question for those who sell work/do any freelance jobs

[custard]

Good luck Hazel, I hope things work out for you.

 

[Harry 48]

I think we may have misjudged hazels situation we are saying minimum 20.00 pound an hour in a earlier post hazel said she 20.00 to last the week If you have money you can say that's my price take it or leave it. There are a lot of people looking for work that isn't there

 

[Richard Findley]

I think we may have misjudged hazels situation we are saying minimum 20.00 pound an hour in a earlier post hazel said she 20.00 to last the week If you have money you can say that's my price take it or leave it. There are a lot of people looking for work that isn't there

Easy to keep yourself busy working for nothing!

 

[Flynnwood]

I don't know if this is of any help hazel but if you are self employed and do not earn a vast amount you can claim working tax credit, I did and still do at the moment as my earnings aren't as high as expected. :wink: I also have a good accountant which helps as they will tell you what you can and can't claim for. :wink: HTH.

How does that work mailee? (in terms of chargeable hours exactly).

Example: 10 hours per week charged at £20 = £200

Hours worked to attain the chargeable hours = 55 hours / £200 = 3.63 per hour

 

[tomm41pvm]

I don't know if this is of any help hazel but if you are self employed and do not earn a vast amount you can claim working tax credit, I did and still do at the moment as my earnings aren't as high as expected. :wink: I also have a good accountant which helps as they will tell you what you can and can't claim for. :wink: HTH.

How does that work mailee? (in terms of chargeable hours exactly).

Example: 10 hours per week charged at £20 = £200

Hours worked to attain the chargeable hours = 55 hours / £200 = 3.63 per hour

I'm in the same position as Mailee, claiming working tax credit. I'm lucky if I make £200 a week, working seven days sometimes. Ive been self employed for about 4 years and its slowly getting better but still really hard.

 

[hazel]

What you could do is tape sheets of paper together to make one long strip. Draw a straight line along the length and lay the curtain pole on. Mark where the fixing holes need to go on this line. Then offer the sheet to the wall, masking tape one end and hold a spirit level to the straight line, masking taping the sheet at various points along the length. Step back and see if level is actually correct with the sight lines. Then you can drill straight through the paper at your hole markings.

that's a pritty good idea

what can you do well?

erm, I'm not sure... I am better at making things than I am at reparing things and doing handyman type things, or at least I prefer doing that anyway, which is why I sort of prefer the making things and selling them plan.

Can I make a suggestion? How about, next time you get asked for a quote, you add £15 to the quote, and if they ask you to do the work, you use it to buy insurance online the night before you start? If oyu don't get any work after that, just cancel your insurance... would that work?

would that not maybe make the person feel I was overcharging though? I guess if it's a bigger/longer job then they won't notice an extra £15 though.

Just a top tip on fitting curtain tracks... Don't use a spirit level! Always measure from the top of the window. Ceilings, floors and windows are rarely level with each other, using a spirit level to get it actually straight only makes it look totally wrong! Solid walls are easy, hollow ones cause real issues, especially when people want to hand floor length interlined curtains on them! Get really good plasterboard fixings and don't put too many too close together.

that makes sense, will bear that in mind

I don't know if this is of any help hazel but if you are self employed and do not earn a vast amount you can claim working tax credit, I did and still do at the moment as my earnings aren't as high as expected. :wink: I also have a good accountant which helps as they will tell you what you can and can't claim for. :wink: HTH.

[/quote]

I have heard of working tax credit, and as I am disabled I only need 16 hours a week of work to qualify apparently. I am not getting 16 hours each week reliably at the moment though, but it's something to keep in mind

 

[MMUK]

Easy to keep yourself busy working for nothing!

Easy to say but that doesn't help Hazel's situation does it? It doesn't pay the bills.

 

[Matt@]

@hazell well if you cant do anything well, are you sure you should be doing it?! not fair on paying customers unless you tell them you are not very good in which case they wont use you anyway or will only use you if you are dead cheap which brings you full circle.

strange thread :?

 

[MMUK]

Hazel, just a thought but are there any local trades you could tag along with to gain some more experience? Maybe there's some that need an extra pair of hands?

 

[Harry 48]

I think we may have misjudged hazels situation we are saying minimum 20.00 pound an hour in a earlier post hazel said she 20.00 to last the week If you have money you can say that's my price take it or leave it. There are a lot of people looking for work that isn't there

Easy to keep yourself busy working for nothing!

Richard I'm not saying work for nothing but when your in dire striates any thing is better than nothing

 

[Jinx]

Hazel, why put yourself through the stress of doing work that I am sure you are capable of, but from your own comments, at this time don't seem experienced enough to do? Don't forget it is not just that you might not make much money, if someone is unhappy with your work and its a valid criticism you could end up out of pocket. I am here as I like the idea of woodworking - but I couldn't make a living from it as I am not good enough so I settle for a hobby with it.

Perhaps you could take some time to think again about the way forward with work. And with respect you do not seem to have thought this through fully? Years ago I had Burger Vans and Market Stall pitches, and before I started I worked out clearly profit margins, how much it would cost just to go to work without actually selling anything etc etc. Before starting work you really need to know at least you basic plans - your enthusiasm is great but alone it wont make you money/ Jinx

 

[hazel]

@hazell well if you cant do anything well, are you sure you should be doing it?! not fair on paying customers unless you tell them you are not very good in which case they wont use you anyway or will only use you if you are dead cheap which brings you full circle.

strange thread :?

not so much that I can't do anything well, just not sure what one thing I can do best, which is what I thought you were asking... not something I have given that much thought to I guess as currently just been taking what I can get because essentially I have to... So far I started doing jobs for people I knew and then gotten everything since from them reccomending me, I have an ad on facebook and one in the local newsagents but haven't gotten any work through either of them. So I assume I am doing ok work, unless people are just feeling sorry for me and so giving me token work :/
I seem to be good at laying decking, which is probably as I used to be a groundskeeper and so did it about once a month lol and was trained to do it. As such I am also ok at doing most outdoors work, but at this time of year people don't seem to want that. I am fairly good at replacing windows too, which I got a lot of practice in doing last year as I was volunteering at a charity building fences and the main building is in a fairly bad area so had the windows broken a lot and they got me to replace them each time.

Hazel, why put yourself through the stress of doing work that I am sure you are capable of, but from your own comments, at this time don't seem experienced enough to do? Don't forget it is not just that you might not make much money, if someone is unhappy with your work and its a valid criticism you could end up out of pocket. I am here as I like the idea of woodworking - but I couldn't make a living from it as I am not good enough so I settle for a hobby with it.

Perhaps you could take some time to think again about the way forward with work. And with respect you do not seem to have thought this through fully? Years ago I had Burger Vans and Market Stall pitches, and before I started I worked out clearly profit margins, how much it would cost just to go to work without actually selling anything etc etc. Before starting work you really need to know at least you basic plans - your enthusiasm is great but alone it wont make you money/ Jinx

As said I am only doing this to be able to pay bills and rent... it's by no means a long term plan, if I got offered a real job tomorrow I would take it without any hessitation. Also why I've only been taking on jobs that are A. relitively simple, and B. don't cost me much in tools/materials as it only uses thing I either own or can borrow.

Hazel, just a thought but are there any local trades you could tag along with to gain some more experience? Maybe there's some that need an extra pair of hands?

I used to volunteer at a fair few places, I did so at 2 charities until a few months back one making wooden furniture and one putting up fences, I stopped both of these when the job centre threatened to remove my JSA as apparently by spending that many hours doing stuff I was violating my terms... something about 16 hours. I am now at college for 14 hours a week which means if I ever do more than 2 hours I will be violating them again. Not that this matters that much right now as I am sanctioned anyway, but the fact is I NEED some income and without doing this I have none...
Though saying that I did gain a paid job through one of these voluntry things, they employed me 4 hours a week as a wood carver, but then the charity lost its government funding and so have to lay off everyone bar one joiner... so I lost that job
I have sent a few letters off to various places, but unfortunately nowhere can offer any paid work at the moment, and when you take into account bus money, food money, and everything else I basically can't justify leaving the house unless I am gaining some money out of it right now
I might have gained a job starting in Janurary, but it's not confirmed yet and that still leaves a gap of a fair few weeks of no income... unfortunately I don't really have any savings to fall back on



I really do not know what the government expects people to live off when they get sanctioned lol, I understand it being a punishment and such but seriously it's little wonder some people end up resorting to crime and such

 

[hazel]

it's occured to me that my written communication sucks and I am probably confusing you all... so overveiw:


- my grandad was a welder/fabricator and taught me to do a lot as a child, he also had woodwork as a hobby and I used to help with things so got an idea fairly early that I enjoyed it and wanted to do it as a career. But it was made clear that I was the wrong gender
- so going along witht he whole being female thing I ended up going to uni, and hating it. While there I worked as a "groundskeeper" (basically a gerdener for the principle and uni to be honest) and was trained and qualified in most aspects of gardening
- after uni I could not find work and so The Princes Trust helped me make my own photogrphy business, after 11 months it folded
- I gained employment part time as a MIG welder and gained several qualifications. I found a second part time job as a TIG welder and later qualified as a fabricator.
- I moved back to my "home town" and could find no welding work. So I decided I wanted to go back to woodwork as I prefered it.
- my mum found me a teaching job in an attempt to discourage this. So I started to do a PECT. However, after only a few months I had to leave for health reasons
- went back on JSA and got sanctioned. Went to see CAB got advised to do some "handyman" work to gain income so did so
- I found some voluntary work in the woodworking area and through one of them gained paid work
- I found some part time work as a welder
- I started college studdying joinery, I have 3 quals so far and get a forth in March
- I lost both part time jobs, essentially for financial reasons on their side
- I ended up back on JSA, and started to see a disablity employment advicer
- I got sanctioned
- I decided to give the handyman thing a go again as I need income

 

[JustBen]

Hi Hazel.
I've read this post with great interest.

I think your main problem is confidence.
From reading your posts, it seems that you are able to turn your hand to most things but worry that you are not good enough to do it.
Don't be fooled into thinking that you need a piece of paper to tell you that you can do some thing.

Looking at my own life, I know this not to be true.

Other than my GCSEs, I have not qualifications but without sounding arrogant, I can do anything I put my mind to.

I spent 5 years as an unofficial joinery apprentice with my step-father.
I then became self employed until I moved to Worcestershire 2 years ago.
I have taught myself to bricklay, plaster, weld, tile, plumb along with all the carpentry skills I have now.
Some has been from trial and error using logic and reasoning (in my own/family home with their consent), some has been from watching videos on YouTube.

I built an extension on my mums house on my own (except for electrics/gas) all from watching YouTube videos.
The extension meets and exceeds all building regulations.

Everything I have made has been to the highest standards. Nothing has broken, nothing has failed.

I'm sorry if this appears to be arrogant but it's not.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you have the confidence to believe you can do it, you take the time to learn anything you don't know by whatever means you have available (books, YouTube, friends etc) and you ensure that everything you do is to the very best of your ability, you will be successful.

It's difficult getting your first jobs but once you do and people see the passion you put into your work, the work will start flowing.

I know this doesn't help your immediate situation but hopefully it will be of help in the future.

All the best.

 

[hazel]

Thanks. I know confidence is an issue I do have... I think the issue with the pieces of paper though is it seems to be what employers want, and I'm too old to get an apprenticeship it seems or that would be my ideal plan lol I've applied for a few regardless but my age does seem to be an issue there

Really wish I could turn back time and do my current course at 16 when I "should" have done it lol. All this may not be an issue now if I had. Then again given job market maybe it would be anyway, but I'd have more formal experiance at least

 

[morfa]

I have a Masters' Degree (never quite sure where the apostrophe should go..).

Sorry to be massively off topic.

If you believe wikipedia - Master's degree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master's_degree

also - http://www.dailywritingtips.com/masters ... rs-degree/

Hazel - I think everyone else has covered it, so all I can say is good luck.

 

[JustBen]

Yes, an employer may want qualifications but customers don't care.

All they want is someone who is honest, reliable, does a really good job, has pride in their work and will come back to rectify anything if there happens to be an issue.

And I bet most of the people on here who create some fantastic items have no relevant qualifications.

Price is an issue to some people but I personally would rather pay a bit more for a service that I know will come back to sort anything out should the need arise.

 

[Jinx]

Hi Hazel, I think Benjimano made a really good point 4 posts up. Looking back over the thread after reading that it seems that the advice you have been given leads your thoughts to another 'problem' you feel you have and so on... in my humble opinion no matter what answers you get on here, unless you go about things in a more positive way it wont help you:

It doesn't matter how keen you are... you also have to be good enough at a job...
It doesn't matter how enthusiastic you are... you also need basic business plan...
It doesn't matter how much you need money... You have to provide a service others want or need to get them to part with theirs...
It doesn't matter how much you want to turn back time... You have to carry on from now...
etc etc

I was self employed for 17 years and got fed up chasing contracts and decided instead to go to university at the age of 40 and become employed instead in a 'safe' job with a pension, I wont bore you with all the details, but I left school with nothing as I decided to join the Army and the Army at the time did not need a qualification to get in so I stopped going to school and missed all my exams (Yeah what an silly person). At 40 I took an 'Access Course' and worked around it - then went to University for 2 years - working at a Chinese delivering their meals 7 days a week reading my books and falling asleep!! Then I got my qualification, a diploma, was able to top it up to a Degree at work and then did a Masters. Now my job is reasonably safe and I have a pension and death benefit. If I now list the problems I had along the way pulling that together you will fall asleep, but it was one after the other. For example I rode a motorbike (far too fast so I hope Markturner does not read this as I have spent the last few days criticising his attitude to speed on the Speed Camera Van thread and I used to be the same opinion as he still has, ha ha) One day my wife had put me on another diet so I stopped for breakfast on the A12 lay by breakfast van, and a lorry pulled in and ran over my bike!! Then I had to ring my wife to get me, fixing the bike was out of reach due to money but that problem did not compare to having to explain to the missus what I was at a breakfast van anyway!!!

Even the bile originally was a problem - I did not have a full bike licence, so I sold the car and bought a moped whilst on the Access Course, in the year I had saved enough to buy a CB 750, and pay for a direct access bike course and test - just in time to get my place at uni and start to ride in each day to save time and money.

Everyones problems are unique but you have to accept any limitations and work with what you have to reach your goals. Jinx

 

[hazel]

I often get told that my frame of mind and outlook are my biggest enemies. Something I am trying to work on.


I appretiate that everyone has their own issues and that 99% of issues are possible to overcome. I guess in the moment it's just sometimes hard to see beyond that, and I am really really scared of ending up homeless again.
But if I am honest my life now (even with the income issue) is a million times better than it once was, and I as a person am better and more functional than I once was. I won't go into all that though as it's irrelivant


I think I will do this one last job as I've said I will now and then stick to the selling stuff plan. Seems safer, and it's what I prefer to do anyway and so am probably better at. Hopefully I will gain employment soon anyway, been applying for enough jobs and registered at enough temping agensies, statistically I have to get one eventually. Esspecially as just checked emails and have been invited for 3 interviews at the end of this week, interview doesn't gurantee job of course but it's a while since I've gotten that far lol

 

[marcros]

Where in Yorkshire are you hazel?