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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:43 am
by haggistini
Hi all I have finally started my new business after picking up a fair amount of local work, I’m quite excited and nervous at the same time but felt it was the right time after spending so many years working for large firms. I will need all the help I can get in the next year or so and I’m sure I’ll find that here as I have done in the past. So wish me luck and warmer weather and I’m sure to pick all your brains for advice and help over the coming months.
Kind regards
Ian
G-Tech
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:39 pm
by pickwell paving
all the best with the new business 
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:47 pm
by ilovesettsonmondays
good luck hagg ,think i will go same route end of feb
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 2:51 pm
by ilovesettsonmondays
hi hagg ,had a look at your site .you said you want help lol ,maybe not this quick .landline number and an address of contact would look good .no one knows where your from 
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 3:22 pm
by DNgroundworks
Good luck pal, hopefully trading conditions will improve over the coming new year
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 3:29 pm
by 47p2
Hope it works well for you. As said you need to have a location and preferably landline on the website. You could put the address as 'Head Office"
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:12 pm
by haggistini
there is loads to do on the web site its only just gone live the web guy is working on it in between snowboarding i think!!
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:32 pm
by lutonlagerlout
no more green font please haggi
good luck with the business mate
LLL
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 4:40 pm
by haggistini
I want to provide the best possible service i can and offering a contract for work is something i am unable to do at present abeit verbal ....? where do you start with writing a contract and what would you feel has to be covered and would they differ greatly between private and commercial work it feels like a mine field
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:05 am
by London Stone Paving
All the best with the business Haggi
I also agree that the website should have the address on. I do quite a bit of research on websites looking for potential clients, there are a lot of websites with no addresses on these days. Its probarbly to stop sods like me sending them brochures all the time
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:10 am
by London Stone Paving
I speak to lots of landscape contractors and I have heard some really good feedback about attending these breakfast business meetings.
I was sceptical myself at first, one of my regular clients attends a breakfast meeting in West London once a week and he swears that it contributes £100,000 a year towards his turnover
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:11 am
by Tony McC
Start with a written, detailed, Bill of Quantities style quotation, listing exactly how much of precisely what will be provided and installed. Too many so-called quotes state something along the lines of....
Lay paving to front of house - 5,000 quid
....with no indication of how much paving, what type of paving, how much sub-base, any kerbs, drainage, recess trays, etc.
When you start the job and discover that it's going to cost 1500 quid to put in drainage, you have to argue with the customer that the gross figure price of 5 grand didn't include drainage, but they have go you, because it would be assumed that paving work includes adequate drainage. If only the quotation had said...
Install 3m of linear drainage channel and make connection to existing soakaway not exceeding 5 linear metres of pipework
...then when it turns out you actually need 20m of channel and the soakaway is 15m away, and you'll have to install an IC because the connecting pipe will have to go around a 90° bend, you can reasonably claim extra bobs from the client, because all of this is work not detailed in the original quotation.
Then you might want to add a payment schedule, such as 30% on completion of excavation, 30% on delivery of paving, 40% within 7 days of completion.
You have to think about how *you* want to trade, how you want to interact with your customers, and what T&C's are used by your competitors, and than tailor your own contract, possibly with a bit of advice from the local Business Support Office.
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:07 am
by haggistini
Are there industry standards regarding guarantee’s and how long should they last,any examples would be appriciated via my website address
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:09 pm
by London Stone Paving
Concur with what Tony Said about ultra detailed quotation. It takes a bit longer to write but is well worth it. Once you are on site customers will always be asking "if you can just do this".
I used to also include a little disclaimer in the quote along the lines of: "Any requested additional works not covered in the spec will be charged at a rate of £X per hour, or willl be quoted seperately"
Going back to the detailed quotation, I used to write up all the specs on a word document and then copy and paste them into the quote as and when necessary. Its only a small thing but will save you time in the long run.
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 11:09 am
by Tony McC
Most guarantees are for 5 years. There is no standard or specification. Some companies are saying 10 years but how many of these are honoured?
We used to offer a 5 year guarantee back in the late 80s/early 90s when no-one else was doing a guarantee and in 95% of cases, if we were called back, it was down to summat stupid done by the homeowner - removing the haunching from edge courses to allow more soil for a lawn was a favourite.
Material failures, especially for CBPs, are few and far between, which is why manufacturers feel happy offering their own generous guarantees. Installation faults are the biggest problem, and of these, improper or partial compaction of a sub-base is the single biggest cause of call backs. We've all seen drives with the two ruts where the cars enter and leave.
You can offer insurance-backed guarantees which provide further peace of mind to clients. These come in two basic flavours: there is the cheaper option whereby the insurance company will cover the cost of any remedial work should your business cease to trade for whatever reason. Then there's the more expensive option whereby the insurer covers the cost of any remedial work even if it's done by yourself.
In some cases these insurance-backed guarantees are offered to clients as a chargeable optional extra, and so there are the unedifying instances where a client is actually paying a premium to cover the incompetence of their chosen contractor.
As ever, lots to think about.......