My Plan of action!!

[Falcone]

Just wanted to run this by you guys to see if this would be a good way to go.

comments welcome regarding anything I should maybe do different.

1) NETT tiling 5 day course. buy tools etc whilst there.
2) 1st job - tile my bathroom (its quite small)
3) Do a few jobs for friends and family. (take pics for portfolio)
4) do 3 days at my job now (would lose about 300 a month) and do 2 days with a qualified tiler just shadowing him. (unsure if I would ask for small wage or whatever. what do you think?). Also whats the chances a qualified tiler would let me "shadow" him for say, a year, for 2 days a week, maybe 3 if you include a Saturday.
5) Hopefully go about getting an NVQ and CSCS card.
6) Go part time SE after spending year with qualified tiler. still do 3 days at job now.
7) Eventually go full time SE.

Anything else I should add or would anyone recommend (spelling? lol) doing it any other way?

Thanks in advance

[tiler burden]

hi falcone

thought i would run the rule over your plan

1. NETT Tiling...excellent choice, darrens is an excellent tiler and tutor. very efficient and he will guide you on what to buy. if anything , he will stop you from overspending and he will only provide you with the essentials . i have 22 years behind me as tradesman and darren is as good as they come. he really will bring you on more than you will anticipate.
2. after NETT , you will **** your bathroom..not literally of course, just application wise.
3. excellent idea, the photos will provide evidence for your nvq
4.good idea, test the ground first but get to grips with your marketing and advertising and you will be leaving your current job quicker than you anticipate ;0)....
4b..dont bother shadowing a tiler and working for free, get the work in and get a price of the tiler you were going to shadow, put some money on top for you and get him working for you, do it the other way round. when your paying him, you can ask him/her anything you want??
5.no hopefully about it, do an osat, £500 plus your portfolio and 10 weeks later , viola' nvq arrives on your doorstep
6.go self employed after spending time with NETT, darren is a superb qualified tiler and a nvq assesor, you wont find a better person to learn from, seriously!
7. eventually, eventually will be alot sooner than you imagine, trust me on that.

hope this has made you feel confident in your own plan

ed

[charlie1]

totally agree with all of the above, only thing i would emphasis is don't take on anything you cant handle. once you finish the course at NETT which is excellent choice you will be at a standard to easily tile your own bathroom, however going in to someone else's house and doing theres is a completely different story. Dont get me wrong but you will after a short time be confident with dealing with joey public but its hard work, just don't bite off more than you can chew and you will be fine.

you will be fine m8

[Falcone]

4b..dont bother shadowing a tiler and working for free, get the work in and get a price of the tiler you were going to shadow, put some money on top for you and get him working for you, do it the other way round. when your paying him, you can ask him/her anything you want??

Thanks for the reply Tiler Burden, appreciated.

By the above do you mean get a job then give it to the qualified tiler, skim some off the top for me then work beside him/watch him and learn from him? This sounds like a good idea cheers.

Was planning on doing the course in Jan but am now planning on doing it in October if I can get the funds together. lol.

[Varley]

I think the main thing you will struggle with in your plan is getting work with a tiler, your best bet is to try the forum but I know loads of people who have tried in the past and had little joy, most tilers won't want to help you as you will inevitabbly end up being competition for them, their are guys out there who will but they, unfortunately, are few and far between. Would love to help you myself (not sure if you are local or not) but I already have a lad coming round with me and I have him doing some mixing and cutting at the moment.

Let people on this forum know where you are from and someone might give you a go

[tiler burden]

thats exactly what i meant..

thats how you learn in general buliding work. you have a guy on your job on a price and your observing all the time, picking up bits.. the reason why a tiler wont wont you to shadow him is because 1. its his livelyhood and he'll feel threatened and 2. you will actually slow him down and therefore he'll lose money. there is a 3. some of them on forums arnt as good as they claim, so they wont want to show them selves up??

theres a saying and its particularly relevant in the world of forums....'what you do tells me more about you, than what you say'...

darren will have you confident and you can always mail him if your stuck..

[penno]

Falcone i work in Manchester and not long started up myself but i am quite busy. No idea if you are local to me or not but would be more than happy for you to come to a few jobs tiling with me and to some customers houses while i price up. Would give a good insight.

[Falcone]

Yeah I kinda thought that most guys wouldnt want someone shaddowing them, expecially someone who's just done a 5 day course!!

I'm from Dundee in Scotland, dunno if anyone on the forums is from my parts.

I suppose I could always ask, they can only say no!

thanks for the replies

[Varley]

Best of luck to you Falcone as it seems like you have put a lot of thought into it rather than just jumping in, your on the right road and keep us informed as to your progress.

[Falcone]

cheers man. I'm a quite organised person and I really want to do this and make it work.

Will keep you posted with everything, I think this forum will help me a sh*tload... god bless t'internet!! will post things from my time on the course, my first job (my own bathroom) right through to going SE and my first job etc

thanks again!!

[Dave]

Good luck falcone with your new career........dave....

[Fekin]

Do your course, tile your bathroom, do some family and friends jobs to gain experiance then if you feel confident go out there and advertise yourself.

That's what I have done.

I was looking at getting a simple standard ceramic splashback or 2 for my first couple of jobs, but I ended up getting a half tile large toilet and 2 kitchen splashbacks, all in mosaics for my first job, lol

If you feel that your able, then go for it

[GazTech]

Best of luck...I will help with as many questions if I can...If I dont know ask DH !

[Falcone]

Thanks guys . I'm a very driven kinda person and I'll really wanna make this work. quite excited about it. lol.

plan on asking my old man over a beer on Saturday if he'll sub me £600 for the NETT course (5 day one) if I get £400 for ma tools. he said he'd help me out if I need it so hopefully he'll agree. he's good like that lol...
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Oh... forgot to add, I'm 24 years old so still young enough to live and learn as they say lol

[IvegotsTILE]

Falcone I've done the above,did the course then went straight into full time self employment,worked out great for me.

Love thE avatar 'TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!!!!!!!!!!'