So poor I can't even pay attention

Piquant_2

Mara_uk7 wrote: »

Oh I like the idea of Piqs Angels ....... can I be the tall gorgeous blonde one ? With Secateurs instead of guns ......... :A

Yes you can!

dorothy52 wrote: »

Oh OK Mara - I'll be the brunette with the sparkly eyes - just nip off and add some extensions and fetch me curling tongs:rotfl:

:rotfl:So you'll be the one shedding extensions wherever we go?

Caroline_a wrote: »

Does that make me the fat mousey one with the Weapon of Sarcasm? Where nasty people to our Piq drop to the floor with horror?

:rotfl:No it doesn't. You can be the angel of justice wielding your weapon of sarcasm.

What say you, Piq-adores? (not a bad pun for a Friday after a 9 hour work day....)

I like the idea of Piq-adores. I shall be the dirty one.....

Piquant_2

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

Im blummin Bosley!

I'm not sure what a Bosley is, but if you want to be one, you can!

walkers60 wrote: »

Hey I love the ideas all being suggested - and Suzeesu on the terrace with the coffee there could be Piq homemade cakes and nettle tea. Delicious homemade Piq soups could also be on offer. Sorted!

So I'm gardening, working at Pr£t and making cakes and soup :rotfl:Full time work then? :rotfl:

Piquant_2

It hasn't stopped raining all day. Colin is sulking, definitely taking it personally. He's pulled the laptop cable out twice already and sent two ping-pong balls to the back of the sofa, never to be seen again. I don't pull the sofa out very often - read never.

Today I have bought primer for the pots I am painting and I bought a sheet of oiled stencil paper to make the stencils properly. No point in having them disintegrate all the time. Also picked up a couple of £1 terracotta pots to paint/experiment on. Unfortunately a packet of black pansy seeds fell into my basket Total cost of £14.38. Money removed from the sealed pot, who needs Christmas?

The house stinks of paint, already two coats of primer on, tomorrow a top coat or two, then Sunday I'll do the script.

I need to get some ideas/planning done but it's not going well. I thought I'd add garden sitting as a summer offering. People will want their gardens looked after while they're on holiday.

triple_choc_chip

Hi Piq et al;
Another lurker here (sounds pervy!)

A couple of thoughts:

15 years ago I was paying £50 a day for a gardener, even with this recession it must be about £100 now. Have a look in all those places Dorothy suggested as research to see what others are charging.

You could set your price and then offer a discount to those with their own tools / mower etc - and make them your first customers!

Good luck

Caroline_a

Piquant wrote: »

It hasn't stopped raining all day. Colin is sulking, definitely taking it personally. He's pulled the laptop cable out twice already and sent two ping-pong balls to the back of the sofa, never to be seen again. I don't pull the sofa out very often - read never.

Today I have bought primer for the pots I am painting and I bought a sheet of oiled stencil paper to make the stencils properly. No point in having them disintegrate all the time. Also picked up a couple of £1 terracotta pots to paint/experiment on. Unfortunately a packet of black pansy seeds fell into my basket Total cost of £14.38. Money removed from the sealed pot, who needs Christmas?

The house stinks of paint, already two coats of primer on, tomorrow a top coat or two, then Sunday I'll do the script.

I need to get some ideas/planning done but it's not going well. I thought I'd add garden sitting as a summer offering. People will want their gardens looked after while they're on holiday.

That's a nice idea, however the cynic/suspicious part of me says that if you are going to do that make sure you factor in some sort of indemnity insurance. If you are garden sitting it might be easy to blame the 'gardener who left the back gate open whilst we were away' when someone has made off with the family silver. ( I nearly put jewels, then realised that meant something totally different!! :rotfl:)

Ok, grants and stuff. You might be eligible for the Enterprise Allowance, but if memory serves me correctly, you will need to have access to £1000 to start up. So possibly not an option at this moment, unless you use your Band of Angels. I was deadly serious about the Angel thing too - it's a bit like Dragon's Den only without the same level of wealth! People who invest in you would do so on a business basis, and you would pay us back when the business is viable, and only then. And maybe in payment for us doing it you could make us the odd hanging basket (by the way, they are a great money-spinner for local businesses - have a wander around and see who has a hanging basket hook outside their shop!)

Oh - and if you need references for this particular Angel/Dragon I used to manage a small garden nursery....

Skint_but_Optimistic

This is an epic thread. Go for it Piq!

the_cake

Brilliant lot of ideas and energy, love it! I worked as a professional gardener for all of 6 weeks, took over from a friend when she hurt her hand. I have no qualifications either, but have (on and off) been a fairly obsessive gardener for a long time, so plenty of experience.
My thoughts would be: you will need some sort of public indemnity insurance (I think that's the one - may be wrong!). Most of your customers will already have all the tools you need, including lawnmowers - the older ones just don't have the energy/strength to use them any more. I used to just bring my own secateurs, as I love them. You need to look after your hands (lots of cream - dunno about you but I really can't work in gloves when weeding, etc.) and your back. Take before and after shots of your work. Get the word out, and one good job will quickly lead to more. Go for it!

missrlr

Piq anything I have of assistance is yours , and when I get money it's yours as seed capital (yep tis a proper term in fiscal circles that one not a bad pun even though it could be here) if you get a really bad garden I will labour for you.

dorothy52

Woo hoo - look at all these brill ideas and lurkers de lurking - way to go - Girl Power!! I have just tried yogalates - done 30 mins and think I will possibly never walk again - and I am quite fit. Come on here for a rest! Right, this is what I thunk. Actually a thunk a lot of things but you will all know by now that I get a bit carried away and frighten our poor Piq half to death with my half cocked plans for her, so I will only divulge a few of my ideas. Firstly - confidence and the lack of formal qualifications. Who needs to know the latin name of a pansy or primrose? I am quite sure that you can grow and nurture them without knowing the optimum ph level of the soil. Confidence will come with experience. TBH, Piq, I don't know how good a gardener you are, but I sure as hell know that you are very, very creative. You write exceptionally well and paint pictures with your words. You make my mouth water when describing what you have had for your tea, and my heart sing when you talk of peaks of blue delphiniums and clusters of smiling pansies. Any one cat mow a lawn and pull up weeds, but for me your USP (unique selling point) is the fact that you can design a garden. Think about that for a minute. This is what people will pay real money for. Imagine coming to my house; you will be smiley, personable, engage me in conversation, ask me what I would like to see when I open my front door, then proceed to point to various parts of the garden and suggest what you would put there which will flower when, and explain that the garden will look wonderful all year round. You are mature, which is SO reassuring for customers, you will have public liability insurance which is ridiculously cheap unless you have to claim on it then the premiums rise. This is what I would pay for. Someone to give me the garden of my dreams without me having to think about it. I have worked with several interior designers, and they will often present me with some fabric and a picture of something they want me to replicate, which after a bit of head scratching I do, then they proceed to place it in a room set with some well chosen and well placed props and pieces of furniture and it looks amazing. I am merely a labourer, they have the real talent which is why they make such good money.

I must go and do some more yogalates before I seize up completely but before I do I just want to say that I LOVE YOU ALL:T

Mara_uk7

Darn it, I love this place, Almost feel as if I know you all personally now !! Is that weird ?