Going self employed :) Boat fitter/maintenance.

[henry Kadzielski]

Again my two cants worth. My name is Henry, as the fishing industry is "so poor" they discounted my name to 'H' and that I fixed problems or solved them 'H Solutions' was born. Out of a joke here I am. Unofficially started mid 90's, officially started late 1999. Started doing 'the black art' electrical, then gensets, followed by welding, fiberglass, blasting / painting, hydraulics, fabrication in S/S and alli, refrigeration, machining, there is probably others but can't remember. The last thing has been engines and gearboxes, as the need and scope increases then the skills improve. If you are prepared to 'GET OFF YOUR ****' there are lots of things to do. You will find that one job leads into another and things are interrelated. There is always the 'while you are here' senario and it is much easier to get one person to do the entire job than get several tradesmen in in varying times to work in together. Remember it all takes time, with Rome not built in a day, be head down and **** up, be carefull which clients you have and it will come. Best advice I can give is start with one thing and do it properly and well. Best outcome you will be reffered, that is where the recognition will come from
Oh forgot started doing marine electronics in the early 80's, sales and instillations, this also helped

 

[W.olly]

I best stop giving you advice on your boat now that you're planning on becoming a "Man with a Van" and competing with the firm I work for

I hope you'll be better than the average "Man with a Van" there is a couple of them around the area I work, they always undercut us on price but we have gained a fair few customers off them as the owners aren't happy with standard of work they do. Some of the work I've seen them do has been down right dangerous, one guy nearly lost his boat to an electrical fire due to the incompetence of the guy who installed some kit on it.

Are you gonna be a jack of all trades or are you planning to specialise in one area of boat work ? Electrics on boats isn't particularly hard but you'd be amazed how well some people can cock it up, as for electronics unless you understand what you're doing I'd stay well clear, again the cock ups and bodges I find on boats are scary.

I thought you did electronics and the likes? i will doing all but that, wood work, fitting out and repairs etc, if anything with electrics i will just be tidying things up but not as main, i may of wired this boat up but that took long enough and reading up on,i wouldnt be comfy doing what i am not fully up on.

I guess there are a fair few businesses well `man with van`down Wales, closer to the sea for you but i think i will be mainly river/canals the way it is going. Had a few sea going vessels offering work but are far away down south. These are maintenance jobs as in fitting windows and treating wood work, and the dreaded hull scraping, good with the smooth as they say.

We may cross path one day, you up a mast and me below decks

are you going to get VAT registered

I will be going voluntary as soon as i know its going to work. Or get regular work in few weekends a month

Boaty mc boatfixer

lol i thought something along them lines yesterday `Boaty Mc something` forgot now, could of been the same.

 

[Kent]

I know a few on here have been following my thread on my boat renovation and after three years, or near as i have been having offers from folk to help or do a little job here and here on there boats.

So what sort of chap would keep turning it down. So as off a few week ago i have decided to give a go i asked on a boat`y forum about if there are any handy `boat `men types about and well it all kicked from there.

I am only going to start off doing it on weekends as i still have a full time job to do and cant afford to jack ii in yet but slowly i will build it up and bit by bit i hope to have it on a full time basis. Get a part time employed job then so on.

I have got six jobs on now with out advertising or asking about in the last coupe of week, some near home some as far as a 5hr drive away, then though i can stay on the boats overnight and then i need to price up as the travel is costly. Today i priced i priced up two jobs fairly local, i think i am under pricing myself a bit though, i am so used to being on minimum wage it sounds a lot when i give the quote. Customers are happy though so...

Now the fun bit is getting new tools

I need a portable work bench, some cool bits of kit about, most though i will be buying as i go as i have most gear i need but it is getting on a bit now.

The hardest bit has been getting 5m Third Part Liability insurance. I have spoke to a few brokers and underwriters and a sit is as unusual trade it takes a good few days to get a quote from them. I have a few from £000 to down to £500 which i can cope with.

All scary but exciting at the same time as at first it was all going over my head where to start, now i am luvin it all together


Just wanted to share my excitement with you all


Bring it on

Detach yourself totally from prices relating to pay /wages.
A buisiness has shop rates and site rates. The latter should always be moremthanmthe former.. For a small business with low overheads one should no lower than £25 pH, you will be lucky to draw half of that and remember no paid holidays no sick pay no pension

Remember a lot live on tnier boat because they ain't credit worthy. Get a good sized deposit and stage payments as applicapble.

 

[Cobbler]

How about "whatever floats your boat" for the van description

 

[wookie]

I thought you did electronics and the likes? i will doing all but that, wood work, fitting out and repairs etc, if anything with electrics i will just be tidying things up but not as main, i may of wired this boat up but that took long enough and reading up on,i wouldnt be comfy doing what i am not fully up on.

I guess there are a fair few businesses well `man with van`down Wales, closer to the sea for you but i think i will be mainly river/canals the way it is going. Had a few sea going vessels offering work but are far away down south. These are maintenance jobs as in fitting windows and treating wood work, and the dreaded hull scraping, good with the smooth as they say.

We may cross path one day, you up a mast and me below decks

You're right I do electronics & electrics, I was only being daft when I said I'll better stop offering you advice hence the winky smiley on the end of my first line. I like that you say you're not comfy doing stuff you're fully up on, there are too many willing to have a go with boat electrics & electronics (both owners & man with van types) and usually they make a complete pig's ear of it.

I was fitting new nav lights on a fishing catamaran today so it meets the regs, not only the old ones didn't work they had been wired up with the world's thinnest speaker cable, quite how the poor electric was supposed to squeeze itself down the cable I don't know. Worse was the Halogen worklight that was getting it's earth via the indicator LED on the switch which again was using thin cable which is okay for the miniscule current LED's draw but not really upto the many amps needed by a Halogen bulb, still I suppose it'd work as a fuse

Good luck with the boat repairs and especially the hull scraping, that is one job I don't enjoy and I only ever have to scape off enough to mount sonar transducers etc. If we do cross paths I'll be sure to say Hi.

 

[W.olly]

You're right I do electronics & electrics, I was only being daft when I said I'll better stop offering you advice hence the winky smiley on the end of my first line. I like that you say you're not comfy doing stuff you're fully up on, there are too many willing to have a go with boat electrics & electronics (both owners & man with van types) and usually they make a complete pig's ear of it.

I was fitting new nav lights on a fishing catamaran today so it meets the regs, not only the old ones didn't work they had been wired up with the world's thinnest speaker cable, quite how the poor electric was supposed to squeeze itself down the cable I don't know. Worse was the Halogen worklight that was getting it's earth via the indicator LED on the switch which again was using thin cable which is okay for the miniscule current LED's draw but not really upto the many amps needed by a Halogen bulb, still I suppose it'd work as a fuse

Good luck with the boat repairs and especially the hull scraping, that is one job I don't enjoy and I only ever have to scape off enough to mount sonar transducers etc. If we do cross paths I'll be sure to say Hi.

I am a clown, i replied and thought it sent, it is in draft lol.It could be rushing as you say `Too many projects ... Never enough time `

Yes i got you were being daft, never spoke in person but i get your not a moody so and so like some folk. I just knocked back a job working on a wooden boat that needs a lot of work on the hull. Inside is fine and he is getting back to me when he gets it down to Preston.

It coming on this anyway, have near two weeks worth in May on two boats and a few local and just finished one today. face book is hard work but getting there on advertising.


Now a question as there has been another thing turn up as self employed.
When i go on voluntary tax will i need to have two separate tax accounts?

As having two moneys coming in and two of everything it sounds scary at the minute.

 

[wookie]

Sorry I can't help regarding tax etc as I'm employed rather than self employed. Glad to hear your orders are building up, We are all off working on a 58ft cat down in Cardiff in a week, fitting some nice new gear including thermal cameras, relocating some existing gear and tidying up the existing wiring, from the pictures the boss has already took the wiring is a nightmare.

 

[Keith 66]

For what its worth, I was in the boat trade for a long time, i started on my own back in 84 having worked in most of the yards & factories round here. Most of those are now closed down. Over the years i have noticed that certain aspects of the trade are better paid than others, Marine engineering, Rigging electronics , actually doing boat repairs or building them you cant earn anywhere near the same.
Often the area you are in will dictate what you can earn, down the Solent there is loads of money so good crafstmen can earn a decent living, The eastcoast far less so. I got a very good reputation which i still have & that counts for a lot, it is very easy to lose a reputation it only takes one bad job & the news will spread like wildfire.
Round here if anyone was to charge £25 an hour today for boat repairs i can guarrantee they will not get any work. The punters baulk at £10 an hour! the boat game has always had a lot of potential customers with big ideas & shallow pockets.
On the Thames estuary today there has been a big decline in boating, principaly due to costs of mooring it somewhere safe, even 25 years ago the southend shore was packed with moored yachts & boats, today there are just a handful.
Now i have the best of both worlds, a part time on the cards job to pay the bills & my own little workshop in which to do my own projects. I sure dont want to grind any more fibreglass!