I think the most difficult profession is a plumber. I guess it is not a very pleasant job. However, plumbers can earn a decent income for that very reason. Not many people want to figure out how to fix a plugged toilet or clean out the sewage drain. Plumbers also have to be on call and sometimes get emergency calls in the middle of the night.
More often than not, something will break in the middle of the night. I have heard of many stories from friends who have had their water heater break in the middle of the night. What a nightmare. One friend even had a pipe break with water leaking into her apartment. If your water heater is on the second floor of your house, then it becomes even worse. Can you imagine the water gushing down into your living room or your dining room or your kitchen. I have had someone say that they have had to be out of their house for 8 months while the damage was repaired.
So plumbers are definitely needed 24/7 and if you are willing to work 24/7, you will be able to make some good money. If you want to to do emergency services, you will have to figure out how you want to handle this. Does your call go through a call center and then routed to you? Do you want the calls to come directly to you? Or do you want to hire a night crew who will handle all calls and all repairs? The answer of course lies in the size of the company. If you are a small company or a one man crew, then you may want the calls to come directly to you. If you are a small company but do not want to get the calls directly, you can hire a call center and have them route the calls to the appropriate people in your business. If you work weekends and nights, there is a higher rate and you will earn more.
In order to make more money, you can also talk to your family and friends and have them hire you for their emergency services or side services. You can give them a better price than other plumbers. This will ensure that they save some money. You will also make some extra money. So put the word out. Everyone needs a plumber.
Another way to make more money as a plumber is specialize in something. I always compare this to a root canal specialist who does root canals all day long and makes tons of money. So if you specialize in something, then you will be able to make more money. Another good thing about it is that you will be doing only one kind of job so you do not have to worry about how to fix other problems. If you do not mind doing that of course. A lot of the plumbers that I have come across enjoy the diversity of the work. So it depends on what you can put up with.
If you are a plumber working in a company, you can find out from your boss if there are any additional jobs that you can do. You may be surprised at the amount of work that you may get. Most of the time your boss may not know that you need additional work and may not want to burden you with the extra work. So just go and ask. Once you start doing more work, you will most likely be entitled to a raise.
If you have your own company, you need to know how to market your company. If people do not know you exist, then you will not get their business. So think about how you can place ads. You can do this in newsletters or even the Yellow Pages. Very few people use the yellow pages but the online version may work for you. Or advertise on Craigslist. You can also put flyers in local grocery stores.
I know that my own plumber is so busy that he hardly has time for me. I try not to use other plumbing services because I have known my plumber for a number of years and trust what he is telling me. So the point here is that you have to make sure that you do a good job every time. This is so that your customers will trust you. When that trust is built, then they will always call you.
More often than not, something will break in the middle of the night. I have heard of many stories from friends who have had their water heater break in the middle of the night. What a nightmare. One friend even had a pipe break with water leaking into her apartment. If your water heater is on the second floor of your house, then it becomes even worse. Can you imagine the water gushing down into your living room or your dining room or your kitchen. I have had someone say that they have had to be out of their house for 8 months while the damage was repaired.
So plumbers are definitely needed 24/7 and if you are willing to work 24/7, you will be able to make some good money. If you want to to do emergency services, you will have to figure out how you want to handle this. Does your call go through a call center and then routed to you? Do you want the calls to come directly to you? Or do you want to hire a night crew who will handle all calls and all repairs? The answer of course lies in the size of the company. If you are a small company or a one man crew, then you may want the calls to come directly to you. If you are a small company but do not want to get the calls directly, you can hire a call center and have them route the calls to the appropriate people in your business. If you work weekends and nights, there is a higher rate and you will earn more.
In order to make more money, you can also talk to your family and friends and have them hire you for their emergency services or side services. You can give them a better price than other plumbers. This will ensure that they save some money. You will also make some extra money. So put the word out. Everyone needs a plumber.
Another way to make more money as a plumber is specialize in something. I always compare this to a root canal specialist who does root canals all day long and makes tons of money. So if you specialize in something, then you will be able to make more money. Another good thing about it is that you will be doing only one kind of job so you do not have to worry about how to fix other problems. If you do not mind doing that of course. A lot of the plumbers that I have come across enjoy the diversity of the work. So it depends on what you can put up with.
If you are a plumber working in a company, you can find out from your boss if there are any additional jobs that you can do. You may be surprised at the amount of work that you may get. Most of the time your boss may not know that you need additional work and may not want to burden you with the extra work. So just go and ask. Once you start doing more work, you will most likely be entitled to a raise.
If you have your own company, you need to know how to market your company. If people do not know you exist, then you will not get their business. So think about how you can place ads. You can do this in newsletters or even the Yellow Pages. Very few people use the yellow pages but the online version may work for you. Or advertise on Craigslist. You can also put flyers in local grocery stores.
I know that my own plumber is so busy that he hardly has time for me. I try not to use other plumbing services because I have known my plumber for a number of years and trust what he is telling me. So the point here is that you have to make sure that you do a good job every time. This is so that your customers will trust you. When that trust is built, then they will always call you.
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