"Nedder" wrote in message
...

Hi all, i just need some advice. i could probably ask this anywhere
really but you will see why its relevent.

my uncle is a gardner & is around 58yrs old (so not long till he
retires) i was speaking to him at the weekend about his work etc and he
said he is really busy & knocking work back.

he has had a recent operation & is struggling a bit. he wont get extra
help in as he cant be dealing with a young lad turning up late etc.

i did 2 years gardening work recently in australia and i would love to
get back into it (im office based now).

i just dont know how to approach my uncle about maybe working with/for
him?

any ideas about how i should approach this?

thanks.
--
Nedder

Why don't you just offer to work for him for a couple of years to see how
you both get on? If he takes to this idea, you could either a) immediately
suggest a partnership with a built-in probation period, or b) suggest a
partnership after you've worked together for a while and decided it's really
what you want to do.

It seems to me that if he's fighting taking someone on, he may not be able
to afford an employee (perhaps due to the recession), or he may simply not
want to share his business out of some form of misplaced possesiveness.

One way you could approach him without seeming to 'tread on his toes', would
be to tell him you're looking for a career change and to ask him for his
valued advice. It would give you a very gentle opening on the subject, from
which you could both retreat gracefully if it doesn't 'feel' right.

Spider