working for yourself

[halight]

Hi Guys,

 

Well i lost my job yesterday. Normal thing. Downturn in orders so the company needed to make some cut backs.

 

Well iv been thinking that i would like to work for myself. I have done this in the past as a Gardener and did quite well.

 

This time I would like to go into selling army surplus, Iv been thinking of a market stall and also an ebay shop.

 

I beaning looking online and iv found a few wholesalers of army surplus but I was just wondering if anyone on here knew of any that they would be willing to give me a link too ?

 

Also do any of you think this would be a good idea? Would it work ? anything else that any of you think I will need to think about ?

 

Many thanks

[ferguson_tom]

http://www.mod-sales.com/

 

Best of luck with your new venture.

[halight]

http://www.mod-sales.com/

 

Best of luck with your new venture.

 

Thanks for that link mate

[Bry-M]

Is there a demand for another army surplus seller where you are? The market stall could well work, but check out your online competition. Will you be able to compete price wise with the larger sellers and still turn a profit?

 

Good luck!

[chilly]

Halight, I don't know what its like where you are but in the North East most of the markets have been contracted out of council control and as an upshot you MUST have public liability ins (even for a bootsale!!)

I had it for a year and it wasn't overly expensive but that was just for flea market/bootsale stuff, another expense to bear in mind tho

[daz2202]

Mate, I wish you all the best of luck in your possible new venture. Just remember that it is a real competitive market out there in sales at the moment with people shopping around online to save a £1.

 

In sales the order of importance used to be 1 service, 2 stock, 3 price.

Now its 1 price 2 price 3 price

 

Daz

[halight]

Mate, I wish you all the best of luck in your possible new venture. Just remember that it is a real competitive market out there in sales at the moment with people shopping around online to save a £1.

 

In sales the order of importance used to be 1 service, 2 stock, 3 price.

Now its 1 price 2 price 3 price

 

Daz

 

Hi mate,

Thanks for your advice. I understand what you say about people shopping around to save a pound. We have done that ourselves. I also think over the next few years we are going to see even more of that.

 

Thanks again

[halight]

Halight, I don't know what its like where you are but in the North East most of the markets have been contracted out of council control and as an upshot you MUST have public liability ins (even for a bootsale!!)

I had it for a year and it wasn't overly expensive but that was just for flea market/bootsale stuff, another expense to bear in mind tho

 

Hi mate,

 

All of our indoor markets and all but one out door market that I know of are all run or owned my private company's. I have already looked into have Public Liability ins.

 

Many thanks for your info and advice

[halight]

Is there a demand for another army surplus seller where you are? The market stall could well work, but check out your online competition. Will you be able to compete price wise with the larger sellers and still turn a profit?

 

Good luck!

 

Not that many army surplus sellers around by my way any more. There use to be a very big one that everyone use to go to. That's been shut now for over 10 years as the council wonted the land. There are a couple of smaller shops about.

 

The online competition will be tough,

I was thinking of being based at an indoor market and also doing one or two local outdoor markets a month. (move around a bit)

Then plus have an ebay shop running at the same time.

 

 

Thanks for your info and advice

[100milesaway]

Diversify as much as you can , so in tough times one business will pull the others on. from Auntie. Good luck.

[KFC]

Fail to plan is a plan to fail.

I know it is a pain in the backside but do take the time to do a proper business plan. So many people think 'I know, I'll buy stuff for a fiver and sell it for a tenner, I'll be quids in'.

 

The main problem, that a plan will highlight, is cash flow. Stock is cash. The bills will still be due regardless of what has sold that day. The day that you've only got a tenner to buy a Bergen that a customer has said they'll pay £25 for is the day that your PLI direct debit will go out.

 

The other thing is profit. I packed up my last business as a glass engraver/stained glass artist because I couldn't make a profit. I had loads of work but, because it was so labour intensive, people couldn't/wouldn't pay the money I needed to make a profit.

Transport needs replacing, servicing and repairing for example.

Because I wasn't making a profit it meant that I was working for the business rather than the business working for me.

 

I wholeheartedly support your idea of being self employed. I've done it for years but be sure that you can make a profit because it's too easy to pour money, and everything you've got, into a black hole.

 

Good luck.

[hitclays]

Diversify as much as you can , so in tough times one business will pull the others on. from Auntie. Good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

excellent advice Lyn

[chilly]

i would also say, Halight, it might be an idea to stock some shooting type gear, i hardly ever see things like cartridge belts, gun slips etc on the local market, even the guy who sells army surplus doesn't stock it.

 

on a side note, an army surplus shop owner in Darlington is in a world of ~~it after buying a "live" pistol and 9 bullets, they reckon the minimum sentence is 5 years. he doesn't have a licence of any description, he is also charged with handling stolen "army" equipment and money laundering!!!

Won't be seeing him for a while, methinks

[silpig5]

if you make good plans then go for it , it was the best thing that could have happended to me in march ,faceing unemployment . since march i have nearly doubled my guestermated turnover and at a far margin too .

keep good books , keep ya head and you will be fine

adi

[Drayman]

It can be worth working out how much you need to make as profit after tax to actually survive and pay the bills (as mentioned above). Then work out how much stock you'll need to turn over. Might be good or there might not be enough hours in the day. I see plenty of shops open an then close soon after. The products look good but they would need to sell so many just to keep the lights on that they were doomed to fail. Your overheads will be much less but the approach to the sums is about the same.

 

Good luck and I hope it works out.

[ozzy518]

Jim sarakun on here used to be in the army surplus game. Used to have a shop and do online stuff. PM him. Think he is at the War n Peace show atm.

[halight]

Jim sarakun on here used to be in the army surplus game. Used to have a shop and do online stuff. PM him. Think he is at the War n Peace show atm.

 

 

Thanks mate, I don't remember coming across him on here before. I will keep a look out for him.

 

if you make good plans then go for it , it was the best thing that could have happended to me in march ,faceing unemployment . since march i have nearly doubled my guestermated turnover and at a far margin too .

keep good books , keep ya head and you will be fine

adi

 

Thanks for that mate. I'm glad that you are doing well

[halight]

i would also say, Halight, it might be an idea to stock some shooting type gear, i hardly ever see things like cartridge belts, gun slips etc on the local market, even the guy who sells army surplus doesn't stock it.

 

on a side note, an army surplus shop owner in Darlington is in a world of ~~it after buying a "live" pistol and 9 bullets, they reckon the minimum sentence is 5 years. he doesn't have a licence of any description, he is also charged with handling stolen "army" equipment and money laundering!!!

Won't be seeing him for a while, methinks

 

That's a good idea mate. Thanks very much

 

I think i will stay away from live Pistols complete with bullets

[clakk]

That's a good idea mate. Thanks very much

 

I think i will stay away from live Pistols complete with bullets

i spent 2 years selling wholesale food and as the man said the van broke .the rent went up and the costs till it wasnt feasable as the cash flow dried up so good luck with your venture and if you start doing the shows or fleabay hopefully the forum will support you with orders for stuff we all love a bargin ,get a good accountant as every1 likes a tax rebate .atb clakk

[Scully]

They seem to do ok around here,but when a mate and me looked into self-employed market trading some years ago,best sellers were babies/toddler clothes(mothers and grans spend heaps on kids)followed by underwear and then teens clothes.Don't know where army surplus came in.

[HDAV]

There used to be a big surplus shop just of the ring road in Stourbridge, Enville St (all gone now IIRC) sold all sorts, I would spend some time going round as many markets etc as you can and see what's being sold and for what prices. I guess the question is who will buy your wares? What prices will they pay, What margin can you make etc etc All the usual stuff.

[storme37]

Because I wasn't making a profit it meant that I was working for the business rather than the business working for me. been there good luck mate do the sums. it was diesel that killed me.

[TattooedClayBreaker]

Good luck with the potential new venture Halight! As previous posts, do your research & homework, double check the figures & then check them again, Diversify as much as possible, get as much info & advice as you can, website or web presence is a must, get a good accountant that is switched on! Keep on top of paperwork, don't let it pile up & catch up with you at the end of the tax year, It soon mounts up as your business grows :unsure: ! Sit down & discuss this in length with family & friends, most importantly your partner/wife & make sure they are 100% behind you if you go for it!

 

I got sick of my old job, ground hog day & no end product, with no thanks for all the hard graft! After talking a good game for 3 years I finally pulled my finger out of my **** & quit my job so that I had no choice but to put my years of talking into action. I sat down with my then girlfriend at the time & family to discuss my plan & see what they thought. They all backed me to the hilt & said they would help in any way they could. I went away & retrained as a tiler as I wanted to gain a trade, after we bought our first property I really enjoyed a number of jobs that I did myself whilst renovating. I also had a number of friends & contacts in the building industry both domestic & commercial which was a bonus, when starting out, so I thought! I was offered a job whilst still training but got shafted when it came to me actually starting, so I took the plunge of going self employed on my own! :blink:

 

After I had finished retraining I had nothing but my tools to my name & I didn't drive! I had my work gear logo'd up, business cards printed & away I went! This was 5 years ago at the start of the 'recession' & a few people thought I was mad to go it alone. After a year or so I realised that I was missing a trick just having one trade & one string to my bow. 5 years down the line I am now trained as a plumber & a plasterer & I also joined forces with a good friend I went to college with, who is also multi skilled but his main trade is joinery. From starting out as a tiler I now specialise in tiling, bathroom & kitchen installations. I passed my test along the way & started off with a beat up old VW Caddy that one of my old fellas friends sold me to get me on my way to buying a 08 transit 12 months ago. Its great that I now enjoy my work as there is an end product at the end which gives me the satisfaction I just didn't get from my old job even though I was earning good money. All I'll say is its not been easy & a barrel of laughs (no pun intended) over the last 5 years, I've learnt by my mistakes & will keep on learning as long as I'm self employed. Ive been helped out by family physically, emotionally & financially & couldn't of succeeded so far without them. Some months can be average, the odd month can be poor & some months can be bloody brilliant but at times I do question, is this all really worth it due to the added pressure & stress, the long hours etc but I've come this far & Im not going to give in & throw it all away after all the hard work I've put in! If your savvy & don't give up I hope you can be successful in your potential new venture & I wish you all the best!

[aga man]

sorry to hear about your job mate. best of luck whichever path you take

[halight]

There used to be a big surplus shop just of the ring road in Stourbridge, Enville St (all gone now IIRC) sold all sorts, I would spend some time going round as many markets etc as you can and see what's being sold and for what prices. I guess the question is who will buy your wares? What prices will they pay, What margin can you make etc etc All the usual stuff.

 

That was langers mate, That shut about 10 years ago. They do still have there shop in Kiddy, By the seven vally railway.

 

They had been there for ever and a day. What ever you wonted the old guy had it there.