advice on starting a welding business

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I am looking to start a mobile welding business , and would like to get some advice on getting it up and going. I am a 9 year welder with experience in fabrication and industrial welding. I want to run mig, ac/dc tig along with stick. I have all my equipment figured out but not advertising. For those who run a mobile buisness or fab shop, what are the advertising basics? Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
Reply:It might depend on your area.  In mine the newspaper and telephone book are a waste of time.  I get work by word-of-mouth from satisfied customers.
Reply:Word of mouth is the best and slowest.  I have banged on doors with pretty good luck.  Go to rental places and machine shops.  Equipment dealers are good too.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Tbone, what type of jobs did u start out welding? My area is rural with larger cities surrounding. Alot of forestry/logging operations around. Pretty much everything is within an hour from me.
Reply:Thanks David. What about business license? Do i have to have one starting out slow? Sorry for all the questions,  I've always worked for someone else not for myself.
Reply:Originally Posted by wes9696Thanks David. What about business license? Do i have to have one starting out slow? Sorry for all the questions,  I've always worked for someone else not for myself.
Reply:the dba and INC or LLC  will CYA to an extent in the event your work fails or otherwise causes and accident etc, it makes you not look so fly by night too....i would strongly urge you to go this way so as to semi-isolate the rest of your personal life from the business....and INSURANCE IS YOUR FRIEND....i would never run my business without it and it is well worth the costs if any of the above were to happen as the" but i was just starting out slow" thing is exactly what a lawyer would love to hear if your weld fails and kills a school bus filled with children.... a separation of company assets and finances is also crucial too, get a business checking account as you will need one to cash or deposit your customers payments, this is all....IMHO take what ever info you want with a grain of salt, i have not been doing this all that long, ONLY 25yrs.... ....and now to your first question....word of mouth would be my first plan of attack unless you have unlimited resources....then i would go balls out and do all of it: personal website, yellow pages, join a local small business organization and get listed on the AWS website too, oh and hand out your business cards as if you are running for mayor too....hell i might go so far as mounting a speaker to the top of my welding car that played rocky or some cool theme song with the sounds of welding and grinding dubbed over it....LOL....Last edited by ironlion; 02-23-2012 at 06:40 PM.
Reply:Hey thanks for the info ironlion, it is very useful. Any advice on charging for actual welding portion of job?I understand mileage,materials, and equipment cost. Do i just charge what i want to get paid hourly or is there a common way of charging; say per inch of weld, amount of prep, clean-up, paint if necessary, beveling...etc.
Reply:About 27 years ago I was in the middle of the largest job I had gotten up to that time. It was a 36 slip sail boat dock made out of 2 3/8" pipe. It took almost 5 months to do it. One day a guy pulled into the shop, an advertising guy. He commenced to tell me that at the size of my business I should be spending $1500 a year on advertising to keep the business flourishing. I thought about it for a bit and told him he was right. However, instead of hiring him, I would do $1500 worth of free work by giving good deals to the right people. As very one knows, word of mouth is the best advertising. It has worked very well for me as I have been debt free since I was forty and have made a very good living for my family.
Reply:Thanks Bob I think word of mouth is the way to go for me. Any help on how i should charge for the job?
Reply:Unfortunately the best thing to do is not start a new company now unless you have a contract or some long term job to pay the bills.  Since the economy took a dump mobile welders have really suffered, the really good ones have had to cut way back and the not so good ones have sold there equipment and gone to work in shops.  The going rate of pay has taken it in the shorts too.  I heard a local weld shop was hiring but 15 bucks an hour with absolutely no overtime or per diem was the max he would pay.  Hardly worth getting dressed for at that rate.  Make sure you have a solid business plan and at least one long term commitment and adequate insurance to begin with.  Lack of insurance can be devastating, I learned that the hard way a long time ago and it took 22 years to get past it.  Youthfull ignorence cost me a small fortune.  Good luck and stay out of debt by paying as you go to keep from losing your house or car if it doesnt work out.  Not trying to scare you off the idea, just bringing up possible issues you might not have considered.Crippled BobI'm spending my Kids inheritance, I dont like him that much anyway!!!!!!Enuff tools to do the job, enough sense to use em.Anybody got a spare set of kidneys?  Trade?
Reply:Thanks bob I think that word of mouth will be the way I go. Any advice on bidding the welding portion of the job? I have equipment costs and materials cost down but not sure how to bid the welding.
Reply:I'm with Crippled Bob in that you should not start a full time business now. When I started mine, I did it part time and worked mainly on the weekends. The first job I did for money was welding a handle bracket onto the bed of a push mower for $5. I didn't have another job for 2 weeks. A friend of that neighbor wanted 2 horse stalls built. Big bucks. And so it started. My business has mainly been centered on working for individuals and not as much for big businesses. While I now can charge $80 for commercial work, I only charge $60 for individuals. I try never to tell them my hourly rate as it just does not compute for people. I try to figure how long it will take and just give them a total price. If I'm wrong then I will eat it and go on. I've only had one dissatisfied customer. On the other hand I have worked all day and only made $5 an hour. The customer was satisfied though and that's gold. I have been doing work for some customers for 30 years now and I'm very proud of that.So, if you go with word of mouth, make sure you have no dissatisfied customers. Make sure your word is gold. If your going to work mainly for individuals then leave the job with them being friends. It's worked great for me. Good luck, Bob
Reply:Thanks Bob that sounds like a plan to me. I like my current job so part time side work is the way to go. You guys have been a big help and i appreciate your time.
Reply:Originally Posted by wes9696 Any advice on bidding the welding portion of the job? I have equipment costs and materials cost down but not sure how to bid the welding.