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  chris February 12, 2015 at 10:24pm

  Hi Rory think your have no problem website looks great
  Marketing what worked for me
  Flyers no waste of time
  Little advert in local paper preferably a monthly one works out a lot cheaper and people tend to read them more, the weekly locals tend to flick through and get binned
  Word of mouth is key get your customers working for you
  Magnetic signs are fine, stops your van getting broken into ie you can take off at nite and weekends
  And don't see other landscapers as competitors we are all a network , lots of my work comes from a tight network of landscapers, gardeners giving each other work to here skill set,
  Enjoy just one more thing get your prices right from the start
  Good luck give us a shout if you need anything chris
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    Rory Michael Thompson > chris February 13, 2015 at 11:33am

    Great advise thanks Chris.
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    Rory Michael Thompson > chris February 13, 2015 at 5:41pm

    As far as pricing go's as an average ball mark to start out on in the first year in Manchester I am setting it at 15per hour which I think seems fair enough.

    giving myself the living standard wage to start off with and just built all profit into the company and take dividends when necessary.  

    I will quote set prices for jobs such as cutting hedges, Garden tidy's etc which is where the profit will be I would imagine, as I know from previous experience I can cut two large hedges in a day maybe another small and quote each individually as £80 + £80 and £30

    hourly labour it will be £15pr

    I am still a bit vague on how to think about pricing.

    But understand that if I am making a ball mark of £120 minimum a day that should be more than enough and fairly doable once I have the contacts.
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      Colin Hunt > Rory Michael Thompson February 13, 2015 at 5:53pm

      I am not sure if you have worked out your pricing Rory or clutched the figure out of the sky.  It is worth remembering that you will be very lucky to work any more than 220 full days per year after taking out weekends, bank hols, holidays and inclement weather.  So assuming you work every one of those days for a full paid 8 hours, you will turnover £26,400., from this amount you will, of course, need to take out all expenses. 
    • PRO

      James McKay > Rory Michael Thompson February 14, 2015 at 8:47am

      Marketing aside rory, you need to revise those prices before you start. You will pick up plenty of work, particularly on the residential side, so that won't be your issue. But you don't want to get stuck with lots of regular customers at a price that is unsustainable in the long run. £15ph is unsustainable. You will also quickly gain a reputation for charging that particular rate and it will be hard to move upwards from there later on. 

      You seem to have plenty of experience and qualifications so you know what you are doing and can justify charging better rates. There will be people operating in your area charging more than double the rates you quoted. 'Expensive but very good' is a great reputation to get!
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  Colin Hunt February 13, 2015 at 6:34am

  I can't give you advice re advertising, as we have been going for many years and our business has become self sustaining by recommendations. I have had a look at website you are constructing and like it's simplicity. However, the home page text needs some re-writing and editing - too many 'ands' in a sentence and one very long sentence needs breaking down.

  Good luck, will soon be spring and the phone will start ringing!

   
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    Rory Michael Thompson > Colin Hunt February 13, 2015 at 11:34am

    Thanks, I will have another look over my text and try to refine it.
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  Sean Busby February 13, 2015 at 4:18pm

  Hi Rory,

  So far so good... Website is easy to navigate, and looks professional. You've spelt 'aerate' wrong though! 

  The nursery you work at should be an excellent source of customers. I've been trading now for 14 years, in 2 different locations, and have always made a beeline for the local garden centres to introduce myself and leave contact details. Word soon spreads, and if you're good at what you do the nursery will receive positive feedback and a simbiotic relationship will develop. Everyone's a winner.

  Good luck.

  Sean
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    Rory Michael Thompson > Sean Busby February 13, 2015 at 5:17pm

    Great thanks, that hadn't really occurred to me. It is more of a whole sale nursery which supply's to traders rather than the public. It works well for building up a good knowledge of my competitors and creating contacts and for strengthening  my horticultural knowledge.
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      Sean Busby > Rory Michael Thompson February 13, 2015 at 7:40pm

      Next stop then is your local garden centres. That's where the members of the public who are interested enough in their plots will go, and when they need help they'll ask staff members for recommended gardeners.