My Journey - Becoming a Self employed plastering contractor - James Fletcher Bespoke Mouldings & Plastering Contractor

This is my first ever blog post, and yes it is a little scary! Plastering large ceilings, re-rendering buildings or creating bespoke plaster mouldings are a piece of cake, but writing about my experiences? Not so simple. But here goes.

Did you always want to be a plasterer?

So there I was a clueless twenty something with no set career path. Having worked on the train network and in several shops and restaurants, I knew nothing had fulfilled my thirst for creativity or sufficiently increased my bank balance. Whilst in the pub (where all the best plans are made), I met my future employer. He was a talented man, who created fibrous plaster mouldings and started the business Abby Mouldings. Having nothing to lose and a near empty bank account, I started working for him. I found the work interesting and was gaining so much knowledge and experience about the trade. The idea of learning a trade was desirable and being a perfectionist I excelled in work. Was this the path I was expecting to follow? Absolutely not. But sometimes in life, things fall into place.

Was it easy starting your own plastering business?

After four years, I decided I was ready to take the leap and start my own business. I was very good at my work, but had no idea how to run my own business. This was a steep learning curve, and I made many business mistakes along the way, but it all added to my experience. I have to thank my accountant, Kay, who supported me along the way and always took the time to explain in layman’s (or plasterer’s) terms about everything I needed to know when becoming self employed. One year I even presented her with a bag of receipts for my tax return, complete with a family of maggots! I had dropped a bit of pasty in the bag at some point, and I must admit it had been sat in my van for a while! Needless to say, I bought her a lovely Christmas present as means of apology. Kay is still my accountant all these years later and I am happy to report my receipts now reach her filed and maggot free.

How did you make it a success?

I would love to say there is a magic formula for running a successful plastering business, but in reality it involves a lot of hard work and late nights. Back in these days, I would be working full days and most weekends and then trying to navigate paperwork and running a business in the evenings, whilst maintaining a social life. I had reached the stage where I had a reputation for being reliable and working to a high standard. But there were never enough days in the week to complete all of the jobs I had been asked to do. I needed help.

How did you grow the business?

Ten years after becoming self employed, I was now in search of likeminded people to join the team. Definitely easier said than done. With my own work ethic strong, I found it difficult when people did not share the same enthusiasm as work. Admittedly, having your own business adds to this drive, as you need to work hard to get paid. But soon enough I found a small team who shared my passion for achieving a high standard of finish. Over the years, the team grew and today we are able to complete large commercial plastering jobs. At the beginning I would have never imagined I was capable of organising these jobs. Despite this, I still had a strong dislike for paperwork. The business had grown sufficiently, so I was able to employ my wife to deal with everything admin! Having two young children at home, it gave her the flexibility to work around the children. Plus, she is far more efficient with paper work than me! We now use Quickbooks, which makes keeping on top of VAT, Tax returns and CIS payments much easier.

Any advice?

To anyone just starting out, don’t worry if you haven’t got everything perfect to start with. Being a self employed plastering contractor isn’t straightforward, there isn’t a manual, there’s no holiday or sick pay and you will make mistakes along the way. However, there are many benefits too. You have more flexibility than being employed and I can now attend the school nativity or summer fayre, have weekends off and decide which jobs I take on. Twenty years later, I am now earn enough money to be able to support my family and enjoy my time off. I’m not rich, but my work life balance is now in check allowing me to be able to watch my children grow up and I’m proud of what I have achieved.