Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Self employed poor money management help!

61 replies

Treesnbirds · 22/07/2024 17:05

Husband is a very hard worker, self employed builder. Has done projects in the past eg buy a flat, renovate it then sell it, and has done well with these on rising markets.

However he refuses to look at the figures and hopes for the best. We've managed ok but only due to an inheritance from his Gran which has helped to keep us afloat the past few years.

He's just done a job where materials were over £300 and he paid a mate £400 to help him out with it. It took 6 days. Because the client asked for a quote up front he said £600 at the start. He hates working for other people. He's done a great job but clearly this won't support our family. Even we may end up subsidising the job! 😞.

It's not the first time this has happened.
If I mention anything money related he gets incredibly angry/ hurt.

Is there a documentary or something I could watch with him which shows how this plays out?? His parents used to bail him out but that situation has changed now and I'm really worried. Any advice at all appreciated.

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 31/07/2024 18:20

I used to do Business Advice for SME's and worked with quite a few tradies in a similar position to your H so its not uncommon.
Most of them go under and then find themselves in trouble with HMRC I am afraid.
They don't appreciate that running a Business is so much more than being good with a hammer/wrench/screwdriver and once they do its too late.
There might be a Local council scheme to offer Business advice or if he has an Accountant they may be able to assist

Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:06

MikeRafone · 31/07/2024 09:40

In reality he needs to be adding £140 per day for himself to every job.

If the quote is too expensive then the job isn't worth doing.

Taking smaller jobs is often more advantages as its easier to work out the time frame, add the day rate and get a quote out that is going to bring in a decent profit.

Factor in one time period through the week for going and looking at jobs for quoting - Thursday afternoon.

Also working out what materials to have each day - and collecting them the night before so he is ready to start at 8.00am each day. So much time wasted in traffic at congestion hour trying to get materials, this eats into your profit

This is really sound advice, thank you. Especially the evening before sorting materials - such a good idea as he usually starts about 9.20 but 8 would make such a difference.

Thank you for these suggestions.

OP posts:
Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:08

MikeRafone · 31/07/2024 09:44

"Just leave that side to me..."

I'd say why don't we utilise are skills sets to the best advantages, that way we can work as a team and both bounce of each other. I'll do the paper work and quotes, you do the building work and estimates - we could go together to a few quotes so I can learn that side and you can look at my spread sheets etc.

Yeah, that does sound good. I will try that. I wonder how he'll respond as he usually gets angry and says I'm trying to 'micromanage' him when I'm really not. But this somehow sounds really reasonable, if he can see it as a job off his plate maybe....

OP posts:
Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:11

Oblomov24 · 31/07/2024 10:05

How do you do his accounts? Download his bank statements to excel?

Taxi shows it well. With her £700, £100 loss example. What does he say, exactly when you talk to him about this?
How can you stay married to someone so stubborn and lacking any common sense? I mean come on, it's just stupid to run a hobby business at a loss.

I made a cake. It cost me £10. I sold it for £5. Ask a primary school kid and they'll tell you that's not sensible, not a viable business. Part of running a business is being savvy and looking at costs, and profit. Or else what's the point? Tell him to go and get a paye job instead.

This needs a hard difficult conversation.

I know. Honestly, he's such a clever person, he has an amazing brain, I struggle just like you say, to understand why he isn't grasping this when it's so simple 😭.

But then I think he must know, he just says if he works even harder things usually work out. Then shuts down. It also makes me sad to see him half killing himself, I said to him I want to work out a way he doesn't have to work this hard...

OP posts:
Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:14

Comefromaway · 31/07/2024 10:12

He needs to keep better records so he can see if jobs are making a profit or not.

For every job we make out costing sheet with the quoted charged price at the top. One side of the spreadsheet is where labour hours re entered. He needs to include his own labour. Also we use a labour rate that has a percentage added on to cover overheads.

The other side of the spreadsheet is for materials. Every single invoice that comes in is entered onto there, along with any sub-contractors. 20% is added onto the grand total, again for overheads.

We then dd on an amount for mileage and come up with a grand total of what the job has cost. We can then look through these and spot any problems.

Thank you. He is incredibly resistant to anything like this. I'm not sure he's able to change to be honest. Though I do enjoy this sort of thing, maybe I need to be really strict about him giving me the figures and look at it together, he'll be angry but I think I've had enough.

OP posts:
RandomMess · 04/08/2024 20:14

Tell him it's more tax efficient to employ you to do the admin and send out the quotes.

Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:16

Hoppinggreen · 31/07/2024 18:20

I used to do Business Advice for SME's and worked with quite a few tradies in a similar position to your H so its not uncommon.
Most of them go under and then find themselves in trouble with HMRC I am afraid.
They don't appreciate that running a Business is so much more than being good with a hammer/wrench/screwdriver and once they do its too late.
There might be a Local council scheme to offer Business advice or if he has an Accountant they may be able to assist

Hmm thank you, that's helpful to hear. I said to my friend a while ago maybe I just need to let us go bankrupt for him to understand, but thinking again that's not a great plan!

I will look into that, thank you. Might be more palatable coming from anyone but me 😂.

OP posts:
Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:17

SnoogyWoo · 31/07/2024 21:18

Ooh!! Thank you so much! Going to have a look now! Appreciate this 😃

OP posts:
Original poster
Treesnbirds · 04/08/2024 20:18

RandomMess · 04/08/2024 20:14

Tell him it's more tax efficient to employ you to do the admin and send out the quotes.

YES this is a point I hadn't considered which appeals to me and will to him if it saves money, good thinking, thank you!

OP posts:
mouseyowl · 05/08/2024 00:12

Would he be up to attending a few business short courses or evening classes (both of you ideally).
Most tradesmen I know have their wives do the books/admin. Very old fashioned but it works. They all drive expensive cars and have lovely holidays!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page