Moral Earnings

[Stephen Blair]

take the decision out of your hands and give it to a professional, you are too close to the business to take the financial decision that is best for the biz, thats what i did. Get a good financial/business advisor to sort it out for you. If hedge cutting isnt cost effective then bin it, if chipping and removing off site is costing you more than you are earning then sell the chipper and free lance climb. They wont care about the sentimental stuff like how you have done old mrs smiths hedge since you were 15 and she might tell her friends at the bingo you are nice and you might get a job out of it, they will tell you straight and it is amazing the confidence and releif when someone makes the decisions for you. the best advice is i was ever given, was work out who your top 5 customers were, work out what percentage they give your business profit, ditch every other customer and fins another five just like that. For me a i ditched the moaners, the criticisers and the bad payers. now i am doing great and i dont get any grief anymore

[Andy Collins]

Sound, sound advice there Stevie. Kit must be paid for, and replaced, training and re-training has to be paid for, plus all the other day to day costs. I do not do owt-for-nowt jobs. Clients want a good professional service, and are willing to pay for it, why sell yourself short? My morals are quite high, I will fuss about on an old ladys' garden, but she knows she has to pay for it, If you're going to work for next to nowt, you may as well work for a company, have the entitlements and benefits that go with it.

[Stephen Blair]

since buying gloria, and changing all my ways i can afford to spend the extra time i always did do in gardens and put in that little extra bit, my costs are down and my profit is up, the most frequent comment i get now is ' are you sure, wont it cost more than that?' which is excellent for business. the only time i go up th eyard is to turn over the chipper and lorry, which now needs the battery charged as i dont use it enough lol

[Mark Bolam]

It's a tricky one.

 

Because tree work encompasses such a vast range of different jobs.

 

The little black saw sapling fell for Mrs. Miggins? We are on a par with any unskilled manual worker. Any numpty could do it.

 

The kind of takedowns Reg gets involved in? I would say that's on a par with fighter pilots or astronauts! Skill, brain and balls in big measures.

 

Anyone working cheaply for the sake of working just doesn't get it.

 

Those of us with brains should stick to our guns and quote what we know we are worth.

[Robert_S]

Great thread tom, its all down to customers you want to try and get yourself a good client base that pay better money as its difficult getting £400 a day off a working man that does not make that in a week (regardless of overheads you have they dont see that) i work part time because thats what i choose to do THAT is the main reason i am self employed, i can do part time hours for a full time wage, that way i can run maintained older kit and it lasts well as it does not work too hard. For me i learned a long time ago the more i made the more i spent on replacing/renewing stuff i already had, everyone is different and its about finding the place you are happy and content in but not complacent and always be ready to shift and move with the times.

[Stephen Blair]

adapting robert, that is the secret.

[Mesterh]

Should be 40k+ I reckon.

 

Although I bet there arent that many on that much, would guess more around the 25k ish.

 

Thats for someone who is at the top of there game who has been there, done it and can teach others to do it.

 

Its a toughish game with plenty of scope to get killed, injured, worn out and beat up, plus imo a short working career (on the tools properly)

[nailer]

 

I think 30k a year is realistic for an owner.

If it's a larger company I'd be looking towards 50k

 

A one-crew tree firm can make 50K.

[gibbon]

A one-crew tree firm can make 50K.

 

Easily

 

But if you are ltd then the director would have a tax free salary and the rest is a dividend. Therefor it is hard to put a before tax figure on a MD's wage

[nailer]

How you take profits out the business is another topic, but 50K minimum seems reasonable for the work involved. If a tree firm owner was only pitching for 30K would it not be easier just to work as a subbie climber without all the extra hassles?