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Old 15-07-09, 03:52 PM   #1
yorkie_chris
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Default Could I earn a living?

Considering how things are going for me personally at the moment I am considering self employment.

Unsurprisingly this involves bikes, grease and spanners etc.

I am considering getting my car test passed and obtaining myself a 3 1/2 tonner, and setting myself up to do mobile motorcycle repairs and servicing, and bike transport. I don't mind any hours, or travelling, so long as it's paying.

Obviously I will need some manner of liability cover for this as well as business use cover on the van. Which at 21 and not yet holding a car license, will probably make my eyes water a bit.

I would need to cover overheads as well as £50 a week for me ma.

Throw your ideas in. Would anyone here pay someone to work outside their door? It would be a sight cheaper rate than dealers, perhaps a little less than the back-street small garage but not much.
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Old 15-07-09, 03:53 PM   #2
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

Yes I would pay, end of.

To ellaborate, what happens when I have fecked with my bike so much it won't start and I cannot get it to the garage. Whoooodya call, Yor-kie Chris! (Ghostbusters)
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Old 15-07-09, 03:54 PM   #3
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

thought about doing this myself. didnt get very far as i am slightly ham fisted with spanners.

if it was cheaper than a stealer why the hell not. you dont have to worry about getting back without a bike, or worry about getting a loaner.

people already do it with tyre fitting.
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Old 15-07-09, 03:56 PM   #4
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

you might have to stop fixing bikes with beer bottle caps you find on the floor and duct tape, but i recon a lot of people would pay, and you;d have a brilliant rep off this site

(its still on my bike though!)
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Old 15-07-09, 03:58 PM   #5
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

I would also appreciate words from any number cruncher, legal eagle or self employed person as to what sort of overheads would be involved, do you have to be insured, to what extent etc.

I have "ride other bikes" cover on my own insurance for the SV, but to use this for test riding a job bike would be sailing rather close to the wind I think.

A few friends are self employed and have taken me through some of the vagaries and robberies of dealing with HMRC.
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Old 15-07-09, 03:59 PM   #6
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

Being self employed is cool as long as the work is there and your bean counter is up to scratch.
You just have to pay your national insurance by derect debit. You can claim loads of stuff off your tax bill as well. Clothes, tools, mileage, %age of your phone bill and because you use a room at home as your office even a %of the rent!
Get it spot on you'll probably get a tax rebait!
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Old 15-07-09, 03:59 PM   #7
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

I think anything is possible.

If you can specialise in doing services in the car-park at peoples work for example, that would be a good market - people dont have to worry about getting to work from garages or whatever

Call H&R Insurance Brokers - I use them for my Bike insurance, but they dont specialise in just that - they do all kinds of insurance including business and liability - they should be able to give you an idea on total costs for insuring your business.

What is there to lose really, as long as you dont get into too much debt setting it up it cant really go badly wrong.
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Old 15-07-09, 04:00 PM   #8
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

The Cavalry are a mobile tyre fitting service which i have had to use more than once sadly. But the fact he came to me, brough all his own tools and did the work outside where i could ply him with cups of tea and also learn a bit about what he was doing was well worth paying for in my mind.
So i guess if you could add mobile tyre fitting to the service too then you'd be covering all the bases.

Liability insurance is only a couple of hundred quid a year i think. Wll that what out fitters (bathroom/kitchens) used to pay for their public liability and it covered them up to £5m which if you're working outdoors might even be too much. Whats the worst that you can do but torch a bike and a couple of surrounding cars, maybe a house too before the big red engine arrives. Still less than £5m worth of damage i'd say

Seriously tho, the main hurdle when considering setting up on your own is the competition. Who else is doing what you would do. What makes you more desirable than them to the biking public. How will you advertise your services without costing the earth. A lot to consider tbh.
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Old 15-07-09, 04:02 PM   #9
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

Knowing you from the .Org and trusting your know-how etc, I would be more than happy to have you work on my bike. It'd probably be the 'bigger' and more complicated jobs as I'm happy doing most of the servicing myself & fixing the odd thing that goes wrong, but when it comes to stuff like valve clearances and any major jobs, I am happier getting someone who knows their stuff to do it, or at least show me how...
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Old 15-07-09, 04:05 PM   #10
yorkie_chris
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Default Re: Could I earn a living?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiderman View Post
So i guess if you could add mobile tyre fitting to the service too then you'd be covering all the bases.
I've been thinking about this, there is the added expense of getting rid of the old tyres. But I could certainly do it.

I'm not entirely sure I could compete on price with the local guy though when factoring in a gallon or 2 of diesel to get there...
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