I'm bored of IT .....

[Jakes Daddy]

... and need a Plan B - any good (not smart Alec !) ideas ?
My trouble is that IT is all I've ever done since leaving school - left school at 16, went straight into IT - here I still am 18 years later, and all I know how to do is IT

Bored, bored, bored ......

[hyperD]

Antiques?

Child care business - lots of tax benefits on operating out of your own home...

Or disability allowance and the associated benefits are pretty cool. Make sure you're not a jaffa and smoke plenty...

[DaveB]

Buy into a franchise business.

Become a plumber/electrician/joiner/plasterer - Cant get one of them for love nor money atm.

Start your own micro brewery - Thats my eventual retirement hobby / plan Z

[Jakes Daddy]

Micro brewery - now you're talking ! They are really popular in the States (popular with me anyway ), but not many (if any ?) over here ......

[hyperD]

Micro brewery - now you're talking ! They are really popular in the States (popular with me anyway ), but not many (if any ?) over here ......

Not as easy at it seems. You'll be encountering the same problems as a small freelance IT services company: big companies and big competition.

And no: good flavour and no chemicals is hard to promote and make a survival profit with the big businesses around!!!

[Tex]

Micro brewery - now you're talking ! They are really popular in the States (popular with me anyway ), but not many (if any ?) over here ......

They're all over the place, Jakes Daddy. Britain has the highest number of micro-breweries per head of population in the world (just over 400). I can highly recommend the Cwmbran brewery's Crow Valley bitter. Brewed by some mad old geezer in a shed in his back garden. Microbreweries (defined as those producing less than 36,000 barrels a year) even get preferential tax treatment since the budget before last.

[hyperD]

Crouch vale Brewery

Crouch Vale is a good brewery...very nice beers.. big awards...

Crouch vale Brewery

[privateeye]

Buy into a franchise business.

Become a plumber/electrician/joiner/plasterer - Cant get one of them for love nor money atm.

Start your own micro brewery - Thats my eventual retirement hobby / plan Z

There's a good reason there are not enough plumbers/electricians/joiners/plasterers and that is most work is building site work which is not that well paid (£150 per day self-employed) and when the weather is bad you don't get paid. For domestic work everyone only expects you to work in the evenings and weekends when they are home and nearly all demand that they pay you cash in hand to avoid paying VAT - they don't seem to understand that if nothing goes through the books you will get screwed. There are a lot of misguided reports about tradesman earning thousands.

I for one am glad I am out of the building trades.

[hyperD]

I think there's plenty of electricians about: I got quoted over £600, £500 and £450 for rewiring two lights in a room. It's just finding someone that will quote something sensible.

Eventually got it down to £150... and yes, cash in hand as that was what he was assuming we were talking about.

Big bunch of scammers. And the costs for charging commercial properties: £500 for a blocked business toilet. Mind you, it was a biblical coming together of a large chilli kebab and a KFC chicken...

British Gas came in to review a MEGAFLOW system for our house: £12,000!!!!!!!!!!

Quick quote from a heating engineer: £4000. And we're taking our time finding a better quote with assurances...

[DimPrawn]

Internet is where it is at.

Plan B is selling Viagra online to old IT contractors that can't get it up anymore.