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Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.

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Do you need to pay for good business advice?

Out of our trade members, how many of you are members of the APL or BALI? What is your view on membership of these trade organisations and do you feel it is justified to charge a fee to allow you in? What is more, do trade organisation just tend to create an elitist community that excludes and infers smaller companies are not worthy? I need some feedback from you on the benefits or failings of Landscaping trade bodies and what they really do for the industry in the UK? I have written this this morning - Landscaper - an APL offensive.

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  • The hta http://www.the-hta.org.uk/index.asp?c_idno=538&m_idno=542&s... has one running and they require a payment based on your earnings the higher you earn the more you pay.

    You just get the same benefits thoughno matter how big your company.

    Oh and once you phone to enquire they wont let you go.

    Not for me.
  • PRO
    Hi Stuart

    Thank you for the feedback. I believe sincerely that the old associations system is long gone as far as a model is concerned.

    One of my goals is to make this resource a strong starting point for anyone running a garden related business and also anyone who is looking to employ a landscaper.

    I have said it before but both the APL nor BALI (as far as I am aware) will help a business (I include one man bands here too) understand how much they need to charge or what it costs to run their own business.

    My aim is to help anyone get the best out of themselves and provide the information for free. This can be achieved by businesses participating in what goes on here and having the confidence in adding their own examples to build up some case studies.

    I am also able to offer, for a small fee, a mentoring and one to one assistance if it is needed.

    I am happy to add a voluntary charter that anyone can adopt and print off to give to clients. Why should their need to be a massive joining fee for a business only to tell their client that they are out to do the best and provide the best that they can?

    I am also happy to promote the APL or BALI if I feel that they really do have landscaping and gardening businesses at heart.

    I also want to draw in landscape and gardening businesses from the outer reaches of the United Kingdom so that they feel they have the support of an organisation that is working with them and able to provide assistance, by the way or peer activity, within a large network of experience and skills.
  • PRO
    Before I write a charter that can be voluntarily adopted by any business, I would like some feed back and input from anyone who runs a gardening or landscaping business.

    I have a few thoughts about what you should promise to a client but I would also like some of your thoughts. Together we can formulate a charter that can be printed off and presented to your client before work commences.

    Perhaps the most controversial, from an existing landscaping association point of view, is I feel that it is not necessary to be qualified to supply landscaping and gardening services.

    There are many many great businesses in the UK that are creative, hard working and deliver great value for money and are presently excluded from membership to existing associations due to the lack of professional qualifications.

    Any charter that we produce here should not seek to exclude any such person or company from affiliation or association based purely on the lack of horticulture examination certificates.

    I want to see acceptance of anyone who is willing to hold themselves up to scrutiny and inspection and present, in advance of works commencing, their intention to do the right thing in respect of any dispute or complaint from a client.

    Could you please add your thoughts to this and indicate what you feel is the right addition to a voluntary charter.
  • Good business advice is there to be had without paying for the privilege. And I am not sure APL or BALI are actually providing that.

    We have been tempted by the carrot of "we can send you more work than you can handle" and "give us £900 and you get to join the Marshalls register" yadayadayada.

    Our business grows because we are damn good at what we do, we do it at a fair price, and we ALWAYS go the extra mile for our customers.

    We save the money we would have spent on joining associations. We are members of Checkatrade and it does work for us for the moment. However the aim is to have word of mouth and our internet prescence remove the need for that too.

    We have made the Skills Pledge for all our staff and they are all studying towards level 2 or 3 qualifications in either Landscaping or Trowel Trades/Woodwork. This is a much more important investment than another logo to add to the van.


    Lara
  • Never felt the need to join one Phil. I'm a member of a UK business forum which there are more than enough knowledgeable people on for general business info. As for appropriate skills if they are not in-house I can find them.
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