Recession?

[Mesterh]

I'm much quieter than normal. I KNOW that others say they are snowed under, when it is not the case.....can't understand that.

 

Same here we are definitely feeling the pinch. Cant understand either why some also say they are snowed under when you see there trucks in the yard all the time and when you speak to there lads they have been brushing the yard most days

 

Even the regulars dont seem to be calling.

[Mark Bolam]

Just remember it's not worth pricing jobs to break even IMO, even to get a foot in the door. You want a reputation for being good, not cheap.

 

If we all go round undercutting each other a large leylandii takedown WILL end up costing £100! Not worth trying to compete with Did prices. You can't.

And you shouldn't want to.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Just remember it's not worth pricing jobs to break even IMO, even to get a foot in the door. You want a reputation for being good, not cheap.

 

If we all go round undercutting each other a large leylandii takedown WILL end up costing £100! Not worth trying to compete with Did prices. You can't.

And you shouldn't want to.

 

Agree with you. Re my previous post I should really have said that I've stripped away all contigency in this case to get the job - hate doing it, puts the pressure on man and machine right up.

[Rob D]

I'm definately quieter this year than last... which was quieter than the year before that. All the work that is coming through is by word off mouth and previous customers - I certainly wouldn't like to start a business right now. It can be a bit of a downward spiral if things go quiet. Less work means you're not out and about as much - less referrals, less people see your truck and less neighbours/onlookers come up to you halfway through a job and say 'don't fancy having a look at my trees while you're here'.

 

And it is strange how most will always say they're busy even if they're not.

 

I know a lot of the larger operations near me are laying off which will mean a short term surplus of small teams operating in the area but a lot of these will struggle after 6-9 months.

 

Just wondering how much people are charging out there for a days work for say 2 or 3 people? I know most (me as well) charge by the job but generally speaking.

 

I aim to get £400-00 for 2 people and chipper for a days work. £500-00 for 3 people. Hire for a MEWP would be on top of this if needed. If there's some good timber to take away/mill then I'll reduce that price. I'm not vat registered and cover only private work. Some days may go better than others but this is pretty much what I need to cover costs and dare I say it actually come out of a job with a profit. Even though times are quieter I'm not going to start quoting less. We don't get paid nearly enough for the dangerous job we do as it is.

 

Demand for firewood where I am has gone through the roof - last year I sold twice the wood in half the time. I split the wood as soon as it's on the ground and then store in a polytunnel for a year. People are sick of getting wet wood as there are plenty out there selling freshly cut logs. Makes me look better and customers will pay more when they know your wood is dry. Firewood always used to be something you did when there was nothing else to do... Now you can make some proper money out of it and I still split everything by hand. Of course you have to wait until winter to get your money back and that is generally the busy time for tree work but 1 or 2 loads delivered after work is well worth the reward.

[skyhuck]

Quite a mixed bag for 09 so far; Jan & Feb were dead whereas now I'm frantic. It's been mentioned already about undercutting - ditto; I'm finding that people are driving very hard bargains for instance I recently put in a quote for £2280 and that was getting it as low as I could to try and get the job. Client emails to say that another quote was considerably cheaper, I replied saying I'd value the opportunity to try to price match (I have found that a little £lowering has upped turnover) and what was I up against? The other quote was £1200 - 1500! I've matched it but of course the chaps thinking that was going to rip him off 900 squid so why should he give me the work?! If I do get it I'll be only just breaking even which is lunacy but I want a foot in the door with this company...

 

Sick of Joe Public thinking the removal of a large leylandii is £100.00 tho...

Big mistake, IMO.

 

What the competition going to do now?? next job they will go in even cheaper!! will you match that??????????

 

Before you know it you'll be paying the customer for the privilege of being able to work for them:thumbdown:

[Mark Bolam]

Too true.

 

If the customer is a bullsh***er who says he has a quote for £50 - let him get on with it.

[Rob D]

As soon as you drop your price by that much of course the customer is going to think you're ripping them off.... Wouldn't you think that if someone did the same price matching for doing your double glazing?

 

And if you get the job this customer is going to treat that as a benchmark price and expect all the work afterwards to be similarly priced.

 

You've got to stick to your guns and your price. It sounds like your quote was well thought out so keep your credibility intact and tell him/her that for a professional job where you are trained and insured that this is the best price. You never know - the other firm may never turn up to do the job and matey will come back to you.

 

Drop by £100-00 or so to clinch a deal but any more than that and you need to walk away from it.

[Dean Lofthouse]

What I can't understand is how you can drop price, I have sat down and worked out my overheads very carefully. Once I have an average for my overheads for the year I can then divide that by days worked to get a figure of overhead cost per day, I then add my wage on and obtain a MINIMUM day rate.

 

I CANNOT work for less than this otherwise I will end up with shagged out equipment and no money to replace them.

 

If a customer expects me to work for less than this they can get another quote off someone with less overheads or less business sense, it makes no odds to me.

[dodger]

lucky enough to work for a large company that has 12 years work infront of them pick up a very good wage and dont have the worries of finding working

[Rob D]

I know in the past if I drop my price then all I do is try to get the job done faster in order to turn a profit. I'm not sure how many injuries out there come about as a result of fatigue and rushing but I would imagine quite a few.

 

If you're struggling that much for work then there's only a few alternatives. You can diversify and do more landscaping, gardening type jobs if they're about or you have to downsize and lay off one of your employees. It's not about being fair or right but it's what you have to do to survive.