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Would you not class all that as `work time` ? Include it if you really want the truth.

You operate in west sussex ! I`m pretty confident you could charge double that. £ 600 for 2-man / chipper and truck should be a so-so day. If you really believe you`re worth double, try charging double for one week. You might have no work the week after, or you may be pleasantly surprised. Let us know if you try it out.

Good post, kipperfeet. I admire people who clearly know how to pass on knowledge and skills to others.

Work is what that gear is made for - not poncing about on a snowboard.

I`d imagine they`d be good too.

It`s going to be a long winter - treat you and your staff to this: http://www.mountain-equipment.co.uk/the_gear/clothing/hardshell/morpheus_jacket---406/

Thanks Ed - I recommend him. I have come across other web designers. Very few have the techno know - how and the artistic flair of a graphic designer. The link to his site is at the foot of my pages. I`ve jazzed it up recently; more focus on customer benefits, and less on features. The Blog page is also new.

You can bet on it. I was tempted to do my own for about 10 mins. Then I got a professional to do it. Exactly what I wanted, first time. No hassle. Cost a day`s turnover, or half the price of a business directory ad that no-one reads. Most domestic customers seem to sort out all their household chores while at work, sat in front of their computer.

Possible business plan for start-up, from scratch: one climbing kit PPE for one car mobile phone. Find a two-man tree crew that you can hire as a sub-contractor; they need to be able to haul chip. Get and pay for the best you can. Find another as back-up. Do the same for timber haulage and stump grinding. Set-up a website, pay-per-click, flyers and referral system. Quote all work at top-end prices. Work with your sub-contractors on the jobs to ensure excellent service, but concentrate your efforts on looking for the next job.

Marc, what`s stopping you ? You don`t need a license to give you permission. `Happy with it!`; that`s all the customer wants. They really do not care if you have licenses, tickets, diplomas or swimming badges. Punctuality, courtesy and passion for your business and profession is what gets noticed. imo

I`d go with that too.

It might be worth spending that money on different advertising. If an advert is not delivering results, get rid. It won`t change. I finally got round to monitoring every single call, for 3 months at the start of last year. Tompson Local and the BT directory got dropped at the first opportunity. Good flyers work, but it has less to do with print quality and more to do with content. imo

Hand-written invoices, on branded A5 duplicates, is surely the fastest way to get your jobs invoiced.

Good work, Quickthorn. End of.

What Lee said.

Some trees are more equal than others.

I don`t print it before. I keep a biro in the truck.

I`m not getting one. I`d rather they just said we need some more money and put taxes up. At least then everyone knows the score. They`ll let you off a couple of times before you actually need one.

Bill through the door.

Nicky Butt, Peter Hook and Caroline Aherne. Did a quote for Howard out of Take That.

J the tree, I bought a 1000 and it is brilliant. Had it 2 years. Chips anything and everything: 10 inch limbs ( on low roller speed ), hedge clippings, Russian vine, Virginia creeper, ivy, road cones - you will love it. Ours is single axle. Maintenance is straight forward - oil and filters every 250 hours. Blades and bolts take about 30 mins to change. After sales service from BTrac is first class.

1997 quality pruning. That`s one lucky tree.

I love the work and the business stuff. There is so much to learn. Working out the accounts a few years ago was a good move for me. Accountants` accounts are useless for a business owner. They tell you about last year - not what is happening now and are purely for legal / tax purposes. To get a clear picture of what is coming in and out you need to do it yourself. When I worked out exactly what I was spending on fuel, wages, advertising, vehicles, stamps - the lot, it was clear that our day rate was way too low. So it went up by 40 %. I`d also recently gone Vat registered so our prices had already gone up by 17.5 % . The result: we actually won more jobs and were taken more seriously. Now customers nearly always pay up on time without chasing, are a lot friendlier and far less likely to try adding on freebies. Your customers are not all price shoppers. Take a look at the cars in your area. Was the decision to buy a particular model based solely on price ? When you get quotes from service industries are you not a little wary of the cheapest ? Wondering if they know what they`re doing ? Thats what your customers think about the cheapest tree surgeon. If you are not loving your business put your prices up.

Cool film that, Tim. Some hard graft, exquisitely executed. Loved the clip of the hail storm. Its not blue skies every day, is it.

Please, don`t get too hung up on the `9 years`, and you certainly don`t have to be over 40. If you`re looking to go self-employed and good enough, we can sort you out with at least 2 days a week.