New Plumbing Business - Need Help With Business Plan & Estimating Cashflow

[Pink-Plumbing]

Hi

Im currently in the process of writing a business plan for my new plumbing venture Im starting.

Im just wondering a couple of things:

I need some accurate estimates of what sort of jobs and the number of jobs what are available. I appreciate my area will be totally different to yours but I was wondering if some other full time plumbers could provide me with rough ideas of the type & amount of work they do so I can make some basic estimates for cashflow.

Also can you let me know your charge-out rates, either hourly or by job and your callout rates so I can use this information when preparing my estimates?

One last thing, what Key Performance Indicators would you suggest I used? My initial thoughts were simply number of jobs completed, gross profit and net profit? Any other ideas on this front?

Thanks in advance
V

 

[justlead1]

You need local information Re:- Rates etc. in order to see what your market will stand. This can be gained via phone calls to existing plumbers in your area. However from your post it seems funding is needed? My advise would be to think again if taking on loans. The state of the UK economy is the result of to much credit. With the householders lack of spending at the present time, borrowing to enter a falling market is not a wise move. As the entrance fee can be added up in thousands. Please be careful

 

[Pink-Plumbing]

You need local information Re:- Rates etc. in order to see what your market will stand. This can be gained via phone calls to existing plumbers in your area. However from your post it seems funding is needed? My advise would be to think again if taking on loans. The state of the UK economy is the result of to much credit. With the householders lack of spending at the present time, borrowing to enter a falling market is not a wise move. As the entrance fee can be added up in thousands. Please be careful

Thanks for your advice, I have some savings and am looking into certain interest-free funding options to supplement this. I will be starting off with a part-time job running alongside my plumbing business until I have built a customer base up. Regardless of whether I use the cashflow estimates for loans or not, I believe preparation is the key to success!

 

[justlead1]

I did not wish to offend, just add some realism to the debate. With jobbing work a bag of tools, transport and a lot of knowledge is all that's required. Cash flow should never be an issue, as one never leave a job with out payment.
If you intend to market your services? Include credit card payments, although you will pay approx. 2.8% of the gross it will attract clients, as the plumbing problems they suffer are not part of their normal monthly expenditure. Good Luck