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Clutchy

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Everything posted by Clutchy

  1. Clutchy
    For what its worth, I can't think of any scenario where being a sole trader is best. Out of interest, why/how have you come to that conclusion? Also, a bit of positive pressure is good, failure is not an option has to be your mentality Sounds like you've got 1 foot in 1 foot out. Go hard or go home. You need the 'I'm running a business' mindset from the get go and to treat it as such. Anyway
  2. Clutchy
    Totally get what you're saying about including sole traders, I'm just saying we can't get the data so lets move on from that small part. They are included, we just don't know how many, we also don't know how many limited companies either I genuinely don't know, but are there large domestic only tree companies? I suppose if you have very wealthy domestic clients, they would still be calling. I really don't know haven't been in business during a recession before.
  3. Clutchy
    Maybe. Working 5 days a week is part of running the business, you should have work every day, not like you can have staff sitting around or decide to not pay them that day anyway. Having finance debt doesn't mean you're more likely to fail IMO I'd say its more to do with what £££ you're bringing in everyday, not having any 1 single client that are more than 10-20% of your work and having a good mix of domestic and commercial work. If you can't afford the finance on a van and chipper, you were never running a proper company to begin with. Companies with financed kit get a lot of stick on here but there are huge benefits. A KNOWN monthly cost, warranty and positive pressure to increase your daily income inline with your expenses. Much harder to do on a old and potentially less reliable van and chipper that is really hard to factor a daily running cost as you need to allow for future replacement within.
  4. Clutchy
    I can't understand any situation where not going limited from day 1 would be better. Are you a sole trader by any chance? This really is semantics in reference to the OP though... the data I provided was for frequency of google search terms, I'm sure we can discuss the topic for now without the knowledge of number of sole traders.
  5. Clutchy
    Our industry really means you should have a limited company, makes no sense to be a sole trader IMO
  6. Clutchy
    Its just google search data from 'trends' not specific to me at all. My neg list mostly consists of 'cheap tree surgeons' 'cheap tree surgery' etc haha
  7. Clutchy
    What tree company isnt on companies house? If there are any 1-2 man companies on here that have not got a registered company, what are you actually doing? They honestly don't even come into this discussion and I believe they would be the absolute minority of tree surgeons (ignoring subby climbers)
  8. Clutchy
    It should be data pulled from companies house, so they wouldn't need to be VAT registered to show up on it. Hard/impossible to tell true numbers as we all use different SIC codes for example some say landscaping services, others related to forestry. Its a bit of a mess there is no arb specific one afaik 6-8inch chipper sales might be the easiest metric
  9. Clutchy
    Been messing around with our ads recently and noticed a huge drop off in the last couple of months, so thought I would have a look at search volumes before blaming our marketing company. We are in a fortunate position where domestic work makes up less than 12% of our turnover, but for those predominantly domestic companies who have rapidly taken on more gangs during the covid tree surgery gold rush period, what will happen now that searches have returned to normality and thus demand has returned to normal levels? We would now have an excess of supply right? Especially given how many new companies started because of long lead times during that period. I am trying to find data on number of new registered companies with our industry SIC codes but looks like we all use different ones, maybe someone can check. Given we are heading into a recession, are we about to see high levels of insolvency or am I missing something?
  10. Clutchy
    So we already pay for 1 physio session a month for any staff who do physical work for the company, I can confidently justify this given to damage we do to our bodies. My next question is that I would like to pay for all staffs gym memberships however it looks like it would generally be classed as a benefit and therefor BIK would apply. Totally makes sense in an office. However can we not justify that it is wholly and exclusively for business use as being fit and strong for our work is paramount? Not sure if anyone has looked into this
  11. Clutchy
    Hi, the site has not finished yet. @daltontrees I would be inclined to agree normally but this site is worth circa 18 million and the council will try and extract value through fines I believe if not done correctly. I think I need to protect my client as much as poss. Just incase anyone was interested. I have contacted the individual planning person from the council relevant to this site (found on planning search). Here is the convo thus far: The response: So guess we will see.
  12. Clutchy
    The tree is not subject to a TPO or within a conservation area but has been listed as a retained tree on a BS 5837:2012 survey. The tree has died from natural causes, looks like draught and is a silver Birch. Client wants to fell and grind, happy to replant with another (8-10cm standard jobby). Who do I speak to to get this consent, or does it even need mentioning (I suspect it does). These houses are worth quite a few mil so need to get it right. TIA
  13. Clutchy
    Rates of pay were around £900 for 3 men and a MEWP - So a loss maker essentially They also think you are on site for 8 hours each day and known to hold back on payment with issues or when CM's don't send it through to accounts payable. Their mantra is 'we don't want to grow our future competition'
  14. Clutchy
    Utility through GC is terrible
  15. Clutchy
    I'd do an excessively large grind, and remove the majority of the grindings, back filling with soil and seed. I would also charge around £850 + VAT so I can bring the grinder and skid steer (on one trailer). Interested where others would be in regards pricing. I seem to get caught out on stumps sometimes.
  16. Clutchy
    Been using ours for a few months and couldn't go back to the old way when on rigging or MEWP jobs. Really good. I use mine to listen to music when stump grinding but its too quiet. Also the ear defenders aren't as good at blocking the noise from the chipper.
  17. Clutchy
    Thank you, just ordered, lets see what its like 🤞
  18. Clutchy
    Yeah, I think you're right. Will just keep buying. Just found that the head is replaceable on the fiskars for only £25 so will keep doing that. That other company looks good but at 1.5k its just going to get run over and make me mad haha!
  19. Clutchy
    Hi, just wondering if anyone had much luck with telescopic (4 meter) bypass pruners that don't work on on strings and pulleys (Too slow and very frustrating to use). PFA Since using these a couple of years ago, we can't go back to anything else, but the problem is they seem to break in one way or another within 3 months. So currently replacing every 3 months at a cost of around £70 + VAT which isn't too bad but kind of annoying. We use the Fiskar UPX86 mostly but the previous gen was a little better I found. We found another set on FR Jones Wolf Garten RR400T Power dual cut extendable bypass tree lopper (400cm) – F.R. Jones & Son WWW.FRJONESANDSON.CO.UK Which lasted a similar amount of time. Anyone got any recommendations? I appreciate they are probably designed for the domestic market but would be happy to pay £250 a set for something designed for daily commercial use?
  20. Clutchy
    This, this, this. 100% with you
  21. Clutchy
    Yes a lot get 3 quotes but you drastically increase your chances of being a solo quote if you email your quote over same day which I always do. Our conversion rate is probably low at 20-30% but if it goes above that I know its time to put prices up In regards the climate, we have for the most part moved out of domestic work. It was our goal this year as could see an issue in tree work anyway based on a lot of local firms rapid expansion. I don't want to be fighting over scraps when they start to get quiet and need to keep all the boys busy as it were.
  22. Clutchy
    I already do, the HSE and once you employ 5 or more you really need to take it seriously. I don't have anything to hide with my work so no problem with people checking, but the issue would be the lack of checks, making the whole thing a lead weight for those compliant and a leg up for those who aren't Licensing likely isn't the answer. People not knowing that they are running a business is the main issue. Knowing that you can charge a lot more than the 1.5k people have stuck in their heads as a limit for a 4 man crew would also be good. If im quoting solo for a big builder, I can comfortably get away with 2.5k a day for 4 men. As soon as anyone else is quoting you can kiss goodbye to that 😂 Whilst you could say im not competitive, it does however show that clients ARE willing to pay these amounts and it is only ourselves who are getting rates down
  23. Clutchy
    Short of some form of licensing which lets be real, won't be enforced, nothing. Also I have my reservations about licensing as we all have to start somewhere.
  24. Clutchy
    Basically. And the amount who allow customers to disrespect them by not applying cancellation charges etc etc Not charging the right rates all comes down to people not understanding that they are creating a semi profitable job and not a profitable business. If more were looking at their GP's and net profits , return on capital and so on, they would see why they need to charge more. They will also then be able to allocated a day a month for yard days, training, tool box talks etc because there is significant profit to allow for it. Not just getting by. The barrier to entry for domestic work is so low (no quals needed, no insurance check, cash in hand employees) that a lot can do it (often badly) which degrades the trade.
  25. Clutchy
    The biggest problem in the UK arb game is that most tree companies are ran by tree surgeons and not as a business. Everything stems from that.

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