recently started my own plastering business

[mgillett21]

I recently decided to go self employed as a plasterer starting part time to minimise the risk. I'm doing ok and the works coming in but still feel i need to do abit more advertising I've only had some business cards done up and sent them around and worked ok. Anyway I'm after some tips as to how i can try and get some constant work from the local letting agencies, kitchen and bathroom companies etc??
email, phone, go into the shops and introduce myself?
many thanks

Mike

 

[PDW Electrical Services]

Local free papers and business magazines are good, letting agencies will want you to work for nothing and they will always choose the cheapest price

Dont touch companies like rated people and trust a trader if you want to earn any profit from your jobs

Get some leaflets made or use your business. Cards, put them under the wipers of all the builders vans in your local wickes/screwfix etc

Any extensions or skips outside houses stop and pop your card through their door

Put your card in all your local cafes that contractors frequent

Work will come from the least expected places alot of the time, you need to just get your name out as much as possible

Getting in with local contractors will give you a good base as they will be effectivley finding the work for you, however margins are usually tight

For best profit you eventually need to build up your own customer base of private customers

MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF ALL!!!

Always provide an A1 reliable service to all your customers(dont be the cheapest, be the best and most reliable) there will be lots of cheap plasterers about but an honest, good and reliable tradesmen is a rare catch!

the rest is just down to time

Good luck!

 

[mgillett21]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the advice. I did look into rated people and sites like that but decided not to bother. I always offer a great service and am always reliable and do the hours not init for a easy ride. Thought the letting agencies would be good to get in with do a good job and hopefully get a good amount of work from them not the case?

Many Thanks

Mike

 

[maxine]

...letting agencies will want you to work for nothing and they will always choose the cheapest price

Yep - plus they can be difficult payers!

Dont touch companies like rated people and trust a trader if you want to earn any profit from your jobs

Yep

Get some leaflets made or use your business. Cards, put them under the wipers of all the builders vans in your local wickes/screwfix etc

I don't think I would put actually put under wipers as you can attract unnecessary problems with alarms going off and people complaining but ... standing around outside these places handing a few out and being nice and lovely to answer questions or give some verbal quotes can work brilliantly. Get a logo t-shirt and just hand leaflets out to people as they go in and out of diy outlets.

And all the other great advice.

Word of mouth soon spreads, just make yourself easy to find online if you can. Don't forget to look out for people on facebook groups and get people who know you and have had work done to share pics. Setting up a facebook page is easy and is a great place to help local word of mouth recommendation.

Don't forget to introduce yourself to other trades too ie; Tilers, Landscape gardeners, carpenters etc as even though they may not use you as a sub-contractor their customer will always ask them if they know a plasterer.

Good luck

 

[The Byre]

Builders are always looking for people when there is a sudden rush of jobs and their usual trades are fully booked, so get a leaflet out to each and every builder in your area. That and do everything PDW said!

(BTW, after trying a bit of plastering myself, I am in deep admiration for how an experienced plasterer can create a smooth wall in minutes.)

 

[MASSEY]

Builders are always looking for people when there is a sudden rush of jobs and their usual trades are fully booked, so get a leaflet out to each and every builder in your area. That and do everything PDW said!

(BTW, after trying a bit of plastering myself, I am in deep admiration for how an experienced plasterer can create a smooth wall in minutes.)

You probably mixed it wrong. It's not that hard but it's too physically exerting and doesn't pay well enough in relation to effort.

I agree, better to contact other tradesmen and put emphasis on being reliable and turning up when you say you will.

Get a paid ad in the newspaper each week.

Maybe set up a primitive wordpress website and SEO if for plasterer in area, that will generate some work too.

 

[MBPH]

I'm finding a huge market in the letting agent market at the moment! Like private customers they are some good and some bad (well terrible to be honest)

I suppose my market is different to yours as I need to be reactive, I react very well so this means that the agent will use me over other contractors as they don't want somebody taking a week to see to a leak that's coming through the ceiling! This means that I can charge more or less what I would a private customer.

I agree with a post above though, before you do this you need a fair bit of money in the bank as cash flow with these guys ain't great. Normally 30 days, but even then you have to chase most of them before they will make a payment.

The thing is with marketing is to stand out from the crowd! Have a good offer a twist on things at first as you can offer the best service in the world but if no one will use you to start with it's irrelevant, once you have your foot in the door then nyou can show how good you and your service is.

It depends how big you want to get. If you want to grow and have people working for you, you will need to go more on the side of B2B rather than B2C. But if you are happy doing 5-6 jobs a week I would stick with B2C

I'm currently trying to break into the open market and it is difficult as tradesmen of all sort are 10 a penny, however quality reliable tradesmen a few and far between.

I'm just about to start a marketing campaign aiming at the private market and I have contacted a company to help me put a spin on things and I think it will be a winner. I won't say on here for peopleto steal my ideas but if you would like to PM I'd be more than happy to help

 

[The Byre]

You probably mixed it wrong.

My skills at mixing etc. are OK, I'm just not as fast as a pro! I watch in awe as a seasoned professional whacks up a smooth wall surface in seconds.

 

[karlhadwen]

Drop me a PM Mike, I think I maybe able to help you.

 

[Alby10]

Hi Mike

Local search has become integral in recent years, and with your line of business its essential. There are numerous ways to create a local buzz, whether through advertising, online marketing, websites etc.

You could look at:

Classified ads
Local directories
Local forums
Trade forums
Google local search
Adverts in local press / publications
Cards in post offices
Networking events
Email campaigns

The list is almost endless

Thinking out of the box, car boots, jumble sales could be an option, simply print of an A4 sheet with your details and display it in an A4 plastic display holder with business cards displayed next to some items your selling. That way you get local people seeing your details. The bigger events with greater local footfall the better.

If you need a hand let me know, I offer a lot of local search based services.