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Showing results for tags 'business'.
Found 11 results
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I am just starting up a flower farm in a walled garden on the estate. The entrance to the garden is a bit tight at 2.5m but I have had wood chip delivered there. I have a plastic sheet set up by the entrance to dump wood chip on and you can either reverse in straight to it, or drive in an maneuver on the grass.
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Hello all, I'd like some advice please? I am considering offering a chain sharpening service in my local area, as part of a wider range of sharpening services to provide some sideline income. My plan was to buy the 'top of the range' Oregon 620-230 sharpening grinder which seems to cover all chain sizes, and has the addition of a hydraulic lock to remove the need to manually clamp the chain before each grind. My fears are that I'd be throwing £300 away on a machine that would barely see much action (other than the few chains I'd sharpen for home use). Am I right in thinking that you professional arborists all either sharpen your own chains by hand in the field, or own such a machine yourselves and will sharpen all your chains on a Sunday morning? A person advertising online was charging £7.50 per chain, which I thought seemed a bit steep, but I'd like to hear the members' opinions. If I didn't have a market within the arborist community, I don't think the few domestic users that have a saw for firewood/pruning etc would provide enough income to pay for the machine in any reasonable timescale, so it might be a dead duck of an idea. I was a member years ago so I know the good natured banter here and I'm awaiting some 'good ol' fashioned p-taking' and the like What do you people think? Also, if you have views on such machines vs hand sharpening I'd be willing to hear those too. I'm a bit worried that the hydraulic feature is jest another thing to go wrong, like floor jack, hydraulic presses etc, which invariably leak and lose pressure as the seals degrade. Over to the floor.....
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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could help me out by participating in this questionnaire for my BSc Arboriculture & Urban Forestry dissertation?! 🌲 🌳 If you find the time, at the other end of the link there will be a brief description of the project, some notes on GDPR and why I believe it is integral research for arboriculture moving forward - the questionnaire itself should take no more than 5 minutes! Thanks very much for taking an interest, I really appreciate it! If you could like and share around with others, that would be great. Kind regards, Jacob. Microsoft Forms FORMS.OFFICE.COM
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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could help me out by participating in this questionnaire for my BSc Arboriculture & Urban Forestry dissertation?! 🌲 🌳 If you find the time, at the other end of the link there will be a brief description of the project, some notes on GDPR and why I believe it is integral research for arboriculture moving forward - the questionnaire itself should take no more than 5 minutes! Thanks very much for taking an interest, I really appreciate it! Kind regards, Jacob. Microsoft Forms FORMS.OFFICE.COM -
Good morning. My first post on the forum, although I have spent a lot of time over past months reading info from knowledgeable people on here. The long & short of it is I’m looking at setting up my own business this year and any advice/guidance from people who have been there and done it would be greatly appreciated. Currently working at a garden in the in the South West. It’s a nice job but but only paying 17k a year and can’t see that going up a great deal in the near future. I’m 30 next week and with kids likely to appear in the not too distant future I think now is the time to pull my finger out and get something of my own set up. I’ve been in estate management for the past 4 years and before that I spent about 6 years in horticulture. Tree/chainsaw work probably makes up 50% of my current job role. Over the past 2/3 years I’ve found that it’s tree work were my true interest and passion lies. I have a varied skill set and am not shy of hard work. I’ve held my cs 30/31 for about 3 years and have just recently got my 38/39. I have lost of chainsaw/chipper/groundwork experience and am looking to improve as a climber throughout this year. So basically (if you’re still listening after all that waffle) towards the end of this year I’m looking at getting a 3.5T tipper and chipper and starting up my own thing. Hoping to do a mix of climbing for myself/other people as well as subbing my self as someone with a chipper and tipper. I’ve got vehicle storage and also room to store logs/chip. Im going to reduce myself down to 3 days a week at my current job and just start with this 2/3 days a week and then hopefully transition fully over a 12/24 month period. I have lads at work who can be grounds men until it’s worth taking someone on and also the more experienced climber I work with is keen to give me a hand when needed. Im hoping to get set up with about 12k (could push this a bit more if needed) and going to slowly buy equipment over the year when things come up at the right price. I’m going to increase my arb knowledge as much as possible by working alongside the more experienced climber at work as well as reading up on principles/practices in my own time. So, am I being realistic here? I know Arboriculture isn’t a get rich quick scheme and it’s hard work. But I enjoy the work and from my research so far I’m confident that once established I should be able to bring home more than my current salary at the end of the month. If anyone has any input that would be great. Is any time of year better/worse to start ab arb business? And if anyone could tell me their 3/4 most valued books on Arboriculture that would be great (esp to do with rigging and tree pruning/reduction). Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I hope over the coming years I can become a valued member of the community. Cheers, Rob -
Hi Guys & Girls, Moving to the North East (Hartlepool) in a month or so (Mrs has a new job), what is the work availability like, generally speaking? Are there regulars on here from the same area of County Durham at the moment? Any feedback would be helpful with regards to your own experiences from starting out in this area. (Have certs 30,31,32,33,38,39, PA1 spraying, cscs & will refresh my first aid before the move. Also had approx. 700 hrs geo and structures Rope access experience although IRATA has expired now). Cheers, Stuart
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Hi Guys, 2 great courses coming up in June for any South West Arbs out there looking to either take their business forward or update their SRT knowledge... Arboricultural Business Basics - 20th-21st June - With Paul Elcoat Using presentations and open discussion you will be well placed to reflect upon the position and performance of your business in today’s competitive market place. You will have the opportunity to discuss their own situations with Paul Elcoat, MD of Elcoat Ltd who has first-hand trouble shooting experience of around 200 arboricultural contracting businesses and Simon Cox, one of the Associations Technical Officers with experience in commercial contracting operations. Venue: Stonehouse Court Hotel, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire Stationary Rope Technique - 22nd June 2017 - With Scott Fraser Calling all climbers! Don’t miss out on this great SRT event in a stunning venue… A 1-day course organised by the AA Western Branch at the beautiful Buckfast Abbey, with Scott Fraser. This event will cover the theory, history and background of Stationary Rope Technique before moving on to practical demonstrations and application in the afternoon. The course provides information on significant hazards, components their selection and configuration and forces upon anchors. Thursday 22nd June £60 -
Good evening all, new to site and first post If this is not in right section please move. As my title suggests I am one of those people looking for more information with regards to tree work and furthering my business. I will give a little back ground first which hopefully will assist with any answers / questions that may come from you more experienced people. I have been around gardening all my life with my father and both uncles all in the trade so to speak - I didn't take after them and went into the plod for 11 years, however times changed in the force and I wanted to be outside more often as I really did miss it and probably didn't give it enough time when I was younger. Fast forward...... I currently have a garden maintenance company with one full time employee, the business is doing well and we are growing after four years in May. We have just VAT and with most my domestic customers taking the hit. Over time we have conducted the odd tree job - nothing major as such - pollarding, fruit tree pruning and other conifer jobs, coupe of take downs and tops out of trees. The work has been great and a nice addition to the portfolio. However we are getting more and more requests and with out estimating, now this could because we are doing it a little cheaper than most (not intentional) or we are doing a good job. Either way I am not complaining. The issue I have is that I am although not scared of height and happy to climb am not trained in any way. Is it worth me spending the money of training etc to be a climber? or do the basic tickets as a ground person and employee a climber when I need them. My uncle ran his business in this way for many years as he could not even stand on a step ladder! Again is it worth buying a chipper and a small arm truck and using it this way and do a 50 50 split? There are numerous other questions to ask but I will get onto them as responses come in I guess. Thoughts / advice / discouragement all welcome R
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Just wanting to get some business name ideas?
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Hi all and welcome. I see by the forum rules that posting links to business's is not allowed , and thus I assume promoting business in any way on here is not allowed? Thus although probably no, would I or my web developer be allowed under any circumstance be allowed to post a link to my own business website that I am associated with for a small bit of promotion and back linking or would this strictly be prohibited? Regards.
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Do you think it's best to specialise in one service / sector or offer a range of services? Being a specialist can bring in clients looking for just that - an expert in the field, (no pun intended!). It also makes the choice of vehicle, tools, equipment and even employees that much easier. Your website can be heavily focused on that one sector, (a bit like Arbtalk really), and can reap benefits from that. Keeping up with training and H&S requirements might be easier as well. You might be able to command a premium rate for your service or through specialist equipment and staff, simply be able to make much more profit on a standard rate. Having said that, what's the downside? If demand for your specialist services rises and falls, so does your income. If your service is particularly affected by the weather you might find yourself sat at home with no wage coming in. You / your business could offer a range of services. This can help spread the net wide and bring in a variety of revenue streams. Diversification allows you to offer more services to your customer base and often clients seek out companies / individuals who offer a one-stop-shop, keeping the whole process easier for them. Diversifying can help keep the work interesting. Perhaps you'd get bored doing effectively the same task week in week out? Diversification also brings its own headaches however. Firstly you're perhaps no longer viewed as a true specialist. You're vehicles, tools, equipment and employees all have to be geared to a range of services with the danger that you're not really optomised for any specific task. Vehicles are a good example of this; a specialist might buy and equip a vehicle ideally suited to their trade. A business carrying out a range of services often wish for a pickup one day, flatbed the next and a panel van the day after! Targeting a website or adverts to a range of services has its challenges, (as we all know!). You're often trying to be all things to all people, which has the danger of making you look a bit unprofessional, (or unbelievable). So what's your take on it? Is there any real one size fits all answer to this and what are your experiences of being a specialist in one sector OR someone that offers a range of services?
