Retired Climber

My first thought is always to make sure there is money in it for you. We always used to use the very rough rule of knowing that an employee will cost you twice their hourly rate. Make sure you can charge them out at more than that. 

On 21/10/2021 at 15:15, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

 

 

As I have to remind the Mrs, if I wanted her to have an opinion, I’d tell her what it needs to be....  🤣

Haha. That I can believe. 

Did you take advice on those discount levels? It's impossible to give accurate advice without data such as your customer lifetime value and your average spend per transaction, but those discounts don't seem optimal to me. 

There's been a lot of research done by some very knowledgeable teams in this area, and there's a lot of research data available if you want to optimise such things. 

How exactly are you using these discounts, and where exactly in the customer journey are they being told about them? It's really important when giving discounts that you gain leverage from doing so. If you don't, you are simply giving money away. 

22 minutes ago, Rhyanna96 said:

Opinions are like a*seholes everyone has one 🙊🙈

Whether they actually know anything or not. 

6 minutes ago, AHPP said:

 

You do rub people up the wrong way (and I should know…). I don’t mind much because your contributions are usually pretty well considered, however brusquely put, but it is possible to be uncompromising and still convivial.

 

I take your point. 

3 minutes ago, Rhyanna96 said:

Also important to have humility and accept everyone has their own experiences and each persons opinion/experience should be valued and taken on board. I like hearing everyone’s opinions and experiences so I can take what I’ve learnt and do what I think fits for me and how I see things to be as professional as possible so I can avoid getting into disputes for those firms I work for. 

Whilst I see your point, I don't agree. I only really post on subjects about which I would consider myself an expert, or at least those in which I have a great deal of experience or expertise. When someone then posts a load of poorly thought out nonsense which contradicts my point (whilst at the same time being full of holes), I tend not to sugar coat my objection. 

I don't lack humility (far from it in fact), but I do admit to not suffering fools gladly. 

8 minutes ago, Hodge said:

Here we go........retired climber, I should of expected this when joining a thread you have posted on......I'm trying to say that yea have a contract but at the end of the day it means nothing if they don't pay you.no doubt you will shoot me down again...you are like the man that shit himself.....he knows all about it. People like you are never wrong, clever as the days is long...nice one. I've only been back a day and you just rub me and countless others up the wrong way..adios...

I'm not trying to shoot you down, I just don't think that saying a contract isn't worth anything is useful to the OP or anyone else. A contract is incredibly useful when it comes to collecting money owed; nothing more, nothing less. 

Edit. Have you noticed that those who I "rub up the wrong way", are always those who say something stupid, then get in a strop when I don't agree with them? 

13 minutes ago, Hodge said:

Yea it is. I am nearly putting another opinion in the mix. Speaking from experience.

I'm not sure what that opinion is, based on what you've written. You said "contracts mean nothing", but you agree you should have one?

45 minutes ago, Hodge said:

You can write a contract that says your payment terms are at the end of the day but that does not mean the person you are contracting for will abide by said contract.....I hear story's of subbies round my way waiting weeks for £120.....it's a piss take imo. I pay my guys on completion of the work they were brought in to do. I then wait for the money off the customer.....I charge enough that this is worthwhile and I also have a good overdraught!!
Contracts mean nothing. I have payment terms on my invoice of on completion of agreed work, but when I'm doing commercial work they expect you to adhere to their terms of 30days take it or leave it.

Having a contract is still a good idea. 

1 minute ago, Rhyanna96 said:

@Retired Climber thankyou for the advice. 

The long and the short of it is this. Get yourself some terms and conditions written, and get them signed before you do any work. That way, you've got something to fall back on if people mess you about. 

Do make sure you are actually a self employed contractor though. 

Just now, Rhyanna96 said:

No contract? But I’m considering putting a clause in my invoice of monies to be paid where due within 24 hours of invoice.

There is always a contract; it doesn't need to be written. 

Anyway, if no agreement was made before hand, you'll just have to negotiate when it gets paid. 

Nothing written on an invoice after the fact will be legally binding. You need to contract prior to acceptance; there's no point adding clauses to an invoice. 

10 minutes ago, Rhyanna96 said:

@Retired Climber sub contracting, invoice at the end of the day. Unless working a full week I usually expect to be paid at the end of the day, after the invoice is sent..

In which case, it depends entirely on the contract. 

7 minutes ago, Rhyanna96 said:

Slightly off topic, but chasing people for invoices and the general rule on payment where monies are due? 

I don't lift a finger until I've been paid in full these days. However, for most business transactions it's dictated by whatever is in the contract. If you were subbing, we'd need to see a copy of the contract and T's and C's before telling you how to proceed. 

Are you sure you were a bonafide sub contractor, and weren't just a cash in hand worker who should technically have been on the books? 

I've seen similar from very irregular watering. Trees that are subject to drought and waterlogging sometimes split in that way. Not seen it on that species though. 

7 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

I get where your coming from Treevolution, and agree to a large extent.

Mick makes a very valid point though.

 

I think it was Retired Climber on here who said his day rate was £384.

 

If Danny Mac who climbs for me wanted that I’d happily pay him it, because he’s shit hot.

BUT he wouldn’t be in very often.

 

I could price it in to big complex takedowns ok, but not on day to day stuff.

That's only the rate I get directly from homeowners who value what I bring to the table. I've looked after most of their trees for 20 years, and they'd not want to look for anyone else. I'd never be able to charge that as a freelance climber, subbing myself out to other tree firms; I simply couldn't do enough work in a day to make myself worth that in those circumstances. 

44 minutes ago, Stubby said:

?  What I meant is air fed directly to the stove   (through a pipe ) from out side will be colder than air from the room so will contain more 02 which in turn supports a better combustion .  It all goes up the chimney what ever way you choose .

Higher density air does technically contain more oxygen for a given volume, but it also contains more of everything else. For this application I can't see it making even the slightest difference. For an F1 racing team, air temp and density are very important, for combustion in a stove, not so much. 

You are going to need to learn to articulate your ideas if you want to find people to work with. There are loads of ways you can approach what you are trying to do; all of them will require you to build a coherent and persuasive 'pitch' in order to get people on board with your ideas. 

9 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

It’s where I do most of my arguing. 😁

Could you not just get someone to copy and paste "I need everyone to know how much I earn working off-shore", into every thread? 

That would save you an awful lot of typing. 😀

14 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

Write something constructive Mike.
I do have a little experience in these matters.

Pretty much everyone on the forum has experience in these matters. Most of us are (or were) professional chainsaws users with many years of experience. 

15 minutes ago, Stubby said:

The only reason I mentioned milling is that RH does a lot of milling and I don't . I still think its bollox though .

Yep, understood. I'm not for one second pretending I know more about milling than RH (I don't). I don't think his suggestions are useful for the OP though. 

2 minutes ago, Rough Hewn said:

A new chain will stretch.
A hot chain will stretch more.
A cold chain contracts.
I’ve had a 361 shown to me with the whole clutch mechanism doing loops.
People who are new to saws often have difficulty tensioning chains.

We know all of that. None of it makes your statement about having to loosen a chain true though does it. 

Ps. I've deliberately ignored the parts of your posts that are wrong, in the interests of avoiding a semantic argument which won't help the OP. 

20 minutes ago, Ratman said:

I rub some oil right round the whole bar when i fit a new one, drip some in the nose for the sprocket to get a head start with it all, maintenance is my day job so its just how i think. But i have been called a fanny before now, on more than one occasion!

I'm all for a bit of mechanical sympathy, but telling the OP he MUST, loosen the chain or he will bend the crank is firmly in fanny territory. I doubt if the OP will ever even need to buy a new bar, never mind bend the crank. 

20 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Yes . Its bollox really . After a days cutting the chain will be slackish any way . Need tensioning before the next sharpen up . Never in all my life has a cooling chain bent a crank shaft !   EDIT . May be different for milling .

I get that it's different for milling, but we aren't talking about milling, we are talking about a bloke cutting up a few bits and pieces for firewood. If he's new to the world of saws he'll be spending more time moving stuff than cutting, and I really can't see the saw working that hard (or hot). 

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Get a rag and rub a bit of chain oil on the bar before you use it.
When bedding a new engine in…
Try not to Rev it too much outside of a log.
After each tank of fuel, give it 45-60 minutes to cool.
Keep the chain tensioned correctly.
If it sags after a few cuts,normal for a new chain.
When you’ve retensioned and finished the first tank YOU MUST detension the chain or it will stretch as it cools possibly bending the crankshaft.

Does anyone bother with this stuff in the real world? 

Where does the specific time of 45 to 60 mins to cool come from? 

I've never taken the tension off of a chain when I'm done with it, and have never bent a crank. 

Only just noticed it. 

Willow Oak?