Starting up small business

[Will Cobb]

Any advice on setting up a small part-time business like weekend work. but to eventully grow in to a full time business what equipment to start with, what kinda day rate for cutting in a wood just genral advice please

[Yorkshireman]

Hi start with a search on arbtalk for recent threads this has been discussed loads

 

food for thought

 

1 if business was easy then why isnt everyone doing it ? !!!

 

2 a good tradesmen doesnt always a good business make..

 

3 the grass aint any greener on the other side of the fence, it just looks that way

 

However if you dont try you'll never know

 

Ask Hm tax bods re tax liabilitys . then work out what its going to cost you over the whole year, not just the here & now for equipment breakages overheads inc downtime then divide the costs by weeks / days & backwards engineer a cost , that will be what you need then it depends on how productive you are as to whether anyone is prepared to pay that to you for what you do.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Yorkshireman

[Andy Collins]

you could start with the absolute minimum kit, or take the plunge and spend boatloads of money on kit. The world is your oyster, but you have to be capable of using your equipment efficiently and safely. You will need a vehicle, some saws, ppe at the very least, whether you have a brand new truck is up to you. I suppose you could get going for around the 5k mark, and hire in chippers etc as you need them. Its all very open ended. Have you taken your tickets for saw use yet, if not training is strongly advised, and another cost to consider. What is the market like in your area for another tree business, most areas are at saturation point. Can you offer a service that isnt available in your area?

[Littletree]

Hi there starting small is the best way slowly building kit and exp starting with the small jobs so not to bite off more then you can chew . Keeping up your main job will ensure you don't land in the red so if the work does /does not come in then you are not going to struggle for money and you can keep smiling .

 

If you want to get more work ,combining the chainsaw work with gardening you will capture a larger market so be prepared to do some grass cutting/strimming as well as the cross cutting/ felling /climbing .this will help to get you known . You can charge a slightly lower rate for the gardening to the chainsawing work . The rates you will get will depend on your exp and the part of the country you live . give some local company's a ring and ask what they would charge you for there different services they offer this will give you a guide .

 

You can stat with a few bits of kit so not to brake the bank . A saw or 2 a strimmer and some hand tools and a small van to get about in . The more you apply yourself spreading the word and your cards the more will come back . remember no job is ever to small !!.

 

All the best Eastwater:thumbup:

[Highland Forestry]

Any advice on setting up a small part-time business like weekend work. but to eventully grow in to a full time business what equipment to start with, what kinda day rate for cutting in a wood just genral advice please

 

This question comes up practically every week on the forum - why not use the 'search' function on the menu above to look for similar posts, there's loads of advice there.

 

 

g'luck!