Just done my first ever job

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by amazingtrade, Jan 30, 2006.

  1. amazingtrade

    amazingtrade Mad Madchestoh fan

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    It was an old PIII running very slowly, it was taking 10 mins to load Word before it crashed. I attempted to run a virus check but it was too slow. At this stage 30 minutes have been wasted so I advised him that I could keep trying things but it could take ages so its best to wipe it clean.

    He agreed I got him to sign a discalimer to say that there is no important data on the machine and formated it, installed all the device drivers etc. There were a few problems like trying to retreive old passwords but it was all sorted in the end.

    I charged £45 for 3.5 hours work, it should have been more but I felt I couldn't charge him for the time I wasted including making a silly mistake trying to get the modem drivers to work.

    If I had four jobs like that a week and a supermarket job I would be almost well off. At the moment it seems like Iam working all hours for little reward but once I get into the business market and also get repeat jobs I should be happy.
     
    amazingtrade, Jan 30, 2006
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  2. amazingtrade

    I-S Good Evening.... Infidel

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    Ahh, the wonders of living with parents...
     
    I-S, Jan 30, 2006
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  3. amazingtrade

    amazingtrade Mad Madchestoh fan

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    Well that would be about £13-£16000 excluding tax which is more than most people my age seem to earn unless they are lucky but in a couple of years once the business is built up it will be more like £20k.

    I know this business will never make me well off, but I really enjoy doing my own thing. I just need a nice manual job now so I always have money to live off and get to meet new friends.

    I will have to start paying rent soon:) My extreme long term ambition is to buy a house in Salford the student market and rent it out.
     
    amazingtrade, Jan 30, 2006
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  4. amazingtrade

    I-S Good Evening.... Infidel

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    Well, there's an ambition to put your £100 towards... And yes, each £100 DOES make a difference.
     
    I-S, Jan 30, 2006
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  5. amazingtrade

    amazingtrade Mad Madchestoh fan

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    Yep an ISA or somthing maybe. The great thing is until I get a car I can live off a week wages but once I start earning a bit my parents will rightly want quite a bit of rent:)
     
    amazingtrade, Jan 30, 2006
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  6. amazingtrade

    auric FOSS

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    Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth or you have long blond extensions and are called Chantel you may well have to build your business and working long hours for little cash income is par for the course.

    As you progress a three and a half hour job may well become a one hour job so what do you charge? Do you charge £15 based upon the time taken or £45 based on experence?
     
    auric, Jan 31, 2006
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  7. amazingtrade

    amazingtrade Mad Madchestoh fan

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    A bit of both, I work on a guide of charging £20 an hour, and I made that clear before I did the work, but because there was a lot of messing about, on both parts and the fact it was an old PIII I didn't think it was fair to charge £60.

    It was quite tricky because I had to reset his old email passwords which he could not remember, go into the registery to find all the product keys and then take a note of what all the device drivers were.

    There is no way that job could have been done in an hour, it took 20 minutes just to format the hard disk.

    If everything went smoothly that job could have been completed in two hours but that is still £40 :)
     
    amazingtrade, Jan 31, 2006
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  8. amazingtrade

    julian2002 Muper Soderator

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    at,
    once you start working over 16 (iirc) hours a week - start claiming tax credits - they really help out in the lean times.
    cheers


    julian
     
    julian2002, Jan 31, 2006
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  9. amazingtrade

    Levi_501 Its in The Jeans...

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    A word of advise, everytime you take money off someone, put 22% somewhere were you can not touch it, you will thank me when the tax man comes knocking on the door !
     
    Levi_501, Jan 31, 2006
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  10. amazingtrade

    amazingtrade Mad Madchestoh fan

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    I wish, you have to be over 25 for that :( or ever 16 with a disability.

    I have looked into it all already:JOEL: On top of that the government have cut funding for the business place which meanns I cannot get any grants:rolleyes:

    And PS 25% of my income is going to be put away for tax, NI etc.
     
    amazingtrade, Jan 31, 2006
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  11. amazingtrade

    greg Its a G thing

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    Yep 25% of my income is put away for living it up etc. too. :)
     
    greg, Jan 31, 2006
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  12. amazingtrade

    julian2002 Muper Soderator

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    at,
    you should be able to pay nic by dd (about a fiver a month) and then make up the difference when you do your return.
    cheers


    julian.
     
    julian2002, Jan 31, 2006
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  13. amazingtrade

    andrew1810

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    Nic is just over £26 per quarter (give or take a few pence), I prefer to pay mine when they send the bill rather than direct debit so that I can keep an eye on the accounts, invoices etc.
     
    andrew1810, Jan 31, 2006
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  14. amazingtrade

    felix part-time Horta

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    Well done AT for getting a gig...

    Don't worry about. Everyone, in every occupation, makes mistakes, but it's the manner in which you deal with that that makes the difference. Bill the lot but itemise a discount, perhaps, in future. Being up-front about such things with clients is actually one of the keys to getting repeat business (which is, of course, what you want); honesty really is it's own reward.

    Equally, don't sell yourself short! All the best with it.
     
    felix, Jan 31, 2006
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