Being a 'Self employed' electrician talk | Thomas Nagy
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Talking about my journey about becoming a self-employed electrician. As you will see there were many bumps in the road and I've learned from grave mistakes in the past which ended up costing my lots of money and revenue. Hey ho that's how life is, but never give up!
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Thomas Nagy
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#selfemployed #selfdevelopment
I assume the dislikes are from the people who were waiting to use the pressure washer.........
If this were Facebook then I could leave a Haha reaction lol! :)
or eco warriors about the amount of soap he used
😂😂😂
Underrated comment 😂
Great honest video.
@CJR Electrical i agree what the world lacks these days,
I loved it! Shows the human side of him and the game of work.
Yep, I agree. Very open and honest video.
Here here
Fair play for picking yourself up and getting on with it
Retired now at 60 but would do it again tomorrow.
oh no scratchy scratchy paint
at least it's not his van lol
It's a van, not a Ferrari. Plus the fact it isn't his.
@@cjmillsnun so because it's a van it's ok?
Rather my van than a shit ferrari
Been using similar washes for 5 years now on my cars. Never had a scratch from it.
I cringed when he did the wheel and then went to the side of the back panel with the same brush 😬
swirl city here we come baby!
It's a work van....
It's on loan😂
That was a rough ride. When I went self-employed I ended up freelancing for a number of companies. That took all the pressure of pricing jobs and buying materials away.
Sitting with a cup of coffee laughing, imagine quoting 1500 and walking away chuffed... only to realise you could of earned another 3K ontop. HAHA
Did you make a profit on the kitchen?
I'm self employed and have that problem, not as skilled as this guy but i never know what to charge. You don't want to go too high because you won't get work but you need to make it high enough to cover the costs and make a bit from the job, i'm getting out of self employed, it's a fucking faff and only serves to cause headache
Always overcharge.. Because you can always bring the price down but you can't put it up
Kudos to you for being so open and honest about your mistakes! *tips hat*
aaaarghh02 right!! Definitely takes a strong person to do that.
you're a real inspiration m8 keep it up.
Credit to you Tom I been through though times and still trying now to come out of it and I am self employed so I can relate to you, been going for a year and things are looking up now, keep grafting I say !! Ps I'm a self employed valeter and shut my eyes watching you do that to your van :)
Love the story it’s great to hear how you can get to where you are having gone through such a low patch, gives hope to others!
I had a similar journey like you but I turned to booze and lost everything.
I am good now and have a good job. All the best mate.
Wheels to dry gritty body work is making me cry
car washing 101 :(
@@VAX1970 Hire Van 101 :p
Black van, jet wash brush. Almost had to stop watching.
why
Yeah why
Paint
I moved out of my parents home due to shit circumstances. 3k in the bank scared as anything starting my electrical business out of share house with my girlfriend exactly one year ago when I started watching your channel.
You have truly inspired me to push through and I can say that I am finally comfortable. People who have never seen rock bottom will never understand the mentality of those who have.
This is the most inspiring video I've seen for years. Hats off to you sir. 👍🏾
I appreciate your honesty here mate. Most people are too proud to admit they've been through the shit and will sugar coat their experience so you feel like you are the only one who has ever made a mistake. Huge respect for getting back on the horse. I wish you all the best.
Cringed when you washed the wheels and then the bodywork with that brush :(
Nice vid tho 🤣
RIP paint
Very honest video
Very honest of you telling your story like that, I admire your grit and determination.. tip of the cap to you Tom..
Nice one... Fair play to you mate👍
As a car guy... I cringed when you washed your wheels with a brush and then went over the paintwork... I suppose you're not going for perfection though with a van... As long as it looks clean from a distance
Are you still living in Brent, I'm in watford and came across with clients that are looking for an electrician, happy to pass over details if I have any
Regards Peter
CFC Ltd
I was a Self Employed Electrician at 40 I went back to college at 40 to learn
Loved being an Electrician. Living in Thailand now but still doing a bit.
Like your videos. Well done.
Hi Tom. Have you considered setting yourself up as a limited company instead of self employed/sole trader. Company debts would then belong to the company and not you personally should the worst ever happen again. I would strongly advise looking in to it further. You wouldn’t have lost your house if you had been a limited company before. Just a thought 🤔
If you're a limited company that has a small turnover & profit and/or doesn't have a proven credit history you will most likely still have to personally guarantee any credit.
Scott Baigrie I’ve done this!
Hi tom have you considered wearing a wig u bold bstrdddddddd
This video has been brilliant, I’m going through a rough patch at the moment and it’s nice to see that hard work can pay off. Also just wondered if there would be a video in the future about how you got into filming and putting videos on UA-cam.
Sounds like you've been through some real shit. Good to see you've dusted yourself off! 👍
How can you get commercial work these days?
Bloody heck, that's brave. I'd not even look at that brush knowing how much grit there is in it.
Great video , thanks for sharing your story . I’m currently looking to retrain as a sparky . Keep up the good work 👍👍👍
I can relate to so many points you make in this video Tom, 2008 I was subcontracting for a national house builder they put us on 3 days, so I went on my own which went well for a while then in 2011 I did a job and the client couldn't pay. I got paid eventually after a few years but that did me in financially. Anyway we are now at a point where I'm working 2 jobs and I have very little time off, I get asked all the time why you working Sundays, why you working until this time, but I know exactly what I'm doing and I wouldn't want it any other way to be honest. I'd probably get board not working now !!!
Why does nobody wash the roof of there van ?
Too high lol 😂
Because its agg
Are you a very tall man, sick of seeing the grime on top of people's fridges and filthy van roofs?
Their
I'm not anyway into electricity, or that area of work, but I recently got drawn in by your "shafted" (on recommended) story ... and I have to say you have a knack for telling stories ! subbed.
the biggest risk of working for yourself is the human trait of trusting that your (corporate) customers have equally (to you) honourable intentions to pay you. The money is important.
Man fair play. You never gave up I admire your determination. I started my plastering company 3 years ago and built it from nothing. No 1 rule is never give up. Best of luck in the future. Colm Tully from Ireland 🇨🇮
You are a top guy Tom. Good people like you deserve the best in life. You're not stuck up and selfish like the majority of Electricians out there. Dog eat dog world for them.
A very good and honest video.
There's some golden advice in there which I hope all the self employed newbies take on board.
It's true, it happens and because of it I'm renting too.
#ChasingTheDream
Absolute legit guy. I like your character as a person no matter how much s#%t you’ve taken you keep moving forward. Hopefully one day myself join as an apprentice electrician.
P.s it’s literally killing me the way you are washing the van! First wet the vehicle then soap foam brush on windows then metal body parts then finally alloy wheels because the dust, residue can scratch the paint from the wheels.
Brilliant video T.. listened to this and thought wow similar situation.. years back and moulded me to be Very form and Clear with my clients so Never again would I be left in the shite. Only this week someone was late with a payment by 5 days.. straight on the phone and knocking on the door.. Sorted. We grow so much by these events. You have done and doing well keep it up. And be firm with people that try it on. Our instincts are usually right so trust them fella.
Fair play to you sir. I’m just in the process of going self employed after spending the last 20 years working for other people primarily on ELV stuff cctv and data. Not afraid of grafting but it’s the quoting and trying to get paid that’s gives me cause for concerns.
I love your videos and now knowing what you went through it gives confidence to know it does work out.
Thanks Tom 👍
Lovely grounding story mate. I worked Xmas eve too... even New Year’s Day - Albeit just a quick element change on mates hob. Fek the haters. You got good tools, good people working for you and a good spread of electrical knowledge. Onwards and upwards!!! Did rewatch the falling lid tho a few times tho a few episodes back,,, save the meter.. oh fuk..oh fuk... wow!! A lot of people would keep that out - just shows you show it as it is and show the ups and downs. If your ever up Nw shout me, would be nice to have a McDonald’s with you. I’m with napit- don’t think we are worthy of even you guys spitting on us.. lol joke.... kinda
Fucking hoses. 2:40
Great video upload.. Well done to you for over coming life challenges and driving forward!! All the best for the future! I’ve now subscribed! 👍🏾👍🏾
I admire your honesty, I remember 2009 it was like a switch was flipped all work dried up. I was contracting at the time I ended going back to the dark side PAYE. But I always had the maxim never work for nothing and when a firm stops paying you bailout and pursue your money while they still have some in the bank.
Good on ya, for telling it Like it is, just shows that not everyone has had an easy time of it, just keep plugging away (excuse the pun ), & hope for the best after Brexit.
This is a great video. I'd like to have a beer with you. Great personality and I learned some things from you. Very cool, and amusing.
I’m slowly working through your videos.
Wow. You’ve been through the mill mate!
I’ll keep watching.
Bankruptcy especially changes your relationship with money, we're the same, wont have anything on credit always save for things we want. Pay entire bills of straightaway etc. I remember feeling like i hated money at the time and im always very conscious if my bank account balance now, they should ditch half the curriculum in school and replace with money managment. Wastes so many years having to 'reset'.
Thanks Nagy, I keep switching between smaller domestic jobs and larger commercial work through agencies. Probably a matter of focusing on one. Your videos are an inspiration.
lul "you don't know what you are doing if you work that late" what the fak xD i guess that's a comment from a desk warmer...... i always feel like i get looked down upon. when ever i do a job where there is alot of people looking at a computer.... but hey i only earning 50-100ish (danish crowns) more pr hour then you but that's none of my business
Christ mate so honest. I have a company in the north west.started it 12 years ago a month after your first company. Been ups downs. Not as much as you but can so much relate to you. Every night I compile work lists.every night of stuff to do. Basically dump all of my brain on to a pc so I sleep at night. Keep up the Volga pal
Wow you been though some crap ain’t ya, fair play for pushing forward mate, onwards and upwards.
Think you're allowed to wash your van with a bucket even not on a drive way. Presumably where you park it can cope with rain
What and just tap into the pipework under the road?
I would agree, we all fuck up, it is down to how you deal with it & what you lean from it. Life will constantly shit on you & you basicly just have to pick your self up & deal with it.
Well done Mr Nagy. I've been in the same boat with being owed thousands. You've just got to forget about it and move on, great video.
Yah missed a spot //VIDEO EDIT\\ no still missed a spot // VIDEO EDIT, feed the machine \\ what, still missed a spot // VIDEO EDIT, feed the machine, “this is getting expensive \\ and blooming well unbelievable, STILL missed a spot! Not paying you to wash my vehicle 🤣
I was ruined by a divorce and recession , this week I have restated after years being employed . I too am working on no credit and I know cash will be hard to say the least. However self employed is in the blood and its not all about the money
Any tips on how you set your terms out with the customer ?
All that effort and your roof is still filthy...
It needed a drone shot, to show the filth still on top
Thank you for this video Tom this really hits home. And everything you have mentioned is soo true any declining of payments from customer withdraw no company cares for small companies. And I never put all my eggs in one basket. And there is always a month where work gets quiet.
Thank you for this video.
☺
I recently became self employed and this months been really rough, but this video really helped out. I’ve still got work, I’m just gonna keep at it everyday and slowly get myself out of the slump I’ve got myself in.
Hope you weren’t on that forecourt for more than 20 minutes otherwise they’ll send you a nasty surprise in the post.
Who are the 35 w****kers who dislike this video? Shocking. Great video though. Been through bankruptcy myself back in 2003 I think. Hard times, but you get through it and pick yourself up.
Fair play Tom you've had it pretty rough... Glad to see you've come out of it still positive! . I've been ruined by debt in the past and also try not to buy anything on credit anymore, I think it's the best way to operate... As long as customers pay on time lol. Keep grafting and don't listen to the negative comments about working late/Xmas eve, justdo what you've got to do to give you peace of mind!
You know what.. I had the exactly the same experience as you! No joke.. I worked in London in near the London Bridge,. (Park street) just the other side of the market! I had a nice paid job.. it was for a property developer! 2008/9 hit with redundancy. And in 2013 I made myself bankrupt.
(Best thing I ever done). All my debt cleared.. I was fortunate to not of lost my home! It was in negative equity and the Official receiver held the property for 18 months after my bankruptcy,. Sent a letter out in 2015 to say they have no beneficiary in the property and took the official receiver off the land deeds.
So to all you reading this,. Bankruptcy is not as bad as it sounds! They say you have a 1-1/2 hour interview with the Official receiver.. but I experience just a 10-15 minute conversation over a telephone meeting. Very nice people at the office, they fully understand your Consequences.
Just do not ballshit them, tell them exactly what you have and why you made yourself bankrupt. Their is no shame init,. People go bankrupt all the time. It’s the only way sometimes in life.
You just get a shit credit score for 6 years. After around 4 years into your bankruptcy, you slowly start getting a better credit file (score)
And has this nice man says.... it makes you be more Sensible with money and puts you off getting credit again! Lol...
Nice video, glad to see someone hit financially and bounce back like me ;0)
Thanks. Simple honest advice.
I was in business through the bank fuckup crunch. I was with RBS, they made thousands (literally) of their small business customers bankrupt, the fuckers. In the end I lost over £100k. 🙁👎
seeing him mostly talking, with the foam spilling off the brush for £1 per minute I gather...he learned sh*t about money xD PS. are the prices in London that crazy? it probably costs £3-4k to rewire the whole house anywhere in the country...
I moved from London up north, I had about the same amount of money, no car to pay taxes on. Wanted to move out of London to get lower rent and EVERY AGENCY wanted me to have a job before I could rent. And I was like "HOW do I get a job in a city 150 miles away" I eventually found someone desperate enough with a shit flat that let me rent with 6 months pay up front. Found a job in under 2 weeks.
Strangely enough 2008 was my busiest year, but diversifying helped
Mate, so sorry to hear about the recession and what happened to you. Nothing is a guarantee. I thought of the house buying and all that but i take one step at a time now... being newly self employed, i have a long way to go before i think big.
Decent video I'm in same situation, have most qualifications need to get NICEIC registered now but haven't done jobs on my own. 2021 is going to be a very different year I think. You can either take the risk and do what you got to do or you can be employed and make someone else rich all your life that's the way I see it. £4500 for a kitchen might have to look at relocating to London ;)
My TOP 3 videos!!!👍👍👍glad you managed to climb back the ladder Tom
Got the same deal .... a company who the owner (retired) a billionaire ... owed me £14,000 for work I had done. I see him on local TV promoting his charity work .... It still sticks in my craw.
Thanks Thomas that’s really good experience bankruptcy and lost £30K wow, but always think forward because a man can fallen bad but get up and started all over again keep your faith doing the good job keep work as long as work there even Christmas Day thanks Tom
New subscriber mate. Who would ever think us electricians could get popular UA-cam channels 😄 just starting out myself so good to hear advice and get the inspiration from someone who's doing it....keep the vids coming
‘People working 8 at night don’t know what they’re doing’
Lmao do you really get them comments? They’re clearly comments from someone who is happy earning 500 quid a week as long as they’re home by 4 everyday.
Great video and fair play for taking the knocks and still cracking on and working your way through it Tom.! Similar story myself except I was in Ireland when the same recession hit no work at all so decided to move my ass to london to find work. My sister lived here and her hubby was a builder so did some work for him and before I knew it we where flying! Hard work always pays.
Watching this during lockdown may 2020... Still looking to do Electrician course...any advice to do it now or wait till the virus has pass? many thanks for the awesome video
Watching this explains why some people think he’s “harsh” with clients.
If I’d been fucked out of £30k I’d be the same
truer words were never spoken, "its not the mistakes you make it's how you deal with those mistakes is what I think is what matters (Thomas Nagy 2019)" These are words to live by. I have heard it said several ways but yeah, we all make mistakes, but if you learn from them and grow then you are better off than someone who has never tried. Another way, it is better to try and fuck up than to never give it a go. Also if you really enjoy what you do then why should it matter if you are working Christmas eve or into 7 in the evening, so what. I hate my job I won't work a second of overtime unless I feel so bad for the oncoming shift that I help them out with a mess but only for a few minutes, 13 hour rule and all here in Oregon. (I work 12.5 hour shifts) On the rare occasion they ask does anyone want to come in on front half of the week for overtime and I laugh and tell them NOPE. I did that once maybe 15 years ago when I still kinda liked my job and my paycheck only went up like 20 bucks. My rate was so close to the next tax tier that 2 days of OT pushed me into the next bracket and I paid so much more in taxes that my 25 hours of OT only amounted to 20 bucks in 2003, fear of higher tax brackets and the fact I hate my job is why I never do OT anymore
Tom ---- your story has some similarities as my story but, completely different.
I'll try to be brief but I want to tell you what I went through so you don't feel like the only person who had a rough time going on your own. Your first mistake was thinking that you were an electrician after only doing your four years of apprenticeship, and trying to work for yourself. But, you know that now.
I on the other hand had almost 17 yrs as a journeyman in the IBEW electricians union plus six years before that as an apprentice and a jobsite slave and then driver and warehouse foreman for an electrical contractor.
When the shit hit the fan in 2008/2009 I got laid off and had been on the out of work books waiting for a job call from the Hall. I was working away from my hone local as a traveler, so I had to wait for all the local hands to take jobs and if any were left over then hopefully my name is at the top of the list. Well, a year went by, I got married and was going on broke. The marriage failed within a year, not because I was broke but for other reasons and I kicked the ***** out of my house. My state certification was going to expire and I needed to pay to take the test, which is another story, but I started thinking about the $200.00 fee to take the certification test and still be out of work or pay $250.00 or something close to get my state elecrrical contractors license . So, I put my union card on hold, in good standing and I moved back to the city I lived in most of my life after being gone for 17 years and took the test, passed and there I was, no business plan, about $12k in the bank, no clients, just my tools and my charming personality and my experience ( which by the way was the best trainging from the best electricians in the state working for the biggest and best contractors), needless to say I spent my savings on rent and went broke because I made about $10k that first year. I wasn't going to give up so I lived in my car for over a year saving whatever money I made to pay for my phone, gas, material for whatever jobs I got or I told customers that they needed to pay me upfront for material cost and then I would use some money to get a motel room for one or two nights a week to shower and sleep in a bed. I kept at it. Work started picking up all from word of mouth referrals from clients and friends, and I knew something had to give, some door was going to open and give me an opportunity to make it work and that happened. It's been eight years since I made that decision to go on my own leaving $70k a year with benefits, retirement etc.. or actually not making any money for over a year before I left.
Now, I am one of if not the only electrical sub contractor for all the major film and television studios and production companies in Los Angeles / Hollywood doing locations electrical work for film and TV shows all the big budget productions, Academy award winning movies, Emmy award winning TV shows, and making almost twice as much as I was in the union. It was a slow process and it was feast or famine for a few years, it's still seasonal, sort of. But I have regular clients that I do service work for and troubleshooting. I had two vehicles blow motors over the last three years, of course at a time when I had no money in the bank and the phone wasn't ringing. But, always in the nick of time, someone would call and say we need you for this movie or TV show and I'd make a few thousand dollars over a couple days and get my shit together and it would work out.
So, I know what it's like to be in your position, different but the same.
I'm glad things are working out for us both.
tom. why did you have to go bankrupt? was it down to the mortgage or did you owe a lot of money to other lenders? such as finance companies, business loan etc? Also with the posh shed builders that owed you 30K did you not do credit check on them on a regular basis? I have a credit checking facility with my trade body, it just costs £5 a month and well worth it. Im sure you learn't this the hard way but you have to see yourself as a company (even if you're just one person) and not see yourself as a worker. A company with routinely credit check their clients, and agree on a credit limit with them, they have a credit limit contingent on them keeping a 5/5 credit score. If the score fall their credit limit reduced or is removed. You have to set these out on paper. That way you mitigate your losses. If a client can't pay £3K invoice (which they have already received money for), then that's a sign of trouble. Stop work and demand the invoice is cleared.
I feel like I've just matured ten years by listening to you! Well done for sticking with it and picking yourself up and well done for working even harder - you're the better man!
That's an expensive car wash, it would have been cheaper to have it resprayed.
I was an apprentice carpenter in 2009 ended up loosing my job few years later managed to finish my apprenticeship though unpaid
Ended up In a totally different type of trade 5 years earning decent money, whilst still doing carpentry and other related trades back full time building lots of work currently doing different trades can't see me going back to a single trade too much uncertainty. Can be plastering one day to cutting in a roof the next. We shall see, well done to you for keeping going it's what you have to do.
You either make it through or do nothing.
And I work nonstop currently so hopefully I won't forever, the types that so you don't want to do that tend not to get far
Let me clean your van for you please, got me crying over here, good formative video by the way
I think its good that you work whenever, self employed isn't a 9-5. It's a whatever is needed. You can take time off whenever between jobs.
I'm not an electrician but i do work in AV installs. Any job i get myself i always get parts paid upfront, so i've never needed a credit account with wholesalers - do electricians not do this? If not why not?
You're what makes Britain 'Great' 👏
How on earth did you stomach another 30k loss without going bankrupt again ?? you must have owed some wholesalers again didn't you ?
Wow, good on you for carrying on.
On a side note I cleaned my van up north for £2!
Great vid. There are some real lessons there. First get the work. Don't let suppliers credit get too much. Don't give credit to customers unless there is an agreement for payment. Demand payment on completion. I was a pty ltd drafting contractor for 30 years and loved it.
It looks a if you are well on the way now Tom - just keep doing what pays best. commercial or real estate jobs seems good without having to deal with householders who are often cash strapped and shifty.
this unironically made me crack on with this long fucking application i'm doing... serious procrastination rn but this was motivating
Very honest..... right attitude, always remember your an electrician not a loan company.
Thanks for your honesty - great genuine video (I have just subscribed)
Thomas im feeling you man i was in the same position i lost over 40k on a builder that i did work previously for i trustied him and sure enough he went belly up same thing lost my house and shit i didnt go bank rupt my self, the little money i had left over paid back my suppliers. Its said but i think you become more wiser and ruthless, all the best mate love from the country Down under.
Oh and for all those haters until you have been in this position shut the F***K up!
Hi your work car is very good. there is a car that the electricians use here in Brazil I think you would like it the car name is "FIAT UNO" see you later👍
Having been self employed electrician for 35 years and worked for 50 years
Here are the rules through the errors I made and seems you have made.
Never under price work.materials supplied at 15% on cost for using your money and time organising collecting etc. Perferably get client to supply.
Work out what is your hourly rate for labour ie your wage .price a job using a material list and the hours needed to install test etc then add sundries screws rawplugs,slaving etc then add a profit margin .This is essential as a business needs capital to pay for replacements tools plant etc,increased costs , insurance
I lost about 8 grand to an employer that did not pay me. Fuck I thought that was bad, 30k pounds holy shit. But hey the struggle makes you stronger.