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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:00 pm
by DMcLandscapes
I am looking to start a landscape garden maintenance business but have no experience in business and would love some feed back on ways the start up and would be extremely grateful for any information that any one could give me (any personal start up story's would be fantastic!)
THANK
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:36 pm
by London Stone Paving
I was on the dole about 10 years ago and did not know what I wanted to do. One of my mates was off university for the summer and we decided to put up a few adverts in the local shop offering to do odd jobs.
We got plenty of response doing little jobs like cutting lawns and jet washing drives etc. At the end of summer my mate went back to Uni and I carried on. I was getting a lot of request for paving and fencing which i didn't have a clue how to do so i thought i would get a job as a landscaper to gain some further experience. Got a job at a commercial landscaping companies doing turfing, fencing and planting. after 3 months got the experience in that field. Some of the lads at work were saying that Hill's (local landscape design and build company) were looking for new staff and offering a kings ransom of £240 per week before tax. Applied for the job and got that job and Hill's quickly realised I didnt have a clue about hard landscaping. I worked hard so they kept me on and I learnt the ropes.
After about six months of that I thought i knew all I needed to know and I got a princes trust loan and bought a van and tools and set up my own company. Did this for 2 years and didnt make much money. A couple of my mate were going to Australia so i packed up the business and went with them. Got over to sydney and set up a landscaping business in Bondi. Best 18 months of my life, made loads of money and returned from Australia with a lot more money than i went out there with.
Sydney to Stoke. Got back to Stoke and started up another landscaping business with my brother and didnt make any money at all. We had started to use quite a bit of Indian stone on our jobs and we had the idea to import a couple of containers of stone for use on our own jobs and maybe try and sell a bit on the side. We then thought there would be more opportunity for a business like this in London and decided to move to London and give it a try. Within a month me and my brother were in deepest darkest Rajasthan placing an order for ten containers of fossil mint, autumn brown and raj green. We had rented out a farmers yard in Dorking, Surrey and got the ten cans of stone delivered there. I was absolutely skint at the time so I lived in a caravan next to my stone.
Next 2 years were unbelievably hard. We delivered all of our stone by hand from the back of transit vans and gradually started to get a few regular customers. At the time we were called Livingstone paving. We then got a nasty letter from living stone up in linconshire saying we were breaching there trademark, so we had to change the name. We decided to call the business London Stone and almost immediately the website started getting loads of hits and we started selling a lot more stone. That was our big break and the only one i've ever had in 5 years, but i'm not complaining.
Best advice I can give is:
Dont be afraid of talking money with your customers
Always do what you say will do
Be reliable
Be mega organised
Provide very detailed quotes so everybody knows where they stand.
Where are you based and what experience have you got?
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:57 pm
by peg basher
on the subject of australia im off to oz straight after xmas. think ive pretty much sorted a setting out job in Newcastle NSW on a marine piling job. any advice on what to do, where to go etc?!
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:44 pm
by Dave_L
London Stone Paving wrote:Best advice I can give is:
Dont be afraid of talking money with your customers
Always do what you say will do
Be reliable
Be mega organised
Provide very detailed quotes so everybody knows where they stand.
What a great write up!
Totally agree with your points.........
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:52 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i would add dont be scared of going skint
some of the richest people i know have had loads and lost everything,then come back again
dont be foolish with money,but for some the fear of being broke holds them back
the biggest groundwork subbie round these parts rented machines and stuck stickers with his name on over the hire firms to make it look like he was bigger than he was
sounds naff ,but it worked for him
all the advice above ^^ is good
LLL 
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:04 am
by Suggers
Pablo's posts make me so decided I don't want to be part of this forum anymore.... then along comes an amazing well thought out small essay from LSP. Truly inspiring. I've changed my mind.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:36 am
by hondacrm
Working in Australia at the moment (Sydney and Perth). The mining sector in WA is booming and has been for a while. Shortage of Project Managers, Engineers, Supervisors, etc. Camp lifestyle but with monetary rewards. Very expensive place to live, espcially Perth and the exchange rate of A$1.5 to the Pound instead of 2.5 as it was a number of years ago.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:24 pm
by Pablo
Suggers wrote:Pablo's posts make me so decided I don't want to be part of this forum anymore.... then along comes an amazing well thought out small essay from LSP. Truly inspiring. I've changed my mind.
and I shall continue to mock you until you post something that makes sense. :laugh:
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:47 pm
by lutonlagerlout
it would be boring if we all agreed, suggers :laugh:
the thing is with all of us on here I bet none of us are doing what we thought we would be doing the day we left school
you meet someone or see something and suddenly your whole outlook or career changes
good luck
LLL
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:06 pm
by Carberry
lutonlagerlout wrote:it would be boring if we all agreed, suggers :laugh:
the thing is with all of us on here I bet none of us are doing what we thought we would be doing the day we left school
you meet someone or see something and suddenly your whole outlook or career changes
good luck
LLL
Spot on there. Nothing has happened as I envisioned, but I am happy with how it has all turned out.
to the OP:
Don't run your business on a lot of debt or when things go tits up like the last few years you will go out of business. Live within your means.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:40 pm
by rab1
Suggers, be honest here but how much money did mummy and daddy leave you..........?.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:45 pm
by lutonlagerlout
bit unfair there rab........
LLL
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:07 pm
by DNgroundworks
Calm down fellas, wheres all this come about?
I cant add much to what LSP has written, but a little of my personal story,
I was 17 and working for a local builder/property developer, all was going good, id work with the groundworkers, then the brickies then onto the plastering of barn conversions etc, which in the first two years after leaving school is what i did most of.
Anyhow the company went bust and left me with no job, so i went on my own, cleaning gutters, painting fences etc And gradually over the years id starting meeting business men, developers, My dads boss, his brother then his mate, then his next door then his daughter in law, it just carries on, i did my absolute best to impress these people and it paid off, i do loadsa work for them now as well as my own domestic work. I am now 22.
When i first went on my own, i didnt really have any experience with the paving and groundworks trades i knew a little but not much, this site and a few other fellas have taught me everything i know since then. Ill now take nearly any appropriate job on up to the value of 50k depending on payment terms and who its for.
Few more points,
1, What ever you do, you need some passion and drive, at least in the early days to make it happen.
2, take the opportunity to meet people, anyone, you never know. If an architect comes on site to inspect some work, give him a business card, its worked for me, all the local big plant lads meet in my local every friday night, i regularly pop in, lots of deals done over a pint.
3, Chase the work until you know there is nothing more you can do to get it, not necessarily reduce the price but demonstrate to them you are the best man for the job.
4, Stick a well worded advert in the back of a local newspaper.
5, Look after the big hitters!
Regards Dan.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:17 pm
by local patios and driveway
My advice, dont rip people off even if it costs you money.
Learn about accounting and cash flow, there are evening courses you can do once a week.
Look after good people in the trade, a £10 drink for a labourer who stays on late without complaint is a tenner very well spent believe me.
But most of all i would say every man and his dog move in to our trades when things go quiet.... Its not an easy living
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:21 pm
by DNgroundworks
Good point LPAD, a few years ago, when i was in my teens i financed everything i own went mad on credit cards etc, live within your means and you wont go far wrong, i carry a fair chunk of debt now, its always diminishing though, but if you can avoid it. Credit cards are evil bastards.