Going it alone

[NorfolkAYA]

So I've decided in the new year to go and work for my self. I'm tired of working for a company and all the politics that go with it. 

I'm an agri engineer at moment in manufacturing and looking at the same 4 walls is getting a bit mondane.

I'm going to set up as a garden maintenance company, I love being outdoors. I'm putting a few things in place at the moment to get going, courses etc as eventually want to go into small tree work.

Is anyone else in this line of work that can offer any advice? 

ATB 

Pete

[ditchman]

really good idea..........there are always a shortage of reliable garden maintenance..people...........some of the rates they charge around here are stupid ..and people pay them

there is one bloke in this area ..all he does is mow the grass and a bit of strimming...his base is mostly old and retired folk..he dosnt overcharge.....he seems to be able to afford a new crew cab every year..........

but the trick is he is ...RELIABLE

best of luck 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Good luck Pete, I am sure you can make it work.  

[strimmer_13]

Things to consider, and it's a massive one is waste disposal. Have you got a farm handy where you can tip or even better burn? The costs for disposing of green waste can be staggering and have to go on the job if waste is to be taken away. I know some drive to every local tip in a car with their 4 ft trailers loaded up and do the alloted amount in each one, waste of time in my eyes. Waste of a day and fuel. Find somewhere local. Same as chip (if you go down that route). People try and charge for it, **** that, offer it for free, it's a pain to store. Some farms like it if it's free from yew. 

And as ditchman says, be reliable. Word of mouth gets you more work for being such than any ad in a paper

Best of luck

 

 

[gdadphil]

TBH I have nothing to offer by way of direct experience was office based for 46 years.

but I follow Farmer P on YT.

 

He farms plus does arboriculture but also did his pest control tickets and is able to offer that to others in his trade ( particular wasps and hornets) as well as to customers.

more diversity more income!

cheers

[adzyvilla]

Good for you. I wish I had the motivation to do it. I grew up on a farm and went straight into grounds maintenance and tree work when I left college. I worked for the council and a few private companies, but after 10 years or so I got fed up with the poor money, so I took a much better paid manufacturing job. Now I've done that for 11 years I often think about going back to working outdoors. My advice would be to try and pick up some regular contracts, looking after the greenery on industrial estates and so on. Hope you make a go of it, and as you are in Norfolk too, maybe I'll try and put some business your way.

[Lsto]

Good for you. I can't offer any advice but I admire you. I've been a diesel fitter since I left school, I loved it, lived and breathed it. I used to rent a small yard and restored cars as a hobby after every shift. Eventually the kids came along and mortgages and bills and all the other things that came with life. The yard went and the mundanity of life set in. I work in the psv industry now preparing vehicles for mot. Always up against the clock and constantly changing regulations as well as rapidly changing industry. Exhaust emissions, hybrid vehicles, fully electric vehicles, mild hybrids, stop start and adblue technologies, ultra low emission regulations, DPF, EGR and SCR tech, generators, electric motors and all the electronic junk that manufactures insist on fitting to everything. Not to mention all the extra work covid and driver/passenger protection systems have brought. Then all the DDA and TFL compliance rubbish to deal with. I hate it. I long for the days of my own little yard again. I often dream of jacking it in, risking it all, setting up a little garage and restoring vehicles to the best of my ability rather than trying to scrape everything through a test because they are short of vehicles. Trouble is with a young family and a mortgage and being the only bread winner it is only a dream. I'd love to do what you are doing but the way the world is I can't afford to take a chance.

I wish you every success and I honestly hope you enjoy the challenges and opportunities that it brings. I hope to follow in your footsteps one day.

[oowee]

Good on you. I have a mate here working around the villages. Snowed under with work and none of it too difficult. Much of it made a lot easier with the right equipment. He is earning very good money and works through word of mouth.

[WalkedUp]

I did similar due to being specialised and my old long term company being sold. Didn’t want to start from scratch somewhere else, and to be honest I thought I may be too untrainable to transfer. I now work longer hours, for less pay and the clients are my boss. It is still fun and I enjoy each day no matter how challenging. 

My top tip would be to fade in a new job whilst fading out the old one. 

[loriusgarrulus]

It might be worth seeing if there is a bio diesel plant nearby. They often take compostable waste to process.

9 hours ago, NorfolkAYA said:

So I've decided in the new year to go and work for my self. I'm tired of working for a company and all the politics that go with it. 

I'm an agri engineer at moment in manufacturing and looking at the same 4 walls is getting a bit mondane.

I'm going to set up as a garden maintenance company, I love being outdoors. I'm putting a few things in place at the moment to get going, courses etc as eventually want to go into small tree work.

Is anyone else in this line of work that can offer any advice? 

ATB 

Pete

 

8 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

Things to consider, and it's a massive one is waste disposal. Have you got a farm handy where you can tip or even better burn? The costs for disposing of green waste can be staggering and have to go on the job if waste is to be taken away. I know some drive to every local tip in a car with their 4 ft trailers loaded up and do the alloted amount in each one, waste of time in my eyes. Waste of a day and fuel. Find somewhere local. Same as chip (if you go down that route). People try and charge for it, **** that, offer it for free, it's a pain to store. Some farms like it if it's free from yew. 

And as ditchman says, be reliable. Word of mouth gets you more work for being such than any ad in a paper

Best of luck

 

 

 

[archi]

It would make sense to try to build your client base up before jacking the job in if you can as will ease the financial strain.

chainsaw and spraying tickets would be a good start, a mate I know is always looking for good people on a saw, and someone else I know is always looking for grounds maintenance staff, may be interested in sub contract labour.

as said before green waste disposal can be costly so a friendly farmer or you will have to ring around for prices and factor it into your quotes if the customer wants disposal.

if you have space you could charge for disposal, compost it yourself and then sell it back to them as compost. I just had to get a tonne of topsoil delivered and it was £42 at mated rates so you can see how you could soon earn off it.

accumulate plant and tools as you go and keep every receipt you can think of. Including the courses you go on.

get a valuation if any plant and vehicles you currently own that you will introduce into the business.

if you need an accountant drop me a line as are pretty local to you.

[NorfolkAYA]

Thanks for all the help chaps. I am booked on a mole catcher course towards the end of the year, just another service to offer.

 

[WalkedUp]

1 minute ago, NorfolkAYA said:

Thanks for all the help chaps. I am booked on a mole catcher course towards the end of the year, just another service to offer.

 

Ditchy is your man for that pal. 

What he doesn’t know about mole catching ain’t worth knowing. 

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, WalkedUp said:

Ditchy is your man for that pal. 

What he doesn’t know about mole catching ain’t worth knowing. 

i heard that

[Jaymo]

2 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

Ditchy is your man for that pal. 

What he doesn’t know about mole catching ain’t worth knowing. 

They weren’t moles that he caught from ‘fat Sarah’ 😉

[mel b3]

5 hours ago, Jaymo said:

They weren’t moles that he caught from ‘fat Sarah’ 😉

Don't mention the chunky monkey , or he'll be on the naughty step again 😅.

[loriusgarrulus]

On 25/09/2021 at 05:14, mel b3 said:

Don't mention the chunky monkey , or he'll be on the naughty step again 😅.

He's been on the step so often he has a cushion with his name on it.

[derbyduck]

On 24/09/2021 at 11:05, NorfolkAYA said:

So I've decided in the new year to go and work for my self. I'm tired of working for a company and all the politics that go with it. 

I'm an agri engineer at moment in manufacturing and looking at the same 4 walls is getting a bit mondane.

I'm going to set up as a garden maintenance company, I love being outdoors. I'm putting a few things in place at the moment to get going, courses etc as eventually want to go into small tree work.

Is anyone else in this line of work that can offer any advice? 

ATB 

Pete

 Pete re the small tree work and green waste , if get hold of a chipper you could offer it to allotments in your area ,we have two guys that drop it off on the one I'm on and there's always a rush with the barrows to get it for paths and mulching, all the best in your new venture .

[Prospero]

One comment and please don't take this the way, I am self employed and service both commercial and domestic markets. If you want to win commercial contracts (and in my trade they are the foundation of success) then you will need to make sure your paperwork is perfect. So spelling and punctuation needs looking at?

[ditchman]

NARFICK GARRDAN SERVACES

We does allsorts of rum stuff bor.....we have tellicumications and can get thar sharp...

Testimoanial:

"well ole partner...ole Nige gort hare suffat quick..as oi said me ole bush need a trimmin' out boi, summut chonic..he gort his ole tool out and blast he waived that abart....blast oi larfed...and said keep yew orn a troshin bu....he even left it fertilized an all."

Edited September 30, 2021 by ditchman

[Jaymo]

On 26/09/2021 at 06:37, loriusgarrulus said:

He's been on the step so often he has a cushion with his name on it.

He needs the cushion due to his posterior complaints 

[B&W FOX]

Find the nearest cattle farm and see if you can dump the garden waste on the dung heap for free, but try and leave as much on site as possible. 

Make sure you have insurance. I wiped out two sealed units with flying stones and took a back door off its hinges when the top 8 foot of a tree fell on the skewe. 

Keep all your kit locked away or some scrote will steal it.

Approach all letting and estate agents for work, they were my bread and butter.

Customers who live in big fancy houses are normally the slowest payers.

Get good waterproof trousers and jacket, the stuff dairy farmers use, nice and light and not boil in a bag.

Do Not undersell yourself. You need to make sure your invoicing a minimum of £150 per day to stay afloat  ( or vote labour and they will give you £15/hr minimum wage)

[ditchman]

there is a bloke in the village who rekons he is a professional garden man...(which is ribbish) he has a few petrol tools and is really slow and lazy....he is always got work at £17.50/hour...........people are desperate for garden services

[loriusgarrulus]

3 hours ago, Jaymo said:

He needs the cushion due to his posterior complaints 

The main complaints are about his posterior emissions. They failed the MOT years ago. 🤷‍♀️

[Walker570]

On 24/09/2021 at 11:44, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Good luck Pete, I am sure you can make it work.  

Yep I second that and as Ditchie says reliability is the key. I am fortunate here that I have a chap who turns out for me almost at the drop of a hat although it is normally organised around the weather, he can prune roses with the best and also laybricks as good as a pro.  Worth his weight in gold and recently declined a raise.