Hi,
I have been self employed for the last few years working with computers and you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks, also at my age I couldn't hack it having someone else telling me what to do all the time so I will carry on as I am and look for my own work.
I have signed up to a couple of on-line sites where people can post work they want doing and it seems to be producing a steady stream of enquiries, about 5 to 10 a day within a 5 mile radius of where I live.
Most of the work is quite simple and falls under minor works which is how I want to start anyway, I am more concerned about learning about dealing with customers and getting myself up and running at the moment rather than chasing big contracts. I will start pitching for more work as my confidence increases.
Money wise, I am in central london so there seems to be a lot more work about than people to do it, I am charging £20 per hour with a min of half a day and there seems to be no shortage and I can see this going up to £30 per hour quite soon. Some of the larger companies are approaching £100 per hour so my rates seem quite reasonable.
I have signed up with Elecsa and my interview is quite soon, I will be glad to get my registration so I will be in a position to start doing some serious work.
Do I enjoy it? very much yes, I have worked with computers for years slowly going mad, but this is such a great change, I am out and about, I see people and even talk to them instead of sending emails everywhere. Whenever I turn up people are pleased to see me and it just seems to be a much more pleasant lifestyle. It may not suit everyone and anyone thinking of going down this route might want to read my comments in the training section, this would not have been an easy choice if I did not have training as an engineer, which has helped me enormously.
One comment I would make is that people in this trade should have a look around at what is happening with renewable energy, electricians are ideally placed to take advantage of all of this and they shouldn't leave it up to the architects and consultants they should get in there themselves. This is potentialy a very profitable area, the funding that is available through the Carbon Trust is quite substantial for commercial property and you can make good money out of it. Maybe I should put this into a subject on it's own as it's worth knowing about?
