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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:22 pm
by scoffsred
Alright lads, i'm a landcsape gardener who also dabbles with fence construction and i'm planning now for the quieter winter months , i was thinking of enrolling in a local college on an arboriculture course, which will add another skill to my 1 man business and i wondered if any of you have any good ideas for extra work, because ive only ever worked at this part-time and now im taking the plunge full time. Im open minded as to what i will do, so any suggestions are more than welcome. i will have around £5k working capital if needed.
Cheers Dave
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:09 pm
by Pablo
Probably not helpful but you'll need most of that 5 grand to pay for all the new insurance policies you'll need to climb and process trees within the law. Not safe to be doing that sort of thing on your own either.
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:49 pm
by Rich H
Pablo, I'm a landscaper and gave up tree work and garden maintenance a long time ago (the former because of insurances, etc. and the latter because I'm not willing to compete with school-leavers pushing mowers anymore)
I don't advertise and I always have work. You might have heard that before but in my case it's because I network a lot, mainly through BNI which is a business referal organisation. It's set up to give local trades and professions reliable people that they can refer work to with confidence. I get about 40% of my business from BNI and without that I'd be relying on the dreaded Yellow Pages in depths of midwinter.
www.bni-europe.com or email me at richard [at] 4landscaping.co.uk if you want to know more.
I'm at this one: http://www.bnimaidenhead.org.uk/index.html
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:32 am
by scoffsred
Pablo wrote:Probably not helpful but you'll need most of that 5 grand to pay for all the new insurance policies you'll need to climb and process trees within the law. Not safe to be doing that sort of thing on your own either.
Cheers for the info pablo, i was thinking more along the lines of a foundation course, getting the chainsaw license etc, and a general understanding of the business, i can always go further into it from there.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:34 am
by scoffsred
Rich H wrote:Pablo, I'm a landscaper and gave up tree work and garden maintenance a long time ago (the former because of insurances, etc. and the latter because I'm not willing to compete with school-leavers pushing mowers anymore)
I don't advertise and I always have work. You might have heard that before but in my case it's because I network a lot, mainly through BNI which is a business referal organisation. It's set up to give local trades and professions reliable people that they can refer work to with confidence. I get about 40% of my business from BNI and without that I'd be relying on the dreaded Yellow Pages in depths of midwinter.
www.bni-europe.com or email me at richard [at] 4landscaping.co.uk if you want to know more.
I'm at this one: http://www.bnimaidenhead.org.uk/index.html
Cheers, ive had a quick look at the BNI website and i'll e-mail you.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:36 am
by scoffsred
Im open to any suggestions btw, im thinking work i can do when the ground is to wet to work on, probably 6 months of the year up here
the lower the outlay and simpler the idea the better. You all must have 1.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:11 pm
by Stuarty
My boss accumulates work in the summer for each squad. At the present time he has enough work for my squad to keep going untill November time. My boss also networks so to speak, as Rich H said above. Some of that does bring some strange jobs, like working under a railway platform etc etc but it keeps folk in a job. Wheres "up here" btw?
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:16 pm
by scoffsred
up ere is sunny cumbria mate 
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:46 pm
by scoffsred
come on lads, dont be shy. im looking for a sideline for winter, something thats earned ya cash over the wetter times when ya havent been able to work the gardens! are many of you gardeners or fencers btw lol that might be why nobody is posting. im not gonna come take your clients ya know:laugh:
Regards Dave
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:48 pm
by lutonlagerlout
what about an indoor garden in yer loft ??
you know the sort
growing rare orchids etc hydroponics all that
no reallistically,you just have to keep plugging away,we work all year round i know the weather is against you up there but if you take 6 months off all your customers may have gone elsewhere
cheers LLL
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:04 pm
by Rich H
I know lads who do rubbish clearance, gutter cleaning, jet washing and stuff like that in the winter, but I'd rather keep my eye on the ball and keep plugging away with the landscaping. If you do gardening and other maintenance it's more of a problem to fill-in in the winter, I reckon. Because I don't do that anymore, I can focus on getting the paving, decking, fencing, etc., work which is year round.
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:06 am
by scoffsred
cheers lads, your probably right, its just a matter of plugging away, there is plenty of work at the minute, but im not too sure what the winter will bring, i should maybe wait and see eh.:p
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:03 am
by Nigel Walker
I am from Cumbria. Been doing paving for nearly 20 years now. I know how bad the weather gets up here
You just have to work through the bad weather. Obviously some days it is just better to abandon and just go home, but overall you can generally work through and get jobs finished.
I am booked up all year round. Work right up to Christmas Eve and start back 1st week in January.
You have just got to be prepared to work in bad conditions and make a bit less profit Nov to Mar than in summer months.
Mind you saying that, the past 3 weeks in our supposed summer have been awful. Can anyone see and end to the miserable rain ?
Nigel
Nigel
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:37 pm
by Tony McC
Sun's cracking the flags here in .... oh ... it's started pissing down again! 
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:56 pm
by scoffsred
Nigel Walker wrote:I am from Cumbria. Been doing paving for nearly 20 years now. I know how bad the weather gets up here
You just have to work through the bad weather. Obviously some days it is just better to abandon and just go home, but overall you can generally work through and get jobs finished.
I am booked up all year round. Work right up to Christmas Eve and start back 1st week in January.
You have just got to be prepared to work in bad conditions and make a bit less profit Nov to Mar than in summer months.
Mind you saying that, the past 3 weeks in our supposed summer have been awful. Can anyone see and end to the miserable rain ?
Nigel
Nigel
hello Nigel,
the weather is a bloody killer at the minute for sure, im getting jobs done but not at the rate i should be, i suppose thats the trade off for living in such scenic area, doesnt do my bank account much bloody good though
where abouts in cumbria are you based and what firm are we talking about?
the lower the outlay and simpler the idea the better. You all must have 1.