Paul Jenks

Summary - The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It - Michael E. Gerber If you only ever read one book about how to run a business, this is the one. Skim through the summary, then get the book from Amazon. It's a little bit patronizing as it was written primarily for the US market. However, the core messages are spot on. You'll re-read it as your business develops and more and more of it will make sense. Good luck

Sounds like you need to adjust your spam filter.

On top of this, it's worth remembering that once a company gets to 9-10 staff it's effectively got one person on holiday all the time.

If you take 365 days in the year, minus w/e minus, holiday and bank holiday you end up with 230.

If it's in the shade, old climbing rope will do. If in full or substantial sun you'll need to think about it degrading over time.

Get some reinforced plastic pipe and run the rope through it. It should be long enough to go right round the limb and hang down a bit, then you can zip tie the ends together and it won't 'walk' round the limb. I've done this a few times now. The only issue with swings in trees is the damping motion of the limb. As the swing moves the limb does also and 'kills' the motion so you have to work harder to swing. Also, make sure the rope attachment points are 50% wider than the swing width. This will reduce the twisting of swing in motion. Check out the ones at your local park.

Sometimes this is the case, though often an architect will have some input from an arboriculturalist or arborist. There will have to be reference to the BS as these are are the specifications to which the report refers. This is especially so when specifying the fencing and ground protection. The document needs to be written so that all stakeholders can understand it, how to apply it and what they are not to do with regard to the trees.

The arboricultural method statement forms part of the BS5837 report. Fewer and fewer of LA's now condition planning by giving outline planning approval subject to this or that report. They now look for all the relevant boxes to be ticked and impact on trees is just one that an applicant may have to do in conjunction with the initial application. In short, if a tree or trees have the potential to be affected by a proposed development and are to be retained, regardless of the current protection status, they are to be afforded a level of protection as outlined within the BS5837. The method statement outlines how this is to be acheived before, during and after construction activities. It should give details of fencing in conjunction with detailed site plans. (This may be the minimum level required). It should show where materials, vehicles, cement washout, site welfare etc is positioned. What ground protection is required and where. Whether any activity is required within the RPA and how this is to be managed and supervised as well as how it is to be carried out. It should form part of the whole construction protocol and all workers on the site should be informed and aware of it so that the health of the retained trees are not compromised in any way.

They even look great on my crappy phone

The Stein shirts look good. Trouble is we have to wear long sleeve on most of the road work we do. I like the idea of hi-viz as standard for site work, just like building sites. So much easier to see everyone.

Snot rockets are cool. I can only manage my right nostril properly due to an old break. Tried my left a few weeks back and didn't get enough air behind it. Result; some on face, some on sweater, some on leg.

Don't you just love photoshop. Breasts look great. That vaginal wart seems a little out of control though

How much do you use/want? Can you collect from sites near you? There must be some tree guys around your way who'd be happy to get rid of wood from site for nowt or fire it onto your drive for £10-20 at the end of the day.

Brackets don't look right and aren't particularly localised for laetiporus. Am happy to be put right on this as it's not something I devote a great deal of time to.

Stereum rugosum. It's a strong indicator that the limb tree is unable to cope with regular foliage loss or reduced foliar cover, it is unlikely that significant structural decay has occurred.

I don't recall the exact name. It looks like a saprophite that is living of dead/dying material. It looks like the limb is dying, possibly as a result of historic foliar removal or as a result of it simply not getting enough sun. If it's an internal limb with not much leaf at the end it's unlikely to fail catastrophically, it'll just die.

My 3 kids are full of cold at the moment and wander around the house snorting back what sounds like eggcup volumes of snot and chomping to swallow it down as it reaches the back of their throats. It reminds me of a time when I sniffed one back and it was too lumpy to swallow. It sat on the back of my toungue for a few moments before I had an opportunity to spit it out. Having a good look at it, as one does, it was a complete tube of snot. Should have taken a picture of it. Still makes me gag thinking about it.

After a day bashing roadside conifers aside from a long shower and a few beers, is there anything more satisfying that searching for those crusty bogeys. You know, the ones that seem to be attached to your tonsils and tickle when you extract them. Now,the question is; when on your way back from site do you endeavour to roll it and flick it from the window, wipe it on the seat or on your trousers?

There are specifics and generalities with fitness. Generally one should do some exercise;working, gym,swin,walk,run etc. Eat a reasonably balanced diet, get some quality rest and work on flexibility. As was mentioned with sprinters, they have a <10 second event and will spend many hundreds of hours in the gym pushing weights, climbing stairs and general fitness. The main challenge is that we don't all respond to external stimuli in the same way and some have it easier with their inherited physiology. Some folk are built to climb and some aren't. Some folk have a natural ability to climb and some don't. Some learn and some don't. Some break and some don't. some recover quickly and some don't. The list goes on and the variabilities increase. If you find you fall into the category of someone built to climb with natural ability, learn well, don't break often and heal quickly if you do you're in with a shout. If you're thinking of doing extra curricular fitness then, IMO, you should start slowly and build in to it. Working harder at work is good, though with the caveat that you are rewarded for it. As climbers we use a particular set of muscles and these can over develop causing issues of imbalance. It'd be good to speak to a trainer and get some exercises that develop some of the antagonistic muscle groups that are not used so much in your day to day work. This will balance your whole and reduce injuries. Stretching and rest are very important for fitness, boring I know, but there you are.

The distressing thing is, the cow onsie and the tu-tu are standard attire. And before anyone asks, I had no hand in making or planning it. Now all the adjacent businesses on the farm know we're nuts, whereas before they just thought it. Did make me chuckle though.

We test and measure all the time. 33% conversion is ok for a business when you are working with new clients. It's an officially recognised figure that means your prices are high enough to make a profit. Too cheap and you'd win a lot more. (Obviously there are many other factors involved in the buying cycle.) As you begin to work with clients who are either referred to you or are existing clients your conversion rate should improve regardless of your prices(within reason). You should analyse what you wear, what you say, how you respond to their questions, whether you have covered everything they want. If you give them a price there and then ask them if it's higher or lower than they expected. If they already have a lower price make sure what you're quoting for is the same. Try not to dis the other contractor. List all the things you do as standard; clear up, written fixed price quote, level of insurance, certificated workforce, clear detailed work spec, any planning apps that need to be done etc. Sell your service on quality and professionalism. You must deliver on your promises. Ask them for their help if you were unsuccessful. There is always someone willing to work for sawdust so avoid going there. If someone else gets the job and does a good job learn from it. If you do get the job ask for a referral to their friends. Ask questions and learn from the answers.

Take a look at the size of the buds. They should be starting to swell up now and should be clearly visible from ground level.

Don't get hung up on the detail. Don't try to get it spot on first, second or third time. I used my brothers panel van for a few jobs at first. Chipped into the back of it and had to shovel it out. He was finding woodchip behind the seats for years after. Then got an old LDV tipper and moved up from there. Don't get too much kit until you have somewhere very secure to keep it. As has been said, network with a local farmer to get a bit of space to burn. If you can get that then get a tipper. If you have to go to the dump a tipper is usually pointless as you have to handball the stuff off into the big green waste bins. We do have a commercial skip place near us that takes green waste from a tipper as they get a big processor in and make composted topsoil. Don't get anything on finance until the regular cost of hire is twice or 3 times the cost of the finance. (Your rental pays for service and repairs. Once you have a machine all that stuff is yours to pay.)

I often leave pegs to stand on as they are a bit more comfy than gaffing in all the time. One thing to watch if you do leave pegs is that if you slip, they have the capacity to do you a real injury should you fall against one. Pegs also give you something to hold when snapping off pieces once cut and for your lanyard to rest on.