sixstringzzz

Lads,

I've been looking at Elec Local a franchise that offers full training and support and helps get you up and running for an initial fee of £30k. Thats van, tools, training and support..

Can you have a look and tell me what your honest thoughts are?

ElecLocal :: Electrician Franchise & Training Courses

I've also got the option of attending Hybrid Technical Services training for a 4 week New Entrant Course that will cost me only £2k (out of my pocket & government funding)

Hybrid Technical Services - Gas and Electrical Training

I know its not really feasible to be starting up on your own with no experience and I'd much rather get in with a company and go down that route but I'm worried that I'll struggle to find work. I know any company worth their salt would be taking on an apprentice and not a 28 year old change of career.

I'm unsure of what salary I can expect as a spark?? Elec local state that sales targets for the first year are £60k but after their fees etc and materials how much am I going to pocket?

I don't even know what the industry is like at the moment. Training providers always lead you to believe theres loads of work!

A plumber mate told me his industry is saturated. Same with sparks?

Cheers for any advice lads..

Six

neilw

Hi,

As a general rule, if you're going to go with a franchise you need to keep in mind

1) the up-front and ongoing costs
2) whether you're actually suited to the twin tasks of competently carrying out electrical work and successfully running a new business - from scratch
3) the training and ongoing support you get from the franchisor
4) how competent the company is at promoting your services
5) what long-term investments are they making to ensure the longevity of the franchise
6) whether the company's sales targets are possible to meet - and what the consequences are if you don't meet them

Bear in mind that franchises are typically segregated into territories and you might already be competing with a large number of successful other individuals and outfits in your area. If possible, ask the company if you can be put in contact with other genuine franchisees - seeing how the company reacts to this kind of request should give you a better picture of what they're like. I'm not sure exactly what you're getting for the 30k so do a breakdown of what everything would cost you if you weren't going to go with the company and see whether it still makes sense. As an example, I would probably budget around 1k-2k for the tools, 3-4k for training and 5k for an ex-fleet vehicle. On top of this you'd need to spend money on insurance and advertising. These are all rough guesses but it should be obvious that you don't need a brand new vehicle to carry out electrical work (it just looks nicer).

To be honest, if you're completely new to the trade I suggest you arrange your own training then sign-up with an agency to try and get some on-site experience before you consider starting out on your own (if you don't enjoy the work or don't find it challenging it's better to know now). Building a business - and a good reputation - takes some time so I would only recommend starting out on your own if you've already been trading for some time doing a similar but related activity IE you've had your own property renovation business or have been an established heating engineer or plumber. From the experiences of some of the students at the college I work for, the contacts they made with other students and lecturers proved invaluable in securing them jobs further down the line, so make sure you keep this in mind. You might also want to consider something like portable appliance testing (PAT) as you can train up for this quite quickly and this might be the bread-and-butter work you need to tide you over between more lucrative contracts.

Hope that helps,

Neil

[w] http://www.howto-electricians.com/

rumrunner

Go for it ,get in now ,theres loads of work and no one to do it ,you will make a killing,electrical works a piece of **** anyone can do it ,its an easy way to get rich quick ,and its not even physicly demanding ,6o grand sales is a bit low ,double it ,that way you get a grand in yer hand a week ,no problem ,lease your own van ,get everything brand new ,and get out there and do it NOW,next year will be too late.
GO ON take a risk ,youll be ok ,whats to lose ,and think of the lifestyle youll have ,all that dosh ,wow i envy you ,i wouldnt hesitate if i had 30g spare.
GOOD LUCK

Shakey

Rum,

thanks to your wise words i might go for it as well

might even get two

do you think they would mind if i hired in some sparks to do the actual work and just did the admin

saying that, taught a lad a couple of months ago on his 2391

was just getting going with his franchise

spoke to him last week, he reckons he'll be off the tools within 6 months because he so much work he's subbing out anyway.......

you pays your money, you takes your choice......

randyrat

Rumrunner....
I have noticed a bit of a trend with some of your posts.......
Where most of the posters on here offer a little help, you seem to have taken the opposite stance.....Why?
This lad has asked a perfectly reasonable question and deserves a decent reply......why you offer only Pi*staking and abuse is a little tiresome. Better you don't bother posting at all. You def don't come across as a good advocate for the industry. Bitter and twisted is all that comes across.
(You're not scared that some of these newbies might snaffle some of your trade are you?)

Randyrat

Shakey

Randy,

knowing Rum, he's not scared of anything

Look, if it seems like its too good to be true, then it probably is

sometimes people need reminding of that, they need a reality check, especially where thosands are concerned

We (they) need Rum to give them his own style of 'wake up call slap around the face' type reply

if they still wanna go for it - its up to them

but at least they will have seen both sides of the coin

keep it Rum

LukeScotty

If You Build It, They Will Come n If it aint broken don't fix it!