Starting a business at 21?

[Botty Cough]

Start with £100k in the bank and see how long it is before you run out after buying kit you will need and setting aside enough money to pay a groundie and insurance 

 

Don't forget people take ages to pay and some don't....

Edited February 22, 2024 by Botty Cough

[rapalaman]

With new customers, I always stipulate payment on the day the job is complete at the quote stage. I’ll wait till that payment hits my account before leaving unless it’s cash or cheque. Will soon get a card reader too I think. Been messed around a few times and won’t work for those people twice. 
You soon get to know who you can trust to pay later that day/evening etc

[Botty Cough]

3 minutes ago, rapalaman said:

With new customers, I always stipulate payment on the day the job is complete at the quote stage. I’ll wait till that payment hits my account before leaving unless it’s cash or cheque. Will soon get a card reader too I think. Been messed around a few times and won’t work for those people twice. 
You soon get to know who you can trust to pay later that day/evening etc

I give people 2 weeks. ...

You have to take the rough with the smooth.

I have also returned removed trees to non paying customers driveways which when done late in the day seems to cause problems blocking in parked vehicles when wood chip and logs are tipped .....

[Mick Dempsey]

2 hours ago, Botty Cough said:

Start with £100k in the bank and see how long it is before you run out after buying kit you will need and setting aside enough money to pay a groundie and insurance 

 

Don't forget people take ages to pay and some don't....

Total bollocks.

20k tops gets you going in domestic tree work, and 95% of the time you’re paid almost immediately. 

[Mark Bolam]

I totally agree Mick.

It’s an unfortunate statistic, the first one.

[Mick Dempsey]

It’s why it’s great Mark, no regulation, next to no HSE in domestic.

If you know what you’re doing, can take a risk and can bend your back all day, you’ll never be short of money in treework.

Anyone who can’t is FoS.

[Rich Rule]

Good luck.

 

I am trying not to be too critical here but learn how to form a sentence, use capital letters and punctuation.

 

It may be trivial but the first impressions stand out.  That was my first impression.

 

If you send an offer out to a potential client, at least spell check it and use correct punctuation.  There are plenty of tools out there to help.

 

Don’t just take pride in your practical work.  Take pride in offering your services in a professional, presentable manner.

 

Good luck.

[Mick Dempsey]

Blimey Rich,  the long winter nights in Norway are making your posts a bit Bergmanesque!
Roll on spring.

Edited February 22, 2024 by Mick Dempsey

[Mark Bolam]

Regarding payment in domestic work, start hard and stay hard.

(Commercial work is completely different).

 

When I started out I was soft as shite.

Even had 14 day terms on my paper quotes, because that is what my old boss had.

 

It just gives chancers 14 days before they start dicking you around.

 

Working for millionaires who’d watch two of knock our nuts out all day for £300, then say at the end - ‘Lovely! Send us an invoice.’

 

It was pretty hand to mouth in the early days, so one day I drove home, printed the invoice on my wife’s printer and dropped it off to them.

 

’Lovely, we’ll put a cheque in the post next week.’

 

These days I explain at quote stage its bank transfer on completion.

If I get ANY pushback at all the job isn’t going to happen.

If they want to argue about money before they owe me anything, what will they be like when they do?

 

’We won’t have the money for a couple of weeks, is that ok?’

 

That’s fine, we’ll do the job in a couple of weeks then.

 

You get the idea.

 

As others have said, at 21 I’d work abroad for a bit mate, even for a couple of years.

Oz or NZ for me.

 

Another advantage is that most UK trees will seem small and easy when you get back.

Takedowns anyway.

 

Rich’s advice is good as well.

Loads of arbs are dyslexic for some reason, including some of the best posters on here.

The written word is very important, take the time to get it right.

 

Good luck, certainly sounds like you’re made of the right stuff.

[Joe Newton]

29 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Blimey Rich,  the long winter nights in Norway are making your posts a bit Bergmanesque!
Roll on spring.

Fair point though. A crap tree surgeon with a well written quote stands a much better chance of getting the work than a decent lad who doesn't present his business well.