Business start up

[darkiulis28]

Hi Guys. I am new to this. Looking for your opinions and advises maybe. My father in law is kitchen fitter. Last week he came to UK to visit us and started talking that he would like to start kitchen business here. He asked me to look around for info etc, whether is it possible and how hard is in current economical climate. He has got all contacts, tools and design software etc, basically we would only need to get the transport and premises sorted for the storage and workshop. We would be importing all kitchens from abroad, high quality made.

Question is what happens with gas, plumbing and electrical work? Would customers need to get it sorted themselves, or could we do it for them and does it need to be certified?
How hard is competition? What difficulties we could face when starting such a business?

Thanks

[rasta]

save your money give up now!

[Stretch]

It's a difficult market. The big companies go to the wall first because they have higher overheads.

The sole traders, like many of us here, can just about afford to sit at home for a couple of weeks when things go quiet as we don't have staff to pay.

When the country is in recession, which the media would have us believe it is, the first thing many householders postpone is a new kitchen, or bathroom or extension. This just dilutes the amount of work available for the hundreds of thousands of kitchen fitters out there....never mind the Poles who will do it for a fraction of the price.

Go for it, but with plans as big as yours you'll be running at a loss for the first 3 years before you start making money.

I deleted your account by accident btw......I was getting rid of some spam registrations so if you want to reregister please go ahead.

Stretch

[JoelP]

the only good thing about a recession is that, when things do pick up, there will be an awful lot of people who need new kitchens! You need to be in a position to take advantage quickly.