Advice on starting a welding business

[arrowside]

Basic as we call it here, is the primary certification CW "Certified Welder". This is the basic certification level.

And what does that allow you to do?

[sharpcreation]

I am considering the same opportunity, and was wondering in what field your most consistent clients are in?

I live in a very small community, lots of ranchers and do it your-self-ers, and not much industry.

Debating on moving, getting a job with a company, or getting my business going now in my town...

Any suggestions?

[Portable Welder]

Tac Mig You gave some good advise, I also dont understand what basic welding cert means however.

Certifications are very specific. Process ( Arc Mig Or tig ) , type of Rod, size of rod, Position and cert your going for AWS - Structural, Pipe etc.
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Give up the idea of just doing Tig Aluminum because its cool, Your going to need to weld whatever some one brings you, Portable Tig Aluminum only accounts for about 3% of my business.

Your best bet is to get a structural cert, It covers a wide range of things, a 6G pipe cert would really be great but a 3G and a 4G will cover you for most things.

Writing a business plan would not be high on my agenda. You need a good accountant and a good insurance man Those 2 things are very important and dont forget to put the money away to pay your taxes.

When it comes to insurance you are likely to have problems there, However you need 2 types of insurance( Liability insurance ) that covers you when you are doing the work and the second is ( Completed operations ) completed operations is what covers you when your done and you drive away.

If you have a fire while your still on the job that would be covered under liability insurance, When you leave the job and the smoldering paper finally catches and the building burns after you have left that would be completed operations.

Lets say you weld a hitch on a truck, When that truck leaves thats when completed operations takes over.

As far as the work goes Never lie, be up front and honest, Dont get talked into things that you know are way over your head, as you gain experience you can take on more critical work, If you make a mistake you need to own up to it and make it right even when it costs you money.

Good luck.

[armytankwelder]

Guys i have been welding since i was 16 in high school in 1991. I have always done side work and still doing side work. I have on more than 1 occasion wanted to go out on my own, but just haven't had the work flow to support my family. I currently have an Idealarc 225, Square wave tig 350, Trailblazer 250G, 30'A spoolmatic, lincoln sp 170, plasma, trackburner, 9" metal cutting circular saw, large mag drill, the list goes on. My point is i have the equipment to do it with, but i don't think I'm marketing myself properly. What do y'all think I need to do?