Dear all,
As I am planning to move abroad in September, I m looking for the right
person / team to take over some of my existing gardening jobs. Customers are
very nice. (except for a few cowboy customers, but you needn't take them.)

Someone passed the first customer on to me many years ago and now I need to
do the same

1) Academic horticultural qualifications are not compulsory, but an ability
to convey considerable knowledge and skill will be.

2) You will need your own engine driven machines, tools. i.e. lawnmower,
blower shredder, rotovator (rear tine) scarifer and so on. (& I'm not
selling mine) (But I might consider an offer on my old van :-), though that
has no barring on who takes over.
3) The jobs are in North London (mostly N6 to N2), occasionally out of
London. And you will need to be insured
4) Current rate £18 per hour when work needs to be done i.e. no work = no
pay (that means no pay; hols, illness, for sitting in a van in the rain when
there's nowt to do, or wandering around with a blower/broom in pretence of
work.

5) You will need to provide itemised invoices for work done, indicating time
and detailing any materials used.

6) Payment is monthly in most cases always by cheque.

7) With one management group, they will depend on your knowledge (&
transport) to acquire materials, but you will need to surrender any receipts
for whatever you get for them. This is to allay any fears the owners might
have off collusion between their staff and outside contractors. (7a) But it
also means that the amount you will be reimbursed by will be the amount due
on the receipt. Therefore they get the benefits of any discount you may be
entitled to.
There is a security issue. Which is why I will be very careful. So,
8) Reference will be checked and will need to be easily verifiable, because
I'm
not getting paid to do this! 8a) I will want to meet your existing
customers!
9) Work involves communications with several bi-linguals who have English as
a second language. Therefore in order of usefulness, if you have:
Portuguese, French, Greek, good. A Germanic language may be a very slight
advantage. I get by with a little Spanish.

10) Ideally, the person taking over will be enthusiastic, rather than merely
tolerant about dealing with people of different background, culture,
language, colour, gender and even diametrically opposing political status
(e.g. Israelis and Palestinians, Greeks and Turks etc.) This is not exactly
an opportunity for a member of the BNP.

11) You do not need to be V.A.T. registered, but you do need to be able to
prove you are legit!

12) Enquires to me-------- in English only, (Maar ik ben geleerdheid
Nederlands).

Do please remember that I am only doing this out of loyalty to several
customers, I am not getting paid to do so and so I will be ruthless in
weeding out anyone who wastes my time by not matching all the above points,
with the exception of your rates.

By ruthless, I mean I will not even reply.

13) Do not send e-mail attachments. Matters of references etc will be dealt
with later.

14) Any e-mail that does not measure up will be treated as malicious Spam
and that means going straight on to my block-sender list and thereby
automatically deleted (unread, in the case of attachment senders) And I am
only your first hurdle.



Patrick

The message
from "tuin man" contains these words:

Dear all,
As I am planning to move abroad in September,

Patrick

Long time no see, Patrick..hope the move goes well.

Janet

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Dear all,
As I am planning to move abroad in September,

Patrick

Long time no see, Patrick..hope the move goes well.

Janet


Thanks, I hope so too,
Slight typo.... "engine driven machines".... I meant power tools... I just
couldn't think of the term to cover petrol/diezel/whatever, but not
electric. (2 sites are too big)
Hrm... now that I think of it, electric "power tools" are sometimes called
power tools. There is a better term, but I just can't think of it right
now.
And "driven" suggests self-propelled, which is entirely unnecessary.

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Patrick

The message
from "tuin man" contains these words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?
Gardeners in the area concerned have too much work?
They only want to be paid in cash?
And will under no circumstances give anything in writing.... certainly not
an invoice?
Are not what might be regarded as "legit"
They do not really know what they're about (gardening-wise) and / or have
made no investment in plant/machinery?
And therefore can't really provide verifiable references?
They only like contract work whereby they get paid regardless of work done
or not?
They hate foreigners?
They're getting paid far more as it stands, yet without having know-how, or
much more than a blower and a mower, so simply wouldn't be interested in the
hassel of 'educating' my customers?

questions questions questions

Patrick

The message
from "tuin man" contains these words:


"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?

Because you don't call the shots on what happens to your clients after
you leave. Once you depart, any competent, equally-skilled-as-yourself
competitors can step in and hoover up your client list for the price of
an ad in the local paper/ GC's, no need to negotiate your conditions.
The bad ones will sink, the best one will soon have your clients banging
on his door begging him to accept their money. Sorry :-)

Janet

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:


"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?

Because you don't call the shots on what happens to your clients after
you leave. Once you depart, any competent, equally-skilled-as-yourself
competitors can step in and hoover up your client list for the price of
an ad in the local paper/ GC's, no need to negotiate your conditions.
The bad ones will sink, the best one will soon have your clients banging
on his door begging him to accept their money. Sorry :-)

Janet

Ah yes Janet, but for one small point. These conditions are not strictly
mine.
It is what the existing clients pay me for and as they've asked me to find
an equal replacement I shall try.
They want a sort of copy, but I can't see how that is likely and they're
just going to have to make do in some areas whilst benefit in others.
Of course, they can pick up a paper right now and shop around, but what
their looking for is avoiding having to use a crystal ball whilst they're at
it.
So, if you like, it's their expectations I'm trying to meet, or get/have
*met* for them (terrible english, but I think you know what I mean)
Oh and it can just as easily be a "her door" too. Actually, it was just such
a her that once moved back to NZ and left me some clients (-:

Patrick

The message
from "tuin man" contains these words:

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?
Gardeners in the area concerned have too much work?

Which area? I didn't see one mentioned. (But I could have missed it.)

They only want to be paid in cash?
And will under no circumstances give anything in writing.... certainly not
an invoice?
Are not what might be regarded as "legit"
They do not really know what they're about (gardening-wise) and / or have
made no investment in plant/machinery?
And therefore can't really provide verifiable references?
They only like contract work whereby they get paid regardless of work done
or not?

Those with viable and well-appreciated businesses are not going to
abandon them for a pig in a poke.

They hate foreigners?
They're getting paid far more as it stands, yet without having know-how, or
much more than a blower and a mower, so simply wouldn't be interested in the
hassel of 'educating' my customers?

You are demanding the sort of reassurances that anyone could apply
without uprooting and transplanting.

questions questions questions

Answer, answers, answers.

Look locally (wherever that is) and solicit recommendations rather than
applications.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?
Gardeners in the area concerned have too much work?

Which area? I didn't see one mentioned. (But I could have missed it.)

london and mostly around the N6 & n2 area (highgate, hampstead garden
suburb)


Those with viable and well-appreciated businesses are not going to
abandon them for a pig in a poke.

I don't quite get what your saying there. If your referring to my customers
then that's exactly what they want to avoid. If they are gardeners who can
absorb some more work, or need to re-fresh their client list, then most of
my customers are very much worth considering. Very much (-:



You are demanding the sort of reassurances that anyone could apply
without uprooting and transplanting.

They seem quite normal to me too.


questions questions questions

Answer, answers, answers.

Look locally (wherever that is) and solicit recommendations rather than
applications.

Ah! Yes, been doing that. No luck either. There are those who I would regard
as trust worthy, which is the only real priority, but their not interested.
Mostly because they have too much work and are already getting between 25
and 40 % more. Albeit that their buisness in terms of horticultural know how
and investment in equipment could be compared with a wing on a prayer with a
mower and a blower attached.
nevertheless, I'm dissappointed they're not interested. My customers would
be lucky to have them even if it did cost a bit more and there isn't quite
the same back up of tools to meet all manner of jobs.
I'm not looking forward to telling a few elderly customers about my
departure. It would make things so much easier if I could say, I'm leaving,
but here's tom,/john/ mary, you wont know the difference.
Popping in here is a bit like clutching at straws, but that's where I'm at
with this.
Thanks all the same for your thoughts.

patrick

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:


"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?

Because you don't call the shots on what happens to your clients after
you leave. Once you depart, any competent, equally-skilled-as-yourself
competitors can step in and hoover up your client list for the price of
an ad in the local paper/ GC's, no need to negotiate your conditions.
The bad ones will sink, the best one will soon have your clients banging
on his door begging him to accept their money. Sorry :-)

Janet

Just a (longish)note about that last bit, albeit a purely accademic point.
The lady who gave me her client list many years ago was what you might call
sinking. Yet, she was by no means what you might call one of the "bad ones".

She was both qualified and quite competent, but the apparent bad management
of her biggest and main contract seemed to contradict this.

I do know, because she told me, that no matter what she wanted to do, the
clients objected. She expected me to have the same problem with them and she
chalked it down to their conservatism. But I didn't. I seemed to enjoy a
different position in their confidence right from the start and
circumstantial evidence suggests that the reason I did not run into the same
difficulty is because I'm not a woman. A sort of What would she know, she's
just a girl?

Failure in such situations should not be equated with merit IMO.

I've even had one peculiar experience of advising a would be client that
their proposals to fix a problem were unlikely to work and expalined why
they wouldn't work. I then sketched out an alternative that would work,
(mostly because the plants would actually survive) and in spite of the fact
that I was suggesting an alternative that I could not take on myself.
Whereas his idea, I could. Not only would it work, it had several more
advantages. His response was something on the lines of What would you know,
you're just a gardener!



As for the good ones getting my clients banging on his door begging him to
accept their money. I've seen quite a lot of bad ones with such good
fortune. And their luck should also not be equated with merit (-:



Patrick

"tuin man" wrote


I'm not looking forward to telling a few elderly customers about my
departure. It would make things so much easier if I could say, I'm leaving,
but here's tom,/john/ mary, you wont know the difference.
Popping in here is a bit like clutching at straws, but that's where I'm at
with this.
Thanks all the same for your thoughts.

patrick

Ho Patrick,
I can't help you with your original problem as I don't live in the UK.....

But I'd like to ask where to ore off to and whether you will be gardening there
??

Jenny (Rotterdam, Holland)

The message
from "tuin man" contains these words:

/snip/

I'm not looking forward to telling a few elderly customers about my
departure. It would make things so much easier if I could say, I'm leaving,
but here's tom,/john/ mary, you wont know the difference.
Popping in here is a bit like clutching at straws, but that's where I'm at
with this.
Thanks all the same for your thoughts.

I wish you luck. I might have been in the market thirty years ago...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?
Gardeners in the area concerned have too much work?

Which area? I didn't see one mentioned. (But I could have missed it.)

london and mostly around the N6 & n2 area (highgate, hampstead garden
suburb)


Those with viable and well-appreciated businesses are not going to
abandon them for a pig in a poke.

I don't quite get what your saying there. If your referring to my customers
then that's exactly what they want to avoid. If they are gardeners who can
absorb some more work, or need to re-fresh their client list, then most of
my customers are very much worth considering. Very much (-:



You are demanding the sort of reassurances that anyone could apply
without uprooting and transplanting.

They seem quite normal to me too.


questions questions questions

Answer, answers, answers.

Look locally (wherever that is) and solicit recommendations rather than
applications.

Ah! Yes, been doing that. No luck either. There are those who I would regard
as trust worthy, which is the only real priority, but their not interested.
Mostly because they have too much work and are already getting between 25
and 40 % more. Albeit that their buisness in terms of horticultural know how
and investment in equipment could be compared with a wing on a prayer with a
mower and a blower attached.
nevertheless, I'm dissappointed they're not interested. My customers would
be lucky to have them even if it did cost a bit more and there isn't quite
the same back up of tools to meet all manner of jobs.
I'm not looking forward to telling a few elderly customers about my
departure. It would make things so much easier if I could say, I'm leaving,
but here's tom,/john/ mary, you wont know the difference.
Popping in here is a bit like clutching at straws, but that's where I'm at
with this.
Thanks all the same for your thoughts.

patrick

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:


"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?

Because you don't call the shots on what happens to your clients after
you leave. Once you depart, any competent, equally-skilled-as-yourself
competitors can step in and hoover up your client list for the price of
an ad in the local paper/ GC's, no need to negotiate your conditions.
The bad ones will sink, the best one will soon have your clients banging
on his door begging him to accept their money. Sorry :-)

Janet

Just a (longish)note about that last bit, albeit a purely accademic point.
The lady who gave me her client list many years ago was what you might call
sinking. Yet, she was by no means what you might call one of the "bad ones".

She was both qualified and quite competent, but the apparent bad management
of her biggest and main contract seemed to contradict this.

I do know, because she told me, that no matter what she wanted to do, the
clients objected. She expected me to have the same problem with them and she
chalked it down to their conservatism. But I didn't. I seemed to enjoy a
different position in their confidence right from the start and
circumstantial evidence suggests that the reason I did not run into the same
difficulty is because I'm not a woman. A sort of What would she know, she's
just a girl?

Failure in such situations should not be equated with merit IMO.

I've even had one peculiar experience of advising a would be client that
their proposals to fix a problem were unlikely to work and expalined why
they wouldn't work. I then sketched out an alternative that would work,
(mostly because the plants would actually survive) and in spite of the fact
that I was suggesting an alternative that I could not take on myself.
Whereas his idea, I could. Not only would it work, it had several more
advantages. His response was something on the lines of What would you know,
you're just a gardener!



As for the good ones getting my clients banging on his door begging him to
accept their money. I've seen quite a lot of bad ones with such good
fortune. And their luck should also not be equated with merit (-:



Patrick

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote in
message
...
The message
from "tuin man" contains these
words:

Oddly enough... absolutely no interest from anyone anywhere so far.

Quite predictable IMO.


Hmm,
But why?
Gardeners in the area concerned have too much work?

Which area? I didn't see one mentioned. (But I could have missed it.)

london and mostly around the N6 & n2 area (highgate, hampstead garden
suburb)


Those with viable and well-appreciated businesses are not going to
abandon them for a pig in a poke.

I don't quite get what your saying there. If your referring to my customers
then that's exactly what they want to avoid. If they are gardeners who can
absorb some more work, or need to re-fresh their client list, then most of
my customers are very much worth considering. Very much (-:



You are demanding the sort of reassurances that anyone could apply
without uprooting and transplanting.

They seem quite normal to me too.


questions questions questions

Answer, answers, answers.

Look locally (wherever that is) and solicit recommendations rather than
applications.

Ah! Yes, been doing that. No luck either. There are those who I would regard
as trust worthy, which is the only real priority, but their not interested.
Mostly because they have too much work and are already getting between 25
and 40 % more. Albeit that their buisness in terms of horticultural know how
and investment in equipment could be compared with a wing on a prayer with a
mower and a blower attached.
nevertheless, I'm dissappointed they're not interested. My customers would
be lucky to have them even if it did cost a bit more and there isn't quite
the same back up of tools to meet all manner of jobs.
I'm not looking forward to telling a few elderly customers about my
departure. It would make things so much easier if I could say, I'm leaving,
but here's tom,/john/ mary, you wont know the difference.
Popping in here is a bit like clutching at straws, but that's where I'm at
with this.
Thanks all the same for your thoughts.

patrick