I am starting my own gardening business in East Anglia region and i was wondering what hourly rate to charge?

"Rotax100uk" wrote in message
s.com...
I am starting my own gardening business in East Anglia region and i was
wondering what hourly rate to charge?
--
Rotax100uk
Rotax100uk
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posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk

It will really depend what area you are in. Darn sarf in beds and south
Cambs, you can charge more. In north Cambs much less. I pay £7 an hour to
some smashing lads who seem to be able to do almost anything I ask them from
building aviaries, lopping trees, and garden maintenance. Thta's the price
they quoted me. However I know that in South Cambs, near Cambridge itself
people charge more than double. It might be worth being a little sneaky and
phoning people who advertise in your local paper and ask what they charge.
It will also depend on your level of expertise.

On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 22:58:17 GMT, Rotax100uk
wrote:

I am starting my own gardening business in East Anglia region and i was
wondering what hourly rate to charge?

What are you worth?
Been there, done that, started on my own at a very tender age with
little experience, little capital, doing work that hardly pays a
living wage let alone generate profit to enable expansion into more
lucrative work. You've chosen a hard row to hoe and I wish you luck.
Do try to take some time out to see some good gardens and to study.
Your local Land Based College and RHS General would be a good place to
start.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

Rod wrote:
On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 22:58:17 GMT, Rotax100uk
wrote:


I am starting my own gardening business in East Anglia region and i was
wondering what hourly rate to charge?


What are you worth?
Been there, done that, started on my own at a very tender age with
little experience, little capital, doing work that hardly pays a
living wage let alone generate profit to enable expansion into more
lucrative work. You've chosen a hard row to hoe and I wish you luck.
Do try to take some time out to see some good gardens and to study.
Your local Land Based College and RHS General would be a good place to
start.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html
If you are not able to work out your costs, a decent profit and then fix
a price I think you may be better working as a wage slave.

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 19:25:43 +0100, Broadback
wrote:


If you are not able to work out your costs, a decent profit and then fix
a price I think you may be better working as a wage slave.

It's not a particularly rosy outlook, if you do those sums as I did
many years ago you find you need far more than most potential
customers are willing or able to pay. Most folks who need to employ
garden help either employ their own staff or make do with anybody they
can get on the cheap. There's probably a few exceptions in some more
affluent areas of the country. I'm afraid there is still a prevailing
feeling that 'anybody can do a bit of gardening'. They don't seem to
learn even when they've paid peanuts, got the monkey and seen the
disastrous consequences in their own garden. Having said that for
those who are prepared to pay properly, you still have to make sure
it's a gardener you're employing and not a cowboy - see the work, get
references etc.
For the OP, please be honest about your lack of experience, you will
find some customers willing to help/allow you learn on the job, some
of them may even be able to teach you a thing or two but don't expect
to earn top whack until you're worth it. For really good practical
experience you need to work with skilled people so try and get some
part time work with established businesses to help pay the bills. Some
experience in a commercial horticultural enterprise like a nursery is
also a big help - in that environment you get a lot of plant material
through your hands, you learn to *see* plants when you look at them
and learn to see what they need. You also learn to work efficiently
under commercial pressure with skilled people who already know how to
do it - you measure yourself against them.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 19:25:43 +0100, Broadback
wrote:


If you are not able to work out your costs, a decent profit and then fix
a price I think you may be better working as a wage slave.

It's not a particularly rosy outlook, if you do those sums as I did
many years ago you find you need far more than most potential
customers are willing or able to pay. Most folks who need to employ
garden help either employ their own staff or make do with anybody they
can get on the cheap. There's probably a few exceptions in some more
affluent areas of the country. I'm afraid there is still a prevailing
feeling that 'anybody can do a bit of gardening'. They don't seem to
learn even when they've paid peanuts, got the monkey and seen the
disastrous consequences in their own garden. Having said that for
those who are prepared to pay properly, you still have to make sure
it's a gardener you're employing and not a cowboy - see the work, get
references etc.
For the OP, please be honest about your lack of experience, you will
find some customers willing to help/allow you learn on the job, some
of them may even be able to teach you a thing or two but don't expect
to earn top whack until you're worth it. For really good practical
experience you need to work with skilled people so try and get some
part time work with established businesses to help pay the bills. Some
experience in a commercial horticultural enterprise like a nursery is
also a big help - in that environment you get a lot of plant material
through your hands, you learn to *see* plants when you look at them
and learn to see what they need. You also learn to work efficiently
under commercial pressure with skilled people who already know how to
do it - you measure yourself against them.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html