User:Teddoh

About Me
For 15 years I had a fairly reasonable career in electronics and IT, developing fax machine products, related software, before going on to set up call centres and develop and configure applications for them. Then I failed in the game called “Redundancy Re-apply” practiced by many blue chip organisations in the UK. Basically, your department is restructured and everyone has to apply for a new job in the new structure. I suppose it keeps everyone on their toes, those that are successful are usually slightly better off and then desperate to prove themselves, the unfilled positions are then taken by newcomers, who are equally desperate to improve themselves. Thus the department is reborn with hungry staff ready to flog themselves to death. Anyone not getting the new job they want, opts for redundancy and leaves.

This happened to me, and despite finding other jobs, I used it as a spring board to enter the field of working for yourself. Four years later, it has been extremely tough, but I would never want to turn the clock back, I am after all my own boss.

Initially, and not surprisingly I set up a company developing software, this was very difficult to get going and probably beyond my skills and resources and this never got beyond product development.

Surprisingly, I found my feet in a cottage industry assembling flat pack furniture, (also known as RTA or ready to assemble), the sort sold by Argos, Ikea and so on. I wasn’t by any means the first on the scene, many handymen had been doing this for years and I started subcontracting, well one job anyhow for a guy trying to set up a national organisation. A few months later, he packed it in and I launched my own website and before I knew it my company was born. At this stage there was only one other competitor but over the last few years this has mushroomed and there are many dipping in and out of the market. My original company has failed within years like 90% of new start ups in the UK. I now continue on my own rather than trying to build a large company.

Some companies have been around for a long time others not so long, it is competitive and it is tough but the biggest problem I have found is that the awareness of the service is not out there. Even today, people are either surprised that there is a market for the service or respond with “If only I knew!” There are a significant amount of people out there who would happily pay someone for the service, but have no idea the service exists.

So why am I on here?

Well the last two paragraphs should tell you, my aim is to provide a little history on the emerging sector that is flat pack assembly, a list of the longest running players in order to give some background and credence to an area which could really do with some more exposure.

To that end I will be setting up a wiki page and that is why there are no links in this article, other than to the page itself (once started).

I still have an interest in providing the service, but also concentrate on programming for the Internet (mainly C, Javascript, PHP etc) and thus am developing that often cited “portfolio” career. We’ll see.