i am a painter/decorator.shall i stay earning a not so good regular wage or go and work for myself?

Question

i have approx 20 yrs experiance & am well thought of by my employers of 10 yrs.just got a mortgage & can see i am gonna stuggle a bit.any advice please

Answer 1

keep your day job and start building a client base and reputation by doing painting / decorating on your "off work" hours. when you're consistently getting more work on your "off hours" than you can handle, its time to scale back your hours at your day job.

Answer 2

working for yourself is a lot of work when you just start out, you have to make a lot of appointments and do a lot of bids to get and keep the work coming in,you also have to pay your own social security taxes along with liability insurance and self emplotment taxes,...you must figure all tyhis into the picture and then come up with your pricing.....how are you going to do the work on one job and do appointments to line up the next job...all things you must consider....also you should meet with paint reps to negotiate a contractor price on paint and materials....you will need to make time to do your billing and paperwork....flying solo is not as easy as if seems ,I have been lucky and have been a contractor for 15 years and have been successful,but start up is a lot of work....if youdont want long hours and a lot of headaches at first stay an employee, if you want to sacrifice up front then give it a shot , just remember that betweeen doing the painting and lining up your next job and billing and paperwork you may have an 80 hour week,so once you break it down you probably made a lower wage than you would if you had stayed employed
and only worked 40. Painting contracting can be very successful in the long run if you are smart about it, try for a customer base of both new construction homes and remodels, as they are where the best margins are , good luck

Answer 3

Ok. Stick with the job but also do a bit on the side..(guvvy) keep doing that untill you have the makings of a customer base and also a few people who you can get prospective customers to contact for references. Try to get 3 months wages saved up and then think about going it as a self employed tradesman. You also might try to get added skills..plumbing , plastering..etc.. gives you a better chance of keeping the work flowing when you do decide to go it alone. Good luck.

Answer 4

You should consider starting your own business but keep your regular employment until things take off. You will have to check to make sure you did not sign a non-compete clause with your current employer before you start and make certain to never take customers from your current employer. Hopefully there will come a time where your own business is doing well and you can leave your current job.

Answer 5

keep your job then do local weekend work for your self.if your good quality your little weekend jobs will do your advertising .when your phone for work starts ringing a lot then its time to consider your future, the only thing about private work the public are a pain some times at paying you.or you price for something and they try to putt little had ons.

Answer 6

Get a van and work for yourself but keep well in with your current employers ... just in case.

Answer 7

You should work for yourself, you'd be your own boss and you would never look back.

Answer 8

What paint your own house every day lolo

Answer 9

if your not polish forget it man .