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Advice On Gardening
"Rotax100uk" wrote in message s.com... I am now starting my own gardening business at the age of 20 and i would like to know if anyone here has any advice which you think i should need. I have my own van and gardening equipment, petrol machines, and hand tools etc but i lack in experience that a "gardener" would have, so i have been taking on work which is just to gain experience like grass cutting, hedge trimming and weeding. 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. My recent problem is that i am not charging enough to cover for petrol for my equipment, dumping rubbish and travelling to and from clients house. 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 when i have bought petrol, travelled to clients house and dumped rubbish which there is alot of. Please can somebody help or have any of you people on hear and been in the same situation and want to help me out? -- Rotax100uk Rotax100uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ten pound an Hour is a good rate to earn if you are just beginning Just try and control your costs. I never give my customers an hourly price I give them a "job and finish" price. for example if I look at an average garden and estimate it will take me about an 1.5 hours (based on 10 pounds an hour the price would be 15 pounds) Doing the garden regular and working out the best routine for that garden you will find that you will reduce the time spent at the garden but still get the same price even better if you had a helper the task should take half the time but yet again still earn the same price. At my peak myself and four fellow gardeners walked away from a garden in 6 minutes flat and the standards was still maintained. Talking of standards of work this is where your key is to more work. I would rather lose an hours pay than leave a job at a sub standard level. If you don't have a blower get one, they always impress the customers and you can blow any drive in minutes. beats a brush hands down. Clean up at the end of the job is always as important as the job. You can cut the best hedge in the world but if you leave a mess the job is wasted. Regarding waste tell your customers you charge extra for taking the grass clippings away you will be suprised how many of them find a little corner for you to put it in I could go on but my wife is trying to dress me for a wedding . Good luck with your venture learn as much as you can and keep your standards high. Best wishes Martin Heames www.thegardenspider.com ("thegardenspider.com" something I am playing with any advice or suggestions most welcome) posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk |
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