Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
A good tip I would share, is when doing the garden, never look towards the house, in case the clients think you are oggling them through the windows, thereby invading their privacy
Don't get stuck working for some clients too cheaply for too long. It's a common mistake and one I am guilty of! Discovering this site has certainly given me the kick I needed to improve my business and start charging more. Better late than never eh.
Dont be too harsh on yourself when you make mistakes , Its a very forgiving job , just revise your approach and tweak your strategy .
Dont go in too cheap just to win the work . Rejection of your quote should never be mistaken for rejection of your personality or ability .
Also be sure to allow for a significant amount of work-related time not actually spent at jobs. Travelling between them, maintaining tools, loading/unloading equipment & waste, dealing with enquiries, paperwork etc. Quite apart from lost income due to bad weather. These unpaid business-related hours need to be costed into the actual jobs somehow
If I could start again I would tell my self.
Get a loan buy a van, a good lawn mower, strimmer, two hedge cutters, two decent ladders, a back pack blower and a petrol jet washer. Don't bother with general gardening the job is boring after about five years so go for the money. All those tools will keep you in work all year round.
Only work on price, ideally in commercial because that's where the money is. Become vat registered straight away, employ other people to wear out the bodies and slowly poison themselves. Sit back and count the money.
Just curious when you employ other people, do you give them a salary, pension etc or do you just use their services but they remain self employed? I have often wondered about getting in employees but not sure I could cope with the paperwork and hassle of dealing with all the HR side of employing others, particularly as I like the flexibility of being able to decide at fairly short notice not to work on certain days of the week. I think I'd find it too stressful to try and ensure my employees always had work, unless I suppose they only did regular jobs and I had minimum need to intervene on anything more than an occasional basis. I'm also curious - how do they poison themselves?!!
Have had subbies, I have no staff. That's just me telling my self what I should have done.
Poisoning via petrol fuel fumes specifically two stroke, weed killer, pesticides.
I did it properly - PAYE, pension, paid holiday etc. You have far more control over what and how they work then, also it fitted with my values better. I've seen people do it the other way and then their subbie has had a better offer on a day and doesnt turn up, or just does not fit with the way you do things as well. We also had an agreement that if we didnt work on a day they didnt get paid.
I'm loving all of these tips so far - thankyou everyone for taking the time to reply. I don't work 'on the tools' but I can certainly relate to a lot of your points -- underestimating the time needed to do a job, taking rejection personally, being afraid to put prices up with inflation - it all resonates!
1/ Take one of the many free basic business courses designed for Startups (from Enterprise Trusts or HMRC)
2/ Be clear and document the Jobs/Task you plan to do, how you will do and what is/is not included when quoting
3/ Set up clear T&Cs
4/ Invest a simple Accounts/Quoting package. Present a Professional image IRO paperwork, clothing & vehicle
5/ Find a good small business Accountant. Any fees will be insigniccant to help, support and guidance received.
6/ Invest the best tools you can afford. Have a strategy to fund and/or replace key equipment
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