"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
. 240.12...
Rotax100uk wrote in
s.com:

I have been taking on work which at the moment is with retired women
who cant look after their own gardens, i have been to price jobs with
trouble as to how long a job will take me to complete. I have been
charging £10 per hour which most of the retired people are having
trouble with because of there pensions.

As you can see what problem i am faced with, i was just wondering if
anyone hear can advice me what to do with my pricing?

I feel as if i am charging people a high rate of £10 per hour, but i
am not getting any profit out of this

I can emphasise with the sense of charging a high rate. It suggests an
inclination to think beyond the 'what's in it for me' attitude. It can seem
like crazy money, but then you need to realise that there are professions
where mere apprentises get paid far, far more.



Your time has a value. You have no duty to work for anyone who cannot
afford to pay you properly, and there are people out there who
can afford to.

Very true, but for someone with an inate sense of duty this can be the
primary hurdle.

In my own business (not in gardening), I find that the people who grouch
about prices are not always the people who are actually hard up for
cash!

Be up front about your costs and experience

Actually, although others seem to agree, I'm not so sure.
I've never once got a client on the basis of my qualifications. I've never
being asked for proof of them. The only thing I have ever being asked for is
for proof of public libility innsurance (semploy)
What I've found over the years is that irrespective of what I've stated I
can do / am qualified at, people tend to make presumptions based on THEIR
limitations. Not MINE.
In terms of public perception of abilities, there seems to be a problem with
being the person who pops in and does the usual general maintenance
gardening jobs.
For this reason, if jo public's readiness to presume incompetance on the OP,
then is there really a need to confirm it?
And if public perception is as unassailable as I have often found it to be,
what difference will it make no matter how brilliant the OP might be?
Albeit that I am in the process of wrapping things up, I'm curious as to
whether people (jo public) want someone to be up front about their
experience... or lack there of. .. as has being suggested.
The other question is... do you (jo public) prefer a fixed price, or to be
charged by the hour?

and be prepared to walk away
if the customer can't or won't agree to pay you to get the job done
properly, cover your costs and leave you with enough to eat on!

And pay income Tax.
Like many others, my accomodation rent is more than my tax free allowence,
therefore, every penny earned after that is taxable. It would be no use for
me to say I haven't made any money because by my mere survival after rent,
.... I have demontrated a taxable income.

It's
really hard, but you need to be able to do it.

If you give people a 'job price' rather than a cost per hour, it's
easier for them to see exactly how much they will have to pay, (though
you do take a bit of a risk if it takes longer than expected.)

But sometimes they do not want to pay 'job price', because they don't want
to pay for any potential profit that might be gained.

More than that.
I once had a client who wanted a fixed weekly rate for maintainance. On
agreement, he asked would he be happy with his garden. I replied yes, but
only if he was already content, as the level of maintainance on offer would
be a current standards.
Later in the year he asked tried wiggling out of payment on the grounds that
he wanted major tree surgery carried out on his large tulip tree and as I
han't seemed prepare to do so out of the tenner per week, then he wasn't
happy. Ergo he wasn't happy with his garden and therefore owed me nowt.
Someone else tried to say they weren't happy with their garden because of a
plant someone else had in their own garden was offending the view, and as I
had promised she would be happy with the garden, but she now wasn't because
of the offending neighbours small bedding begonias... again the same wiggle.

Get yourself a stop watch. Make a point of showing it off to your clients...
that worked wonders for me once.
If you are engaging in waste disposal, make sure to charge for you time to
do so and re-coop any other expenses incurred. Like Victria said,
You have no duty to work for anyone who cannot
afford to pay you properly

Patrick