is it really worth it

[eagleye]

every industry with self-employed bitches about being under cut

im not saying every cheap price equals a rubbish job but joe public thinks the quality of a £300 job will be the same as a price of £800 and you cant blame them for wanting to pay less most of us probably hunt around for a nice cheap price on stuff we buy

why pay £1000 for a saw when jones do it for £750

[felixthelogchopper]

every industry with self-employed bitches about being under cut

im not saying every cheap price equals a rubbish job but joe public thinks the quality of a £300 job will be the same as a price of £800 and you cant blame them for wanting to pay less most of us probably hunt around for a nice cheap price on stuff we buy

why pay £1000 for a saw when jones do it for £750

 

Because it's still the same saw and still very good service. To be comparable, you would need to buy the saw from F R Jones but then go and collect it yourself or accept having no warranty.

[eagleye]

Because it's still the same saw and still very good service. To be comparable, you would need to buy the saw from F R Jones but then go and collect it yourself or accept having no warranty.

 

the point i was trying to make the customer believes their getting the same standard/quality job with both prices and in a lot of cases they probably do

but a lot of people on here seem to think a cheaper price = a bad job

if its getting too competitive perhaps its time for a change

the same thing happened with the building industry with the influx of foreign labour everyone was getting under cut

[Graham w]

Graham,While I applaud your good fortune there are elements in the trade that "do it for the wood" and to be honest on fallen timber that poses no risk crack on and good luck! but when i get called in to remove timber from someones Roof because some idiot thought" i can do it for the wood"it gets my goat! this puts us at risk clearing up your mess tying up our time and resources,not to mention upsetting arranged work schedules.

Twice in the last year alone I have had the pleasure of this experience, I feel it is irresponsible of you to post as you did, promoting undercutting of pricing, potentially lethal work practice,and giving bad example to younger members,

While i do not direct these comments at you directly i feel this needs to be said for others to see and maybe realize the risks involved,if you are fully ticketed and Insured and competent in takedowns and removals then no problem Apart from the perceived value of the wood? Really….. i take it you took it home split and stacked it,left it season in a dry shed for 1or 2 years, loaded it and delivered it to your paying customer,not dropped it straight from the removal site ?

Well have said my piece and i'm sure most will agree that these people are doing themselves and the industry no favors turning a quick few quid in an irresponsible manner, and yes i rose to the bait:thumbdown:

 

thats a fair point and first sorry to have caused folks upset.

 

as firewood is one of my main jobs i bought wood from a land owner and felled the trees as everyone else dose. when i was finished the land owner asked if i would look at the 3 elm in her garden, i did and felled them professionally so she was delighted and asked how much i would like? having paid for her other trees i said i would do it for the wood.

 

the elm were dead for a few years so virtually all seasoned and ready to sell. the branches were cut in to nets and the smaller stuff was cut as kindling into nets (people love hardwood kindling) so i left the site with two and a half loads of firewood (2.2m3 per load so 5.5m3 and about 15 large nets i sold for £6 each) you do the math 5.5 x £70m3 + £6 x 15 = £475

[ArthurBottlesworth]

Just to stoke the fire i pay for standing timber cut it and stack it for a year before I get paid for it. That's the nature of my job. And it's 38° here and the sun is shining:001_tt2:

 

Sounds like perfect life to me...

[dgcunningham]

It's like any business isn't it? Poor plan = poor business?

 

If the market it saturated in your operational area then you have to do something about it (other than undercutting on price and joining the race to the bottom).

 

If your market has very low barriers for entry-ie domestic where the client won't necessarily be 'educated' to the fact that people 'should' be trained in their profession, insured etc then you WILL lose out if your competition doesn't have the financial overhead of these things you pay for? I'm not trying to offend anyone here but that's the case yes?

 

Maybe try to educate the client in your locality or raise your business to the next barrier of entry- AA contractor, CHAS etc etc and leave the others to fight over the scraps on the domestic market?

 

Hiring the local village hall and giving a positive talk to the WI or some other organisation-(horticulture club etc) about the benefits of responsible tree management might work wonders for your client base.

 

Identify the market you need- create it if it is not there or adapt your business to provide the service the target market requires.

 

Looking around Sheffield, where I live at the moment there are so many people with tow behind chippers and transit tippers, combine that with it being the climbing capital of the UK- well you can imagine.

 

[Andy Collins]

I cannot compete in this area on the prices some are working for, I do not intend to try. I have had to diversify, supply other services related to the trade, things that others don't or can't do.

If you can't make the way you run your business pay, change it. I have read and heard this so many times over the years, and no doubt it'll still be a hot topic in years to come.

[Tom D]

These threads do my head in, you can't compare your "job" with mine or anyone else's because every tree is different.

I have done jobs just for the wood, in fact the last time I paid the customer for the privilege, but there was £15k of wood, it took us 3 weeks to fell and extract. But who is going to go and prune leylandii just for the wood??

 

You all talk about day rates... is £1000 too high? not if you have the right kit, I have made well over 1k a day with just 2 men, but if you have the right kit on site...... its about how much work you get done, not how long the job takes.

 

If you had all your saws stolen tomorrow and you can't afford to replace them the same day then you are not charging enough. You should be making enough profit to replace significant items of equipment on a regular basis, i.e. year one new saws / climbing kit, year 2 new chipper, year 3 new van, year 4 new stump grinder, year five new saws again.... you get the idea, this is over simplified, and for many items will not be brand new but newer, but.... if you are not doing this then you are not charging enough.

 

The way I see it you and your family should have a comfortable life, be able to afford a decent holiday, live in a nice house, have a pension, and not feel like you are scrimping and saving.... Are you? have you? will you?

 

If not why not.

 

As the employee its easy to look at prices for jobs and think the boss must be loaded, the reality is somewhat different. The problem for many is that they leave employment thinking they can do it much cheaper than their old boss, in reality they can't. Unless of course they live hand to mouth and job to job, always scrimping and saving, spending all their time repairing old knackered kit because they don't charge enough to replace it regularly.....

 

If you remember nothing of this thread remember this; there will ALWAYS be someone cheaper then you...... BUT they can't do ALL the jobs... So when you loose a job to the cheap guy rejoice! because thats another day of his hand to mouth existence taken up. and thats one less day he is competing with you.

[Kenty]

Diverisify.

[jnoon]

Here in cornwall dont think you will win any work for £1000 a day , unless you have large team. I charge £360 day for me and another guy and we seem to be lossing a lot of work at mo cos we are too exspensive.

 

 

The cypress was two days work atleast with other trees to work on aswell, to be done properly, lowered over a shed & house, waste all chipped and taken away so it's not £1000 a day mate