Forum

One.com, Ipage, Arvixe, GoDaddy, Ehost, SiteGround & the other 5 million host providers

Hello, I have spent the last few days trying to decide who to make my new website with (last one was a very poor template from yola which cost £16 per month and achieved very little). Since looking around, it seems very apparent that all the review c

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Maintenance Customers contracts

Would someone be so generous and send me a copy of their maintenance contract? For private customers. The docs in the BOG are not quite what I am looking for. EnchantedGardeningServices@Gmail.Com

Thank you very much!

I am sick and tired of customers tr

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Making a holiday work when running a small business

A recent survey found that three quarters (76%) of small business owners and entrepreneurs forego holidays in order to keep their business running smoothly.

But while there may never be a good time to take a holiday when you’re the boss, entrepreneur

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Travelling to work 'is work', European court rules

BBC article

How much of a nightmare is this going to be, along with the new living wage. I've been looking into putting a 2nd van on the road to do mostly fencing, I was planning to pay per hour when they arrive onsite, plus a bonus per hour.

Also, if

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Advice with pricing for large garden

Hi All,

Im after some advice from the wealth of experience on these forums.

I've been contacted by someone wanting maintenance in their large garden. The site is only 3 miles from my home but its humongous compared to anything i do. I only started self

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Cutting down to a 4 day week, good or bad idea?

Hi everyone, gardening has played a major role in my life for a lot of years and I love it dearly, however recently myself and my wonderful wife were blessed with having twins, super little ones and a joy to be with, only thing I have struggled with

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Maintenance clients and what not to include!

I know there is a similar thread about moving clients to a fixed price rather than hourly rate (and yep, I still charge hourly!), but I thought it worth saying about what you do for 'maintenance clients'.

I have a number of maintenance clients and bas

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Can the landscaping industry afford the proposed living wage?

From the Guardian:

George Osborne’s £7.20 “national living wage” is sending “shockwaves” through the labour market as employers seek ways to minimise the extra costs, one of Britain’s largest recruiters has said.

Manpower said its survey of 2,100 em

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Customer arguing written quote / bill

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Investing in your business and diversification

I have reached a point where I am making a healthy profit as a sole trader with enough work and also managing to save money.  However I sometimes wonder what the next step should be for someone like me who does not want to employ anyone, it's just so

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Fixed price contracts

Hi all,

I've recently begun the process of moving some of my regular residential garden maintenance customers from hourly billing to fixed price. I already use this system with commercial customers but they have always provided me with a contract and

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Business Branded Envelopes

Does anyone use these for posting quotes/invoices through doors? I try to e-mail everything but of course some people prefer the paper version but I've never really liked putting the invoice as is through the door but never really did anything about

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WordPress sites

Ok so I finally built a site using WordPress.

I have been using a vistaprint site for about 7 years and with all the Google changes it stopped appearing on page 1, so I had to build a new one.

I have been just working on layout not much content at the

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Pre Qualifying Clients

This thread is about asking how many of you provide clients with figures/estimates at first point of contact, prior to visiting the clients site.

If you don't, is this something you would consider doing?

We as sole traders/small business owners are o

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Find a mentor who can give your business a helping hand

"Is it essential to have a mentor? If so, how can I find one and what help should I expect?

"The practical advice and guidance a mentor can offer is priceless. Not only can they help you avoid business hiccups, they can share words of wisdom that are

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Hourly Rate or Daily Rate?

I have been self employed as a gardener for over three years since I left the National Trust. I spent a year before leaving the NT building up the business and I was adamant that I would charge a day rate instead of a hourly rate plus expenses (fuel

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Diversifying in your business

Hi allHave been taking on some small projects in the last year or so and am thinking of just getting back to my core business garden maintenance, by the time I have arranged sub contractors etc to do the extra work load I'm thinking is it all worth i

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Would you buy someone else's gardening business?

Would you buy someone else's gardening business?

A part time gardener wants to retire and sell his complete customer base with vehicle and tools all in. Even has a couple of commercial contracts.

Would you do this?

Pro's / Con's?

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Amazon US starts to sell 'Professional Services'

Interesting move in the US - Amazon.com has fully launched its online "Professional Services' offering, which includes lawn care, gardening and landscaping (to some degree).

Amazon fees range from 10% to 20% of service cost depending on whether it's

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Cordless Tools

We are thinking of investing in some cordless tools- hedge trimmer, strimmer etc Does anyone have experience of the Stihl range? or other makes we should be looking at? Any disadvantages?   

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