Advice please

[user_removed]

i'v been a member on here for 3 years now and was wondering if any1 could help me?
i'v been sub-contracting for about 4 years now and im doing ok, but im wanting to tap into the bigger jobs like pub renovations, schools, a few houses instead of some1's living room on a sat mornin.
problem is i don't know how to go about it i dont advertise and dont have a sign written van just me and a mate 2 vans plenty of business cards and 2 sets of tools.

The reason is we are getting screwed over with the money and have been for the last 18 months, chasing our money up every couple of weeks to hear the same excuse and not just from 1 company this is from every company we seem to deal with.

i had the chance to price 92 new builds up a couple of months ago but i think it was a bit too much for us to take on if we had have got it, some thing like 10-20 wouldn't be bad.

anyway, any advice from you guys on how to get the chance to price bigger jobs up would be sound, if you would rather pm me then fine. ps we know about the 90 day rule, we are not wanting to take hundreds of plasterers on and make a killing in a week, we just want to take our business to the next level.

cheers, mac

 

[nelly]

Send a letter (like a CV) to builders.

Pub work is w@nk btw. They get a six week contract where they send one joiner for 5 weeks then 43 lads in the last week.

I was sent to do a patch on one once, put it on and went to the van for a brew while it set before I troweled it up when I came back in 15 mins later it was papered

Decorator said it doesnt matter we dont have tme, I just laughed and f*cked off

 

[bubbles65]

That's funny! .....I had one like that - but he kindly dried the patch with a blow-torch before he painted over it

 

[user_removed]

we've just finished a pub refurb today, took us 5 weeks insulation board and skim (exterior walls) we have not been paid, we left 1 gauge to do last week come today and 2 other plasterers have come and finished the job except they left the snagging which we have just done.

Wages pass through too many hands before it comes to you and everyone seems to take there share out, we just wanting to deal with people on a more direct footing instead of going through some bloke 60 miles away sat in an office doodling on a calender.

 

[nickelarse]

i would honestly say from everything iv done, life is so much nicer the easier you keep it. big jobs, waiting for money, fighting over retention, paying out weeks of wages before u get paid, having a load of blokes on that dont give a sh1t about the job etc is just hassle i personally cant be arsed with. i think there is far better money working on small jobs that take a week each, no time limits, no retention, much better prices, dont have to work like a loony to earn a days money, and most of the time its either regular or reccommendation, so ur not competing and having prices screwed down. and the work comes to u, u dont have to chase it.

i think its hard work to have say 5 guys on, be looking after them, doing a days work urself, pricing, invoicing, monthly returns, wages, etc and it costs a lot to pay some1 to do it for u. and then from what ur earning u might as well just work in a 2 and 1 and be chilled out

 

[user_removed]

understand what your saying mate, but waiting 5/6 weeks for some money (sh1t money btw) is not right. we do the hard graft, take the rough with the smooth as i'v heard all too often this last 18 months. Why cant people just be straight with you?

we just work in a 2 and 0 we cant afford the 1 with the prices up north. we just want to get something half decent maybe get another gang on with us nothing massive.

i'v just been offered a 2 bed terraced house reboarb and skim insulate ceilling/double board £1500, 40 miles away cant help thinkin some1's makin more money out of us than i'd like to think.

 

[nickelarse]

why do u have to wait 5-6 weeks for money? i always have in my terms that i get paid on completion. otherwise i dont do it. obv not for site work but i do very little of it. all this take the rough with the smooth etc is just builder who earnt £1500 a week 2 yrs ago still making £1500 a week now, but their prices are tighter and so they just put it on u so they still have the same incomes.

with regards to the house uv just been offered, just tell them to stop being silly, theres a lot easier jobs u could be doing for that sort of money. theyll get some1 else most likely, but u need to stand ur ground in my opinion. i would rather stay at home than slave away for sod all. but thats just me, i have no kids etc id be more inclined to get a hgv licence or something. my mate is 26, on £18 an hour, and gets £75 for 4 hours on a sat. thats plastering rates for sitting on ur arse! lol

all i would say with taking another gang on, if its not gonna be 5 days a week be prepared to have ur work nicked. some people wont, but in times like this a lot of people will

 

[martinemj]

good advise nick

as far as waiting for your money --if it domestic customers ---i make them aware that we don't ask for money up front---but would like to be paid on completion or on bigger job after 2 weeks (stages)

no problem with that so far...


builders little more difficult----3-4 weeks max from invoice date---

 

[CKJ]

Goto this website Link Removed this is the national federation of builders (Not the federation of master builders which is cr@p). All contractors have to be a member of this to carry out work on schools, hospitals e.t.c. Do a search in your area and you will get the contact details for about 100 contractors. Send them a letter detailing the work you cover and that you would be happy to tender for any future contracts and make it look professional, i did this a couple of years ago and got a shed load of work from it. I sent the letters via email as its free, dont bother ringing as they will only tell you to send them a letter. Hope this helps

 

[user_removed]

cheers for advice, as you were sayin nick we wanted to use sub-contractors as an when we need i dont want to give false hope to people by telling them we have sh1t loads on we'll keep u in work for years, but work on the basis of this is the job, earn the money and we'll ring you about the next 1. its not going to be a easy but if a decent retention is held back then im confident work would be complete.

we dont work on terms and conditions because to be honest the next guy will do job with no terms and conditions, problems we are having come down to 'if we dont get paid, we stop work' they say 'if you stop work, we will get some1 else and not pay you'

i never have trouble with domestics, but there's so many plasterers round here you cant get a decent wage from it guys going round quoting £120 for full rooms inc mats, i cant compete with that, i'v said before at 1 time there was 5 plasterers on our street of about 50 house's. i even did 2 months work in exeter (im from rotherham) and met 2 lads from the same village. crazy

im grateful for the advice lads and suppose i should be thankful im still workin, but fed up of people takin pi55

cheers ckj i'll check it out

 

[lucius]

My mates fighting over £14000 of extras that was signed of and he has paid some it out on wages he is now pretty sure he wont get it thats what big jobs are like now.