I have heard it said & I must agree that the motor trade is like a BLACK HOLE. It sucks you back in time & again. I got out as a 21 year old, to be a lorry driver, only to find that I missed the daily challenge of something new.

We all go through bad times, were every customer seems to want a piece of you & everything you touch turns to sh1t. But on the whole the satisfaction of overcoming the hurdles that the job throws at you keeps you coming back for more. It does me anyway!

I have recently (five years ago) taken on a challenge, in the form of purchasing an established business, initially with a partner (now jettisoned) & now with the support of my missus (of whom I wouldn’t have survived THANKS PAULA). It has been a roller coaster ride that would have made great telly for sure. I have seen fellow businesses (namely builders) make a sh1t load more money than ours but hey that’s life!

It is a real kick in the nuts, when you try your upmost to be professional in your approach & the local council try to fine you 2 grand for placing an “A” board sign on the road side, in an attempt to promote your services & keep your 6 guys in work. This country has a real problem at the moment in as much that we are so pre occupied in fighting each other & in the process, anyone with an ounce of entrepreneurial spirit & honesty will be soon convinced that the best course of action is to p1ss off to New Zealand.

As it has been said already, many hurdles are placed in your path, health & safety environmental regulations, waste disposal, employment law, local council regulations, licenses for waste oil heaters, Fire risk assessment, trading standard laws, discrimination regulations…. To name a few.

My experience has told me that, if I were to do it again, I would start small & build up & take it one step at a time. You have more time with less financial pressure to learn the ropes as you rise through the ranks. I am in the position (me & Paula to be precise) were the business is a millstone around our necks. We had our first holiday last year (a week on a canal boat) in five years. We were both anxious about leaving the place for a week, considering all that can go wrong. This kind of pressure would have been avoided if we had done it differently.

Sorry for my ramblings

Dave Hill