If you’re someone who’s finding a monotonous nine to five job isn’t fulfilling your ambitions, then becoming self-employed will seem like a very appealing option! Being your own boss gives you lots of freedom to:

  • Choose who you work with
  • Decide your own working hours
  • Determine your own rate of pay

And much more! Self-employment often appeals to people with young families who need more flexibility in their lifestyles to cope with the demands of young children. However, self-employment is something that people of any age or skill level can pursue with the right training and motivation to do so.

How can Access Training Academies help me become self-employed?

Access Training Academies specialise in providing the training you need to pursue a career in the profession of your choice. Whether you want to start your own electrical company or become a freelance carpenter we can give you the training you need to become your own boss in a short space of time.

We are one of the country’s leading training providers and we have a range of courses to suit all skill levels. Even if you are a complete beginner, we can teach you the technical and practical elements of your chosen profession so that you leave our training centre feeling confident enough to work!

Success Stories

You might be thinking, ‘I’d love to be self-employed but I’m not sure how feasible it really is.’ There’s no need to doubt your abilities, we’ve had plenty of successful students go on to become self-employed when they leave Access Training Academies with their new qualifications!

Here are a few student testimonials to inspire you:

  • I'm the happiest I've ever been in my working life. I love being my own boss and having control over my work schedule. And I'm earning three times what I was at the BBC! - Richard Gates.
  • This course has led to me becoming self-employed as an electrician and I’ve expanded my family's building and roofing business - Scott Daly.
  • I plan to become a self-employed as a plumber and the course has helped me learn all the skills I need to work on my own confidently – David Morgan.

So, what are you waiting for? Enquire today to start your journey towards becoming self-employed in a profession you love! We will guide you every step of the way.

Browse Our Courses Today >

Keeping customers happy

Here at Access Training, we help you to learn the skills and theory needed to potentially start your own business as a professional tradesperson.

However, with so many different skills to learn, its easy for newly-qualified tradespeople to overlook one of the most important parts of their new career: customer service.

Luckily, this blog post is dedicated to that very topic. If you're hoping to start a trade business and be your own boss, read on and take note - this one's for you!

 

Keeping customers happy

Whether you've trained as an electrician, a gas fitter or a plumber, a big part of running any successful business is the ability to keep your customers happy and meet their expectations.

Providing top-quality customer service and maintaining a high standard of work is key to retaining customers and generating repeat business. Here are a few important things to keep in mind:

 

Understanding your customer

Any good customer service training advisor will tell you that knowing your target demographic is a wise move for any business owner, particularly those in a trade where competition from other specialists is high.

Understanding the individual needs of the customer is the easiest and simplest way to provide them with the service they want and expect. Researching your target demographic and the industry you're in can help you to identify this.

Do your homework on the industry you're entering, and identify best practices to ensure your own services tick all of the boxes. Take time to find out what your customer wants from a business like yours and how they expect you to meet their needs.

 

Interacting with customers

While customer service is often overlooked in favour of the job-specific fundamentals and skills, it can be just as important in terms of the success of your business. After all, even top-notch workmanship can be sullied by rudeness and a bad attitude.

Naturally, Joe Public will warm to you more if you treat him well, being both friendly and courteous throughout the job. It can also make the overall experience a lot more enjoyable and pain-free for all parties involved.

Meanwhile, don't be afraid to ask questions when speaking with the customer. Hearing their needs and wants straight from the horse's mouth can go a long way in helping you tailor your service to their needs, while the courtesy can also leave you and your business smelling of roses.

 

Meeting customer expectations

Above all else, the quality of your work should speak for itself. The customer is paying for a service, and that service should be of the highest possible standard.

Don't settle for mere adequacy - always aim to go above and beyond, and try to leave every customer feeling valued, satisfied and content.

 

Dealing with issues

There will inevitably be times where things don't quite go to plan, and how you deal with these issues can help you salvage your customer relationship and keep your clients from looking elsewhere.

If you encounter an issue during a job, take time to reinforce the fact that you will strive to rectify any problems as quickly and effectively as possible. Doing so in a friendly and open manner can endear you to the customer and help to improve customer retention.

Provided you leave the customer with an end result that fixes the issue and does so with minimal impact to them, any issues you've encountered or hiccups along the way can usually be forgiven, while your efforts to fix said issue can actually strengthen the relationship further.

Interested in learning a trade and becoming your own boss? Take a look at our range of trade training courses below!

View our Training Courses >

Image source: Pixabay

electrician courses, electrician careers uk

 

Proving that trade knowledge is universally in demand across the globe, Fox Business is reporting that a nationwide shortage of electricians in the United States is setting the stage for huge salaries for electricians.

According to the report, a predicted labour shortage in the electrician industry is set to create a huge amount of unfilled jobs across the country. While this could spell bad news for American consumers, it’s great news for electricians across the pond – particularly when it comes to their wages. More...

With the right skills, a strong desire and a little imagination, it can be surprising just what can be achieved when people put their minds (and hands) to work.

This is particularly applicable when it comes to manual labour jobs, like carpentry and joinery. Take the story of Billy Walden from Bentham, Lancaster, for proof of just that.

 

carpentry courses,carpentry training,joinery courses

 

A Cut Above

The Daily Mail recently ran a story about a teenage carpenter who incredibly transformed a shabby canal boat on its last sea legs into a holiday home for his mum and 11-year-old sister.

At 18 years old, Billy already had four years of carpentry training under his tool belt, beginning his education at the tender age of 14. He achieved his Level 1 AIM in just one year and even began his Level 2 in carpentry and joinery at just 15.

Despite his age, Billy was no stranger to renovation projects, having already completed a refurb of a VW camper. However, the camper van project left Billy with a desire for something bigger and better. The canal boat project proved to be just that.

 

Investing in Carpentry Skills

Bought by his mum, Jayne, for just £5k, the boat was a veritable steal due to the fact it didn’t pass all the survey tests. However, that also meant that it was also in need of considerable TLC – a challenge that Billy was more than up for.

Renovation costs accrued to around £2800 and, within just eight weeks, the young carpenter had transformed an uninhabitable budget barge into a unique floating holiday home.

 

Carpentry Courses and Joinery Courses

Billy’s story once again proves that not only can carpentry and joinery courses can be extremely useful, they can also be extremely rewarding from a personal standpoint too.

At Access Training UK, we offer a number of carpentry courses to suit all levels of education, allowing you to achieve carpentry goals, even if you don’t have any experience going in.

We currently offer the following carpentry courses:

 

DIY Carpentry Course

A crash course in household DIY carpentry, this course provides you with the basic understanding of carpentry required to complete a variety of carpentry tasks around the home.

Essential Carpentry Course

A basic introduction to carpentry via a foundation-level course. Ideal for those that want to gain basic carpentry knowledge and progress on to more advanced industry-level trade courses.

Professional Carpentry Course

A professional qualification, this course allows you to potentially pursue a career in carpentry and joinery. Suitable for al skill levels with no prior experience or prior knowledge necessary.

NVQ Level 2 Certification

An accredited certification course that allows experienced carpenters to gain the relevant qualifications to carry out on-site carpentry work.

 

For more information on our carpentry training and joinery courses, call today on 0800 345 7492 or drop us message online using the button below.

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