How to get contracts and work for a newly qualified electrician

[araheem]

Hi I was wondering how electricians get most of their work and how they break into the commercial sector. I am the only electrician in my family and don’t really have a good network as I have just finished an apprenticeship, and the work I was doin was very basic maintenance with a little installation. Most of the electricians there were employed and completed side quests with family members here and there but nothing substantial. I have been on rated people app for a bit now but obvs the work is just basic small jobs. Sometimes there is larger but I don’t have the necessary backing to take on such large scale projects. I really want to go the self employed root cause I can’t stand working for employers who want you to do the same job you could be paid 3 times for. So just wondering if anyone has any advice on where to start when it comes to contracts and getting consistent work.
Thanks

 

[HappyHippyDad]

You simply have to start off slowly.
I too used rated people to begin with.
I found them satisfactory, not great, not bad, but it did get me work.

I also tried advertising in different forms. I found the local newspaper worked well.

Overtime, you start making some contacts. Builders are good, as they tend to have bigger jobs, plus they use you regularly (if you form a good working relationship).

Just do a good job each time, be friendly and professional with the customer and tidy up well after yourself. They will then tell their friends and neighbours how good you are. But, it takes time. Don't get disheartened. Stick with it.

 

[araheem]

You simply have to start off slowly.
I too used rated people to begin with.
I found them satisfactory, not great, not bad, but it did get me work.

I also tried advertising in different forms. I found the local newspaper worked well.

Overtime, you start making some contacts. Builders are good, as they tend to have bigger jobs, plus they use you regularly (if you form a good working relationship).

Just do a good job each time, be friendly and professional with the customer and tidy up well after yourself. They will then tell their friends and neighbours how good you are. But, it takes time. Don't get disheartened. Stick with it.

Really appreciate your reply man I think this needs to be talked more about. There is very little guidance on how people built there electrical companies from ground zero. Fortunately a lot of people have family members who have done the leg work, and then they take over there business. It’s hard for people to start something of their own from nothing, grow it and maintain consistent work. It takes years unfortunately, that’s why a lot of people don’t bother and just stay in employment. But I think with the years you put in with studying and the risk you take everyday as an electrician, how much you take home should reflect that. I hopefully want to establish a thread where people can talk about their success stories. I think a lot of people including myself would find it very useful. But thanks again newspapers is something I didn’t really think about.

 

[James]

I understand the sentiment but an electrician should not be taking a risk every day or even any day.

 

[snowhead]

The biggest risk for an Electrician (or any other self employed tradesman) is not getting paid for the work they've done, either for a Domestic customer or more so a Commercial customer.

The second biggest risk would be driving.

The risk of a workplace incident should be way down the list.

 

[richy3333]

The biggest risk for an Electrician (or any other self employed tradesman) is not getting paid for the work they've done, either for a Domestic customer or more so a Commercial customer.

The second biggest risk would be driving.

The risk of a workplace incident should be way down the list.

I can attest to that having been recently stung big time by a customer. Always the ones you don't suspect that get you.

Also hit a deer the other year whilst driving. Wrecked the van (but tasted good... allegedly).

OP - Cory put up a Youtube video yesterday about starting a business. That might be of some help? In the old days leafleting the area produced work but I guess Facebook is now the modern equivalent. Local shops, cafes and village halls etc often have noticeboards where you can leave a card. Church/parish magazines are often useful (if you don't mind the religious aspect).

 

[vjsmarwick]

Hi I was wondering how electricians get most of their work and how they break into the commercial sector. I am the only electrician in my family and don’t really have a good network as I have just finished an apprenticeship, and the work I was doin was very basic maintenance with a little installation. Most of the electricians there were employed and completed side quests with family members here and there but nothing substantial. I have been on rated people app for a bit now but obvs the work is just basic small jobs. Sometimes there is larger but I don’t have the necessary backing to take on such large scale projects. I really want to go the self employed root cause I can’t stand working for employers who want you to do the same job you could be paid 3 times for. So just wondering if anyone has any advice on where to start when it comes to contracts and getting consistent work.
Thanks

Do as your doing start small and build it up ! If you want to go for larger jobs go talk to the people explain your situation and give them the option of supplying materials and you supply the labour ! It cuts costs for you and them. But this also allows you to gain experience and build a name for yourself ! Once you have built up a bit more then supply for smaller jobs and work your way up !
Don’t over charge and treat people fairly one your established then you can increase your income!
That’s how I did it and was happily self employed for 30 years until ill health stopped me !
Good luck !

 

[araheem]

I can attest to that having been recently stung big time by a customer. Always the ones you don't suspect that get you.

Also hit a deer the other year whilst driving. Wrecked the van (but tasted good... allegedly).

OP - Cory put up a Youtube video yesterday about starting a business. That might be of some help? In the old days leafleting the area produced work but I guess Facebook is now the modern equivalent. Local shops, cafes and village halls etc often have noticeboards where you can leave a card. Church/parish magazines are often useful (if you don't mind the religious aspect).

Ouch, sounds like you’ve had your fair share of bad luck there! Getting stung by a customer is the worst – always seems to come out of nowhere and the ones you least expect. And the deer story… well, at least you allegedly made the best of a bad situation!

Appreciate the tips – I’ll check out Cory’s video. I’m actually getting some leaflets made at the moment, and Facebook/local boards sound like a solid shout too.

 

[araheem]

Do as your doing start small and build it up ! If you want to go for larger jobs go talk to the people explain your situation and give them the option of supplying materials and you supply the labour ! It cuts costs for you and them. But this also allows you to gain experience and build a name for yourself ! Once you have built up a bit more then supply for smaller jobs and work your way up !
Don’t over charge and treat people fairly one your established then you can increase your income!
That’s how I did it and was happily self employed for 30 years until ill health stopped me !
Good luck !

That’s solid advice, thanks for sharing! I like the idea of offering labour-only for bigger jobs to get experience without the massive upfront cost. Definitely going to keep that in mind.

Sounds like you really knew how to do things right – 30 years self-employed is seriously impressive. Sorry to hear ill health stopped you, but it’s inspiring to hear how you made it work. Do you mind sharing more of your story? I’d be interested to hear how you got started and kept things going for so long.

 

[araheem]

The biggest risk for an Electrician (or any other self employed tradesman) is not getting paid for the work they've done, either for a Domestic customer or more so a Commercial customer.

The second biggest risk would be driving.

The risk of a workplace incident should be way down the list.

Thanks for your response and yh fortunately not had any issues so far but I’ve only been doing smaller jobs at the moment. Square up is pretty good I use that as POS and just get the customer to tap and pay before I leave. I spoke to another self employed electrician and said he use to always send over a contract for large jobs. So I’m definitely going to implement that when I’m at that stage.

 

[araheem]

I understand the sentiment but an electrician should not be taking a risk every day or even any day.

Thanks for your response pal but Yh I guess I meant in a way that you take extra care and study longer to ensure that everything is up to standard. Also you have a greater liability then any other trade with gas engineers as an exception.