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Where do you find your work?
Hi all,
Having been made redundant from my 2 year job, 2 weeks after my second baby was born (4lb 13oz baby girl), well the day i went back to work my boss told me that he had to let me go. I was his only worker and had way more experiance and skill than he had.
I’ve decided to take start my own company. I’m finding it hard to get work. Has anyone got any pointers as where to send letters or people to phone.
Regards from
Mark -
5 Replies
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Erm that’s a difficult one! Sorry to hear about the loss of your job! A similar thing happened to me 3 years ago, but I don’t have any children!
If you think about it, every business, near enough, needs signs of some description! A trip round your nearest industrial estate will give you names and addresses to write to. It all depends what you want as your main work. I do a lot of work on a Sunday night, once a month at my mates car shop. Sunstrips for his customers etc.
Best of luck anyway,
Adam
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how much work do you get from sun strips. wots the goin rate for a sun strip. I could put a sun strip on my car and advertise it that way.
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Get your name out there. Sign-up to every free online directory you can. Get Yell.com to give you a free listing, and get included in the yellow & white pages next issue. If you have a vehicle – get it lettered up and parked somewhere prominent – not in a cul-de-sac! Write professional letters on headed paper to large local businesses that have a need for ongoing signage…don’t use the words "one man band", "new venture" or "just starting up"!! Get nice business cards printed, pop letters / intros through letterboxes of vacant shops or those being renevated. And make sure you get your first quotes accepted, as long as you’re in profit & making a living. Getting 100% of those £200 jobs is better than 10% of those £1000 ones. 😀
Other than that – trade will build on word of mouth. At least 60 or 70% of my turnover is repeat business or recommendations.
Hope there’s something in there that’s usefull!!
re: Sunstrips. I do very few. Yes, it’s easy work but a niche market. If vehicles are your thing – go for commercial livery and custom / cruise graphics, a better income from those. I’d rather be doing one van a day than 10 sunstrips.
Dave
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i think the majority of work comes to me through word of mouth, if you’re a member of any clubs of any kind, try them, they might want club merchandise, sign your car/van, advertise in local press, my ads probably only directly cover the cost of the advert, but it raises awareness ! make a point to mention it to people you meet, just drop into the conversation what you do, i’ve had plenty of jobs that way ! even simply going to the barbers, garage, phone shop, timber yard etc, i’ve earned plenty of work.
i sell a small amount on ebay, not alot, but priced properly so that it does provide a small monthly income, just dont get involved with the 99p boys, theres way too many, find a niche, and list ot carefully or you’ll find that what you were happily selling for £6, suddenly becomes a 99p buy it now listing ! i’ve had plenty of good jobs as a result of small sales on ebay !
i often just drop in to shops / businesses if i’m slow, just say hi, and leave them with a good quality flier, or if i see a shop/business that obviously needs signs, i’ll make a point to write or drop in, timing is often crucial !
good luck !
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Unfortunatly I produce 100’s of Sunstrips….mainly text to put at the top of the windscreen. It’s tedious work, and takes a while, but it gets my name about. I charge different amounts based on the order, but usually £10 for a Sunstrip with one colour text or logo. I buy the sunstrip off my mate as he buys them in ready cut from his suppliers. Feels a waste to cut long strips out of my vinyl 🙂 I like to be creative :). Anyway, I don’t advertise, and business is ticking over fairly well at the moment. I do work through 2 mates’ businesses (car accessories shop and a car audio shop) and the family tinting business.
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