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i would ignore those figures
The quoted figures are complete and utter nonsense. Ignore them. They are far too low and seem to be all over the place. How could you travel to a small 10m x 10m job [100m2 as quoted], unload and use a mower, a strimmer/edger and a blower and only charge the client £10? It’s ridiculous.
The costs to you the contractor to mow say 500 m2, is the same whether it is domestic or commercial. 500 m2 of grass is 500 m2 of grass, who owns it is irrelevant to your time and costs. Commercial work is more expensive than domestic only because the work is on a larger scale. There are other variables, like number of cuts etc. but basically it comes down to how long it takes.
The proper rate for grass cutting [any grass cutting] is £60 ph.
Completely agree rates are utter nonsense. It is a concern though that these rates are being suggested, which potential customers may well see. Sadly, I don't think I could get away with charging £60 ph.
Hi, I think we've had a similar discussion on here before about checkatrade etc. Some of the quoted rates I'm sure are published by people who have never done the job. But unfortunately some people will read these and take it as gospel. Although I couldn't get away with £50-£60 per hour even though we are in a fairly affluent area.
Being reliable doesn’t mean being there on the same day at the same time like clockwork. In fact it often means the exact opposite. Yes, part of reliability means doing the work on regular agreed approximate intervals, never not turning up to do the work. But once per fortnight might mean Tuesday morning this time but Wednesday afternoon next time. It means working around the weather and not mowing in the pouring rain. I would never mow my own grass in the rain.
Reliability is much more about the quality of the work/service provided and working intelligently with the flexibility to adapt, rather than merely hitting exact timings.
I have no clients who would ever expect or require me to be there at definite times. Any client who demands you to be there every Thursday at exactly 10-30 needs to be sacked immediately
Everyone works differently but I find regular routines tedious so I tend to have a list of which gardens are due to be done, and make it up as I go along. Certain jobs yes it's courteous to give clients a bit of notice, a phone call or text to ask them if it suits them for me to turn up. Most of mine are either of the elderly type or away a lot of the time but I'm very mindful of fitting in with their lifestyle and causing a minimum of disruption to it. I have once, twice or thrice a year type jobs also which must be slotted into the "non existent" schedule. Like now, lawns need cutting less often and can be left a few extra days which gives me the opportunity to do other work without any loss of quality to the clients' required standard. All my work is local which makes my approach feasible
Yes I gather it's been rough down there with Storm Aurore coming in from France, terrible flooding if the main stream media is to be believed. Nice here in the East Midlands which is not generally a high rainfall area to be fair although we did get a few cracks of thunder
I wouldn’t last long if I were dancing to the tune of ‘professionals’ who ‘work in the city’. It has a touch of hierarchy to me. I wouldn’t be working around coffee mornings or personal trainers either. I have to say, you make them sound awful.
We have distinguished and well to do people here in Derbyshire too you know. One of my clients is Chatsworth Estate. You might have heard of them. Another client who has become a very good friend of mine is an antiques/estate valuer who works for both Christies and Sotheby’s. We usually have lunch together whenever I call in. There are many other examples, I could go on.
None of them expect me to be there other than when I feel it’s appropriate. They know that I have much else to do and that for various reasons, it’s impossible to expect exact appointments. They work with me because I am very good at what I do and they trust my professional judgement. It’s like not spraying on a windy day. You spray when conditions are right, not at a predetermined set time.
If you work on exact time appointments, what do you do if the grass is long and wet and it takes you twice as long to get it into shape? Surely this means you getting to the other appointments late? This can happen on several jobs having a cumulative effect, making the last jobs very late presumably?
Also, Derbyshire is in a rain shadow, so we don’t get high rainfall either. But it does rain at times in England, wherever you live.
Never liked other people in charge of my diary i find i can plan more efficiently with a flexible approach .
I am constantly aware and anticipate growth in all my gardens and it makes me more productive .
Often customers dont need to be present i can crack on unsupervised , In every case they will drop me a text of appreciation when they return home which makes this job worthwhile .
Those grass cutting rates are a little bit dubious especially the £10 cut , Doesn't matter if the lawn is the size of a shoe box i would apply a minimum charge its as much about the value added and the service provided , I take as much care over a tiny pocket in a garden as i do a large area .
I suspect the majority of your customers differ from the ones a lot of us have. It's not "dancing to the tune of professionals" etc. My "domestic" customers like to know when I'm coming to give me access to the rear garden and provide that important tea, biscuits and a brief chat lol........... they tend to not like leaving the side gate open for security reasons which I can understand. They also like to pay in cash or occasionally with a cheque as the work is done. If I'm running late, weather problems etc, I just give them a quick call or a text.
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