Ford Consulting Limited

I had thought the best route to self employment in NZ would be to get employment, build up networks and in a year or two go self employed. Being nearly Christmas and summer coming up it's seems to be a bit of a double whammy on the eagerness of firms to take on new staff. I actually think it will be easier, if a little hit and miss, to build up a business self employed. Generous employment conditions means that's hard to get shot of someone once you take them on, so most the firms I have talked to about contracting seem very keen as a way to outsource their immediate resource issues.

I've had a bit of work taking off brickwork, which has been nice. It is literally a veneer here, what you see is what you get. There is no unfaced brickwork behind rooflines, skins are held up by steel beams.

I'm also gratefull to Hays that put me in contact with Naylor Love, a contracting company in Chch, see http://www.naylorlove.co.nz/index2.htm. If you do look at the website you'll see one of the founding fathers was Hugh Naylor, which in my book is up there almost as far as Biggus Dickus for pythonesque humour (fnarr, fnarr and fnarr Mr Saunders). I'm pricing up variations on a final account for a speculative apartment development prior to a commercial meeting next week. It's exactly the same as I'd been doing for my friend Tony at Award Consulting Limited, cheers mate, good mentoring!

I'm in the process of setting up Ford Consulting Limited, if you can guess what inspired the name have a little dance!

BTW Rawlinson's New Zealand Construction Handbook is the equivalent of Spon's, quantity surveying fans!

I've also got a meeting next week with another large contractor C Lund & Son for a contract after I finish with NL. Cool and the Gang.