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Becoming Self-Employed Gardener
Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I
really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey |
"Tracey" wrote in message ... Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey In my experience as a consumer of such services in Ireland: he can charge just about anything he pleases ;-) Seriously, you could always ring up a number of local contractors and ask them to quote you for a variety of jobs in your own garden. And/or rope in a few friends and relatives to do the same. That should give you a ball park. Just a thought. Good luck! -- Cat(h) The world swirls... |
"Tracey" wrote in message
... Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey Hi Tracey Starting up on your own is a huge minefield in that there are many problems which until you atart, are not seen. It's rather interesting in that in a book I wrote quite some time ago called 'The New Business Minefield' I actually used a gardener who worked for the local council in the Parks department, as an example on how to start. Still on the computer somewhere and I have been meaning to get it published. 1) Can he start on his own in the evenings, (bit difficult now that the evenings are getting shorter) and weekends and built up a customer base slowly? 2) Contact the local Chamber of Commerce and see if they have any advice or leaflets on starting a business. 3) Get in touch with your local Technical Colledge and see if they do courses. I used to lecture on a Business Startup Programme. 4) Make a few enquiries as to what the going rate is and the best way of this is to ask. If you see a Gardener working on someone's garden and you are able to talk to them, ask them what they charge per hour for general grass cutting and tending to borders "As you are thinking of getting someone in to do yours, do you have a card please?" 5) Many areas have Small Business Clubs, join one. These are cluibs where business people meet and discuss local topics, and one which I was on the committee, we would discuss the bad payers!! 6)Advertising. Henry Ford once said "Hald of my advertising budget is wasted, the trouble is, I don't know which half" so monitor your advertising. Do very small adverts to start with, use the same format, and make the advert regular and if you can state your experience in years, then do so. (Don't forget to add anohter year to the advert as they roll by) 7) Don't get a special bank account. Use an ordinary account, possibly with a Building Society. Keep ALL of your receipts, even when you go into a cafe for a cuppa half way through the morning, you 'might' be able to book that agains expenses, even if it is only 5 minutes from home. 8) Don't go and buy a new van a load of new equipment and have big flashy signs made. Don't bother with headed paper and business cards, you can do them yourself on the computer. 9) Talk to an Accountant with regards to Insurance, not an Insurance Agent, he will be biassed towards his pocket. 10) Holidays. Who pays for your holidays now? Who will pay for them when self employed? Too much work? Get friendly with a fellow gardener and see if you can come to an agreement to offload, but be careful, if he is better than you, you may lose a customer :-(( 11) Who will service your customers if you fall ill? 12) STAY ON YOUR OWN, do NOT even contemplate a partnership. Stay small where YOU are in control Some to be going on with? Plenty more where that came from, gained from my own experience as a Sole Trader, a Partner, and as MD of a Limited Company, and from friends and collegues who either are or have been in business. Finally, working for yourself is great.......... when it is working! When things go wrong you ask yourself, 'Why the hell did I do this?'!! Mike -- British Pacific Fleet Reunion Birmingham September 17th - 20th H.M.S.Collingwood Assoc. Mini Reunion Weekend at Coventry Sept 24th - 27th Nat. Service (RAF) Assoc. AGM & Reunion Hayling Island 8th - 11th October www.nsrafa.com |
"Cat" wrote in message ... "Tracey" wrote in message ... Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey In my experience as a consumer of such services in Ireland: he can charge just about anything he pleases ;-) Seriously, you could always ring up a number of local contractors and ask them to quote you for a variety of jobs in your own garden. And/or rope in a few friends and relatives to do the same. That should give you a ball park. Just a thought. Good luck! -- Cat(h) The world swirls... Thanks Cath! I know my auntie's gardener (she's in Scarborough, N.Yorkshire) charges £25 just for mowing her grass, and she doesn't have a particularly big lawn, seems way over-priced to me. Will probably go with ringing a few gardeners up round here and pretend I'm a prospective customer! Tracey |
"Mike" wrote in message ... "Tracey" wrote in message ... Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey Hi Tracey Starting up on your own is a huge minefield in that there are many problems which until you atart, are not seen. It's rather interesting in that in a book I wrote quite some time ago called 'The New Business Minefield' I actually used a gardener who worked for the local council in the Parks department, as an example on how to start. Still on the computer somewhere and I have been meaning to get it published. 1) Can he start on his own in the evenings, (bit difficult now that the evenings are getting shorter) and weekends and built up a customer base slowly? 2) Contact the local Chamber of Commerce and see if they have any advice or leaflets on starting a business. 3) Get in touch with your local Technical Colledge and see if they do courses. I used to lecture on a Business Startup Programme. 4) Make a few enquiries as to what the going rate is and the best way of this is to ask. If you see a Gardener working on someone's garden and you are able to talk to them, ask them what they charge per hour for general grass cutting and tending to borders "As you are thinking of getting someone in to do yours, do you have a card please?" 5) Many areas have Small Business Clubs, join one. These are cluibs where business people meet and discuss local topics, and one which I was on the committee, we would discuss the bad payers!! 6)Advertising. Henry Ford once said "Hald of my advertising budget is wasted, the trouble is, I don't know which half" so monitor your advertising. Do very small adverts to start with, use the same format, and make the advert regular and if you can state your experience in years, then do so. (Don't forget to add anohter year to the advert as they roll by) 7) Don't get a special bank account. Use an ordinary account, possibly with a Building Society. Keep ALL of your receipts, even when you go into a cafe for a cuppa half way through the morning, you 'might' be able to book that agains expenses, even if it is only 5 minutes from home. 8) Don't go and buy a new van a load of new equipment and have big flashy signs made. Don't bother with headed paper and business cards, you can do them yourself on the computer. 9) Talk to an Accountant with regards to Insurance, not an Insurance Agent, he will be biassed towards his pocket. 10) Holidays. Who pays for your holidays now? Who will pay for them when self employed? Too much work? Get friendly with a fellow gardener and see if you can come to an agreement to offload, but be careful, if he is better than you, you may lose a customer :-(( 11) Who will service your customers if you fall ill? 12) STAY ON YOUR OWN, do NOT even contemplate a partnership. Stay small where YOU are in control Some to be going on with? Plenty more where that came from, gained from my own experience as a Sole Trader, a Partner, and as MD of a Limited Company, and from friends and collegues who either are or have been in business. Finally, working for yourself is great.......... when it is working! When things go wrong you ask yourself, 'Why the hell did I do this?'!! Mike -- British Pacific Fleet Reunion Birmingham September 17th - 20th H.M.S.Collingwood Assoc. Mini Reunion Weekend at Coventry Sept 24th - 27th Nat. Service (RAF) Assoc. AGM & Reunion Hayling Island 8th - 11th October www.nsrafa.com Thank you, Mike, for your thorough and excellent advice, I'll take a print out of it and show my fiance when he gets in from work. He already has six people lined up who would want regular work doing, so it's a start. Originally he thought it would be best if he took a part-time job doing whatever and slowly build up the gardening, eventually making this a full time thing, but he is having more and more requests as the weeks go by when he tells people he's thinking of going it alone, so we really think he can make a go of it straight away. I have designed him some business cards on the computer and will do some leaflets for him too, so we are keeping costs to a minimum. He is going to use the Chamber of Commerce and a local business club. My fiance has worked hard all his life (twenty years or so out there in the workforce) and is sick and tired of working his butt off with little appreciation from the fat cat boss and for little pay. The job he's doing at the moment has him tending to around 260 gardens - he is paid little over the minimum wage and my fiance and his work-mate did the maths and worked out they are getting paid around £1.20 per garden! I truly believe he can make this work, we realise there is a risk involved when setting up on your own, but I think sometimes in life it's worth taking a risk! He's a damned hard worker, is organised, thorough and never has days off sick, so I'm sure if anyone can make it work he can. Fingers crossed anyway!!! Thanks again for your advice, it's much appreciated! Tracey |
Thank you, Mike, for your thorough and excellent advice, I'll take a print out of it and show my fiance when he gets in from work. If there is something which comes to mind and is not covered by the examples and advice I shoved out, come back to me and I will see what I can do. He already has six people lined up who would want regular work doing, so it's a start. Originally he thought it would be best if he took a part-time job doing whatever and slowly build up the gardening, eventually making this a full time thing, but he is having more and more requests as the weeks go by when he tells people he's thinking of going it alone, so we really think he can make a go of it straight away. He has made a very good start in talking to people and telling them what he wants to do. If he, and you ;-) carry on doing this, then advertising in the press, Yellow Pages (Very expensive and a waste of time for what he wants to do), local radio etc will not be needed. (Local Radio adverts are a waste of time too, but I can explain why later) I have designed him some business cards on the computer and will do some leaflets for him too, so we are keeping costs to a minimum. There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. (And here is another tip, when he has a customer, when he finishes for the day/job/whatever it is, ask them if they are happy with his work and if yes, hand them half a dozen leaflets for friends and neighbours. Better to have 2 customers alongside each other, than 1 here and the other over the other side of town. Isle of Wight in my case:-)) He is going to use the Chamber of Commerce and a local business club. Good. If he gets the chance and is invited to do so, tell him to join the committee of any business club or Chamber of Commerce. THAT alone generates work!! and gets him well known :-)) My fiance has worked hard all his life (twenty years or so out there in the workforce) and is sick and tired of working his butt off with little appreciation from the fat cat boss and for little pay. The job he's doing at the moment has him tending to around 260 gardens - he is paid little over the minimum wage and my fiance and his work-mate did the maths and worked out they are getting paid around £1.20 per garden! Something you and he must take into consideration, is travelling time. If he leaves home at 8.00, gets to his first job at 8.20. Does 3 hours work and then has another distance to travel between the next couple of jobs, then his working time @ £X /hour, when spread over the working, or 'out of home' hours, can be 1/3£X/hour, which if not careful, can be less than he is on now. Travelling time is a killer and MUST be taken into consideration. "£40.00 and you have only been here an hour???!!" I truly believe he can make this work, we realise there is a risk involved when setting up on your own, but I think sometimes in life it's worth taking a risk! He's a damned hard worker, is organised, thorough and never has days off sick, so I'm sure if anyone can make it work he can. Fingers crossed anyway!!! A chap I worked for said to me 'Mike, when a customer shouts 'JUMP', I jump, and on the way up I ask 'How High Sir?' Basically the Customer is King and is very important to you. The customer can be an absolute barstard, but you mustn't show it has got to you ;-)) Getting money in, and on time is an important factor. Easy when you know how ;-) I was lucky in that one of the Business Clubs I belonged to had a super system :-)) Thanks again for your advice, it's much appreciated! Been there and I know the thrill :-)) Good luck. (That comes into it a lot and I can help you be in the right place in the right time :-)) Tracey Keep us informed Mike |
and in parish magazines. This really is a valid point and very fruitful. The Parish magazine extends to the bounds of 'the parish', thereby cutting down on travelling time which is so important because it is 'dead money'. 'Dead Money' is another facet of being self employed and is another cost which has to be considered. When I opened my second factory, the 'Dead Money' to me, such as Rent, Rates, Gas Standing Charge, Electric Standing Charge, Telephone rental and Insurance, i.e. money which HAD to be paid no matter what, was £7.00 PER HOUR, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week including Sunday, Christmas Day etc etc. and that was before the lights were switched on and a member of staff walked through the door. (I had 2 factories and 24 staff, so they HAD to be efficient and monitored, but the staff were superb :-)))))))))) even so, THAT is why it is better to work out of the garage/garden shed/back of the car if possible. Soooooooooooooooo much to take into consideration, but as I said before, great when it works and I would do it all over again, but at nearly 70............................................. :-)) |
"Tracey" wrote in message ...
Hi All. I hope you don't mind me asking the following question, but I really don't know where else to ask. My fiance is planning on leaving his present employment (he's already a gardener) and setting up by himself, doing garden maintenance, renovations, clearance, hedge reductions etc. He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. We thought perhaps £8-£10 per hour (we are in Midlands region), would be a reasonable charge. Any thoughts or advice on how we could find further help in deciding on costs would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tracey ================================== It is VERY hard work to start with but ALWAYS worth it. I would suggest appraoching other gardening compaines and subcontracting out to them on an as and when basis, essentially a spare pare of hands. Some would say winter is bad for the business but actually there is always work to be done at any time of year. Get skills you may lack such as some building and joinery, enough to do good decking and stone patio work. This will allow you to offer a wider range of services - more one stop shop. Patio work is also VERY profitable, you can charge around £50 ish p/sqmtr for block paving which is about £12 p/sqmtr for materials including sub base. I "know a friend" who had 25s/mtr of lovely block paving done by a man starting out for £900, he worked his boll#@Ks off and got it done in two days. It was cash in hand and 30% cheaper than anyone else. Cash in hand work is not recommended, it is uprofessional and illegal...(WINK WINK know what I mean). Get trade accounts from B&Q, and commercial nurseries, avoid paying retail. Build a photographic portfolio of before and after shots. Tweak a few friends gardens to get stated, nothing major just enough to create some initla images. Go to Business Link or similar, after all its a business, learn the ins-and- outs of business managment such as payroll, profit and loss, business plans etc. NEVER work at a loss unless you will gain MASSIVLEY in other ways. Make a big A board to advertise your business and ensure it can be seen by the nieghbours when your onsite, this method is industry standard for paving and other diy companies. Dont bother with a website. You will be highly localised at first. Never carry stock, buy only when you need it. |
On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 12:32:57 +0100, Tracey wrote:
He has done quite a bit of research, but doesn't know how much to charge - he doesn't want to go round under-cutting other established gardeners, but then doesn't want to charge too much. So ring around a few of the local gardeners and ask what they would charge on the pretence of wanting their services. You can also approach from the other side, ask friends and neighbours what they would think reasonable or be prepared to pay. My father has someone to come and mow the grass, pays him a tenner, mower and fuel supplied. Probably takes less than an hour. -- Cheers Dave. pam is missing e-mail |
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"Tracey" wrote in news:2pjfmsFloj71U1@uni-
berlin.de: He is going to use the Chamber of Commerce and a local business club. Chambers of commerce vary, but I've found them fairly universally useless, and membership can be surprisingly expensive. For that kind of business, I'd be inclined to spend the money on Yellow Pages instead. It's probably not worth paying for a professional website, but I think it is worth spending an evening assembling a simple one and hosting it free with your ISP, if you have the skills to do that. If you don't, try http://www.blogger.com/start,where you can build a free site by basically filling in some forms. Either way, remember to state clearly what the business does (gardening, garden maintenance, lawn mowing...) , where it is based, and try to mention the names of local towns and villages too, so search engines can find you. It won't make your fortune, but you should get the odd enquiry that way, and people who have mislaid the card or leaflet will still be able to get hold of him. Victoria -- Clare Associates Ltd http://www.clareassoc.co.uk/ -- |
"Mike" wrote in message
Hi Tracey Starting up on your own is a huge minefield snip loads of useful advice Some other tips: 1. Public liability insurance, as well as personal insurance, is a good investment. Also insurance against loss of earnings for (say) up to 20 days sickness a year. Backstrain, sprained ankles, cut fingers, things in the eye do happen. 2. Check on the local weather statistics. There may only be (say) 160 days a year he can work, so he needs to budget to make a years income in 160 days. 3. Have some fall-back jobs for the winter, or rainy days, even if it's only washing and disinfecting wheelybins, drain rodding, gutter clearance and repairs, something like that. 4. Always, no matter how difficult, present a smart appearance. Polish the shoes/boots, wear the same colour overalls every day, and make sure they are clean and pressed. When I drove a mobile shop we had to go into people's homes so I wore smooth soled shoes, not cleated boots. But steel toecaps are a must, and they must look clean. 5. Be careful of the cost of advertising. The best investment is probably signwriting on the van, the worst may well be local newspapers. Not sure leaflet drops achieve a lot. Word of mouth is the finest sales technique, so never do half a job. 6. Exposure. He's in the trade so he should know about sunblock, hats, long sleeves, etc. But it's fearfully important in the long run. |
Cash in hand work is not recommended, it is uprofessional and illegal...(WINK WINK know what I mean). I very strongly go along with this. Be quite open with people, "Everything I do goes through the books". Cannot remember who it was, but they quoted for a job and the wife of the household was dealing with him, telling him what was wanted etc. and when it came to the price, she winced and asked if there was any way he could reduce it. It was a big job and I feel it was in the Window Replacement field and he didn't want to lose it. He had drawn a breath to say 'A cash job?' when she spoke first, "My husband is a VAT Inspector and might very well be able to recommend you". The above example would possibly not apply to a 'Servicing Gardener' because he would get to know the customers well, but there is always the first meeting with a new customer!!!! On another point, someone recommended Yellow Pages. Please bear in mind that the order form you fill in for Yellow Pages could be for publication of up to 2 years in advance depending when the order is made and the last issue delivered.. Just a few more points Mike |
advertising in the
press, Yellow Pages (Very expensive and a waste of time for what he wants to do) I thought yellow pages would be expensive too, but no! For a one line ad it is free and the same with white pages too. For any more space they charge an arm and a leg. The free ad is just Name-Address-Phonenumber so I mutated my business name into "Anna Kettle Parget and Lime" Anna ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642 |
I thought yellow pages would be expensive too, but no! For a one line ad it is free and the same with white pages too. For any more space they charge an arm and a leg. The free ad is just Name-Address-Phonenumber so I mutated my business name into "Anna Kettle Parget and Lime" :-(( Forgot about the free line, but that is only for Business Lines if I recall correctly. I would very strongly recommend that he uses the phone from home on the home line only to start with. Would BT give 'so' much extra for a Business Line? Mike |
"Anna Kettle" wrote in message ... advertising in the press, Yellow Pages (Very expensive and a waste of time for what he wants to do) I thought yellow pages would be expensive too, but no! For a one line ad it is free and the same with white pages too. For any more space they charge an arm and a leg. The free ad is just Name-Address-Phonenumber so I mutated my business name into "Anna Kettle Parget and Lime" Knowing what pargetting is when it's at home, I would assume this to be some sort of a legal firm :-) Thank you for adding a word to my vocabulary today! -- Cat(h) The world swirls... |
"Cat" wrote in message ... "Anna Kettle" wrote in message ... advertising in the press, Yellow Pages (Very expensive and a waste of time for what he wants to do) I thought yellow pages would be expensive too, but no! For a one line ad it is free and the same with white pages too. For any more space they charge an arm and a leg. The free ad is just Name-Address-Phonenumber so I mutated my business name into "Anna Kettle Parget and Lime" Knowing what pargetting is when it's at home, I would ^^^^^^^^^^ (snip) Of course, this should read "not knowing"... -- Cat(h) The world swirls... |
"Martin" wrote in message ... On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:19:16 +0100, "Tracey" wrote: snip My fiance has worked hard all his life (twenty years or so out there in the workforce) and is sick and tired of working his butt off with little appreciation from the fat cat boss and for little pay. The job he's doing at the moment has him tending to around 260 gardens - he is paid little over the minimum wage and my fiance and his work-mate did the maths and worked out they are getting paid around £1.20 per garden! Hardly fair on his employers and very difficult to work out, not anyone can be self employed. Just running a business is hard. If you worked for MS, would you complain that Bill Gates is earning millions? I know what you are saying, but it doesn't hurt anybody to show a little appreciation, some positive feedback from the boss, when a job has been well done, goes a long way. Just a simple, "Good job done today lads!" would be good enough. That's what's been galling my fiance the most with his last two bosses - they have shown no appreciation whatsoever. Many customers have been so pleased with my fiance's work they have phoned the office to say so, but even so, there was not a mention of it from the boss, he only found out as the secretary mentioned it. I've always had bosses who thank you when you've worked particularly hard and tell you how much your effort is appreciated - it's good to hear, makes the extra hard work worth while and gives encouragement for next time you have to pull out all the stops. I truly believe he can make this work, we realise there is a risk involved when setting up on your own, but I think sometimes in life it's worth taking a risk! He's a damned hard worker, is organised, thorough and never has days off sick, so I'm sure if anyone can make it work he can. Fingers crossed anyway!!! Thanks again for your advice, it's much appreciated! Tracey Few things to bear in mind. It will take a good few years to become established and earn a good annual income. Gardening is very seasonal and suffers greatly from too much in the summer and too little in the winter. The bread and butter is from maintenance work, week in and week out. Contact the local estate agents, they have lots of maintainable needs, also the local business premises with gardens/grass etc Sort the bread and butter out first and he WILL need to be very organized & up for a challenge. Good luck. Thanks! Tracey ********************************************** 'You can't win 'em all.' Lord Haw Haw. Since I stopped donating money to CONservation hooligan charities Like the RSPB, Woodland Trust and all the other fat cat charities I am in the top 0.217% richest people in the world. There are 5,986,950,449 people poorer than me If you're really interested I am the 13,049,551 richest person in the world. And I'm keeping the bloody lot. So sue me. http://www.globalrichlist.com/ Newsgroup ettiquette 1) Tell everyone the Trolls don't bother you. 2) Say you've killfiled them, yet continue to respond. 3) Tell other people off who repsond despite doing so yourself. 4) Continually talk about Trolls while maintaining they're having no effect. 5) Publicly post killfile rules so the Trolls know how to avoid them. 6) Make lame legal threats and other barrel scraping manoeuvres when your abuse reports are ignored. 7) Eat vast quantities of pies. 8) Forget to brush your teeth for several decades. 9) Help a demon.local poster with their email while secretly reading it. 10) Pretend you're a hard ******* when in fact you're as bent as a roundabout. 11) Become the laughing stock of Usenet like Mabbet 12) Die of old age 13) Keep paying Dr Chartham his fees and hope one day you will have a penis the girls can see. --------------------------------------- "If you would'nt talk to them in a bar, don't *uckin' vote for them" "Australia was not *discovered* it was invaded" The Big Yin. Need a fake diploma for fun? contact my collegues Malcolm Ogilvie or Michael Saunby who both bought one and got one free, only $15 each, have as many as you like www.fakediplomas.com |
"Mike" wrote in message ... If there is something which comes to mind and is not covered by the examples and advice I shoved out, come back to me and I will see what I can do. He has made a very good start in talking to people and telling them what he wants to do. If he, and you ;-) carry on doing this, then advertising in the press, Yellow Pages (Very expensive and a waste of time for what he wants to do), local radio etc will not be needed. (Local Radio adverts are a waste of time too, but I can explain why later) I have designed him some business cards on the computer and will do some leaflets for him too, so we are keeping costs to a minimum. There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. (And here is another tip, when he has a customer, when he finishes for the day/job/whatever it is, ask them if they are happy with his work and if yes, hand them half a dozen leaflets for friends and neighbours. Better to have 2 customers alongside each other, than 1 here and the other over the other side of town. Isle of Wight in my case:-)) He is going to use the Chamber of Commerce and a local business club. Good. If he gets the chance and is invited to do so, tell him to join the committee of any business club or Chamber of Commerce. THAT alone generates work!! and gets him well known :-)) My fiance has worked hard all his life (twenty years or so out there in the workforce) and is sick and tired of working his butt off with little appreciation from the fat cat boss and for little pay. The job he's doing at the moment has him tending to around 260 gardens - he is paid little over the minimum wage and my fiance and his work-mate did the maths and worked out they are getting paid around £1.20 per garden! Something you and he must take into consideration, is travelling time. If he leaves home at 8.00, gets to his first job at 8.20. Does 3 hours work and then has another distance to travel between the next couple of jobs, then his working time @ £X /hour, when spread over the working, or 'out of home' hours, can be 1/3£X/hour, which if not careful, can be less than he is on now. Travelling time is a killer and MUST be taken into consideration. "£40.00 and you have only been here an hour???!!" I truly believe he can make this work, we realise there is a risk involved when setting up on your own, but I think sometimes in life it's worth taking a risk! He's a damned hard worker, is organised, thorough and never has days off sick, so I'm sure if anyone can make it work he can. Fingers crossed anyway!!! A chap I worked for said to me 'Mike, when a customer shouts 'JUMP', I jump, and on the way up I ask 'How High Sir?' Basically the Customer is King and is very important to you. The customer can be an absolute barstard, but you mustn't show it has got to you ;-)) Getting money in, and on time is an important factor. Easy when you know how ;-) I was lucky in that one of the Business Clubs I belonged to had a super system :-)) Thanks again for your advice, it's much appreciated! Been there and I know the thrill :-)) Good luck. (That comes into it a lot and I can help you be in the right place in the right time :-)) Tracey Keep us informed Mike Again, thank you, Mike! Tracey |
"Victoria Clare" wrote in message . 201.150... "Tracey" wrote in news:2pjfmsFloj71U1@uni- berlin.de: He is going to use the Chamber of Commerce and a local business club. Chambers of commerce vary, but I've found them fairly universally useless, and membership can be surprisingly expensive. For that kind of business, I'd be inclined to spend the money on Yellow Pages instead. It's probably not worth paying for a professional website, but I think it is worth spending an evening assembling a simple one and hosting it free with your ISP, if you have the skills to do that. If you don't, try http://www.blogger.com/start,where you can build a free site by basically filling in some forms. Either way, remember to state clearly what the business does (gardening, garden maintenance, lawn mowing...) , where it is based, and try to mention the names of local towns and villages too, so search engines can find you. It won't make your fortune, but you should get the odd enquiry that way, and people who have mislaid the card or leaflet will still be able to get hold of him. Victoria -- Clare Associates Ltd http://www.clareassoc.co.uk/ -- I thought about doing a website for him - I took a website design course last year and have built my own, so it wouldn't be a problem for me to do. Thanks for your input! Tracey |
Thank you everybody for all your advice, both my fiance and I very much
appreciate it. I'll let you know how things are going in a few months, after he has set up. Tracey |
I know what you are saying, but it doesn't hurt anybody to show a little appreciation, some positive feedback from the boss, when a job has been well done, goes a long way. Just a simple, "Good job done today lads!" would be good enough. That's what's been galling my fiance the most with his last two bosses - they have shown no appreciation whatsoever. Tracey, I had 2 factories with a staff of 23. My office was in one of them and whenever someone clocked out/went home, I thanked them. This started when I was in charge of a department in industry before setting up on my own. Under NO circumstances, could "I" as an indevidual turn out the work 'by myself'. I needed staff, I recognised the fact and thanked them. However, some people feel that it is below their dignity to say 'Thank you' to a subordinate. (and that starts another thing!!) However, 'IF' and 'WHEN' he does take on staff, (think twice in this day and age) I hope he will say thank you to them :-)) Mike |
"Mike" wrote in message ... I know what you are saying, but it doesn't hurt anybody to show a little appreciation, some positive feedback from the boss, when a job has been well done, goes a long way. Just a simple, "Good job done today lads!" would be good enough. That's what's been galling my fiance the most with his last two bosses - they have shown no appreciation whatsoever. Tracey, I had 2 factories with a staff of 23. My office was in one of them and whenever someone clocked out/went home, I thanked them. This started when I was in charge of a department in industry before setting up on my own. Under NO circumstances, could "I" as an indevidual turn out the work 'by myself'. I needed staff, I recognised the fact and thanked them. However, some people feel that it is below their dignity to say 'Thank you' to a subordinate. (and that starts another thing!!) However, 'IF' and 'WHEN' he does take on staff, (think twice in this day and age) I hope he will say thank you to them :-)) Sir John Harvey-Jones used to say that saying 'thank you' was in his experience probably the single most effective means of motivating staff - provided their performance actually merited praise, of course. |
Sir John Harvey-Jones used to say that saying 'thank you' was in his experience probably the single most effective means of motivating staff - provided their performance actually merited praise, of course. Tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo true. (To both elements of the above posting) |
"Tracey" wrote in news:2pm8f8FmmkevU1@uni-
berlin.de: There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. Only from a laser printer. Inkjet printed business cards/ leaflets quickly fade, run when wet, and generally become indecipherable. Yesterday I decided to get a carpet shampooed and got down a relevant small business flier from my noticeboard, to find I could no longer read the phone number. And it was only a few months old: sun on the noticeboard had done for it. I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Victoria |
"Cat" wrote
Name-Address-Phonenumber so I mutated my business name into "Anna Kettle Parget and Lime" Knowing what pargetting is when it's at home, I would ^^^^^^^^^^ (snip) Of course, this should read "not knowing"... Bet you do now... http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk...hall02big.html |
:-(( Forgot about the free line, but that is only for Business Lines if I
recall correctly. I would very strongly recommend that he uses the phone from home on the home line only to start with. Would BT give 'so' much extra for a Business Line? Mine is a home line and they accepted that Anna ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642 |
Knowing what pargetting is when it's at home, I would
^^^^^^^^^^ (snip) Of course, this should read "not knowing"... Glad to be able to edificate you ;-) and your explanation too cos I had visions of an obscure legal property term wot I'd not come across. Anna ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642 |
"Victoria Clare" wrote in message .218... "Tracey" wrote in news:2pm8f8FmmkevU1@uni- berlin.de: There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. Only from a laser printer. Inkjet printed business cards/ leaflets quickly fade, run when wet, and generally become indecipherable. Yesterday I decided to get a carpet shampooed and got down a relevant small business flier from my noticeboard, to find I could no longer read the phone number. And it was only a few months old: sun on the noticeboard had done for it. I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. |
Mine is a home line and they accepted that Anna ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642 Wonderful :-)) Bit more useful information I can file away, thanks for the info. Mike |
"BAC" wrote in
: I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. Indeed - but that makes them more expensive than getting them printed properly in the first place. Victoria |
Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. and if anyone is interested, I noticed an A4 Laminator at Morrisons/Safeways yesterday for £19.99 and for the pouches etc, I would recommend Viking Direct. Mail order delivered to your door next day for orders placed before 8.00pm! carriage free for orders over £30.00 Mike |
"Mike" wrote in message ... I know what you are saying, but it doesn't hurt anybody to show a little appreciation, some positive feedback from the boss, when a job has been well done, goes a long way. Just a simple, "Good job done today lads!" would be good enough. That's what's been galling my fiance the most with his last two bosses - they have shown no appreciation whatsoever. Tracey, I had 2 factories with a staff of 23. My office was in one of them and whenever someone clocked out/went home, I thanked them. This started when I was in charge of a department in industry before setting up on my own. Under NO circumstances, could "I" as an indevidual turn out the work 'by myself'. I needed staff, I recognised the fact and thanked them. However, some people feel that it is below their dignity to say 'Thank you' to a subordinate. (and that starts another thing!!) You sound like a smashing boss to have worked for, if only there were more like you around! Sir John Harvey-Jones certainly had the right idea too! However, 'IF' and 'WHEN' he does take on staff, (think twice in this day and age) I hope he will say thank you to them :-)) Mike He sure will, and knowing my fella, he'll buy them a regular pint or three (after work's done for the day of course!) too :o) Tracey |
"BAC" wrote in message ... "Victoria Clare" wrote in message .218... "Tracey" wrote in news:2pm8f8FmmkevU1@uni- berlin.de: There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. Only from a laser printer. Inkjet printed business cards/ leaflets quickly fade, run when wet, and generally become indecipherable. Yesterday I decided to get a carpet shampooed and got down a relevant small business flier from my noticeboard, to find I could no longer read the phone number. And it was only a few months old: sun on the noticeboard had done for it. I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. I've thought about buying a laminator as I've seen one quite cheap. I think it makes business cards look more professional, as well as protecting from damp and dirt. Tracey |
"Victoria Clare" wrote in message .218... "BAC" wrote in : I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. Indeed - but that makes them more expensive than getting them printed properly in the first place. Possibly, but if someone wants to knock out a few cards at home using existing kit, laminating ink-jet or laser printed cards will make them extremely durable. |
You sound like a smashing boss to have worked for, if only there were more like you around! Sir John Harvey-Jones certainly had the right idea too! I had worked for some pretty grim bosses. Mainly in the public sector and Civil Service. I always resolved that I would treat my staff as 'I' would wish to be treated, and it worked. I don't mince my words and in 99.99% of cases, people appreciate it. However, there is always the .01%, but you can always put them in their place :-)) Best wishes and good luck Mike |
"Tracey" wrote in message ... "BAC" wrote in message ... "Victoria Clare" wrote in message .218... "Tracey" wrote in news:2pm8f8FmmkevU1@uni- berlin.de: There is no need, in what he wants to do, to spend any money on printing as you have a computer. I do have Business Cards, BUT, that is because the company I arrange the reunions with 'is' a big business and where I am 'representing them' as opposed to it being my business, then the 'Corporate Image' follows through. For you, a computer leaflet will do. Only from a laser printer. Inkjet printed business cards/ leaflets quickly fade, run when wet, and generally become indecipherable. Yesterday I decided to get a carpet shampooed and got down a relevant small business flier from my noticeboard, to find I could no longer read the phone number. And it was only a few months old: sun on the noticeboard had done for it. I'm guessing a card belonging to a gardener might sometimes need a certain damp-resistance too: even sweaty fingers will smudge an inkjet print. Susceptibility to damp is relatively easily fixed by laminating the cards, which also makes them much more durable. I've thought about buying a laminator as I've seen one quite cheap. I think it makes business cards look more professional, as well as protecting from damp and dirt. If your fiancee and colleagues are going to be working in the grounds of commercial or public premises, the contracts may well require display of ID badges. Easily knocked up with a decent laminator. Also, small posters or cards put on notice boards or in windows last longer and look better if laminated. Written instructions for use of kit last longer if laminated, etc., etc. I'm pretty sure a decent laminator would prove useful in most 'offices'. I am not a laminator producer or salesman, by the way :-) |
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