . You just have to look at the pros and cons of both but it sounds like your business is doing very well. I wouldn't quit in a hurry.
I think a lot of it depends what industry you are in and how big you are, whats involved in the job.
I personally would not do it again. But I am here now and most of my XP in my old job is pretty much worthless today.
We have an exit plan and just trying to make as much as we can before we shut it down. The stress is indeed not worth it.
In addition the government is doing its best to destroy small businesses. We have 5-10 staff depending on time of year and I would say we are in that position where we are not quite big enough for a manager but the people we do have make managing a really difficult job. The only saving grace you have OP is that you control your work flow due to your business. We are in retail and its a case of no customers or 100s of customers.... nothing between! Each of them with the power of google reviews!!!!
FML.
I personally would not do it again. But I am here now and most of my XP in my old job is pretty much worthless today.
We have an exit plan and just trying to make as much as we can before we shut it down. The stress is indeed not worth it.
In addition the government is doing its best to destroy small businesses. We have 5-10 staff depending on time of year and I would say we are in that position where we are not quite big enough for a manager but the people we do have make managing a really difficult job. The only saving grace you have OP is that you control your work flow due to your business. We are in retail and its a case of no customers or 100s of customers.... nothing between! Each of them with the power of google reviews!!!!
FML.
MrSparks said:
The thing is, it doesn't get any easier as you level up. ...
...I eventually got out of electrical contracting for similar reasons. Best thing I ever did. But I definitely didn't get a job!
Wise words here. It sounds like you'd be better just staying as an electrician on your own. Put up your prices a bit and stick with it there....I eventually got out of electrical contracting for similar reasons. Best thing I ever did. But I definitely didn't get a job!
Alternatively you need to think more like a businessman and not like an electrician. It's not easy but like another poster above says, it's hard work working for yourself but it can be hard work working for someone else too.
I have done this. It has not gone swimmingly.
My role has changed a number of times, and with it my earning potential. As an employee I am aware that I am slightly demanding, but that is what happens when things that are supposed to happen do not.
The future is potentially bright. But it's taking some getting there.
I took the leap after 10 years of self-employment. Was standing still while every fighting off far larger competitors and clients head offices. Not to mention the accountants paying me when they wanted me rather than on my terms of business.
Did I make the right decision? Don't know. I definitely have huge regrets. The financial pressure is affecting my marriage and I am rather stressed.
My role has changed a number of times, and with it my earning potential. As an employee I am aware that I am slightly demanding, but that is what happens when things that are supposed to happen do not.
The future is potentially bright. But it's taking some getting there.
I took the leap after 10 years of self-employment. Was standing still while every fighting off far larger competitors and clients head offices. Not to mention the accountants paying me when they wanted me rather than on my terms of business.
Did I make the right decision? Don't know. I definitely have huge regrets. The financial pressure is affecting my marriage and I am rather stressed.
Your reward for success is you get to manage even more people!
If you are so minded, you could build up the business for a few years, to the point where you can employ some kind of manager. But even then, you need to manage the manager, and they could quit at any time.
The other option is avoiding employment pains altogether and just hiring experienced sub contractors as and when you need. Sack the difficult clients. Put your prices up to the point you have a manageable load. Put your feet up!
If you are so minded, you could build up the business for a few years, to the point where you can employ some kind of manager. But even then, you need to manage the manager, and they could quit at any time.
The other option is avoiding employment pains altogether and just hiring experienced sub contractors as and when you need. Sack the difficult clients. Put your prices up to the point you have a manageable load. Put your feet up!
sambucket said:
If you are so minded, you could build up the business for a few years, to the point where you can employ some kind of manager. But even then, you need to manage the manager, and they could quit at any time.
Even then it doesn't get easier. More staff means more payroll costs, more money involved in advertising and more exposure generally to the ups and downs of the market. OP, have you considered getting some help for the paperwork?
A female friend of mine used to have a well paid London job in PR. Gave it all up to have 3 kids, now they are at school she wanted to get back into work, but nothing doing in her village that paid remotely what she needed due to childcare costs ec.
She answered an ad to a local heating engineer who was exactly like you - good at heating, terrible at paperwork.
She now works for him flexibly, doing all his paperwork as/when needed a few hours a week, is organsied so she stays on top of everything and does all the stty chasing up of bills etc that he can't be arsed with.
He loves it because it's taken all the admin stress away, she loves it because she fits the work in a few hours a week around her family life.
Loads of 'virtual assistant' websites online that you can find someone, or use local free ads.
A female friend of mine used to have a well paid London job in PR. Gave it all up to have 3 kids, now they are at school she wanted to get back into work, but nothing doing in her village that paid remotely what she needed due to childcare costs ec.
She answered an ad to a local heating engineer who was exactly like you - good at heating, terrible at paperwork.
She now works for him flexibly, doing all his paperwork as/when needed a few hours a week, is organsied so she stays on top of everything and does all the s
tty chasing up of bills etc that he can't be arsed with. He loves it because it's taken all the admin stress away, she loves it because she fits the work in a few hours a week around her family life.
Loads of 'virtual assistant' websites online that you can find someone, or use local free ads.
sambucket said:
Also, if you are busy, you are allowed to put up prices. It's not rude.
This is something we have done over the last few years. We are at the top end when it comes to prices. As such we are not quite as busy as others. But we only have to do 75% of the work for the same turn over. We can actually increase profits this way because the less miles we do (we deliver goods) then the less it costs us. So we can end up in a position where we do less work for more money. Where as our competitor is doing 2 shifts, going flat out doing 300 miles a day and not actually making any more..227bhp said:
'Needing to work harder to create more money' in internet shocker.
Easier in the 80's, early 90's though, rose tinted specs non withstanding. No internet or email just ad in yellow pages, no ir35, no digital vat, no workplace pension, no bloody smartphones to distract workers, i.e. Once at work you worked. Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff