Why does tree work pay so bad in comparison to other trades?

[devon TWiG]

Spoke to a friend today who works for an insurance company and he said yes any incident does need to be mentioned and no it wouldn't effect your no clams.

Sorry if I got on anyone's nerves just wanted to clear it up for my own personal peace of mind, so I know what to do if needed.

Thanks for the help people

I too was surprised when a transport manager at a firm I drive a lorry at occasionally, mentioned it !!

[RichieR]

Did it fall out of a copy of plumpers monthly

 

Bob

 

Yes Bob funnily enough

[Mesterh]

Where did you get your hands on a copy of my business plan?

 

From Rab.

[skyhuck]

A member on here called Rupe, put forward a very good point some years ago.

 

From time to time we all underprice a job, if a customer gets enough quotes they will get a someone who underprices, so a fare portion of work is being done to cheap, this can then drive down what customers expect to pay.

 

Another point it small firms trying to grow will sometimes work at "cost" just to cover wages, waiting for "better times"

 

The bottom line is WE are ultimately in charge of quoting our price.

[flatyre]

Is the falling price of tree work due to small businesses undercutting the big operations, or have the big guns become victims of their own success? I'm a one man operation, running a very simple setup. I can win work without 'undercutting' anyone and contributing to the falling price of tree work. When someone asks me for a price I give them a price based on the equipment I'll use on 'that' job, not what's parked up at the yard. At a local level I've seen the bigger firms putting in 3k prices for one day jobs, I might charge £300 for the same job. Question is are you charging based on the size of the job or the size of your business? Obviously the bigger the firm the bigger its overheads and the more it needs to charge. From what I've seen small firms taking work from big firms and big firms taking work from small firms is what's driving the price down. Add to that every handyman with access to a chainsaw is out there moonlighting as a tree surgeon!

[william petts]

I find it funny when some say that firewood is too much hard work for a poor living blah blah blah, the point is peoples mind set, in the end of the day money is there to be had so go and get it , if you cant be bothered dont moan and dont moan at those wbo can be bothered and say ohhh whys he getting more than me

Another thing money aint everything, one thing that really pisses me off is those who say there skint but always have a fag in there mouth abd can go down down the pub each night!!!!

[Samraff88]

Just taken a full time gardening job on a permanent contract. Salary + overtime + sick pay + holiday pay + pension. Less hours, less stressful, easier work than the tree work i have been doing for past 6 years. So how come it pays £4000 more per year? Just doesnt make sense to me.

 

Must have been working for the wrong companies or not pushing yourself enough. No gardener i know makes more money than me or any other Arborist who is working at a good level also. I thought gardeners were getting about £8 an hour?

[hamdogg]

As a a small business and not VAT registered I bet I win 50% of my domestic work from other bigger firms charging the dreaded 20%, a lot of people hate paying it! But then on the other hand as a company being VAT registered has its advantages, sorry if I sort of derailed a bit!! 😁

[benedmonds]

From time to time we all underprice a job, if a customer gets enough quotes they will get a someone who underprices, so a fare portion of work is being done to cheap, this can then drive down what customers expect to pay.

 

Another point it small firms trying to grow will sometimes work at "cost" just to cover wages, waiting for "better times"

.

In addition to that, larger firms in quiet times may price cheap just to pay wages, waiting for busier times..

[devon TWiG]

I think Skyhuck and Flatyres last posts are pretty much spot on !! As flatyre says large firms with loads of kit have a pretty high "man day rate " to cover overheads but can this be justified when just doing some conny bashing , trimming and light pruning small felling etc ..I have done some pricing work for a large company some time ago and found it hard to tell a customer that it will cost £750 +vat for 3 guys to spend a day trimming shrubs and hedges ..... however small companies just can't always take on large jobs ( big roadside dismantles for example ) some works fit one business model and not another and as for how well it pays compared to other industries I think it is about right . not all plumbers etc make great pay and I expect many of them think tree surgeons do !!!