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Good luck
However, a small business with only one employee/worker/director probably has very little value as far as domestic contracts are concerned as people tend to want the worker themselves rather than the business.
That is to say if it changed hands then the potential customers in the gardening round may look elsewhere if they do not like the new owner(s).
It seems very tempting to offer to pay for £500/week, £2k/month, £24k per year but I personally wouldn't.
Overheads on a maintenance business can be surprisingly high - I reckon it costs about £40 each day (£200 per week) before I have left the house for van I run. This overhead covers my fuel, insurance, depreciation, purchase of tools etc. If I were only charging £500 per week then this £200 weekly overheads would seriously eat into my profits and would need to charge more.
£12/hour is not a realistic wage to charge out a professional gardener, £20-25/hr more realistic and £30-50hr if you can get it. You don;t have to give the customers an hourly wage either, quote for jobs on a job by job basis and keep the hourly wage secret for yourself. I know lots of people who would turn their noses up at £50 per hour but would gladly pay £50 to cut a hedge (even if it only took you an hour!)
The tools and other tangible assets that the business currently own might have some value but it depends on the condition, and again, what you are prepared to pay for them.
Sorry of I have portrayed an image of doom and gloom, but hopefully I am being helpful!
-Nick
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Garden-and-Property-Maintenance-Business-for-...
I think where you live has a bit to do with the rate you charge. domestic i charge £14 ph, Commercial/hedge cutting, tidy ups etc etc is priced on the job itself thats were the the large hourly rates come in if you look at it that way.
Only you know the area you live in and what you can charge those customers. I think with the figures being thrown around here you can get a rough idea on hourly rate.
If your growing your business and you want to get a good customer base £12 is fine
On the topic i agree with pro a 100% if i was to pay for it i would give a couple of hundread quid if that.
Paul Williams said:
Paul Williams said:
Dan Frazer Gardening said:
13 is not many customers , how is he earning £500 p/w from them ?? if £300 profit its less than £30 a customer every week for 52 wks
i have about 40max and only earn about that for gardening @£20 p/h. (not inc big jobs)
i wouldn't buy it personally even for £500 , be careful , but look into it if u need the work £100max
as you can generate your own customers..............spend ,spend , spend $$$$$$$$$
£12p/h each CASH if it takes 15 min @£6 per/house.................( i think i pay £6 for 15min max)
Dave C Cut n Edge Lawncare said:
thats £150 for 5 cuts inc travel time between jobs -fuel /oil/ fuel/strimmer wire ,servicing , buying mower /van etc /insurances
if ur lucky to get 5 decent a day for 5 days !! not ! so £100 for hard days work, (with No holiday pay,sick pay or pension#) = not-a-lot :-(
Pro Gard said:
If he had agreements for say regular lawn cutting (21 to 30 cuts per year) I would be tempted to offer no more than 2 - 2.5 X the value of the per cut price.
Remember when thinking of buying accounts they are never worth what the person selling them thinks they are and there is never any guarantee the client will stay with you after you have taken over.
If I was in your shoes and looking to purchase some clients, I would cherry pick the ones that offer the best option to make a small profit from lawn cutting / treatments and ad hoc tidy ups. A small token payment to be made up front and the balance after three visits. With say 13 clients, I would be looking to knock these out within one day for lawn cutting and hopefully green waste left in their compost bins.
Let's assume you take over 10 clients at an average cost of £25 per client to purchase them - that's £250 to fork out. Even if you cut the 10 lawns weekly at a cost of £12 per lawn - you would be in profit by £110 after week three less servicing costs and thereafter hopefully £120 every week for less than one days work during the growing season. Then offer say a monthly 3 - 4 hour visit at £15 - £25 per hour (but quote fixed price) for general maint. This would hopefully still leave you with sufficient free time to service your existing clients and any new ones.
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