Are we all rubbish?

[Tom D]

Reading Dean's log burning thread got me thinking:

Why haven't logs gone up in price in line with electricity and gas, mine are the same price they were 5 years ago, the same could be said for tree work, costs have risen but have your prices?

Are us tree surgeons really bad businessmen? We all know the big businesses look after each other really well, like the energy companies and oil companies who only compete "in theory" while in reality prices remain high and they make huge profits.

"There are only 6 of them" I hear you say, "and loads of tree surgeons", so we can't have a cartel.........yet the plumbers manage to get consistently high rates for their services, as do joiners and sparkys, are we alone in the trades as the only suckers who will work for peanuts. Why is this? do we like the job so much that its irrelevant how much we earn, we'd do it for free? Or are we secretly all hippies who are not into the money "thing" and would rather barter our services for nuts and berries, (or stella in Mark Bolam's case)?

Perhaps we just don't have that capitalist gene?

 

What is the answer? I do think that (generalising) as a group we are a little more aloof than the general public and possibly a bit more hippyish, or maybe thats just those of us who come here on AT. I also think that as a bunch we tend to have a much stronger work ethic and would have far more interest in doing a job well than being paid well to do it.

In reality we should be paid well to do a good job, sadly thats often not that case.

 

My theory is that a self employed tree surgeon who has a van, chipper and a decent groundy ought to earn 40k+ for himself, how many actually manage that? Its hard to compare self employed income with salaried income as there are many perks to being self employed and you pay a lot less tax too. However the point I am making is that someone in the above situation ought to have the lifestyle of someone on a £40k+ salary.... do you agree?

[monkeybusiness]

Great post, I totally concur!

 

Let's start price fixing - how about £800 per day for 2 man team with relevant kit? I think it sounds like the right money, and you'd only need to do half as many jobs to earn what most do now anyway! Less wear and tear on kit and people too.

 

I'm in, let me know when we all start!

[Woodworks]

I will start by saying I am not a tree surgeon but from reading these pages I get the impression some members earn quite good money. I don't begrudge them this as it appears many work relentlessly in a dangerous industry that requires great skill at the highest level.

Do joiners earn good money? I am a furniture maker by trade and the pay is dreadful but that is the price you pay for doing a desirable job. I can see why plumbers get good money. It looks tedious and dull yet requires quite a lot of qualification so they get payed well to get anyone to do it.

[Rich Rule]

There are lots of tree surgeons who have done well Tom. They just do it as a job and have no interest in Internet socialising sites like Arbtalk.

 

So the way I see it is they are in it for the money. They do alright and it is a job to them.

[Stephen Blair]

There are so many variables that will influence a pricing decision.

 

Personally I've always made good money since the day I started self employment.

[skyhuck]

My father and brother are both joiners, I earn more than them.

 

I have two friends one is fencing contractor and the other is paving and civil's contractor, they have both found the recession very difficult.

[Mark Bolam]

Very thought-provoking post Tom.

 

I just bumbled along for years because I enjoyed the job.

I now appreciate much more that it is a business. The more businesslike I become the more I earn. I can't say I enjoy it as much though.

Maybe I am a hippy, man!

 

I will barter for Stella. It is reassuringly expensive!

[monkeybusiness]

My father and brother are both joiners, I earn more than them.

 

I have two friends one is fencing contractor and the other is paving and civil's contractor, they have both found the recession very difficult.

 

Why have you only got 2 friends? Maybe you should get out more!

[john p]

If I stopped spunking all my money on utter shite I'd be relatively well off, there is money to be made doin trees!

 

 

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[unimog 72]

why same log price for 5 years ive put mine up twice in that time the problem with tree work is the muppits who work for nothingdoall the easy jobs and dont have the kit totackle the diffacult im expensive and keep busy if im quete im not wearing my kit out