Going self employed - advice needed please - Gardening

windym29

In 2009 I was made redundant and set up my own gardening business.
The local Chamber of Commerce were very good, I went to several free seminars about going self employed.
I posted flyers on my local estate and advertised in my local church mag, I am very proud to say, I haven't looked back! The only black spots being x2 major thefts....there is always somebody watching!
Be honest, be polite, and work your socks off, customers will always talk about you, you need to ensure they talk about you in a positive way.
RE: prices..it is subjective, you can pay £10/hr for someone but if he does very little or does it poorly then he is expensive, work out your base costs, what you need to live and divide by the No of hrs you expect to work. I work 12 months, weather permitting. I do everything by the book, consequently I am more expensive than several of my competitors, I cannot compete with people who are topping up pensions or who do not pay tax or who have a 2nd income from benefits ......grrrrrrr but I stick to my prices, do the best I can and it's going ok!

Good luck

weatherlobe

On a similar theme does anyone know - apart from on line - which national newspaper runs the cheapest ads? I wish to launch a new service in the autumn, and the quotes I have coming back to me run to seven or eight thousand pounds for series of quite small (credit card sized) ads in the Daily Mirror. This is outrageously expensive - surely there must be something cheaper?

Habibiboo

:wave:

Just a thought OP ... you may not want to limit yourself to domestic gardening, it could be worth approaching local pubs and hotels too as they often want to keep their gardens in order and it can be more regular work that some 'as needed' domestic work? Nursing homes are another possibility.

I mention it because when my son was in between jobs (media industry) he worked for himself with odd job gardening and gained several customers in the hotel trade (keeping lawns trimmed and hanging baskets looking good etc). Even pubs which don't have official pub gardens were making more of their outside space for smokers so he got a couple of jobs clearing and keeping spaces tidy for that purpose.

He specifically leafleted places he knew might need help, but always went in to hand in his leaflet and speak to someone, rather than just posting leaflets through the letter box (where possible), which certainly helped because a couple of the customers he got that way said that they would give him a trial as he seemed so polite, capable and personable, an approach which sounds like it might work for you as you say you are good with people. It certainly helps to be memorable to others (for the right reasons) so even if they don't hire you then and there, they'll remember you when the time comes around.

Winter alternatives might include dog walking, as with the shorter days those folk who usually walk the dog after work sometimes need someone to walk them in the day, and again busy trades people like publicans often need someone to walk the dog for them. Again this was an that developed for my son until he got more film work.

Hope this helps and wishing you the best of luck.

fannyadams

just remember that it rains in the uk a lot.
when I was made redundant (the first time) I went out and did ad hoc gardening for friends and friends of friends and I am so glad I wasn't charging much (bartering is a better way to describe it) because the weather was horrible.
in my opinion there is nothing more disheartening than gardening in the rain, even when you have the right (waterproof) clothing. It's so miserable. Needless to say I just do my own plot nowadays (but I do watch Gardeners World and I read Garden News avidly for about a year).
Also remember to put on sun cream as the highest number of people who contract skin cancer are those who work outside all the time...
Good Luck with it though. let us know how you get on.
All the best
FA

Savvy_Sue

weatherlobe wrote: »

On a similar theme does anyone know - apart from on line - which national newspaper runs the cheapest ads? I wish to launch a new service in the autumn, and the quotes I have coming back to me run to seven or eight thousand pounds for series of quite small (credit card sized) ads in the Daily Mirror. This is outrageously expensive - surely there must be something cheaper?

National advertising is extremely expensive, even small ads in the local paper were beyond my reach!

Mersey_2

weatherlobe wrote: »

On a similar theme does anyone know - apart from on line - which national newspaper runs the cheapest ads? I wish to launch a new service in the autumn, and the quotes I have coming back to me run to seven or eight thousand pounds for series of quite small (credit card sized) ads in the Daily Mirror. This is outrageously expensive - surely there must be something cheaper?

Ads tend to be: £30-100 for parish/community mags;

£200-500 in a local / regional newspaper;

£10k+ for national or tv ads.

Newdirection

Hi all, Thank you again for the messages and advice it is great and some good tips, also the pms I have had its nice to hear othe rpeople have done the same thing and are earning well and its going good.

I am at a point where I just can not go back to office work its never been me and its a road I hated but put u with for family, but I want to put 100% effort into this and I am armed with good vision now form advice and ideas I have. I will be window cleaning also, so I have a full week with gardening and window cleaning. I can clean soffix, frames etc etc etc so many different tasks to under take under the umbrella of gardening / home services.

Nervous but this week I am taking the jump and getting it going and couple of weeks I should have had flyers out and ads in mags and locla shops etc...

THANK YOU again for the comments and I will let you know how it goes, even if I flump it, with my luck I have a fight, but I need this, it will be good for me as a person, so I have to go for it. I dont need a fourtune, just £60 a day take home and I am ok with that, I am sure that is achiveable advertising all the differet task I can perform.

Great bunch of people on here, those supporting and those advising me what to watch for and to be careful. CHEERS!

TBagpuss

just to say that it is probably worth your while to put ads in your local parish magazine and free local papers - they are often fairly cheap, and will appeal to people who like to support their local communities and are more likely to pick a small, local person than a bigger company.

other, little things:
be professional - it may sound obvious, but little things like answering the phone with "Hello, John's gardening,John speaking" rather than just saying 'hello', having a voicemail message which identifies you and your business, returning calls promptly, and so on, all make a good first impression.

If you are providing an e-mail address (and do, if you can) one which looks professional - John @ johnsgardening.com, or johnsgardening @gmail.com, not johnnie79 @ hotmail . com

Similarly, turn up when you say you will. If you're asked to provide a quote, do it, and let the customer have it promptly, and in the time-scale you said you'd provide it. Put it on paper with your business details at the top, not on the back of an envelope.

Check at the time you arrange a job what the customer expects. Things like: - do they have a mower, or are they expecting you to bring your own?
- where do the grass cuttings / weeds go?
- If you are using weedkiller, lawn feed etc are they providing that or are you?

also little things like are they happy for you to park on their driveway while you are working at their house?

(I've had several workmen round recently - I've noticed that all of them parked on the road, not on my driveway. I specifically told the plumber I was happy for him to park on the drive and he did once I'd said it. Personally I would have expected them all to park on my drive when they are at my home at my express request (although I would think it was a bit cheeky if they pulled in if they were simply leafletting or going door to door to offer their services)
.
By contrast, where my sister lives the parking is all allocated (although not clearly marked as such!) and there are some residents who get very irate if visitors park in the wrong place, so ask first, and if in doubt, were possible park (legally) on the street.

I think the suggestion to consider other related types of work which you can offer as well is a good one, especially as you are starting up.

I can mow my own lawn but have lots of little DIY jobs - if you can get some experience and training (and insurance) for that kind of thing then you might find that gardening and odd jobs might be a way to start. And would give you things to do in the winter - lawns don't need mowing over the winter, but if you also walk dogs, clear gutters, replace hinges and rehang doors, put up shelves and so forth then you have somethign to fall back on. My grandmother, in later years, used to pay a man to mow her lawn. He would also also change light bulbs, get things out of the loft, and do other monor jobs. This was quite a few years ago but as I recall he would charge something like £5 per half hour, with a minumum £5 (so if he came and just changed a light bulb, it would be £5, if he came and spent half an hour doing 3 lightbulbs, moving boxes from the loft and changing a fuse, that would be £5, if he was there for an hour doing a whole range of things it would be £10, and so on. I think that if he was already there to do the lawn the minimum cost was £2.50 instead of £5, and the minimum fee may have varied on location - my Gran lived in the same village he did so the cost to him of going to her home was minimal.

I think there are a lot of people who are not particularly 'handy' or who don't habve muchj spare time who would happily pay for odd jobs, provided that you are reliable and competent. And if they already know you because you've done odd jobs, they may then think of you when they do want a gardener or lawn mower in the summer.

Good luck

Savvy_Sue

TBagpuss wrote: »

I can mow my own lawn but have lots of little DIY jobs - if you can get some experience and training (and insurance) for that kind of thing then you might find that gardening and odd jobs might be a way to start. And would give you things to do in the winter - lawns don't need mowing over the winter, but if you also walk dogs, clear gutters, replace hinges and rehang doors, put up shelves and so forth then you have somethign to fall back on. My grandmother, in later years, used to pay a man to mow her lawn. He would also also change light bulbs, get things out of the loft, and do other monor jobs. This was quite a few years ago but as I recall he would charge something like £5 per half hour, with a minumum £5 (so if he came and just changed a light bulb, it would be £5, if he came and spent half an hour doing 3 lightbulbs, moving boxes from the loft and changing a fuse, that would be £5, if he was there for an hour doing a whole range of things it would be £10, and so on. I think that if he was already there to do the lawn the minimum cost was £2.50 instead of £5, and the minimum fee may have varied on location - my Gran lived in the same village he did so the cost to him of going to her home was minimal.

I think there are a lot of people who are not particularly 'handy' or who don't habve muchj spare time who would happily pay for odd jobs, provided that you are reliable and competent. And if they already know you because you've done odd jobs, they may then think of you when they do want a gardener or lawn mower in the summer.

Excellent points above (my mum asks her gardener to change light bulbs and get the tea bags off the high shelf where she keeps the 'new' packet), but perhaps this about odd jobs in particular, although I'd add to it "do NOT attempt jobs which are beyond your competence!"

I have an IKEA tool kit at work. If that does not supply the tools I need, then I feel that the job is beyond my competence. I don't touch electrics (apart from changing light bulbs) and I don't touch the plumbing (beyond occasionally re-pressurising the boilers). Don't be afraid to say so either: "I'm sorry Mrs Jones, I really think you need to call a plumber for that. Do you know someone reliable?" If you can also build up a network of 'trades' you'd recommend, that could be useful. "I know Pete the Plumber is always very reliable, would you like his number?"

Same goes for the gardening, actually. My gardener is married to my tree surgeon ...

Newdirection

Thanks again.

I am a little stuck in terms I want to do gardening and window cleaning, but unsure how to advertise it.

Do I flyer the two trades different. For example flyer the gardening flyers and then the window cleaning another day, so people dont just see gardening and throw it away and they dont take it in fully or do i flyer them both together. I am feeling more towardss keeping them seperate and doing to flyers runs etc. I am going to keep th same name as its my name.

I just think promting the two sperate will be better as people will take each flyer in more and might just see gardeing and throw it away and not take in ther eis window cleaning offered too. But a pure window clean flyer would it home. Then I could have the web site with two main headers one gardening and other window cleaning.??

Just wondered how you think would be best to promote it, finding it bit tricky which avenue to take......

Also public liabilty insurance, I am new to ths work in terms of my own business and starting form scratch, just myself and my vehicle and tools. How much am I looking at payig for PLI? Ball park figures I been told are 80-100 a year is this right what some people have said, as my work in just garden maintence and cleaning soffix and general needs, plus my tools are not a huge amount.


Thank you.....