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Replies

• 

  Anthony Toop February 5, 2010 at 5:10pm

  Hi Alan
  
  As im sure your already aware, start by buying the best equipment you can from the outset, this can be a considerable outlay, but if your planning to stick with lawn care only and not get into the maintenance side of things then cost and variety of equipment is not so much of an issue.
  
  Avoid the hourly rate scenario as much as possible, decide on a reasonable minimum charge for a small local lawn and then increase accordingly for larger lawn areas, travelling to job, ease of access etc. If you had 3 clients within 2 streets of each other, all with small lawns, you could do all three comfortably in an hour and even at the lower £10 charge be earning good money. Of course you would need a lot like this to make it viable, if only it were that simple!
  
  I should'nt worry to much about the tax side of things, working as a soletrader makes it very simple and easy to keep track of and record your earnings and expenditure as mentioned above.
  
  I always make up an Invoice for every job for my own records and the tax man, but in reality very few clients are bothered about it, ask and you will probably find most people dont want one and will happily pay without any paperwork. Thats my experience anyway.
• 

  Graeme @ BGS February 5, 2010 at 5:29pm

  Hi Alan, I think it will be a good move forward for you.
  
  So why lawn care? Is this a hobby / interest to you or previous expercience or you have just seen how much other companies charge?
  
  Firstly you need to contact the various supply companies such as Sherriff Amenity see http://www.sherriff-amenity.com/ No point even thinking of guessing what price you will charge for your services until you know how much the products cost you. You will also need to get your PA1 / 6 ticket or it will limit you as you what products you can use. Also consider undertaking a course at you local college, most run one or two day courses covering basic lawn maint. and will cover feeds, top dressing, scarification etc.
  
  Once you have a better idea as to the type of treatments you can offer and how much they cost you, you should then be able to work out a cost per m2. On top of this I would then suggest charging a sensible hourly rate. Let's say £20 per hour plus materials. If we assume that most treatments take 30 minutes (including unloading and paper work) it would then be £10 Plus materials. Personally I would aim to charge a min. £15 per job but by all means charge a lower amount if need be and you will still be making a profit.
  
  Don't just consider lawn care, also look into turfing and as you have mentioned lawn cutting.
  
  If I was in your shoes - get friending with your local amenity provider and keep checking out this site.
• 

  Andrew Goss February 5, 2010 at 5:37pm

  Hi Alan and welcome to the clan :-)
  
  I was in a similar situation to you when I started being a single dad with an 8 and 10 year old to support ...
  Nine years ago things were a bit easier and I found that I soon built up a regular client base . Now with the current economic situation it seems that many want to turn their hands ( not just thumbs ) to gardening .........
  I think that the growth in the market is there - we are an ageing population and people are being encouraged and given help to stay in their own homes . Many take pride in their gardens but are now no longer able to manage the upkeep. Also once the housing market picks up the newbuild work will come back again.
  Anyway to answer your questions
  #1 As been said here so many times although you must have a hourly charge keep this to yourself.
  You also must have a minimum charge and stick to it ! I have an hour and a half and if a lawn takes only an hour or even only half an hour that's what you charge .......... it's up to the client to give you more work ! You will find that to do a proper job it will take longer anyway .
  
  #2 HMRC - I sarted with a Collins all in one accounting book which is ideal for all record keeping . This together with diary and receipts etc. I find is sufficent for self assessment returns . Also I feel it is necessary to have a seperate business bank account and keep it exclusively for business .
  I went on a free local course which the tax people run for new business start ups - not sure if they still do them ? Good for networking to ;-)
  
  No doubt you will receive more help from others here soon
  Hope things work out for you
• PRO

  Gary RK February 5, 2010 at 6:10pm

  I think the above is sound - especially relating to find your own cost base.
  
  You may initially choose to ignore this in an effort to get/win work, but do cost your jobs based upon this rate + your profit margin. It is the only way you can ever see if your business is sustainable, monitor your performance and see what does make you money.
  
  Get on the Businesslink website (http://www.businesslink.gov.uk) and find your local office. They run a huge number of free relevant courses aimed at startup's thru to more established businesses. They are free, often with a buffet lunch which allows a bit of networking. Never under estimate the power of networking - you may be speaking to your next new large customer !!!!!
  
  Businesslink also have a large amount of guides/decision making programmes that can guide you thru a lot of stuff. Much of it is cut&pastable into your own documents from T&C, employment, contracts, H&S etc.
  
  Hope that helps....
• 

  alan mcmillan February 5, 2010 at 7:10pm

  Thanks pro gard and everyone else who has replied.
  When you say you print out an invoice for the odd domestic job. Does this mean that if all my customers are domestic and not that intrested in recipets, would i be correct, if i were to say to take note of what i,ve done in a diary and print of an invoice for my own records?
  Thanks alan
  
  Pro Gard said:

  First things first, As a lawn care business You need to be aware that you will have greatly reduced income between December and march when the grass stops growing.
  
  Secondly, rather than plucking out numbers eg rates you want to actually cost out your potential costs, Insurance, Vehicle and public liability insurance, tools insurance, fuel costs both vehicle and machine, Vehicle servicing, tool servicing etc then factor in for the days you wont be working and several weeks holiday.
  
  Once you've done this you should get an idea of your basic costs, then add a profit margin on top to give a charge out rate and factor this into your job pricing.
  
  Charge a set rate per lawn, never an hourly rate so when you see the customer tell them it will cost you X per cut, NEVER EVER give an hourly rate. Personally my minimum price for local work is £25, further out its £45 The way I price lawn cuts the job has to be viable in its own right including travel time.
  
  In Terms of the tax side of things, Have a look at the HMRC site, Your first step will be to register self employed. Save all receipts and record these and your daily, weekly and monthly earnings. I use an accountant and easily recoup the cost in terms of his knowledge of what allowances I can claim, depreciation calculations etc.
  
  For regular work I do not give receipts and never have, it wastes time. One off domestic jobs I print an invoice for and Commercial work is invoiced monthly or quarterly, customers either pay by cheque, Cash, Internet banking or commercial work via BACS.
• 

  alan mcmillan February 5, 2010 at 7:56pm

  Thanks graeme for your reply!
  I have thought long and hard what to do, unfortunetly it won't see me through the whole year, if succesfull that is (will have to add more strings to my bow)!!! I have always enjoyed looking after my own lawn, think i do a good jod of it, like to think i'm a bit of a perfectionist, so can't imagine not doing a good job for anyone else. Thanks for the advice on the courses and the Pa1 licience, all good advice thanks again alan. just one more thing to ask, do you think i could offer pressure washing of decking etc with my Karcher?
  
  
  
  Graeme @ BGS said:

  Hi Alan, I think it will be a good move forward for you.
  
  So why lawn care? Is this a hobby / interest to you or previous expercience or you have just seen how much other companies charge?
  
  Firstly you need to contact the various supply companies such as Sherriff Amenity see http://www.sherriff-amenity.com/ No point even thinking of guessing what price you will charge for your services until you know how much the products cost you. You will also need to get your PA1 / 6 ticket or it will limit you as you what products you can use. Also consider undertaking a course at you local college, most run one or two day courses covering basic lawn maint. and will cover feeds, top dressing, scarification etc.
  
  Once you have a better idea as to the type of treatments you can offer and how much they cost you, you should then be able to work out a cost per m2. On top of this I would then suggest charging a sensible hourly rate. Let's say £20 per hour plus materials. If we assume that most treatments take 30 minutes (including unloading and paper work) it would then be £10 Plus materials. Personally I would aim to charge a min. £15 per job but by all means charge a lower amount if need be and you will still be making a profit.
  
  Don't just consider lawn care, also look into turfing and as you have mentioned lawn cutting.
  
  If I was in your shoes - get friending with your local amenity provider and keep checking out this site.
• 

  alan mcmillan February 5, 2010 at 8:08pm

  Just a bit of fun but does anyone know how i can change my picture to restore my head?
• 

  alan mcmillan February 5, 2010 at 8:32pm

  Thanks again for you help, seems to be easyier than i have imagined it to be, thought i needed a reciept for everything, just clearly written with date, address, time and charge per visit, everywhere i look on the net it says to keep reciepts, maybee i,m mistaking that for equipment so to reduce tax bill. I have seen some petrol pressure washers on e bay, 2900 psi, would they be any good for jobs like that? thanks alan.
  
  Pro Gard said:

  Re receipts, to clarify.
  
  The operative thing is that you record your daily earnings, whilst I don't give the customer a receipt I do use a similar system to Colin although mine takes the form of a spreadsheet on my lap top. I record the days earnings each night and it is configured to automaticly caluculate the weekly and monthly totals.
  
  I wouldn't offer pressure washing. A domestic type karacher will not have the speed or cleaning power to be properly viable and the results will not be that good, ok you may manage a small patio but for a big area it simply wont be up to it.
  
  I cringe when I see fellow contractors using domestic power washers, producing at best average at worts piss poor results and charging for it.
  
  Decking should never really be pressure washed as it tears the grain.
• 

  vhowe February 5, 2010 at 8:45pm

  HI there,
  Type in pressure washing in the search box of forum and there's quite a few discussions on pressure washing and other work -gutter cleaning etc.
  
  
  alan mcmillan said:

  Thanks graeme for your reply!
  I have thought long and hard what to do, unfortunetly it won't see me through the whole year, if succesfull that is (will have to add more strings to my bow)!!! I have always enjoyed looking after my own lawn, think i do a good jod of it, like to think i'm a bit of a perfectionist, so can't imagine not doing a good job for anyone else. Thanks for the advice on the courses and the Pa1 licience, all good advice thanks again alan. just one more thing to ask, do you think i could offer pressure washing of decking etc with my Karcher?
  
  
  
  Graeme @ BGS said:

  Hi Alan, I think it will be a good move forward for you.
  
  So why lawn care? Is this a hobby / interest to you or previous expercience or you have just seen how much other companies charge?
  
  Firstly you need to contact the various supply companies such as Sherriff Amenity see http://www.sherriff-amenity.com/ No point even thinking of guessing what price you will charge for your services until you know how much the products cost you. You will also need to get your PA1 / 6 ticket or it will limit you as you what products you can use. Also consider undertaking a course at you local college, most run one or two day courses covering basic lawn maint. and will cover feeds, top dressing, scarification etc.
  
  Once you have a better idea as to the type of treatments you can offer and how much they cost you, you should then be able to work out a cost per m2. On top of this I would then suggest charging a sensible hourly rate. Let's say £20 per hour plus materials. If we assume that most treatments take 30 minutes (including unloading and paper work) it would then be £10 Plus materials. Personally I would aim to charge a min. £15 per job but by all means charge a lower amount if need be and you will still be making a profit.
  
  Don't just consider lawn care, also look into turfing and as you have mentioned lawn cutting.
  
  If I was in your shoes - get friending with your local amenity provider and keep checking out this site.
• 

  alan mcmillan February 5, 2010 at 9:03pm

  Thanks Owen for the advice.
  Have you any good idea's to how i could strech my sevice out a couple of months, i think December and January are not going to happen, but thinking what to do for Nov, Feb and March. thanks alan
  
  A & J Owen Garden Services said:

  Hi there
  
  Very best of luck on your new venture. You certainly very much deserve some luck by the sound of it.
  
  There is a lot of debate about pricing. A lot of it is dependent on where you live also. I would allow £10 for every say 15/20 minutes work when cutting a lawn. You've got to build in travelling time etc plus the cost of maintaining all your tools. Try and get into an area if you can as it cuts down on travelling cost - which I think is what you are looking to do. Also, try and make your work 'top quality' - really sharp edges always impress clients - buy the best equipment you can afford.
  
  As a self employed sole trader as long as you are registered with the Revenue then really it's a matter of keeping receipts, issuing invoices and keeping copies and ensuring that your business banking is separated from your personal banking. You don't need an accountant because the self assessment form is really straight forward. There is a possibility that your window cleaner doesn't declare all his cash income. I find business link is helpful for small businesses in terms of what you do and don't do.
  
  Just a thought - as lawn cutting is very seasonal think about other services that you can offer in the winter - best planned now rather than wait till summer.
  
  I've been doing this for a year a half and best thing I ever did - once again, very best of luck. Sure you will get lots of feedback from everyone