Winter work worries!

[Dean Lofthouse]

My guy is on a 0 hours as and when type of understanding, and I've been open with him from the off that there may not be 5-6days a week for him over winter.

 

 

 

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Good move...my biggest tip would be to keep your overheads to a minimum, they will increase as and when your business needs to increase them, but let your business dictate that not you

[Quercus-90]

I would live to think that my customers would wait u till feb for work due sooner, but something tells me that I might just end up losing work ?

 

Live the golf club idea, got loads locally so come next week I will approach them with as you say an attractive day rate. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

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[Quercus-90]

Good move...my biggest tip would be to keep your overheads to a minimum, they will increase as and when your business needs to increase them, but let your business dictate that not you

 

Absolutely agree, and for my first two years when I was mainly grounds maintenance and hedge cutting my overheads were minimal, but as demand grew I had to get someone on board there simply weren't enough hours in the week! And we were working with a van, trailer and chipper before which was a massive pain and I think we didn't have the "proper image" so I forked out for truck and chipper.

 

 

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[Paul Jenks]

Keep advertising/networking when you are busy and get out and quote, quote, quote. Even when you're really busy.

There is usually a delay in the quote/conversion equation. Ours averages 3-4 months so the quotes we do now will, on average, come in after Christmas.

 

This also means that we can track trends. I.e. If we get a lean spell with few quotes we know this'll show up as a reduction in workload 3-4 months down the road. This gives us an opportunity to put systems in place to counteract and get some work in.

[kentjames]

Absolutely agree, and for my first two years when I was mainly grounds maintenance and hedge cutting my overheads were minimal, but as demand grew I had to get someone on board there simply weren't enough hours in the week! And we were working with a van, trailer and chipper before which was a massive pain and I think we didn't have the "proper image" so I forked out for truck and chipper.

 

 

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Your in the same place as I am really with business and work. I am about to commit to the chipper, and soon to be truck too, as I cannot keep up with the van and trailer method any more and isnt the correct image - that said we need the chipper and truck to be competitive in our area.

 

I think the key to winter is proper financial planning - set aside money while going is good to cover for those times when there is little work. If you then get work right through to march / april you can use the money for new equipment, training etc before the tax year is out.

 

Set aside adequate monies for advertising too and find a good local rag which is local to your client base, keep the advert simple and current and make sure you get a good deal on long term ad bookings.

 

J

[Perkins]

Hedgelaying

Tree planting

Apple and Pear tree pruning

[Horatio]

Well as things are at the mo were fully booked untill December ish, I have planned to take at least 2 weeks of in jan as I haven't stopped all year!

 

Old mill, I don't blame you for thinking I'm fool hardy for going into this with what I guess could be viewed as a running before I can walk type of attitude, but I believe that no risk means no gain, and if I want to get where I want to be, maybe pushing forward while others hold back could give me an edge..... Or send me bankrupt!

 

Just looking for any methods people use to attract work over the quiet months, don't really want to go as far as nocking on doors !

 

 

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If your booked til December already why are you worrying?

I reckon you should be cuffed as f?!k!

Previous tree tends out my way have proved winter to be the busiest times, yeah January is fairly slow because of people spending too much cash on Xmas. I do the same as the other guy cheaper day rate in Jan.

keep it up reckon your doing well

[mark_goldfinch]

I think your doing really and I hope it continues. Would love to have the balls to start up on my own and guys like you give me some hope that one day it might happen.

[s.varty]

I think your doing really and I hope it continues. Would love to have the balls to start up on my own and guys like you give me some hope that one day it might happen.

 

All depends on your circumstances, if your single ,no kids , go for it you have nothing to lose. married with kids/mortgage, then you have to be sure it,ll work for you

[skyhuck]

Instead of working 5/6 day weeks now, why don't you work 4 and book some work in for the future. Understandably some people want it done within a couple of days/weeks and others don't mind waiting. If you work four day weeks now you won't be as better off now but if you have no work in jan/feb you will have at least something to fall back on.

 

I don't really get this, if he does 6 days a week when the work is there he will have that money for when there is no work.

 

I don't see how spreading out the work makes him any better off??