Becoming a builder can include many different aspects varying from small repairs on a private home to work on a massive national project or new development. If you decide to go freelance you will have to do more than just the manual labour part – you will need to assist in the planning process, organise the delivery of materials, submit tenders and quotes (need help writing a building quote?), and arrange legal and financial matters.
Qualifications for builders
If you have not already been working as a builder, then you may need to consider how you are going to become qualified. An apprenticeship is the most popular way to gain both the experience and the qualifications needed for skill-based trades and construction work. This is a great way to get on-site practice and earn money whilst also getting a college education. You will achieve NVQs/SVQs, Key Skills/Core Skills, and a Technical Certificate and to qualify for an apprenticeship you typically need GCSE grades A-C in Maths, English, and Science.
Why become a self-employed builder
There are a lot of benefits to becoming a self-employed builder, the main one being that your income will likely be much higher than if you were employed. You open yourself up to more income because you can run multiple projects at once and you will be directly benefiting from the profits of the project rather than just getting a designated wage. You also get to be your own boss and choose what hours you do and what projects you take on.
Finding work
Building a strong client base is essential to gain success as a freelance builder. The easier and most common place for builders to find new clients is through family and friends – explain to them what you are doing and ask them to spread the word to see if anyone they know needs building work done. You can offer “mates rates” to encourage them to promote your business. Once you have a few successful projects under your belt you will find that your customers will be recommending you to others without you even needing to ask.
This can be very effective but do not limit yourself to just people you know or friends of friends. It is important to set up your own website where you can direct potential customers and display past projects – you can do this yourself via a free service such as GoDaddy or you could employ a web designer to do it for you.
You can even target houses that are “for sale” or “sold” by dropping in flyers about your services. People selling their houses often choose to have remedial work done if they find that their property is not attracting as much interest as they had hoped. You can approach estate agents directly to ask if they would recommend you to their clients who may want improvements done on their new property. Some agents have an approved list of tradespeople and this can be a very lucrative income stream if you show yourself to be reliable enough
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