Typical earnings in First Year

[mestizomad]

Hi,

I am currently employed full time. However i have been self employed before for several years and i used to work as a labourer for 5+ years.

I am considering going back to being self employed and on top of my other business in IT, i was thinking of becoming a fully qualified Sparky, eventually with a Gold Card.

It will obviously take me at least a couple of years and several thousand pound to train and if i did so i would be around 30 by the time i'm trained.

Could any others Sparkies here give me a v rough idea of the the kind of monthly / yearly earnings i should expect as a self-employed Sparky? Doing mostly Domestic jobs, small Commercial jobs and PAT Testing.

I don't expect the earnings to be massive, i just want to get a general idea.

Cheers

Marcus

 

[Octopus]

How long is a piece of string!

Where are you based? Location matters a lot

 

[Jay Sparks]

How long is a piece of string!

Where are you based? Location matters a lot

Twice as long as from one end to the middle!!lol

But seriously, the average earnings will be different for everyone and like Murdoch says, your location is also a factor, as is how many hours a week you intend doing, what sort of work will you be doing, i.e, mainly domestic, commercial etc. There are a lot of factors to consider.

Jay

 

[Octopus]

So I see you've updated your location........

 

[mestizomad]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies. My location is Nottingham.

I would intend to work pretty much full time, so around 40 hours per week if possible.

The work would be mainly Domestic and PAT testing. But would eventually want to do qualifications so that i can do Domestic Solar PV and Wind installation.

I would also dabble in CCTV and Alarm Systems, as i have many years of experience installing these and used to work in a security company installing these systems.

An easier question may be: What is an average hourly / daily rate for a Nottingham / East Midlands sparky?

Thanks

Marcus

 

[Jay Sparks]

I think your 40 hours per week is slightly wishful thinking! Whilst you may do 40 hours actual installation work, don't forget about the hours you will spend quoting, sourcing materials, traveling to and from work/site. There is also the marketing side of your business, invoicing, certification etc. You may well end up doing around 60/80 hours per week. Around here the average day rate is around £240 but you won't always do a full days work every day. You will have to think about your pricing strategy as well.

Jay

 

[mestizomad]

I think your 40 hours per week is slightly wishful thinking! Whilst you may do 40 hours actual installation work, don't forget about the hours you will spend quoting, sourcing materials, traveling to and from work/site. There is also the marketing side of your business, invoicing, certification etc. You may well end up doing around 60/80 hours per week. Around here the average day rate is around £240 but you won't always do a full days work every day. You will have to think about your pricing strategy as well.

Jay

Hi Jay,

Thanks. I'm happy to work a lot less than 40 hours. I have another business in IT that earns reasonably good money (has v busy and v quiet periods). I don't have a desire to earn tonnes of money, so even if i was only moderately busy as a part time electrician, that would be fine.

My current full time job pays £60 per day after tax for 8 hours....

I'm basically very flexible. If i'm busy at 40+ hours, that's fine. If i'm not as busy at 10-20 hours, at the pay you suggest, that's also fine.

Cheers

 

[Octopus]

Self employed people are doing well if they can work for 200 ish days per year.... and don't forget to factor in no sick pay, no holiday pay, no bank holiday pay, no pension...........

 

[mestizomad]

Self employed people are doing well if they can work for 200 ish days per year.... and don't forget to factor in no sick pay, no holiday pay, no bank holiday pay, no pension...........

Hi, thanks. I've been self employed for 10 years, and only took this full time job recently as a second income (due to large expenditure rebuilding my house). And i only intend to do 12-24 months max.

I would be very happy if i could average 100 days per year of electrical work or 2 days per week. As that would fit nicely with my other streams of income. But i would do more if it came along.

Just trying to figure out it it's worth spending £8000 ish on training for Level 2 + Level 3 + NVQ + 17th + PAT.

 

[Jay Sparks]

Well you can save a few quid by not doing the pat course. If you gain the other 3 quality you mentioned, you shouldn't really need the pat qual. But the others might well take you 3 or 4 years to complete and gain some good on site experience as well.

You are lucky if you have a steady second income to keep you going because you will probably start out doing 1 or 2 days per week as an electrician once qualified.

Jay

 

[hightower]

@sparksburnout will be along in a minute to say that having a job on the side of a full-time job is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. What are you, a policeman?!

Me on the other hand, I say good luck!

 

[FatAlan]

Can't be a policeman, he works in IT. Although, if he worked in IT for a police service he would have a job for life if he was an expert in obsolete Microsoft operating systems

 

[sparksburnout]

@sparksburnout will be along in a minute to say that having a job on the side of a full-time job is disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself. What are you, a policeman?!

Me on the other hand, I say good luck!

Shurrup Geordie!

 

[hightower]

Shurrup Geordie!

Haha, that will get a rise out of me. I'd call myself a smoggie before I called myself a geordie.