Calling self employed people...

[yenrod]

How's it been going in the current economic climate work-wise?
The other half's business has taken a massive nosedive and so far he has no work until the middle of November, meaning that we are in the sh1t. It's scary. Usually October is a ridiculously busy month.
Umm, does anyone have any sound and/or lighting engineering they need doing?

Sorry Kirstie for going 'big picture' but this economic downturn is simply the morning after the night before scenario for the population who've led a life of total excess.

The future is going to be REALLY REALLY mean. At no other time in my life have I known such greed for material items as this.

This is the state of some situations on the street:

Really small house BIG MASSIVE CAR ie X5/Landrover etc...

When I was a kid - if someone had a BMW they had some money / good job and could afford it but now every other buggers got a good car, if not new...no wonder people are on the strain.

Its like people forget the seventies...or be that anytime prior to the year 2000...! When generally, people had restraint or be that morals.

 

[Kirstie]

I agree with you. It's still sh1t though.

 

[Crackle]

they design, install and operate PAs, lighting rigs, video walls and other projection, operate cameras etc at all kinds of events. mostly corporate stuff, sports events, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, that kind of thing...

problem is everyone is cancelling or postponing their events at the moment, so it's going to go bonkers in january but there's bugger all now. anyone who is self employed knows that the big tax bill comes in just after christmas, but with nothing to live on etc there's nothing left to pay the tax man either. it's a nightmare.

Ah I see. It sounds grim Kirstie and I hope it's just a temporary blip. It seems some people are affected and some aren't. I haven't quite fathomed out where people are saving money yet and who it's affecting. Fingers crossed for you both.

 

[fossyant]

There seems to be a big 'knock on' effect at the moment..in all sorts of areas.... anyway..my sister knows all the best bargains....

She lives on her own, has mortgage protection, but it's all the other bills on state benefits..not good. To get a job, she has to get at least £30k salary to cover her outgoings - her mortgage is pretty high - £120k for a flat...OK I know that's not overly big, she's was a first time buyer...but it's more than 4x my mortgage !

 

[Noodley]

It wasn't a fishshop was it?

No it was a food and wine shop and wholesale business. Retail side went tits up when Tesco decided to relocate out of town and start stocking items I did (which they then dropped after the shop closed), then the wholesale side went tits up when the big wine wholesalers got pissed off that I was taking their business and started selling cheaper than they were buying to get customers back - such is business. Hit me hard, but such is life.

Just one of life's adventures.

 

[Crackle]

That's crap Noodley, really, really crap It would make me a bitterer man than you seem to be.

 

[Noodley]

That's crap Noodley, really, really crap It would make me a bitterer man than you seem to be.

Not crap at all, I got to go back to University, got a Masters degree, got a job straight away and promotion within 2 years. All thanks to the greed of bigger businesses I can now afford to be in debt

(edit - Mrs Noodley may disagree with some or all the above)

 

[Noodley]

Good for you.

Thanks.

 

[A Nutter]

I'm a DJ and my work has dried up and just about all I'm getting now is kids parties. This dosen't bother me, but kids parties are starting to dry up. It's that bad I've took up a part time job to help!

Although I have noticed a slight increase in queries, not much is turning into work. I've just mailed out a marketing pack for kids fun days [the work aint coming to me, so im going out to get the work] for various workingmens and social clubs to provide entertainment for the kids of the surrounding aera. This is a success got at least one booking every day apart from the Wednesday during half term.

Another thing that is annoying me, queires are coming in but for the same dates as other people! I had a phone call the other day for a 18th birthday. The area is quite deprived area so I underquoted on what I would usally quote, to try and get the work. They sounded dead keen, got the booking sent out the contract and t&c for the disco. Recieved a phone call saying that they would like to cancel. I asked them why, they had found someone for £75. On a saturday night! Hard times, but this ain't helping.

What annoys me to pay for all my bills and rent to be about a £700 a month. Business expenses £185 a week [phone bills, telephone, advertising etc] not including new music! So for an 18th I would prob spend a little more in the few weeks before to!

I'm also not booked for NYE yet, which is quite a worry, as that nights pay is essential for living in January.

Unfortunaley I can't commute to work, bass bins on my back and painners wont work! My part time job is a two minute walk away to, so getting less time on the bike.

(Crazy Idle) Gary

 

[Haitch]

I'm a freelance translator and author in addition to my four days a week wage slave job. There is noticeably less work around now - usually this is a good period, as people are trying to use up their budgets before the year end. I have enough to get by on, but I certainly can't pick and choose as much as I'd like.

Same here, apart from the authorship and wageslavery malarky. Work started easing off before the summer and hasn't picked up since the holidays as it usually does. I used to do a lot of work for banks and, surprise, surprise, it's all gone quiet on that front. I've got enough work to last until the end of the year but can see a serious cash flow squeeze coming up ahead of the VAT payment at the end of this month.

You on any translation fora, nonkel?

 

[Haitch]

In no particular order:

indent
Sense Although you have to be a member of Sense to join the forum
Vertalers Quite a lot of chat
Dutch Network An ITI forum

If you search the Yahoo! Groups webpage you can find thousands (literally) of translation forums covering just about every language combination and subject matter.

 

[ianrauk]

I market bands and their music (CD & Digital) Worldwide..... not great times.. been in this business over 20 years.. have never known it this bad.

 

[Kirstie]

Seems like many aspects of the music/events business are taking a battering.

Good thing about this is I get to see my other half! Every cloud and all that...

 

[TheCyclingRooster]

Hi to you all and in particular the HAPPY BAND!!!!!!!!!!!of SELF EMPLOYED.I was self employed for over 30yrs(now retired, after total left knee replacement),mixing private and contracted work within my trade,selling my skill and knowledge to specialist companies(they had the connections but not the means of delivering the required product) that had windows of contacts that I was never likely to attain in my own right.During my time of self employment I held an SL post at a very well known College of Arts & Technology,after 11yrs that became a battleground for survival.Funding issues,issues with the Degree Courses and the University that provided the accreditation(it was believed the college was not towing the line!!!),student numbers dropping like the funding itself and the eventual dismantling of the institution and the selling off of the City Centre Site brought about the Collapse of a once great Centre of Learning.My work was very labour intensive and because of reduced demand/high costs the specialist natural materials becoming very expensive and difficult to source.Cheap imported and home grown modern furniture will before very long make my side of the trade a little bit like many others of the past,a distant recollection and pictures(in books,for the time being!!!)on the PC.I considerer myself now to be very content at 65yrs old(September 2010)in the knowledge that I am no longer self employed.Good Luck to You All.Happy & Safe Riding in your retirement/unemployment free time.

 

[ChrisKH]

My sister has been out of work for a few months - Property Solicitor (commercial) - loads of solicitors loosing jobs at the moment...she's thinking about re-training completely - to an accountant.

A mate has been tasked with laying a load of staff off from a construction company - the house building part of it.

Your sister needs to think about what aspect of accountancy she wants to undertake. Unless she works for herself or in insolvency, the economic downturn will follow her the same way in accounting jobs as as it does in the Law. Given her experience, she might want to consider getting an accountancy qualification and getting back into legal in the back office on the finance side. She already has the experience of solicitor's accounting, SAR's and AML requirements from her legal position. The thing is, she won't be able to get back onto the sort of money she is used to without a few years in that job as experience is everything. She should be looking to become head of finance for it to be any way comparable. Plus in my experience most solicitors are crap with figures............