On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 20:28:15 GMT, dave
wrote:

Having read some of the comments about gardeners and what they charge.
I myself since 2000, been self-employed as a gardener, and have
charged by the hour.
But have been losing out on travel time,etc etc

You might sit down and write up your costs and the prices you charge,
both so you can make a good estimate and also show prospective clients
that the work *isn't* priced on the same basis as a 40-hr job in a
shop. And don't think charging for the job instead of an hourly rate
is fool-proof. In that case, you must be *very* careful about
estimates and get everything in writing. You could estimate 2hrs
(actual) work for a task, base your charge on that, and find that the
client wanted to follow you around and chat, or you had to spend 30
minutes finding someone to take charge of a dog. *Every* job has
overhead. :-)