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Hi Sam
Welcome to LJN. You've come to the right place to meet some very knowledgeable and helpful people:)
I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers and help with your questions but please also check out LJN's archive.
Click the magnifying glass in the top right hand corner to expand the site search. LJN has nearly 12,000 forum posts so there's been plenty written on your subjects over the years.
Feel free to resurrect any older subject too...they're never out of date:)
First thing I would ask is why you have struggled to find work in the past, the world is crying out for good reliable tradesmen. I will assume you are good at what you do, are professional in the way you go about your business and don't overprice.
I wonder what your 'conversion rate' is - this could give a clue to where you need to go from here. What is your catchment area? Counting the chimney pots is essential - just maybe there are too many landscapers chasing too few jobs, in which case you are fighting an uphill battle.
Unless you are very lucky, expansion is the only way you can boost your earnings to a more than reasonable level.
With regards to marketing, there is plenty on LJ already that will give you plenty of ideas.
I dont advertise i first started loads of residents mostly medium jobs 2-3 hours and word spread, one by one i lose a few each year, elderly, moving etc. Clients laying me over a few pound, clock watching etc etc. I then won some contracts and now doing all the sites myself taking good money and not paying out for staff. there physically challenging on my own but i work hard and keep them all happy and won a few more through recommendations. I now maxed out with work, so many residents ringing asking. how much you charge per hour. These all lead to nothing and i feel they are all chasing around for a quick garden tidy which i am too busy to worry about. I have considered employing but at the same time making good money on my own. I still feel some of my residents i am not happy about having 2 men as they expect so much ie a 2 hour job becomes 1 and then i feel i am rushing like mad to please them and often time run over without extra pay! today i tried a friend i only saved a couple hours time, with loads travel time and lunch and then had to pay him. So i am too unsure how or if i should expand and whether i would actually make less money employing with all the problems like will they pull there weight, will they brake my tools or scratch my nice new van brake my mower on a rock, or turn up each day! its a tricky decision you definitely need the right jobs as winter can be a tough time if very wet or cold and residents laying you off.
Ian - today you tried a friend. I'll assume he/she wasn't entirely up to speed with how things are done around your clients' gardens......and how you keep your tools, your van, etc etc!
But you reckon you saved two hours. That's two hours more productivity and also not on your own. A good start if you ask me :->
Eugene
it was a family member and they did well, he helped half a day for free, not as quick as me but did what was asked. And i over ran as wanted to please the new client and finish the spraying he asked of. I did the last job myself so took a bit longer on that one. But if i had pay out £60-70 for staff i dont feel i could done more jobs and be that much money that could been in my pocket. When your dealing with little money like 50 or 70 pound a job its tricky i think when it comes to employing. I could max the jobs but only so much you can physically do in a day. without feeling shattered the next to do it all again. But maybe im tired as doing it all myself. Very tough on your own especially big sites everything growing right before your eyes.
Ian, also think of the future. If you are planning to stay for the long term, you do not want to be working flat out in your 60's, but you will still want to be earning good money and enjoying some well earned time off. Having a sustainable business that pays it's way without you breaking your back is the way to go.
Hi Sam,
I too am 10 years in and struggled for work for too long but at 6 years things started to improve and at 8 years I became more 'established'. Marketing wise, apart from the usual of, look and act professional, do a good job etc, my marketing amounted to networking meetings which rewarded me with some good contacts and work. Marketing is a black art though and I'm not one to comment on it.
Labour wise, apart from years one and two I've used labourers and more recently I've used subcontractors for more skilled tasks. Its how I want to operate but I watch with interest as other landscapers in my locality do it solo. I've seen them year after year mixing mortar and laying enormous driveways on their own and I've come to the conclusion its down to personal preference.
I appreciate the company of employees. And a good labourer will definitely mean you get through the work quicker. But they ring in sick, talk utter nonsense sometimes and need paying week in week out so there is a price to pay.
If you can earn a decent living and enjoy working on your own then keep doing what you are doing. Your business might not have great growth potential doing it that way but it will serve you well. No hassles, just a lot of graft. Staff can alleviate the physical 'suffering' but finding a half decent employee can be hard in itself before you get to the problems associated with managing them.
Dip your toe in the water and see if you can't find a young student type who could maybe help you 3 or 4 days a week as a minimum over the summer season. It'll at least give you a feel of whether the benefits of staff outweigh the negatives. If it doesn't work for you then you'll have further defined your business model, i.e. its a solo operation offering a quality, personal, service.
Kind regards Neil
"..................(they) talk utter nonsense......" made me laugh Neil!
The area in which I live has a fair amount of the 'right' kind of people and properties, but enquiries are few and far between for some unknown reason. Cambridge is a bit further down the road (40 minutes on a good day) so I try and get work there as there is a lot of money to be had. The trouble there though is that I can't get my website listed on Google anywhere near the top without paying a lot for the services of a computer nerd. I did manage to get at the top for my local town (Ely) but that didn't yield much interest. Exasperation is putting it mildly!!
I have had some success with subbing out some work, and I have a mate that works with me sometimes, but I don't feel comfortable paying him too little, so a casual labourer that I can call on as and when needed and pay a fair but lower rate would be perfect. What are the chances of me finding someone like that that is also hard working, conscientious, reliable etc? Impossible?!
I get the feeling that if I could get a higher number of leads coming in, then it would all fall in to place. Magic wand anybody?
Thanks
Sam
Hi again Sam.
Re: "If I got more leads coming in then it would all fall into place"
You've hit the nail on the head. Its every landscapers dilemma. You have to look at how you're going to get more leads. My suggestions are:- flyers, networking meetings (have a look at BNI, its painful but I did well from it), letting agents, advertising on the wall of your local car washing business and other relatively cheap opportunities. Who are your local garden designers. Arrange to meet them? They won't turn down a request for a 10 minute discussion. Once they meet you, they'll remember you. They won't remember a website.
I'll be shot down here by others but forget Google lists, you'll throw good money after bad trying to get to the top of those. To get more work you have to see the "whites of their eyes".
It doesn't matter how you increase your profile and meet more people, you just have to do it.
Kind regards Neil