Help A Lost Sole Trader Starting Out

[james.wilson]

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/acerbic

for those including myself that didnt know what it meant

[Oxford]

As for the training at a certain large blue chip, hardly a ringing endorsement these days.

Never heard a truer word!

As far as training goes..........well...........!

[arfur mo]

perhaps i'll have to go back and work for them for a short holiday then, and shake em up

(well. while i await my 18 year old single malt to arrive )

just a short excursion from topic as it came up, i don't know now what the 'big boys' do about training, other than some reports of 'engineers' being turned out after just 4 weeks, but that may have been sarcasm of ex engineers after dealing with some of the disasters.

Chubb's training was (when i received it) regular, and very very thorough, we used to have a ruddy great engineers black book with literally every task you might have to do, written down in word and diagram and how to do and wire it, all color codes set out which you stuck to. you were not given a grading on the back of a cornflakes packet and a wink, or if you face fits, you had to pass very tough exams just to get to Grade 3 (an Engineer under supervision of a G2 Engineer, sort of buddy scheme), i made Grade 2 and at the time nobody had ever made Grade 1, not even the trainers.

you were not given anyone from 5 multiple choices, their main panels at the time were a CA3 CA6 but your knowledge had to be demonstrated on every bit of kit in the field, and we are talking going back 50 years from then. you had to know every single terminal and every component on every board, what it did and if broke what was the effects, all from memory. that bit it was really tough, given my famed problems with 1st names

regs

Arfur Mo

[james.wilson]

not being inside a national anymore i dont really know, but id assume its no longer like this. anyone have direct experience?

[arfur mo]

not being inside a national anymore i dont really know, but id assume its no longer like this. anyone have direct experience?

i know NSI do run training courses, because i 'pulled' them on their training excellence stand over that switch spur (tee Hee). so i assume NSI companies could (or should) send apprentices/trainee's along to them on courses, not sure how far NSI courses would take it though.

while the classroom will help with theory and some of the basics, out in the field is where you really learn your craft and a good stint on service as o/p has will aid him greatly in that. working for the bigger companies is where you will get the chance to see more diversity and more types of faults, simply on the amount of jobs you see.

in a one way perhaps working for a high quality company is counter productive, when learning your trade if your going it alone later. when i have trained up a new engineer his install skills and attention to detail will be very high because i don't want to go back at my expense. and i hate being called out of bed in the early hours, so i work on the basis that all faults are totally avoidable if you use good design, reliable kit coupled with being installed properly, an emphasis why that very high standard is kept.

what to me is a common sense work ethic, means anyone working/trained by me would be less likely to absorb why or see faults caused from the common mistakes made (client and install)that lead to them, than if working for a larger company.

no knocking them here, but simply cannot afford to have a highly experienced engineers commanding serious wages spend so much time on one to one teaching engineers to that level, before sending them out.

regs

Arfur Mo

[Oxford]

Well I am trained in other disciplines as well, I will be offering Intruder, CCTV, Access, Door entry intercoms etc etc.

So, for covering my bases I think I am, as far as what I can offer the subscriber.

sh!t, I'll even cut their lawns and clean their windows if they want!!

But as far as insurances amd that side of things goes, can anyone offer any advice?

And how do you guys get the sales leads if you say flyering doesn't work?

Thanks.

[Adi]

word of mouth, but takes time to build up client base so the recommendation above about fitting for friends and family is a good recommendation.

And at the minute google is me best mate.

[PeterJames]

Well I am trained in other disciplines as well, I will be offering Intruder, CCTV, Access, Door entry intercoms etc etc.

So, for covering my bases I think I am, as far as what I can offer the subscriber.

sh!t, I'll even cut their lawns and clean their windows if they want!!

But as far as insurances amd that side of things goes, can anyone offer any advice?

And how do you guys get the sales leads if you say flyering doesn't work?

Thanks.

Recommendations is by far our biggest source, we have a small add in the YP we are on the NSI website of course, and we have a good website that brings in new customers. We also have several local and district councils, the home office, and now New Scotland Yard, that continue to provide us work, but as ADI say's it takes a long time to build up the sort of reputation you need to get these sorts of customers.

[arfur mo]

'safe traders' registration might be worth a punt. its what i'd do today while getting sorted with an inspectorate and cant see it doing any harm for the cost, at least for early days sales might realise some extra leads while you get yourself established.

iirc about £140.00 PA + VAT registration, few other organisations of this type about to take a look at.

as for insurances, you will need public liability and that's by law, i'd suggest to get cover for £5m as most sites will require that minimum.

you should also get cover for efficacy and bad advice, i.e. protects you against claims if your system fails to trip on an intrusion, very sensible obviously but not legally required, costs a few bob but then just how confident are you?

don't think anyone mentioned monitoring, until you get into NSI or SSAIB registration your not going to be able to offer this direct to your clients. the Police simply will not issue URN's to unregistered companies.

a 'get by' is i have a cosy relationship with local NSI golds who happily take over my systems (i sell mine outright) when completed when monitoring is required.

i don't take any kick back, the understanding is i can use them to cover me if i'm not available like holiday etc. but i've never had to call them out yet and they know having taken over so many my systems just don't cause problems.

reliability is not a mystical magical remedy, but so illusive to so many, strange when we know its not even great ability needed. you should be able to achieve that sort of reputation by utilising your servicing experience and nounce, remember you already know what really causes most faults, so you have a head start over many who think this game simple "how hard can it be?" often asked is it not? and they are right until it starts to go wrong.

so d your best to 'build out' those problems at installation, be pedantic about every single connection, it really pays dividends as its your rep that's on the line on every task you do. real nice when you can look the client full in the eye, show your self-confidence by stating you will suspect them to be at fault, well before the kit or install is questioned.

regs

Arfur Mo

[Cubit]

Safe Trader??

I'd save the money. Never heard of it until you flagged it up.