Landscaping in 2009?

Having read some of the many articles on the effects of the credit crunch on small businesses, I wonder how it will affect my small business and how other garden designers and landscapers around Glasgow, and indeed around the UK, will cope with the coming year.I’m still with my wife’s family in Portsmouth, having spent Christmas here, and will be celebrating Hogmany tonight and welcoming in the New Year. Being in the south of England for a couple of weeks has certainly allowed me to relax a little and remove myself from the direct responsibilities of running the business, but it has also allowed me to gather some alternative impartial opinions on the credit crunch and its consequences.My wife’s father and step-mother both work within the public sector here, as do many who live around Hampshire due to the concentration of military and government bases down here. What has become obvious, and has been debated by some in the newspapers of late, is that those within the public sector will probably have a very different experience of the ‘credit crunch’ than those in the private sector.We have witnessed the wholesale failing of the banking system and the many job losses as repercussion of this failing. We have witnessed the failing of stalwart high-street icons such as Woolworths and Wittards amongst others. Some high-street retailers will obviously benefit in the short term from these as their share in the available retail market increases accordingly, but it is curious that the finger of fate as far as these examples have proved does indeed seem to be fickle and there are many who will lose jobs and become worse off for this but many who will remain as normal, even if with some stress of uncertainty.The public sector however remains relatively unscathed and those who work within it might even become better off in 2009 as the VAT cuts and lowering fuel and retail prices come into effect while their employment and salary remain stable.So how will all this ultimately affect those within the service industries; and in particular landscapers and garden designers; who are more or less in a tertiary market and as such are wholly at the mercy of the economy?Well I, for one, am confident that, since our target market are primarily those in a middle to high income bracket, there is still a wealth of property equity out there that can be invested in home-improvements: and these are exactly the type of investments people have made in the past when the housing market has slumped. Not only that; there is a clear difference in experience of the credit crunch thus far between those in the public sector and those in the private sector - and this does not seem to be a trend that will change significantly in 2009. There is therefor still a significant portion of the population who will in fact have an increased disposable income which will be circulated throughout the rest of the retail industries and keep small businesses breathing.So I am not going to hang up my sketch-book and shovel just yet: it will certainly get tough as some competitors will inevitably suffer and fail while others will in fact ‘up the ante’ which means that while there may be fewer bones to chew, it will be those who sharpen their teeth the keenest who will survive the months ahead. I have my file out right now!Nicky PattersonGardenImprovements.com

Susan I would be grateful of this and shall reciprocate in kind - I think your idea of passing on details of those drift-away clients is an excellent idea. I have found that the reasons why these prospects fall away so casually never seems to be a negative reflection on my business but rather for very different reasons - they might have baulked at the cost analysis and be too embarrassed to return to us for example - so the introduction of another firm may appeal to them as they are now informed buyers and can make a fresh approach.

This is a good idea and i think we should use the Glasgow forum to post these opportunities to our competitors?

As for sub-contracting; I have found that, for the scale of projects in question, as we are set up as the main competitor we have much higher overheads than those at sub-contractual level and that as a cost this might not be feasible. What do you think?

"Personally I think it's gardeners time to cash in we've been cheap for to long and now that people are lazy we have the pick. I've got 9 big jobs on a waiting list for when I have a gap.not to mention all the small gardens I'm at £35hr now and…"

"I bought a no name petrol blower on eBay for £30 as temporary fix. I expected it to last 6 months but 2 years later it's still going strong. It's a copy of the Stihl Bg 56. You don't always get what you pay for. "

"Hat's off to you for persevering with them Graham. Surely one of the best aspects of British life is blokes patiently and skillfully fixing things in the shed. Sounds a nightmare product to me, whether it was a blower or something else, I wouldn't…"

Comments

Susan January 7, 2009 at 7:45am

Well Nicky I will happily pass on any work I can, if you are willing to reciprocate! I think this is a good time for competitors to help each other. So for example if we go and see a client and dont hear back from them we can pass on the details to each other...that sort of thing? Or perhaps if we have too much work (that would be great), there are subcontracting opportunities...
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 7, 2009 at 4:56pm

Susan I would be grateful of this and shall reciprocate in kind - I think your idea of passing on details of those drift-away clients is an excellent idea. I have found that the reasons why these prospects fall away so casually never seems to be a negative reflection on my business but rather for very different reasons - they might have baulked at the cost analysis and be too embarrassed to return to us for example - so the introduction of another firm may appeal to them as they are now informed buyers and can make a fresh approach.

This is a good idea and i think we should use the Glasgow forum to post these opportunities to our competitors?

As for sub-contracting; I have found that, for the scale of projects in question, as we are set up as the main competitor we have much higher overheads than those at sub-contractual level and that as a cost this might not be feasible. What do you think?
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 27, 2009 at 11:52pm

Susan I should have said here 'main contractor' not 'main competitor' - that changes the meaning slightly!
Susan January 28, 2009 at 4:55pm

Freudian slip maybe hehe. I agree its tricky to see how that would work, and also there's the problem of the subcontractor driving up in their own vans, and that doesnt look professional if they have a different name on the side and you havnt told the client you are subcontracting.
Nicky @ GardenImprovements.com January 29, 2009 at 10:33pm

Definitely right - having said that the majority of Residential Extensions and Developement work is carried out like this so perhaps not so unfeasible. At least I hope not since contracting in tradesmen is part of my new "streamlined" business model!!