Can you afford your employer's products?

Sporky

maltingsaudio said:

Self employed PA hire and sound engineering so everything I've got I bought myself 

But could you afford to hire your own PA for a gig?

Myranda

I've worked in shops and did buy a lot of the products... 

I worked for a company that makes one of the types of machines that makes silicon wafers of ic's ... those machines were many many expensive - I could not afford those...

Recently I worked for a cleaning company - pretty sure I could afford a window cleaner (we only have 2 windows!)...

I worked as a jeweller - and could make a ring (silver) for as little as £5 or as much as £5,000 (I guess more is possible but the places I workedat were never comissioned for more expensive single items).

So I guess I've been able to get some things from employers but not others... currently I purchase knowledge... on credit ;-) 

Bowks

Axe_meister said:

Two weeks ago no as we only sold enterprise level IT kit (mainly storage) now we've been bought by Dell there is a whole host of stuff I can afford (I.e cheap laptops)

Are you at EMC?

Sesh

No. I work at a university and certainly could not afford the £9k p.a. fees.

BigMonka

I'm an engineering consultant and my company charge my time out at a much higher rate than they pay me, so no I wouldn't be able to afford any consultancy or design services from my employer :-(

lloyd

BigMonka said:

I'm an engineering consultant and my company charge my time out at a much higher rate than they pay me, so no I wouldn't be able to afford any consultancy or design services from my employer :-(

Time to start your own company!

Sporky

BigMonka said:

I'm an engineering consultant and my company charge my time out at a much higher rate than they pay me, so no I wouldn't be able to afford any consultancy or design services from my employer :-(

I've been there. It was about a 50:1 ratio, which seemed stingy.

Flanging_Fred

No. Even if I could afford it, I don't think I have enough room on my drive for an aircraft carrier.

hywelg

Yes of course, but I would give myself a big discount!!

impmann

Yes. But then, magazines should be affordable...

Heartfeltdawn

It's one of those threads where I wish I could say I worked at Lovehoney. 

FelineGuitars

I could afford the repair services we offer and with a bit of planning and thought could afford to save and buy one of the guitars we make. As it is I seem to own quite a few of them .

LoFi

Sporky said:

BigMonka said:

I'm an engineering consultant and my company charge my time out at a much higher rate than they pay me, so no I wouldn't be able to afford any consultancy or design services from my employer :-(

I've been there. It was about a 50:1 ratio, which seemed stingy.

Been trying to work out how you can have got to that ratio - most I ever managed was about 8:1 (before I objected to them billing me out as a principal consultant when my job title (and salary) was still "junior".

(This excludes the time when a company billed £5K + expenses for me to fly somewhere to shut down a server and move it to a different rack...)

Sporky

Well, they charged a customer about my salary for about a week's work.

It's possible that I managed to get it all done faster than anyone anticipated.

thomasross20

It's amazing how complex an integrated circuit is, yet they sell in bulk for around $1. So yeah, I could afford our products

Teetonetal

Yes but only entry level stuff. Some deals are a million usd. Not a consumer product though.

maltingsaudio

Sporky said:

maltingsaudio said:

Self employed PA hire and sound engineering so everything I've got I bought myself 

But could you afford to hire your own PA for a gig?

Not at the rates I'd like to be able to charge, but yes at the rates most muso's are prepared to pay!

ThePrettyDamned

Myranda said:

I've worked in shops and did buy a lot of the products... 

I worked for a company that makes one of the types of machines that makes silicon wafers of ic's ... those machines were many many expensive - I could not afford those...

Recently I worked for a cleaning company - pretty sure I could afford a window cleaner (we only have 2 windows!)...

I worked as a jeweller - and could make a ring (silver) for as little as £5 or as much as £5,000 (I guess more is possible but the places I workedat were never comissioned for more expensive single items).

So I guess I've been able to get some things from employers but not others... currently I purchase knowledge... on credit ;-) 

That sounds like a really interesting employment history. Especially the jewellery stuff - my girlfriend would love to get into that but hasn't got a clue on the industry. 

Axe_meister

Bowks said:

Axe_meister said:

Two weeks ago no as we only sold enterprise level IT kit (mainly storage) now we've been bought by Dell there is a whole host of stuff I can afford (I.e cheap laptops)

Are you at EMC?

Yep well a subdivision VCE

Guitar_Slinger

No, not in my full time job.

I delivered pizzas at the weekend in my early 20s for Domino's (50% staff discount) and even though I can afford them, wouldn't pay full price.