Lost the plot?

[Club Secretary (Reserve)]

Scott Beeland asked the same thing a little while ago. Read this for some previous thinking on the subject.

Me, I wouldn't run a pub if my income was in 6 figures. Life's too short and there are easier and far more rewarding career choices out there.

[JeffC]

pub 200 yards up the road from me for sale, £300k (ive heard £250k will own it ) freehold, its massive, 5 bedrooms, huge restaraunt, carpark big enough to get half a dozen houses on and its  been for sale now for over a year without a sale , last four people thats rented couldnt make ends meet. thats on a busy road on a junction near to 3 decent size towns and the outskirts of a villiage  .  

[scruffythefirst]

As an engineer you should be able to get good offshore work easily if that sort of thing suits you.  Its great cos when your off all your time is yours, but the downside is you can be away for 1-3 months.  My company is crying out for engineers but not sure if the salary would be up there with what you'd want - rig work probably pays more, but on the other hand the work is quite varied (if not very challenging) and I didn't need any previous experience.

[pistonbroke]

Why not open a brothel  ?

loads of people will pay for a nice bowl of soup  

[Mark Stanton]

Get yourself some freelance contract work       proper hours plenty of work good rates    

[windy]

A pub down the road from me was revamped recently at a cost of £2M and they got a fancy chef in to do the food. The car park was mostly empty before, now cars are spilling onto the road every night. Must be making a profit.

[wrighty]

come to cumbria, martin, loads of jobs as an engineer[nuclear industry], fantastic roads and countryside, nearest motorway is 40 miles away[west cumbria]. good pubs, friendly people, we can nearly speak english.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

QUOTE

So there we go. Anybody got the first clue what I rambling on about...

Sadly yes. I have been informed of redundancy for the end of October and find the whole job market sucks. I'm an IT manager / Tech Support specialist and the jobs I'm looking for come by specialist agencies advetised on jobserve.com etc. Once advertised, getting to speak to agencies is an absolute nightmare. When you ring you are asked who is calling and will they know what it is regarding. You tell them and 5 seconds later the response is "sorry but they are away from their desk, on another call, out of the office" etc. Plus they never answer their emails.

****** agencies  

Have thought about changing careers but dont know how to do much else. Also looked at starting a business but have no conception as to what in.

My advice is to stay away from landlordship. The hours are S*** and not good for your health.

John

[Liam]

Martin, I think the concensus is don't...and I would agree with that. Long ball breaking hours for poor returns unless you are really lucky and get the right pub, and there are a few that become 'the place to be' . But it's still bl**** hard work. I  know someone who ran an agency supplying temporary pub managers and  someone who does stock audits on pubs and they say the same. It is a high risk option in my opinion.

What about training in your own industry? It's a growth industry in the right field. With the skills you have in engineering there must be opportunities. Might be worth contacting the Engineering Employers Federation in Langham?

Engineering sales?

Franchise opportunities?

??

L

[Martin Keene]

Have thought about changing careers but dont know how to do much else. Also looked at starting a business but have no conception as to what in.

Ditto... I'd love to change (engineering's f##ked) but I can get a job in certain aspects of engineering because I don't have 'exerience' so how the hell are you supposed to get a job in another industry...

Somebody suggestted to me the other day re-training as a civil engineer... Brilliant idea... That will take 2 *years* full time, and who is going to pay the mortgage I asked?

I'd also like to be my own boss, you never get rich working for other people, same problem, doing what...

[scott beeland]

Martin..............Even I've found it tough breaking into hospital Medical/Drug sales (cue the scouser and drugs thread drift   ) with PLENTY of knowledge about the products and field. I'm still trying but I think you're looking in the wrong direction with this one....Hospitals (In particular medical/ nursing staff) will very rarely be sold on a product unless you come from a background of actually using the products in a relevant field

[Mark Stanton]

QUOTE

Somebody suggestted to me the other day re-training as a civil engineer... Brilliant idea... That will take 2 *years* full time, and who is going to pay the mortgage I asked?

Sorry Martin but it would probably take a bit longer than 2 years         and to be honest (not being personal) but at your age - any prospective employee would anticipate many more years experience     otherwise if you did get a job your pay would be crap      

[Bananaman]

QUOTE

I'd also like to be my own boss, you never get rich working for other people, same problem, doing what...

something you know about might be a start...

[Mark Stanton]

Yep it will and it's a bit more than just 2 years at college       after college - then will you start to learn         and once you have 5 to 6 years experience then you can earn  

Don't wanna be personal Martin but at your age if you reckon you can survive on about £15k a year for next 3 to 4 years and undertake a part-time HNC in Civil Engineering course you might stand a chance          

[markcoopers]

Martin,

Calm down.....agency people might be reading this and thinking "bit wild" that one...bottom draw.

Seriously the pub game looks like great fun, but the maths are an alarming wake up call. I looked at this some 3-4 years ago with a view to taking on a lot of smaller freehold pubs and starting my own chain. Getting the financial backers was a nightmare, they simply see this area as too much risk for not much return, and I supose that should be warning enought. Undetered i changed to 1 pub for me........The wake up call was the amount of money my farther was having to spend year on tear on a butchers shop to exceed the ever changing food hygine standards. Could I find tese bills in the pubs books......no. Do not underestimate the amount of money needed to keep a business in business in a changing environment, smoking ban is a casing point. However if you are clever, and can adapt a building with a licence and get more money from it from other ventures then it makes sence as you are no longer compeeting with other pubs (Nursery for kids, Library..etc). Still the biggestkiller is teh hours. If you work, you do not have to pay another's wage, so you will work all hours.......you will only see friends when they want a free pint. You have to become an excellent Man manager, cook, beer expert, building and hygine expert, accountant, inventory specialist and most important financialy disaplined in that the money in teh till is not your money, it is the business's money.

The idea of becoming a landlord for a salary and % profit scheme is worth pursuing, but most want live in, so you have rent to pay.....so either sell yours or rent yours. Still if pub's your future this is a low risk entry, but definately one for the long term plan.

Personally, retrain as a plumber or electrician, everyone says it's the new trade to be in.