Starting a new adventure, mobile welding business

[Silentpoet]

I am slowly equipping my truck to do mobile welding.I will post pics when I have more time and a bit more done on it. I have spent way too much money in the past week to set it up as cheaply as possible. Got a toolbox mounted and a generator secured in the back.  Today some tig stuff came in  and a klutch welding table.  Possibly tonight or tomorrow the portable table will come. I also picked up a pair of saw horses today fairly cheap.  The klutch is cheap, but it also offers some portability if I go with the tabletop configuration and don't put on the legs. 

The welding I am fairly comfortable doing.  It is all the business stuff and marketing that has me nervous. Got a few leads though.  Need info on the various mobile credit card systems and business cards.  I want to get a good weld photo or collage for the card.  I was thinking of the name Fine Line Welding because of my fondness for the thin stuff.  Plus I think it conveys a certain quality or precision that I want to be known for.   Picked up a few business tips from a couple of youtube channels I subscribe to, but I know I need more.

I also have ordered some titanium and titanium tig filler rods, but who knows when they will ship. Got a purge block and dual flow regulator to purge the backside of the weld and a big ass cup to tig the front side.  Got a 125 cubic foot cylinder of argon monday as well. 

[Swampfox762]

Like the Name ya choose.  Lookin forward to seein the truck setup.  Good luck with the new Business!!!

[Walt Longmire]

Weld it.

 

[tous]

Call it Monday Flux, Tuesday Weld. 

NB  you must be old to get that joke 

 

 

[holyjohnson]

i like it!

get your locals on needing Bonding and Certs needed for Different types of Welding.

set up as Sole Prop., LLC or Incorporate early.

www.sba.gov is a great place to get info on the necessities for a start up.

Have a solid realistic plan.

add 10% to what you think you need as start up Capital.

know your Taxes like the Back of your hand, most Businesses fail due to Tax issues.

Great Idea and Good Luck.

 

[crockett]

Get a Square account and one of those small dongles for your cell phone. Lets you swipe and charge any card right there and the customer signs on the phone display. Its what my staff uses out on sales shows and expos.

https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale

 

 

 

 

Word of mouth is 80% of your marketing. Don't expect a full order book over night, just do the best job you can, each time.

For the other 20% I'd get an Instagram account and post photos of finished jobs. Use a decent cell phone with good cam. Make the photos look good, no garbage in the background. Offer your service on Facebook Marketplace and Angie List. Ask all family members and friends to help connect you with people needing service.

[Batesmotel]

#1 Get a good accountant. 
#2 Get great Liability and workcomp insurance on yourself. 
#3 Get a good Accountant. 
#4 Make initial contact with a lawyer. 
#5 Get a good accountant. 

[crockett]

6 minutes ago, Batesmotel said:

#1 Get a good accountant. 
#2 Get great Liability and workcomp insurance on yourself. 
#3 Get a good Accountant. 
#4 Make initial contact with a lawyer. 
#5 Get a good accountant. 

Too much overhead right from the start. Don't spend money you haven't earned yet. Accounting is easy. Get a business bank account and pay every cost that is business related from that business account. Keep all invoices. At the end of the years its: all income - all business costs = taxable income. Quicken can file that stuff easily for 50 bucks online.

[crockett]

File a LLC or S-corp, keeps the liability away from your personal assets.

[Swampfox762]

52 minutes ago, Batesmotel said:

#1 Get a good accountant. 
#2 Get great Liability and workcomp insurance on yourself. 
#3 Get a good Accountant. 
#4 Make initial contact with a lawyer. 
#5 Get a good accountant. 

TRUTH right there.  Get a good ACCOUNTANT.   PERIOD.

[jfost11]

Best of luck man. I tell people who say, "hey, you can weld...", no, I can make bright, flashy light and get two pieces of metal to stick together. But after you see someone who's certified to weld on nuclear reactors weld something, you don't call what I do welding.

[Silentpoet]

50 minutes ago, jfost11 said:

Best of luck man. I tell people who say, "hey, you can weld...", no, I can make bright, flashy light and get two pieces of metal to stick together. But after you see someone who's certified to weld on nuclear reactors weld something, you don't call what I do welding.

Laying the bead is the easy part.  Knowing what laying that bead does to the metal and the part or structure is a big part of it.  For example welding stainless to hot can remove the stainless part basically and turn it into  crap.  But often too much heat is caused by running too cold.  You run too cold and you have to linger in an area building up too much heat.  Or also where placing a bead or even just a tack will pull a structure.  I am not nuclear reactor ready, but neither am I Bubba Booger Weld.