new business starting up

[rmc carpentry]

hello all, i have just stumbled on this website by chance so thought i would sign up and try get some useful info,

right here goes, im try to set up my business in all aspects of carpentry(based in se london) i havnt done anything yet but im looking to set up a website package from yell.co.uk aswell as sending out loads of business cards, im not very clued up on this so dont really know if this website build is the right first steps to be taking, but im very determined to get it all up and running bringing me loads of jobs

im currently employed at the moment so i sort of want jobs for the weekend to start of to get my name about, then gradually get bigger jobs and then i can venture off on my own.

as much and any info and help would be greatly appreciated

regards

reece

 

[rmc carpentry]

also is it worth the the money to register under the guild of master craftsmen and/or the federation of master builders

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

Hi there,

1. You can get listed for free on sites such as yell.co.uk and qype.co.uk.
They obviously want to sell their advertisement to you, so expect some sales calls. However, the initial listing is for free and already helps your business.

2. I don't know the yell.co.uk website package, but there are lots of websites out there which offer free or quite cheap website builders.
Maybe check wix.com or one.com

I have a friend using one.com. You can go for the cheapest package and pay around £10-20 a year for the domain name and they offer a quite decent website builder.

You don't need to be a computer genius, but you will need to have some basic technical skills.

Best,
Uwe

 

[rmc carpentry]

thanks for that i will have to check them sites out

 

[Beachcomber]

Yell web packages can be prices for what you get - plus if you ever want to cancel your subscription with them you will need to totally re-build your site from scratch (as well as kill off anyone who has the old site bookmarked)

Look around at all the big name host's starter packages - you only need a few pages and lots of hosts have very easy to use web building tools.

Rather than pay heavy subs to builder guilds, you'd be better off looking into the local Trading Standards' "Buy with confidence" scheme - being able to put their logo and 'Trading standard approved' on your quotes is priceless!

Put together a little pack and hand it round to all the local letting agents, don't post them as they will go in the bin - pop in and take 5 mins to chat about what you can offer. Chances are they have guys they use already but offer some free quotes for comparison and you may get some bites.

Don't underestimate the power of a card in a newsagent window - still works very well. Combined with a local ad in the paper or advertising mag.

You've definatly got the right idea Re. keeping the job on while you build up your own work - once you get some jobs under your belt and the recommendation start rolling in you can take the leap into full time self-employment.

There is plenty of work out there - lots of other trades would tell you otherwise but they are also usually the ones sat on their arse waiting for the phone to ring - get out there and be pro-active and you'll be up and running in no time.

 

[rmc carpentry]

thanks a lot for that some good tips there,
i think im going to have to register for vat next as one.com requires a vat number for you to build a website with them

Yell web packages can be prices for what you get - plus if you ever want to cancel your subscription with them you will need to totally re-build your site from scratch (as well as kill off anyone who has the old site bookmarked)

Look around at all the big name host's starter packages - you only need a few pages and lots of hosts have very easy to use web building tools.

Rather than pay heavy subs to builder guilds, you'd be better off looking into the local Trading Standards' "Buy with confidence" scheme - being able to put their logo and 'Trading standard approved' on your quotes is priceless!

Put together a little pack and hand it round to all the local letting agents, don't post them as they will go in the bin - pop in and take 5 mins to chat about what you can offer. Chances are they have guys they use already but offer some free quotes for comparison and you may get some bites.

Don't underestimate the power of a card in a newsagent window - still works very well. Combined with a local ad in the paper or advertising mag.

You've definatly got the right idea Re. keeping the job on while you build up your own work - once you get some jobs under your belt and the recommendation start rolling in you can take the leap into full time self-employment.

There is plenty of work out there - lots of other trades would tell you otherwise but they are also usually the ones sat on their arse waiting for the phone to ring - get out there and be pro-active and you'll be up and running in no time.

 

[isoPrint]

Hi rmc carpentry

Just to let you know you don't have to register for vat with one.com just register as a private customer or an association, I currently use one.com for my company and can't fault them yet they have always been helpful when things have gone wrong with my site.

Good luck with the business venture.

Iain

 

[Charity Calls]

My brother runs a carpentry business and he gets alot of success with free adverts on gumtree. Give it a try, its free and easy.

 

[rmc carpentry]

thank you ian just done it all now just waiting for them to send codes over to me

reece

Hi rmc carpentry

Just to let you know you don't have to register for vat with one.com just register as a private customer or an association, I currently use one.com for my company and can't fault them yet they have always been helpful when things have gone wrong with my site.

Good luck with the business venture.

Iain

 

[rmc carpentry]

i did use to do that with them now they have got greedy and started to charge to post a service add
it still is a good idea thanks because i did get a few jobs from gumtree in the past

My brother runs a carpentry business and he gets alot of success with free adverts on gumtree. Give it a try, its free and easy.

 

[Uwe (Invoiceberry)]

There are lots of other classified websites around. Just google for classified and you will find lots of free ones such as freeads.co.uk etc...

i did use to do that with them now they have got greedy and started to charge to post a service add
it still is a good idea thanks because i did get a few jobs from gumtree in the past

 

[isoPrint]

There are lots of other classified websites around. Just google for classified and you will find lots of free ones such as freeads.co.uk etc...

you need to use these to your full advantage i think

 

[tijan]

Gumtree is a good place to start, i have posted a number of ads on there with good reponse and i also recruited on it. Depending on what you are advertising, past experience shows its not the best place for everything.

 

[chrisburge]

Morning,

There are many sight builders that are free e.g. weebly.com they offer a drag and drop website generator and if you have already bought your domain name which should not cost much at all (i have 3 and the cost £7 each) you can have all the visitors directed to the site you have generated.

I have used the service to generate a few websites now and would be happy to talk you through the process if of interest.

I would also invest in a brand mark or logo so you have the continuity and recognition across your cards and website (so they know they are on the right website).

Good Luck

 

[yourmajesty]

Chris it is alright for free but for a web design business seriously. You having a laugh or are you just getting no work. Im getting to stage again where I nearly have too much work so if you are looking for work in the future and have good php or coding skills then drop us a line.

 

[chrisburge]

Chris it is alright for free but for a web design business seriously. You having a laugh or are you just getting no work. Im getting to stage again where I nearly have too much work so if you are looking for work in the future and have good php or coding skills then drop us a line.

I am simply offering others different options rather than paying for websites before generating a turnover.

 

[bdw]

I am simply offering others different options rather than paying for websites before generating a turnover.

If you are looking to generate business from a website it needs to be optimised to be found on the search engines. Most free websites are as useful as a chocolate teapot in this respect. All they do is give the owner a warm feeling but then so does wetting yourself.

In other words you are just wasting your money. If you are serious about starting a business be serious about having a website for the future. Get someone who know what they are doing to do it for you. £500 should do it.

Many of the free website builders like those from one.com and 1&1 use standard scripts on all their websites, which often guarantee failure.

You get the website they promise and they don't promise that it will bring you any business. What they also fail to tell you is that their website do not conform to W3C standards. W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium, the organisation that develops standards for the Internet.

Here's what W3C validator says about the sites in their testimonials page (and bear in mind that these are the ones that 1&1 cite as good examples).

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neamedesigns.com%2F&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=w...e=Inline&group=0&user-agent=W3C_Validator/1.2

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=w...e=Inline&group=0&user-agent=W3C_Validator/1.2

http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=w...e=Inline&group=0&user-agent=W3C_Validator/1.2

Note that some of these errors are no more than untidy and that many sites have some errors. The trick is in knowing which are likely to have a detrimental effect.

.

 

[Business Friend UK]

hello all, i have just stumbled on this website by chance so thought i would sign up and try get some useful info,

right here goes, im try to set up my business in all aspects of carpentry(based in se london) i havnt done anything yet but im looking to set up a website package from yell.co.uk aswell as sending out loads of business cards, im not very clued up on this so dont really know if this website build is the right first steps to be taking, but im very determined to get it all up and running bringing me loads of jobs

im currently employed at the moment so i sort of want jobs for the weekend to start of to get my name about, then gradually get bigger jobs and then i can venture off on my own.

as much and any info and help would be greatly appreciated

regards

reece

DO NOT USE YELL. God i hate these people. These guys do not code your website, they just auto generate you a template and stick you in a sub listing directory. they also sign you up to a contract. BT are the same, do not be fooled. Once they have you signed up they will never dig into your website to code it ever again.

I would recommend going onto yell and registering though. There is a company called FREEINDEX too. Thats also free. When you register for these directory companies just make sure you put a fake name in. Basically these companies will use your free listing to call you to try and sell you advertising space CONSTANTLY. When i set up my first business i would always use the name Sam that way as soon as someone said "hi is this sam" i knew it was a sales call and to beware thomson local too is good. those 3 are your main free listing sites you need to take advantage of them for all the freebies they can hand out

 

[PabloDesign]

I think Gumtree ads are still free - they just try and sell you premium services - I've just posted an add for my graphic design business in Leicester for FREE - give it another go - it's worth 5 minutes of your time

 

[Business Friend UK]

People searching for carpentry in your area will use Google.

90% of peolpe without a networked contact will go to google and start bringing up searches and carpenters in your local area. Local larger construction companies and developers will do the same.

We can build you a website for free, code it properly and host it for you. I am always happy to do it for free then we can agree a monthly fee a few months down the line once you have found your feet depending on how much i help your business grow and how much money your new website is making you. Some of my larger clients pay me as much as £100 a month but for your size business we could probably do it for 29 quid to begin with

 

[bdw]

We can build you a website for free, code it properly and host it for you.

Jamie, I was intrigued by your offer so I had a look at your website. On your "Meet the Creator" page you describe yourself as an "Internet Mogal" [sic]. You also say that you are involved in Investment banking and that your "client list in this area consists of major global banking players such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and many more".

I was just wondering why you can be bothered looking for business in here and offering people free websites? Isn't there more profit working for these world leaders in banking?

.

 

[jamesrenrut]

I was just wondering why you can be bothered looking for business in here and offering people free websites? Isn't there more profit working for these world leaders in banking?

.

I agree with this

 

[PeaceJN]

RMC do you cover commercial property maintenance?

 

[astutiumRob]

one.com requires a vat number for you to build a website with them

Why would you host in Denmark something aimed at London - it'll be slow, affect your ability to rank in google.co.uk etc.
What you save wont be worth what you lose ...

 

[Craig Lackie]

You have definitely got the right idea here. Personally I wouldn't use Yell or Wix for a website as they are terrible for SEO and not great for selling.

As for the business cards I recommend moo.com their quality is great.

I think the main chance you have with getting a nice number of customers is through a good site with a clear point and good Search Engine Optimisation so when someone searches for, say, 'carpenter in SE London' the first website they see is yours.

Advertising in shop windows still works occasionally according to my client's but we've had better luck with what's mentioned above.

Feel free to private message me and we can discuss further