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Being my own boss
I would never earn what i do doing anything else
BAD POINTS
Accounts
No summer holiday
My gardens a tip
Tax.
Ive had a pension since i was 16 and pay a fair bit into each month even if its a small amount it all adds up.
I maintain all my equipment on really wet days when theres nothing else to do.
I also take my holiday from october onwards its not the best solution for the family but its the only one doing what i do.
The only time i thought ive had enough was in spring the grass was growing a foot an hour and trying to keep on top of it was a nightmare the weather made in ten times worse and to top it off some guy came up to me blaming one of my staff for scatching his car ( it was no where near where we were working ).
I thought i cant go on with this is it worth it, a week later i had forgotten about it all the sun was comming out i i thought i love what i do.
We all go through really bad spells you just have to stick with it, the way i look at it as long as i have a roof over my head and enough for a decent standard of living then iam happy.
Yup some days are bad, but if this is persistent then probably time to step back and take some action. Too much to do and too little time and no little reward?
Philip has posted elsewhere about working out hourly rates to cover all costs and make a profit. Can you modify previous quotes to save time, or make a note whilst doing a job of how long it takes to build up a reference base for future quotes? There's some sound stuff there. That'll start to take care of the financials.
Personally I go back to photographs of the work that I've done, and comments received from clients and then I know it's worth it. Learn also to say no to clients, or to explain that extra jobs will take longer. Are you underestimating the time it take to do a job? It's happened to me a couple of times so now I simply compensate by adding a day or two to each quote.
Take time out, and if you are having a really bad day go home. You'll get twice as much done the following day in less time. If you don't do so already keep a large notebook and write all notes, contacts, jobs to do in it - it will save having to carry everything around in your head. Tick them off as you go. If you have anything niggling you then put aside the time to either deal with them or ditch them rather like a good spring clean.
Do you work alone, or can you hook up with anyone else for the occassional job? Yes you will share the income off the job, but 'many hands make light work' and you'll then be able to fit more jobs in. It's also useful to have someone to bounce ideas off as well to help lift heavy things!! All the best.
You don't say if the jobs you quote for are being won or lost due to the price. If you are losing work to others and you are not more expensive than them then I think you need to work on the publicity side.
I employed a roofing contractor here three years ago because he sold himself well and confidently. I paid €32,000 for my Pigeonnaire roof. The quote I rejected was €23,000.
The winning bidder was an older man who sounded excited and passionate and the younger losing bidder less enthusiastic. I know now from the experience of awarding the work to the older man that I did not gain any benefit and I was not 100% happy with his work (we have a leak around the window due to poorly fixed zinc flashing).
I have since regretted the decision and I have learned from others that the younger man, who had not long started his enterprise, was gaining a great reputation. The clincher was the publicity and lengths the older guy went to to sell himself.
If you are losing work because you are too expensive then try to look at this closely. You might find that you can trim the estimate with efficiency improvements at the execution stage. It is always easier said than done and the larger your company, the harder it is to be efficient.
I went through an exercise about ten years ago where I increased all of the prices on contracts that were not performing. In 99% of cases, clients agreed to the increase. I then diteched anything that wasn't making money.
I then upped the price of any new work, took on less but worked hard at being efficient.
I won the Contract for Petersfield Town Council in 2000 (which my old company still retains to this day). The contract was (at the time a big mistake) but I worked on efficiencies in both my operation and the council system and by the time I left my company, the contract was worth over 300% more to the company.
One of the secrets is the advanced paperwork. Don't throw in extras out of good will that are a cost to you. Only throw in an extra if it is a loss of your own time at the end of a day or it involves a material cost that is already written off.
I am off out but I will return to this later....
If we are honest I think we all get days / weeks / months when we feel the same!
On my domestic / small residential side of the business, over the years I have found that doing less is more profitable.
You can fill your day with the 3 teams doing 60 clients a day at £15 per lawn which brings in £900 or less clients but slightly higher quality work, for example 40 lawns at an average of £25 which is a £100 more income and one van and two staff members no longer required.
See my blog at https://landscapejuice.ning.com/profiles/blogs/looking-back-on-2008-and
Phil was spot on when he mentioned about reviewing performance – over the last few years I increased prices particularly on those accounts that just didn’t deliver a profit. End of last year I ditched nearly 100 clients and reduced the amount of regular garden maintenance. If they didn’t fit my business model they had to go. On paper the loss of turnover was scary but the bottom line profit didn’t change.
Focus on what areas are most profitable and don’t be afraid to turn work down if it doesn’t tick all the boxes or as Pro Gard has mentioned – hike up the price.
I try and keep Mondays fairly light as to allow for bank holidays, catch up days, quotes, machine servicing and those extra one off jobs that crop up or the odd day off. Yes you can get time out and if clients don’t appreciate this – ditch them!
The other days I try to ensure that we have a sensible balance of work and of similar type this way we are maximising our efficiencies and not wasting any time.
Joining forces with other companies and sharing skills helps lighten the load and allows you to take on some of the more challenging jobs but it takes time to build up trust and it is a two way street which unfortunately not everyone appreciates this and you soon find out who your friends are! Just be careful that if using this approach you don’t take your eye off the ball of your core business.
I still get the odd day when I think is it all worth it but then the phone will ring and you get confirmation of that cracking job that you have been chasing. Rain days always stress me out but I have learnt that I can’t control “mother nature” and found other jobs to do.
I guess in a long winded type of way I would suggest to have a long hard look at your client base, the type of work you undertake and where efficiencies can be made.
Not knowing how you handle regular work but have you considered selling packages to these clients encompassing maintenance, lawn cutting, lawn treatments, hedge works etc. and then get them to pay you a fixed amount per month. Just 10 clients paying £60 per month ensures you a regular fixed income which is particularly useful over the winter months and will hopefully cover your core expenses.
Best tip I can offer is to pick your top 10 clients and ask them for referrals – you will be amazed at how many additional clients you can get – your existing clients are your best sales team and it costs very little. I will Email you my client referral letter which works every time.
Don’t give up, take a few days “off the business” and review all options, formulate a business plan based upon the client / work base that you want and remain focused.
Struggled badly like that last year - v. stressed. Went into hospital for a routine operation and realised that I was running around like a headless chicken but not really working. This year has been different. Have had to I had to look at work/life balance and work things around the kids and not the business and am now getting the life I wanted when I first went self-employed. However, last year, I truly thought I was losing it because I was so stressed with everything. Then I went into hospital to have my gall bladder removed and realised I needed to change my work/life balance around.
I get up at 6am to do paperwork for the 1st hour of the day when the house is quiet. I can't do paperwork at night, that's MY time. I also found if I did paperwork at night, I didn't sleep properly. So in the morning, I'll sort out wages, banking, paying invoices etc. I've also had to put in some profit/loss accts, cash flow accts etc on the computer which means I'm always up to date with banking, invoicing etc. Internet banking has also been great for me. We also invoice on the job, otherwise if it's quoting work then I'll sort it out on a week-end. Plus I have an accountant for my own tax.
I'll go to work after the kids are at school and nursery and work then, pick them up from school/nursery and when I get home sort out phone calls to customers then. If it's raining during the working week then I phone the customers and ask them to be flexible for the week (usually they are!!) and go to do the wet weather gardens we have. I have a Friday off only because I have my little girl on that day and source plants for customers then. If I have to catch up with customers I'll do it on a Saturday.
All customers like reliability so we have a diary system (like united nations diary - awful!!). That has really turned things around for us and we slot customers as to how they'd like to be seen. It can be hard and we do struggle with it. I'm currently putting in the lady who works with me through an nvq in amenity horticulture and we'll do her training on the job and get her signed off then. The man who works with me does the maintenance of tools and equipment.
I have to say though Robin, it's taken me 2 years to get to this point where finally I feel that I have the right balance with my life. Your profit/loss accounts are a must, as they highlighted to me where I was going wrong with the business. I also have a cash flow account on the computer which shows me at the drop of a hat what will be going out. Usually, the cash flow will not correspond with the profit/loss accounts because cash flow is just that - always going in and out. However, just so long as I can look at the profit/loss accounts and say - right this month, we made a profit then I'm happy. I have to say though I am far from perfect but now I charge for everything, weedkiller that I've used, plant food, yet to introduce charges for cheques at 20p as the bank charges me. Anything, I can sell I'll put on an extra 20%
I hope that my reply has helped. Good luck