Small Business & everything that goes with it ❤️

This year I made a promise to try and blog more about our business, what we do and what we set out to achieve whilst trying to keep all our socials and website updated with all the wonderful work we fit along the way.

So Sunday has rolled round again, the housework is done, quotes have been sent and now I'm sat here reflecting on the past 4 years of business. Maybe we should start from our beginning..

2020

Lockdowns, pandemics, clapping in the street and a sense of community.

2020 was the start of putting ideas into action. In 2020 I was employed as I had been for the last 10 years fitting windows for a fair size company in our local area.

When the pandemic hit, we were all furloughed for the first wave of total lockdown and whilst everyone in the country were improving homes, gardens and working out in the garage, I spent 5 weeks at home with my beautiful family, enjoying what felt like an early retirement in a bizarre sense.

I had always wanted to start my own business, provide a personal touch and be the friendly face of a company that cares about what they did, yes we all strive to make a comfortable life from the work we do but money shouldn't be everything in life.

So we sat down (my wife and I) and said why shouldn't we give it a go? What expense is really stopping us from doing it that we couldn't recover from if it didn't work. So with that, my prize possession of my MK2 golf was sold, my van was purchased and any tools I didn't already have, we began marketing on social media and I handed in my notice to the company employing me. We had some work lined up and we were off.

Recommendations

Without a doubt, recommendation has been at the forefront of our business and how we have managed to be as busy as we have been these past 4 years. I am so lucky that I have worked for some amazing people who without knowing it, have supported this business by liking and sharing social media posts, showed their homes and our work to their friends and have had us back to carry out more work.

I know with being a tradesman, you are either good or bad at the job you do and I do strive for perfection, sometimes not helping myself because of it but I am genuinely happy with every job we leave.

The comments we get from people on our work and ethics are incredible and I'm going to blow my own horn for a minute because I am extremely proud of achieving something people told me I'd struggle to do!

Our 4th year is underway now and work is still coming in, I took the decision to stop paying for advertising in local publications because I didn't feel we were benefiting from it and have since built a website and pressed on with the free advertising, all that costs is my time, of which I will gladly spend.

Anyone out there who is thinking about starting a business, read this blog and take these tips;

While my original aim was to be able to spend more time with my family, I am busier than I have ever been, but I have the luxury of alloting time to do things like the school run, sports days, plays and any other events that my children have on in the day time that I wouldn't have been able to do under employment.

I have the advantage of booking my work around my family too, if we have a job on and I need to be at school for 3, it's no problem because it's my time.

When I was employed, they would squeeze every second out of us and we would be in early and home late, it was not a life I wanted to live!

Another reason, depending on what industry your business is in is the financials. I sold my beloved car and bought a van, had my business not have been successful, I could have sold the van and gone back to employment no hassle but feeling a little deflated.

If you have a drive to do something, support your family like I do, you will succeed without a doubt. Look at the guy from a diary of a CEO, Steve Bartlett. Had his ideas crushed many times but kept going and now he's a multi millionaire 👏🏻

I will leave you with those thoughts and finish with this;

This morning I was sharing my FB page to local groups as I usually do, trying to gain a few more followers etc.

A previous customer emailed me to say she was still in love with her extension and the windows and doors we fitted to it for her and sent me an after picture.

So I will post those pictures here for you all to see along with their review of the work we've done for them.

Our first set of aluminium triple track sliders, 4 agate grey windows and an anthracite composite back door. Previously it was cream windows to match what someone else fitted at the front, so we managed to hunt them down and fit the same at the back.

This property is stunning made all the more better for the blooming summer garden in the picture.

Enjoy the pictures and I'll see you on the next one. Whenever that will be 🤙🏼