1. Why set up a welding business?
If you’re thinking about setting up a welding business, now is the perfect time. Welding jobs are on the rise and there’s always a demand for welders. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 6% increase in the employment of welders up to 2026. Welding is an expensive hobby, with high startup costs. Many people who weld sparingly cannot afford the investment and training so they look to a professional to weld for them. Small welding shops are a good option for general repairs and often offer more reasonable prices for customers wanting simple repairs or light fabrication projects. If your home is conveniently placed then a home garage can be a perfect business opportunity.
2. Get training accredited and insured
Before you set up your welding business, the first step is to get your welding qualifications and insurance. This is the best way of proving to your customers that they can get quality results. You need to be certified for insurance, so there’s no way of avoiding this. Even if you can lay the best welds in town, if you’re not certified then lots of businesses won’t work with you and you’ll miss out on a lot of money. Look at Liability Insurance for when you’re welding and Completed Operations Insurance for long-term protection.
3. Welding equipment
You will need to decide what equipment to have in your workshop and have all your welding safety equipment before you can weld anything. TIG welding equipment is expensive but can yield a high return on investment. MIG welding will be a standard piece of kit and it’s useful to have an inverter stick welder in case you have to go out to do an emergency ranch job. It’s useful to keep a multipurpose welder as a backup should one or more of your machines let you down.
4. Pricing your services
Now you’re a business, you’ll be able to purchase your equipment such as top plasma cutters directly from the manufacturer at trade prices so you should be able to offer reasonable prices. Don’t waste your time though, offer a minimum price of around $25 to stop you wasting your time on tiny jobs for no money.
You’ll usually have to consider two types of jobs, labor only jobs and labor and parts jobs. For jobs where you need to buy the parts, factor in the time it takes you to go out and buy the parts. When charging for labor, charge a bit more for TIG welding than MIG because it’s harder to get good-quality results. Charge per inch of weld that you lay, $1 per inch is a fairly standard price.
5. How to advertise
Set up some branding and pick a business name that’s catchy and memorable. Call up businesses in your local area and introduce yourself. Ask them if they have any welding needs and give them your prices. You can visit them with a small sample of your work to show off your talents and don’t forget to tell them that you’re fully qualified. Other ways to advertise are taking an advert in your local newspaper or sponsoring a local community event. Don’t forget the internet as well. Get a Google My Business listing and register at local online directories. Join local Facebook groups and leave a post introducing yourself and your business. It won’t be long until you generate some inquiries.
6. Be honest and know your strengths
Make sure that when you have a customer, you do an exceptional job. Word will get around if you do a bad job, especially if you live in a small town. This is even more important when you’re starting out and you’ll rely heavily on word of mouth to get more business. Don’t take on a job if it’s beyond your capabilities. If it’s something you’re not experienced on, then make sure you set expectations beforehand.
7. Collect testimonials
Finally, try and collect as many testimonials as you can to give your business a kick-start and help people trust your services more. Offer reduced rates and even freebies to people in exchange for testimonials. If you have a Google Maps listing you can ask them to leave a review on there. Alternatively, you can write it down and add it to your website. Video reviews on YouTube are also a really good idea because you can show a video of the work you’ve done and embed this on your website.
