How I INVESTED in my business | Thomas Nagy

[@Azeria]

As someone who is starting out in the graphic design world, I’d love to hear what it’s like from the other side!

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

that's awesome dude, show off your work on instagram and if it's good the work should find you

[@chrisryan3770]

Having been through a similar process, albeit in a different industry and location, a couple of things stand out. Your vehicle insurance seems quite pricey. We’re about £700/year per van. I presume your price is because London. Your website seems way over the odds though. For a website for your needs I would consider half that cost to be expensive! One tip we found out is get your design work done abroad via Fiverr etc. From experience, designers NEVER do what you ask them first, second, third, fourth or even fifth time you ask. Even if you give them an exact written description with reference images, sketches and a colour pallet, they’ll draw something off spec multiple times before getting it right. We offshored our design work and eventually built a decent relationship with someone in Pakistan. We still have the same frustrating process for every design but instead of £60-100/hour, we’re paying a fraction of the cost and the end result is just as good. Chai in Karachi is just cheaper than Caramel Macchiato in Edinburgh or London.

[@Hussain-ch3pr]

Hi, do you have your web designers fiver id?

[@johnbutler1147]

12k for a website? I imagine your website isn't going to be very complex. I hope the design and implementation of it also includes the annual cost of hosting and upkeep of it.

[@scottyoung3354]

^ came to say this

[@EdthePlumber]

Shame Tom didn’t get a square space sponsorship

[@PhillipParr]

Hey, I'm a web dev. Is £12k expensive or cheap? Depends what you're doing. None of the free ones are actually legal; if you're paying someone to consider GDPR, Accessibility, and all the other laws related to trading and THEN including the SEO etc on top, £12k for a 10 pager with a form isn't actually out of the ordinary. If you're a one man band you may get away with WordPress. If you're an expanding small business then £5k - £50k is about right (depending on what you do). If you're a corporation with 1k employees then it's not out of the ordinary to spend millions per annum on your website.

[@PhillipParr]

@@scottyoung3354 It makes me sad when people look at a website and think it should be free. People that make bespoke sites are highly skilled professionals, and as Tom knows: high skills demand (perceptively) high bills.

[@scottyoung3354]

@@PhillipParr You are joking right? GDPR isnt hard to comply with and for any basic site that isn't capturing customer data it's barely even a requirement. As for WordPress, it's used as the engine for many massive sites. 12k maybe if it includes e-commerce too. And SEO is complete claptrap, and easy to achieve with some simple research and site changes. Oh and I never mentioned free.

[@YungKaioken]

Ily man been around since 1k subs bro you’re almost at 100k that’s nuts! Keep up the fire content man 🔥💯

[@artisanelectrics]

Wow Tom that is some serious investment hats off to you mate! I just hope you’re charging £200 an hour to pay all that back 😅

[@gregorythomas333]

My rule-of-thumb for start up costs: after all initial building lease, vehicles, materials & tools are purchased...having the complete operating costs for a one year period is a minimum. That would include all personnel wages, fuels, utilities, insurance, maintenance, etc... for the first 12 months seems to be the least amount to have put back (in the bank) BEFORE you open the doors on the 1st day. There is much more depending on circumstances but this is the basic idea.

[@ozanbakici644]

12k for a website? Wait. 1.2k or 12k? Btw love the whole branding and warehouse! Looks proper professional

[@markdenny7324]

We’ve had the costs, what’s the gains from all the highway and rail work likely to return you? Assuming it must be good if it’s dragging you away from domestic work.

[@nathandeakin1798]

20k for HERS?! We've been HERS approved for nearly 5 years and still havent forked out nearly as much as that... someone's having you over with this one unfortunately 😕

[@elliotsmoothy4581]

Enjoyed this nice to see a rough breakdown of figures, be good to see how you increased your invoicing to accommodate your extra costs. Looking for a lockup for same reasons as you to create a base for work, tools materials, office space etc

[@olly7673]

Thanks Tom for a frank, open and honest insight into you business, though I struggle to see how your website would cost £12-13k to set up plus nearly £5k on top. My son has a branding company in Bristol that creates websites, logos, rebranding etc for companies, and all of that, so I am going to ask him if that pricing is normal. I know you're in London but everything is without boundaries now thanks to the internet, such that in, this instance it is a moot point. Well done for having the drive to put this vid together on a Friday evening. #commitment

[@RFC-3514]

It really depends on what he's including as the "website cost". If he's including the production of these videos, I guess it could be acceptable (cheap, even - it's many hours' worth of video that had to be shot and edited). If the cost is just for a static website with a dozen pages of text with some photos (all of which were probably supplied by Tom in the first place), plus some links to preexisting KZbin videos (again, made by Tom), £12k sounds incredibly overpriced. Still possibly less overpriced than £3k or whatever he paid for that horrible "TN" logo (which I would pay to get _rid_ of) but hey, I guess that's mostly a matter of taste. :-P

[@tomjackson3209]

12k website. It that current website which is live or something new which will be live once completed???

[@mikeZL3XD7029]

Tangible Items is what they're called, Tom. Personally I think you've done very well for yourself.

[@fiveminuteman]

Laptops, desktops, printers, mobile phones and software licencing. What are staff wages like for the year and pensions.

[@GregNow]

What will be the ongoing annual cost of RZGQS with HERS and Iso? All those are not only Startup costs and it will be your overheads annual cost with insurance all memberships, subscryptions etc.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Just wondering what was the reason for going for highways and rail at the same time ? Do you really need both at this stage to pay the bills?

[@jcf828]

He doesn't 'need' either... Its ambition driving him forward. Well done Tom

[@James_scott86]

@@jcf828 That’s correct but currently he has a couple of guys on the books who can’t be in two places at once. Clearing going to branch out but hasn’t as of yet.

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

as i understood it, having one compliments the other. marketing wank but it works

[@goldcd]

@@cliveramsbotty6077 He's "leveraging the cross-domain synergies"

[@1001ewaste]

@@goldcd You'd make a great team member for a game of 'Bullshit Bingo' 🙂

[@mrmatt85uk]

12k seems very steep for a website. Surely a couple of grand would be enough

[@RFC-3514]

Yeah, for that much I can only assume the web server doubles as a bitcoin mining rig...

[@PhillipParr]

No, it doesn't.

[@derleo89]

​@@PhillipParr Have you actually seen the website? If it's the one linked in his twitter, it's a dumpster fire and that's putting it lightly. The webplayer gets into an infinite loop until the site is unresponsive, it isn't even redirecting from http to https, rather bloated... I don't see where the 10k he spent so far have gone into, it's a catastrophy from many basic technical and UX standpoints. I know the pain of people not being able to appreciate the time, effort and education it takes to develop something, but this website, at least in its current state, deserves to be questioned.

[@chriholt]

Very interesting, and I'm amazed that the memberships were basically one half of your total start up cost!

[@firstnamesecondname5341]

I remember my days of needing a £million a year to cover the workshop before even buying a coffee, got to say I don’t miss those days not because of the opportunity to build a business that was great, but the people in the business with me got lazy, they’d developed too much of a liking for the desk not building or sustaining the business and me trying to save saw my days got longer, my weekends got shorter and suddenly looking in the mirror I had to say to myself ‘why the 🤬 am I doing this’ within a year it was all gone and it was great, most expensive but valuable lesson learnt

[@chris77777777ify]

Fair play but why bother, I’m happy with a house, some income & plenty of Time to enjoy holidays & travelling. A house & holidays are the most important thing in my life, nothing else.

[@hagen-p]

You don't need to justify anything, Thomas. All of your decisions look very rational to me, made by a professional. Nice!

[@gregf9160]

Really informative breakdown, Tom. And taking the time to go through it on a Friday when you're knackered 👍

[@tonylock7657]

I can't help thinking you underestimated some things. Office IT for starters - those Toughbooks aren't cheap. Also - where do staff wages come? You didn't have all of them in the payroll before, did you?

[@nathanlucas6465]

You've got a unit. There's no excuse for buying prosecco in a petrol station. You should buy a case wholesale and hide it in the unit so its there ready chilled when you need it 😁

[@mikeberry304]

Employees dont see how much is invested to set up a business properly, in 20 yrs Tom , you will have your money back big time , not many are as honest as you and do it right, like you say , it's not worth the messing about to chip things back , with your customers it's all about being professional , image is a big thing , top job your doing 👍👍

[@effervescence5664]

The old adage "speculate to accumulate" - trying to get that across to my business partners was a pain, so I invested my own money in a bunch of tools and within 2 weeks earned 4x what they cost me back in saved time. In turn that saved time and tools has a knock on effect in future allowing more work to be completed and making us more profitable as a whole.

[@Mark.D.H.]

Much respect for your ability to calmly and logically approach the many different aspects of the business. I'd be interested to know the rent and rates of the unit!

[@uddaside]

Question is...what are you earning from the highway stuff?

[@mark_just_mark]

Don't forget the Cafe sign - probably free due to the misspelling of 'Cappuccino' 😄

[@nickholtzer]

Tom and the lads , I've been watching you from the start, I just want to say one thing mate and that's you are doing the right thing , you have to spend it to earn it . Do not list to all those arse holes, they are just jealous that you have the forward think and drive to do what you are doing. I am sort of proud of you as I've been watching so long 😆. Anyway keep going and another great and trueful video . Cheers Nick the plumber 👍🤙

[@carlmarquardt994]

Yeah me too. The guy has ambition and balls of steel. No reward without some risk.

[@gienekpaa4892]

Better and better every time I look . I might look at it more often...👌

[@TheQuickBooksChap]

Amazing content, thanks for this! Don’t forget your Cashflow for the first 9 months or so? As you said in the last video you only just made breakeven so all that needs to be included 😊

[@blistiff]

Christ, based on this I'm quitting the electrical business and becoming a Web and graphic designer!

[@supersparks9466]

Your not wrong, 3k to come up with a TN logo, fucking joke

[@theawfulmrbird]

Yor new branding does look very professional and way better than the old one - good invested money imo.

[@dragade101]

My doctor's handwriting looks vaguely like latin. Yours, you can actually read individual characters and clearly read words, so like a 100% difference if my doctor could be graded at 0% readability.

[@ranbirsingh7666]

Nagy & Co - Relationship Guidance service too 👍😁😁

[@sparkiegaz3613]

Mmm ok investing in highways and rail but are you getting any returns from it yet,,,,can’t say I like everything you go on about but good luck to you feller and everything you do

[@coyote5735]

I doubt that truck has covered one HP payment.

[@XeonXR6]

A real mix of capex & opex. How do you guys keep track of your PnL?

[@pwaelectricalltd29]

Good on you Tom for having the cahoonas to really go for it!

[@davidminnock9290]

'Don't use your own money, use the banks money' 🤣 love it

[@rstrofton]

Hi Tom what make was the 3phase power monitor you were using in the Indian takeaway video? Thanks!

[@swl6218]

Like you said office supplies and in our case having a toilet or male/females. Suddenly £1000s of teabags, coffee, milk, toilet roll, laptops, pen paper. Its all adds up.

[@scottyleics]

Ignore the mugs, debt when managed properly is what keeps society stable. The one's against it just don't understand how to use money and debt to grow.

[@pjvenda]

You are a brave man for putting your own cash into the business. Not criticising, I fully understand and appreciate that maybe there was no other option. But fook me I’d be terrified!!! I dearly hope your gamble pays off in spades.

[@ethangarside5012]

I created a business Tom which is very successful without most of these things , I think your doing a great job ! I wouldn’t want you wasting money !

[@iantibbetts6871]

Glad you're a better at electrics than you are at maths😊 great insight and huge kaunas for committing.

[@Richardincancale]

You didn’t mention the cash needed to cover work in progress, stock and salaries in advance of billing, 60 days minimum payment terms for large businesses… Not to mention bad debts!

[@coyote5735]

Cashflow, the elephant in the room.

[@alfies98]

How did a website cost you £13k? You’ve been had there unless you’ve had a lot of custom stuff done for it.

[@LawrenceSingha]

Great breakdowns of costs, always wondered… keep going to what your doing is excellent works… loved the brownie points and I agree with you on that, no questions asked. Stay safe and strong Tom! 👍🏼

[@RaithUK]

You forgot Van security upgrade packages. good video.

[@Stoney_Eagle]

Speaking of the office, what did you end up doing with the internet connection?

[@conorgarvey6594]

great break down on costs its probable not easy thinking of them numbers , but i admire your ambition great to see . and for once i understood the whole video lol

[@yonashabtat5539]

Well done Tom. I like your positivity and energy.

[@GregNow]

He needed 8 expressos to bring up that positivity. hahaha Did not mention all the software subscriptions, accounting fees, all those half-day training courses for staff which would add up to another +£10K easily... Best part majority of that is not really start-up costs but overheads, the ongoing annual cost of every business in that sector offering this type of service! he takes a risk and let's hope all works out well!

12k for a static website OMG that is absolutely crazy

[@LazarkGaming]

12k for a website. Can easily get quality sites for considerably less. But hope it's worth it in the end. Also surprising you didn't lease your office equipment - then also adding as a tax write off.

[@PhillipParr]

I charge £600+VAT per day. An agency would charge my time at around 2.5x that. You can get anything for free, but if you want quality you pay for it. If this figure surprises you, become a web developer - we need you.

[@LazarkGaming]

I'm just saying you can get quality sites for under 5k from a developer who also knows what they're doing. I know you can charge big clients 10x what you would normally charge, because it doesn't dent their pockets in the slightest and it makes them feel they're getting a lot even though it's the same service you charge for less. Unless you're talking a full stack developer, I can't see how you can justify more than £300 a day for just front end.

[@ashbashbaby2]

Don't know if you have already done this but what is the Thomas naggie story from start to now. Would be an interesting story. Love your videos and bottle to get where you are

[@ozanbakici644]

My website cost me £500 and the yearly fee is £150.. I thought that was a fair price. 12k??? That’s the price of an app bro?

[@terryleaman3038]

Good jobs you get all the tools free Tom!

[@jamiekerr5234]

What about tool costs for the new vans? Or do the lads buy their own?

[@Jay22222]

From comments I’ve inferred that each team member has their “own” tools to look after but Tom paid for at least the majority of the larger items, Drills, SDS, Grinders, Drivers, Meters etc. But it seems like a bit of a combination.

[@Shouldsleep]

Watching you for a long time! Really nice to see how you have progressed and you really do give me alot of ideas and help for the business im running in Europe keep doing what your doing tom really is a big help if i could contract you guys i would in a heartbeat

[@Bad_Gnasher]

Brownie Points!!!! Love this channel.

[@SME_Ste]

Fleet insurance 7k, crikey bob tom!

[@ryanslocombe9168]

Love the fact you didn't pass out when you realised how much you've spent 🤣

[@fieldofvision8195]

Tom you are so underrated 💪🏻

[@randomcamerajunk6977]

I paid a poojit on fiverr £35 to do my business logo. Looks ace.

[@ExtremeShez]

Looking forward to you hitting 100k subscribers Tom.

[@philsbbs]

I worked at a company that had 17 memberships and it costs alot for little return, but without them some work could not even quote for some tenders.

[@GeorgeAusters]

How long did it take to break even?

[@mikeselectricstuff]

£12K for that website ? Seriously? Does that include the cost of paying a camera guy for the videos, all the camera gear, location catering....

[@Adam-eb3rs]

Tbh depending on what he actually gets for a site it could be worthwhile, if it's some wordpress template site, certainly not.

[@thedoc4758]

Professional Image - your branding is spot on. Thanks for taking the time to explain this. I’ve worked for entrepreneurs like yourself, I really enjoy watching your videos and seeing your business develop and grow.

[@tomasnewson6744]

You really remind me of Joe Cornish from the Adam and joe show. It’s a compliment in my books 👍🏻😄

[@grahamcroome2109]

Hi Tom. It would be a good idea to outline your monthly operating costs. I appreciate the fact that you are London based but it would be good to get some idea.....

[@TheDaf95xf]

Nice honest and interesting video Tom 👍🏻

[@jamieevans2413]

What brand is the 4G radios in the vans?

[@mortoopz]

You got hosed on the branding, I do that sort of work, 4 design cycles shouldn't have cost you more than about £600..800

[@PhilC184]

Nearly 40 years of marriage, and I’d say you’re right. The ultimate downer is ending up in major brownie debit, leading to brownie jail, otherwise known as the spare bedroom. :)

[@garyhardman8369]

You never answered my question about why you have Welsh text on your vans, despite working in London?

[@garyhardman8369]

As you still haven't answered my question, yet highlighted my question; probably just to piss me off. Unsubscribed.

[@DigitalPosion]

Didn't catch if these cost are annual or accrued over several years?

[@leer9951]

Hat off to you Tom.

[@markpreston629]

When the brownie points are in deficit, do you progress to girl guide points and how much more do they cost?

[@mondodaftasabrush]

Any updates on your woman stalker ? does she have a share in the business yet ? Copper contact digger ?

[@UberAlphaSirus]

I'm going to load the dishwasher then.

[@BIGCATDWVENOM]

Another brilliant video thank you, could you please explain what a UK complaint plug is as I see some with full plastic earth pins some without and some with half Thank you

[@JAMESJAMES26000]

Hi Tom - need a bit of advice here if to get someone in to have a look at my house electrics. Basically uk semi house, had a bit of work done to the top floor of our house which involved an electrician. I found out yesterday as I had to switch off a MCB that he has put all of the lights ground floor, 1st floor and 2nd floor onto one MCB (MCG 40 AMP TYPE C 10kA 30mA RCBO RCD MCB 230/240V JVL11) thinking about getting the fuse board looked at as even from the outside it looks a bit of a mess, is this a big cause for concern?

[@matthewwarren1789]

Hey Tom can we see an updated unit video soon. You rock

[@nedloh17]

What about all your tools & stock

[@michaelduffy9853]

you might as well get the cheapest insurance, really is no difference between expensive and cheap, its total luck who you get managing your liability acc, they would like you to believe you pay for piece of mind but the reality is different, they're less likely to pay if you have minimum certifications

[@twisted-pear]

Digital smeg is my new favourite phrase.

[@jamiej779]

Total respect to you Tom onwards and upwards in 2022 Merry Christmas !!!

[@jameszimmerman4965]

Really really interesting! Thank you so much for sharing the specificity and your expertise on what expenses can and cant be "shaved".

[@adamjones2025]

Sorry Tom, I have to say since watching your channel from the very beginning i thought you would at least put in a keg or 2 for happy hour, the staff would like it LMAO

[@stevehughes7224]

So the web designer can add 2 grand & you won't blink

[@vinigoalkeeper3009]

I’m a one man band spark and watching this 100% makes me think I want to stay that way 🤦🏼‍♂️….. I have no idea how you make a profit with these overheads…. but fair play to you.

[@mrtay14]

18:52 Investing in a building for smoking tires and cramping wires. even comes with laundry machines.

[@chrisardern4594]

M8 when you f up brownie point dont make any difference what so ever just take it on the chin but dont argue it only makes things worse. On the video it might be interesting to some how you actually got started in the first place you moved to London from the sticks and no doubt spoke like a country bumpkin in the big city lol. Did you work for a firm or just do your own advertising flyers ect?

[@rickybeans8504]

Flyers do fuck all

[@chrisardern4594]

beans hence the question

[@MrWeddingPhotography]

No offence Tom but 12 grand on a website? Unfortunately web designer’s aren’t marketers, they may make websites look pretty and that’s about it but pretty websites don’t sell you or your services. With a template fill in the blanks subscription you could have created something similar yourself for £100. Granted you don’t have the time but £12,000 🙈

[@PhillipParr]

Some companies spend £12k on Adwords in a minute.

[@RFC-3514]

Some companies make more than a billion a year. Some people buy £75k handbags. Some dogs have diamond-studded collars. And some people will gladly charge you 3 or 4x more than a product or service normally goes for, if they think you'll fall for it.

[@alanlloyd7208]

‘Brownie deficit is a bad place to be’ There’s your new merch line. T shirts coming soon

[@Russwig]

I don't recall you including the KZbin costs in your list, is that because it pays for itself out of your Patreons and what you get from KZbin?

[@acorndogs904]

Hell yes 150 k

[@onslow4173]

Is it true artisane bought subs

[@RFC-3514]

13k for a (mostly static) website that doesn't even need to serve its own videos (it just links to KZbin)? Yeah, compared to that everything else looks pretty cheap... :-P

[@PhillipParr]

KZbin is the best place to host videos. Trying to host them yourself is always a shit show.

[@RFC-3514]

These days not so much (video is part of HTML 5), unless you're going to have thousands of people accessing the videos at the same time, but my point isn't that it would be better to host the videos, it's that having direct video hosting capability (with custom playback widgets, etc.) could at least justify part of that £13k price tag. As it is, the website seems to be just a handful of text pages with some photos and links to existing KZbin videos. I wonder if he's including the cost of producing the videos themselves, and maybe some animations, etc..