forestboy1978

How to avoid that headache though... I drank like 5 litres of water on Friday and still had a banging headache.

Yeah you're a different league than me. Don't know if I want that responsibility but could do with "a" person who knew some of my work as well or almost as well as me.

Yes but only clearly if I take the guys on the books. They will be deductible cos HMRC simply cannot claim that a training course that makes a team member legal to on site and covered by insurance is an expense not an investment. One would think....

I got it last month. Mine was worse haha

I dunno if it's worse than pouring incessant rain. I've had to get soaked anyway with the sprinkler system on to soften the bone dry and solid earth anyway. Going home at the end of the day just absolutely shattered and slightly burnt is getting tedious.

It is torture! Literally!

How's everyone finding this heat? I rarely do landscaping, mainly fencing, but it seems if ever I have to manually dig the earth out of the ground in 10's of tons it's 30+ degrees. Which is my current endeavour BTW

I don't ever want to totally down tools cos I suffer from depression if I'm not physically active every day but that said... can you spend a day in the office and send them out without catastrophe when needed or do you have to be on site all the time?

good ****ing point. Dammit!

Who says they should. That's the point. A lot of people want the flexibility.

Good info. I find I get a check or semi check on all those categories except that I don't get an invoice. I give them a receipt of their labour..

I mean this is the thing.. If I could find someone who could actually do my job, or even 1 major part of 3 of my jobs I could justify taking them on but I can't. So I use guys who basically get instructed but if they are full time if I'm sick they get paid for doing nothing cos they just can't do the job without me. How the hell does that work exactly? I have to take my holiday when they choose to take their holiday for same reasons above. You try finding a good fencer or landscaper who turns up to work every day rain or shine and works in the most diverse and often shitty environments, is hard working, thorough and polite to customers, for 25-30k per year so I can down tools once in a while and actually try and run a business. It's pretty hard to do. The other problem is you've got to take on ALL the shit when you have full time guys. Like every damn job to keep working coming in. I pick and choose my work. Turn down 1/3 or more of what comes my way and earn a good living. If I've got a detailed job to do that is almost impossible to do in the pouring rain I bung the guys some cash for being available and sometimes meet them at the pub. This is one of the many reasons I'm doing tree quals cos though yeah it's a shit to do in the rain and branch walking etc aint pleasant but the tools are waterproof and you have 5-15 machines and maybe some kit bags to take out and put back, not 100s of individual tools that rust and sometimes 20+ large tools and machines etc.... so rain or shine you can work to some degree. Can't lay a patio in the pouring rain...

I know you weren't mate ?

yeah but I know people who like saying yeah I can work this day and that day and what have you. What the hell is unscrupulous about that. I did agency work. I loved it. Got no holiday pay or sick pay as I recall but earn't more and picked where and when I worked.

Then how does anyone EVER pay for a sub contractor?

I literally hate the bureaucracy of this country. ASAP I'm out!

I give him a subcontractors labour receipt which indicates the amount payment he receives, for when it is done, and he puts his name and address on it and signs it and I send it to my accountant . Same as I always do for everyone. What's the issue?

Well he's not exactly full time. He likes 3-4 days a week. This year I've not had anyone on the books due to excessive training of myself and not be able to be on site. I am looking down the contract route for the future. Him and my old employee from last year are brothers in law and he wants his job back. Both happy for 4 days a week so I can have a days admin in the week and hopefully free weekends again. I'm a fencer btw. Just qualed as a tree surgeon i.e bloody good fencer but crap tree surgeon. Not sure which way I'm going with it ATM.

Yeah I have 1 quote to do when I get a free moment on a clearance job but that aside no calls for trees yet. Eager to get going but I am not going to be doing anything at all out of my comfort zone. Aside from climbing high up bloody tree and cutting them up of course.. The irony...

Yeah I'm gonna send my current full time sub on a weeks training and pay for that but not wages whilst training and up his to £90 per day. He's pretty awesome.

Yep, it's easy to look as the owner as the Dr Evil character with his finger on the button but I agree. If he'd banged out 5 tickets etc and then left I'd be peeved as well. 17 years old or not.

Max 3 guys not including me at any one time. I have no full time staff atm. I'm really seeing no incentive to going back that way either.

I don't blame you for not signing it but I don't think it's particularly unfair of your employer. It's not my style but I see the logic in it. I wouldn't expect much training though lol....

Tough one. I scratch peoples backs. They scratch mine. Most of the time it pans out. I give employees some extra cash at xmas and all tips go to them including my tip when I'm on site working with them which is nearly always. Also, nearly, as much as I look for ways to make me more money, I look for ways they can earn extra cash too, be it on the side or what not. There's lots of way you can earn respect. Biggest one I find is never ask anyone to do something you're not willing to do or have not done many times before. And when shit is at it's lowest, admin or not you get in the thick of it. I'm talking as a small biz owner though. Obviously if you're big and you've downed tools long ago the rules change but I don't really have that ambition or desire frankly.

Wow you must be Scottish!