What business do you own and how did you get into it?
Discussion
tektas said:
And how did you end up doing it? 
How did you come up with that "idea" to do that?
I currently and looking for opportunities and ideas myself in order to start up something for myself here in Turkey.
I work full time and wanted to make some extra cash on the side. Being young, and having used Facebook since it was launched, I found it fairly easy to figure out the most effective ways to use Facebook ads, and realised that a lot of the older generation of business owners were not as understanding of Facebook as they would like to be! How did you come up with that "idea" to do that?
I currently and looking for opportunities and ideas myself in order to start up something for myself here in Turkey.
Got any ideas in mind?
I install Wood Burning Stoves. I was originally in sales in the renewables industry, which was volatile to say the least. Moreover, customer motivation was nearly always driven by Government grants/incentives so no incentive = no sale. The company I was with were selling wood burning stoves and I learned a little and started to sit leads and sell some stoves as well. It was nice to see people make decisions to buy something because they actually really wanted it and were excited about the prospect rather than just running the maths and returns.
The company I was working with went down leaving me in the s
t and I was pig sick of the volatility of renewables. I started up my own company and started to sell wood burning stoves. Having bagged a few sales my next problem was getting them fitted. Several local fitters in my area felt it better to effectively slam the proverbial door in my face as opposed to work together. I got a team from further afield but their workmanship and attention to detail was lacking. On one job they (in a rush) started to fit an inset stove into a wall with timer framing. It would simply have burned the clients house down one day so I drew a line under that rolled up my sleeves, spend £thousands on tools and started doing the work myself. With no prior trade experience beyond changing the odd plug it was/is a steep learning curve. It's not in any way what I planned for my life and when I collapse into bed covered in dust and rubble after 12+ hours of grafting, I do wonder what I'm doing. However, every day my knowledge and confidence is growing and on every job I'm taking my time, checking, double checking and prioritising quality fit and finish above speed. I must be doing something right as a customer last week dropped an extra £100 along with his final payment as he was so pleased with the job.
My long term plan is to learn how to do the work to a high standard and in an efficient manner myself. Hopefully, I can one day take on some young lads and train them up to do things my way (or the Highway) freeing me up to go back to sales and promoting/growing the company. At the moment I'd settle for making a consistent living as that's not really something I've had for about 10-years now.
The company I was working with went down leaving me in the s
t and I was pig sick of the volatility of renewables. I started up my own company and started to sell wood burning stoves. Having bagged a few sales my next problem was getting them fitted. Several local fitters in my area felt it better to effectively slam the proverbial door in my face as opposed to work together. I got a team from further afield but their workmanship and attention to detail was lacking. On one job they (in a rush) started to fit an inset stove into a wall with timer framing. It would simply have burned the clients house down one day so I drew a line under that rolled up my sleeves, spend £thousands on tools and started doing the work myself. With no prior trade experience beyond changing the odd plug it was/is a steep learning curve. It's not in any way what I planned for my life and when I collapse into bed covered in dust and rubble after 12+ hours of grafting, I do wonder what I'm doing. However, every day my knowledge and confidence is growing and on every job I'm taking my time, checking, double checking and prioritising quality fit and finish above speed. I must be doing something right as a customer last week dropped an extra £100 along with his final payment as he was so pleased with the job.My long term plan is to learn how to do the work to a high standard and in an efficient manner myself. Hopefully, I can one day take on some young lads and train them up to do things my way (or the Highway) freeing me up to go back to sales and promoting/growing the company. At the moment I'd settle for making a consistent living as that's not really something I've had for about 10-years now.
Got a degree in Communications and Control Engineering, After over a decade of the Cable TV industry, I moved more to residential smart home and networed homes.
2005 I set up my own distribution / wholesaler but that went under in 2008.
Got invited to set up a Smart Home division for an electrical contractor I used to supply.
Learnt the trade, pricing, labour, the manual labour of installing. Business was a bit flakey to I left and set up on my own, taking all the contacts and clients with me (with there blessing)
7 years later I still love what I do, Already have 4 project on the books for this year that we could close our books for the year on. The problem now is saying no to people and projects because finding good, clean knowledgeable installers in tough, easier to stay small and do it myself.
V.
2005 I set up my own distribution / wholesaler but that went under in 2008.
Got invited to set up a Smart Home division for an electrical contractor I used to supply.
Learnt the trade, pricing, labour, the manual labour of installing. Business was a bit flakey to I left and set up on my own, taking all the contacts and clients with me (with there blessing)
7 years later I still love what I do, Already have 4 project on the books for this year that we could close our books for the year on. The problem now is saying no to people and projects because finding good, clean knowledgeable installers in tough, easier to stay small and do it myself.
V.
I started selling software for speccys, C16 and Dragon 32's back in the day. Microdeal used to send me a mixed box of cassettes on SOR and I flogged them off in the school hall before lessons! Made myself enough money to buy an IBM PC in 1985!
From that I had the "bug" and a few years later opened a dating agency with a mate as a side line to doing local software and hardware support. Then went to work for a training company heading up their new "IT" training centre.
Left after a couple of years and set myself up doing the same plus consultancy work and software development. Ended up with a small army of contractors all over the world supporting airlines, banks etc etc. Did that for nearly ten years.
After being in IT for what felt like ages I dropped out completely in 2001 for 8-9 years and retrained as a chef. Then bought a restaurant which was a lot of fun but ultimately too much like hard work and didn't have any real financial reward.
Now working in local authority but thinking of a new idea which is IT related.
From that I had the "bug" and a few years later opened a dating agency with a mate as a side line to doing local software and hardware support. Then went to work for a training company heading up their new "IT" training centre.
Left after a couple of years and set myself up doing the same plus consultancy work and software development. Ended up with a small army of contractors all over the world supporting airlines, banks etc etc. Did that for nearly ten years.
After being in IT for what felt like ages I dropped out completely in 2001 for 8-9 years and retrained as a chef. Then bought a restaurant which was a lot of fun but ultimately too much like hard work and didn't have any real financial reward.
Now working in local authority but thinking of a new idea which is IT related.
Used to work in IT for a large (non IT) company and then looked after invoicing systems but now own a trophy and engraving business.
My Dad decided to start one some years earlier (I'm not really sure why). When my company moved offices to my home town I used to pop in and see him during my lunch breaks. I was getting fed up in my job so he asked if I wanted to go in with him. 15 years later and it's going great. I'm not sure I could go back to working for large company again!
My Dad decided to start one some years earlier (I'm not really sure why). When my company moved offices to my home town I used to pop in and see him during my lunch breaks. I was getting fed up in my job so he asked if I wanted to go in with him. 15 years later and it's going great. I'm not sure I could go back to working for large company again!
Splats said:
I install Wood Burning Stoves. I was originally in sales in the renewables industry, which was volatile to say the least. Moreover, customer motivation was nearly always driven by Government grants/incentives so no incentive = no sale. The company I was with were selling wood burning stoves and I learned a little and started to sit leads and sell some stoves as well. It was nice to see people make decisions to buy something because they actually really wanted it and were excited about the prospect rather than just running the maths and returns.
The company I was working with went down leaving me in the st and I was pig sick of the volatility of renewables. I started up my own company and started to sell wood burning stoves. Having bagged a few sales my next problem was getting them fitted. Several local fitters in my area felt it better to effectively slam the proverbial door in my face as opposed to work together. I got a team from further afield but their workmanship and attention to detail was lacking. On one job they (in a rush) started to fit an inset stove into a wall with timer framing. It would simply have burned the clients house down one day so I drew a line under that rolled up my sleeves, spend £thousands on tools and started doing the work myself. With no prior trade experience beyond changing the odd plug it was/is a steep learning curve. It's not in any way what I planned for my life and when I collapse into bed covered in dust and rubble after 12+ hours of grafting, I do wonder what I'm doing. However, every day my knowledge and confidence is growing and on every job I'm taking my time, checking, double checking and prioritising quality fit and finish above speed. I must be doing something right as a customer last week dropped an extra £100 along with his final payment as he was so pleased with the job.
My long term plan is to learn how to do the work to a high standard and in an efficient manner myself. Hopefully, I can one day take on some young lads and train them up to do things my way (or the Highway) freeing me up to go back to sales and promoting/growing the company. At the moment I'd settle for making a consistent living as that's not really something I've had for about 10-years now.
I like that. The company I was working with went down leaving me in the s
t and I was pig sick of the volatility of renewables. I started up my own company and started to sell wood burning stoves. Having bagged a few sales my next problem was getting them fitted. Several local fitters in my area felt it better to effectively slam the proverbial door in my face as opposed to work together. I got a team from further afield but their workmanship and attention to detail was lacking. On one job they (in a rush) started to fit an inset stove into a wall with timer framing. It would simply have burned the clients house down one day so I drew a line under that rolled up my sleeves, spend £thousands on tools and started doing the work myself. With no prior trade experience beyond changing the odd plug it was/is a steep learning curve. It's not in any way what I planned for my life and when I collapse into bed covered in dust and rubble after 12+ hours of grafting, I do wonder what I'm doing. However, every day my knowledge and confidence is growing and on every job I'm taking my time, checking, double checking and prioritising quality fit and finish above speed. I must be doing something right as a customer last week dropped an extra £100 along with his final payment as he was so pleased with the job.My long term plan is to learn how to do the work to a high standard and in an efficient manner myself. Hopefully, I can one day take on some young lads and train them up to do things my way (or the Highway) freeing me up to go back to sales and promoting/growing the company. At the moment I'd settle for making a consistent living as that's not really something I've had for about 10-years now.
Hope it all goes to plan.
I run a small business (sole trader really) doing architectural design.
I've been in the industry for years and got made redundant during the last downturn when the practise I was working for had their main client simply stop building for a year.
Jobs being advertised in the industry magazines had gone down from serval hundred every month to a few dozen so plan B came into action, registered as a sole trader and a friend quickly chucked a website together.
Since then gone back to working full time but always had the business running in the back ground as a sideline.
I am increasingly tempted to see if I can go down to a 4 day week and push it a bit harder to see if it could eventually be a full time option as the work is much more rewarding than the stuff I do full time.
I've been in the industry for years and got made redundant during the last downturn when the practise I was working for had their main client simply stop building for a year.
Jobs being advertised in the industry magazines had gone down from serval hundred every month to a few dozen so plan B came into action, registered as a sole trader and a friend quickly chucked a website together.
Since then gone back to working full time but always had the business running in the back ground as a sideline.
I am increasingly tempted to see if I can go down to a 4 day week and push it a bit harder to see if it could eventually be a full time option as the work is much more rewarding than the stuff I do full time.
Sump said:
I'm amazed anyone would actually seriously reply to this thread.
Why? Everyone's got a story to tell. I find it fascinating the routes that people take in life and how one thing rolls into another, then another until before long they are doing something completely different to what they thought or planned. I worked as an IT contractor for 11 years... Got fed up of working in an office, and got bored of IT... So I setup my own window cleaning business 12 years ago - I wish I had done it straight away after leaving school, but then I probably learnt some valuable skills whilst working in IT that have helped me.
I employ one full time member of staff who carries out most of the manual work, which frees me up to expand the business a bit more... Currently looking for my first franchisee as I'm going to franchise the business.
Andy
I employ one full time member of staff who carries out most of the manual work, which frees me up to expand the business a bit more... Currently looking for my first franchisee as I'm going to franchise the business.
Andy
TheRingDing said:
I work full time and wanted to make some extra cash on the side. Being young, and having used Facebook since it was launched, I found it fairly easy to figure out the most effective ways to use Facebook ads, and realised that a lot of the older generation of business owners were not as understanding of Facebook as they would like to be!
Got any ideas in mind?
Would you mind having a chat for a few minutes regarding targeting adverts could do with a few little pointers if possible.Got any ideas in mind?
TheRingDing said:
Hi PH'ers!
I'm curious and need some inspiration! What business do you own and how did you end up doing it?
I'll start. i run a Facebook Ads business as a side business, helping small companies gain exposure through Facebook!
Can you drop me an email with your details? I would love to get some help with FB ads.I'm curious and need some inspiration! What business do you own and how did you end up doing it?
I'll start. i run a Facebook Ads business as a side business, helping small companies gain exposure through Facebook!
I run an ecommerce store. I did it because I hated my job and it was easy / low cost to start up.
I'm always amazed when I see adverts, or sign-written vans, for companies doing something really niche. Obviously I can't think of any right now! But things such as "Bloggs' Sewing Machine Bobbins plc" - how do you wake up one morning and think, "I know, I'm going to set up a company making sewing machine bobbins"...?
It's easier to understand, for example, something liek Gallaghers or Conways, you work for someone digging holes in the road and think right, I've got a bit of nous, I don't want to be making money for someone else, I'm going to dig my own holes in the road". That's a bit more obvious. It's the really obscure ones which puzzle me!
It's easier to understand, for example, something liek Gallaghers or Conways, you work for someone digging holes in the road and think right, I've got a bit of nous, I don't want to be making money for someone else, I'm going to dig my own holes in the road". That's a bit more obvious. It's the really obscure ones which puzzle me!
CAPP0 said:
I'm always amazed when I see adverts, or sign-written vans, for companies doing something really niche. Obviously I can't think of any right now! But things such as "Bloggs' Sewing Machine Bobbins plc" - how do you wake up one morning and think, "I know, I'm going to set up a company making sewing machine bobbins"...?
It's easier to understand, for example, something liek Gallaghers or Conways, you work for someone digging holes in the road and think right, I've got a bit of nous, I don't want to be making money for someone else, I'm going to dig my own holes in the road". That's a bit more obvious. It's the really obscure ones which puzzle me!
In most cases, I suspect it will be someone who had one particular area of their previous day job that was a complete nightmare, until they figured out a really niche way of making the problem go away.It's easier to understand, for example, something liek Gallaghers or Conways, you work for someone digging holes in the road and think right, I've got a bit of nous, I don't want to be making money for someone else, I'm going to dig my own holes in the road". That's a bit more obvious. It's the really obscure ones which puzzle me!
At that point, you've got a choice between giving the solution to your employer and carrying on in your day job, now made a bit easier, or setting up for yourself and selling to everyone suffering from that nightmare.
Sump said:
I'm amazed anyone would actually seriously reply to this thread.
Why? I think it's a great question, and kudos to people answering it. As long as they don't undermine their own business then it's interesting to hear. Props to the OP for doing a bit of networking for his own business via PH, obvs! I run an IT Consultancy, but I fell into it compleltely by accident. Working at some large companies/software houses in the 90's I came into contact with a lot of people earning a lot of money for doing nothing much more than I was on a salaried basis. I applied the logic of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" and that was that.
I enjoy the mental challenge of building/fixing something, which is why I continue to do it, but in truth would like to do something with a more interesting, tangible product/practical nature. That's why I think Splats story of his wood burning stove business is so inspiring - exactly the kind of thing I would like to do, but it's having the confidence to take that leap of faith to do it. I'm very practical and often do my own work on cars/houses/motorbikes because I have often found the quality lacking in supposed professionals, but then again I have the luxury of time to do those jobs to my standards whereas the pros arguably (and rightly) do the best they can in the time available.
Interesting thread. We really enjoy camping/festivals etc, I have my own ideas for running a 'Glamping' business, but unfortunately don't have access to the land required to run one without upping sticks, which isn't currently an option unfortunately.
Edited by PurpleTurtle on Wednesday 29th March 10:46
Left school with no idea what I wanted to do, other than ultimately run my own business.
Several jobs later I ended up taking a job doing what I do now, over 25yrs later I'm still doing it, nearly 20yrs for myself.
To be honest, I'm done with it but it's finding something to replace it that I'm struggling with, the thought of going back to work for somebody doesn't appeal very much.
Several jobs later I ended up taking a job doing what I do now, over 25yrs later I'm still doing it, nearly 20yrs for myself.
To be honest, I'm done with it but it's finding something to replace it that I'm struggling with, the thought of going back to work for somebody doesn't appeal very much.
I am a partner in a new IT company (we went live Jan 1st). Years of working for IT Vendors, some large some small, and always having the niggling desire to do something for myself, we started discussing things in detail last year. There is never a 'right' time, and always a thousand reasons not to get on with it. However thanks to accommodating families we have just got stuck in! So far, once we get in front of people, we are being successful and have now employed our first staff member to service the managed service contracts we have won. At the same time, trying to meet new contacts and drive awareness is very hard! Fortunately we anticipated this, but we are putting in a LOT of hours, not just reaching out wherever we can, but also the new things that I had never been involved with in previous jobs (For example, I would say I have spent 20 hours since Friday learning Adwords). So to the OP's question, it had been in the back of my mind for a long time, and I think it was my business partners frustration at their previous job that finally made us sit at the table and start testing how it would work, that finally got us into it.
Edited by Australiam on Wednesday 29th March 17:36
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