Open Association of Landscape Industries
As a garden maintenance contractor can you manage to keep working throughout winter or do you take a holiday?
One aspect of garden maintenance that puts me off is that it is not seen as a profession that can be carried out all year round.
Poor weather is something that cannot be changed. But my concern is the the lack of customer demand as many see winter as a time when there are no garden maintenance jobs needed.
If you are in this profession do you agree and, if not, what work is there that you would persuade a customer needs doing during winter? Being in the garden maintenance profession, can you manage to work throughout the whole year (without taking on indoor decorating jobs!)?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by T & S Plants on
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Paul, if cheap is the option for your business, and being below the VAT threshold helps you and your business to achieve this, I respect that.
As most within the industry know, Garden Centres mark-up by 2.4% on plants, or double plus VAT if you prefer. So if you buy plants for genuine Trade, like they do, and double, you could make money. This is a fact.
We also work 60 odd hours a week, selling plants to those within the Trade, to people like you. We close for our annual holiday, for around 10 days betmeen Xmas and New Year.
Each to their own, if we all thought the same and agreed on everything, life would get pretty boring.
Paul McNulty said:Personally, I don't get involved much with supplying anything now I'm purely a maintenance business. The cash-flow isn't worth it, and I have to keep under the VAT threshold as 90% of my customers can't claim it back. Suddenly becoming 20% more expensive than other rivals isn't clever! If a client wants a couple of plants, it's not worth me going and buying them trade, adding a mark-up to cover my time, and then they moan that it's cheaper at Wyevale! When I was running larger projects I added anything I could possibly sell on to the customer, but not now.
I do push winter projects to clients, but they tend to be things like pressure-washing, taking a few overhanging branches off a tree, dividing or moving plants if the weather's suitable, that kind of thing.
I'm no millionaire, but working say 50 hours per week when the work's plentiful and the weather glorious does allow you to save up for the lean months. Add the bits of work you do from Dec-March, and some contract work paying year-round, and you should be able to take time off in winter without panicking. I work when I can, last Sunday I got in a few hours whilst the better half was clothes shopping. The alternatives were going with her, or staying at home doing nothing much, so it's not a hardship.
T & S Plants said:
It is a popular misconception that Maintainence Gardeners do not sell plants to their clients, without this for our business, we would be dead! Guess the point is, those that cannot or will not make the sale to add value to the project, this has to be the question.
So is it lack of knowledge, or lack of sales technique to equip any business to work year round?
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Paul McNulty on -
On the contrary, I work on being expensive. Going in cheap just makes them treat you with no respect! As no private clients, nor many commercial clients such as landlords, are VAT registered, you really are fighting as a small maintenance business if you go over the threshold. Hence, as a one-man-band I let most clients buy their own materials, saving me the turnover, and the time and cash-flow.
You say double the trade price and I'll make a profit? Where are you based, as I could change my business plan! I pay about 65% of retail plus VAT as a small user of a trade nursery. By the time I drive there, pay with my own money, deliver the plants (or other materials), invoice the client, bank the money, you get the picture. When I turned over a lot, it was worth it, but for the occasional, say, £100 order it really does pay me to send the client to buy the materials themselves.
T & S Plants said:Paul, if cheap is the option for your business, and being below the VAT threshold helps you and your business to achieve this, I respect that.
As most within the industry know, Garden Centres mark-up by 2.4% on plants, or double plus VAT if you prefer. So if you buy plants for genuine Trade, like they do, and double, you could make money. This is a fact.
We also work 60 odd hours a week, selling plants to those within the Trade, to people like you. We close for our annual holiday, for around 10 days betmeen Xmas and New Year.
Each to their own, if we all thought the same and agreed on everything, life would get pretty boring.
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by David Cox on -
As I did a few last of seasons today, I realised, alot of my customers are Elderly, or busy business people themselves and Many of these people dont actually "use" their garden alot due to time and health constraints. The maintenance is hired in due to any combination of having a lack of time, experience or skill or even desire to get the garden sorted every fortnight - What they value is that when they want to enjoy their garden - they look out and don't see any niggling tasks to do, and instead see an attractive, maturing outdoor living space.
These people are not using their gardens in Winter, and as such that "value" these customers have for the service diminishes in winter, and all but hibernates once its too cold to use the garden as a Living space.
Some of these customers are keeping monthly visits, others are stopping until march - It depends on the customer and the Garden.
What I have found very effective is pointing out that instead of having a big spring start up visit, and another big visit later in Spring to plant up the bedding plants - spreading the work over winter works out the same for many customers, and reduces my Hectic spring diary abit.
As always, everyones business is different, and each to their own.
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Dan Frazer Gardening on -
Likewise - 2 new enquiries today - one is acceptance of a quote for regular maintenance I gave earlier in the season, another is a one-off job that came via the website.
There is lots of winter work out there!
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Permalink Reply by Cesare Harradine on -
I find that summer is just keeping the grass and weeds down. Winter is when the interesting stuff gets done!
You get a bigger bang for your buck in winter. An hour or two spent this time of year can pay great dividends come spring.
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Permalink Reply by Colin Hunt on -
Please feel free to PM me if I can help you out.
Jane Heath said:In theory, it sounds great but I would worry about scaring a new client away when they realise how much it is going to cost them. don't you ever find it puts some people off?
Colin Hunt said:I think we have been here before, but annual contracts(paid in equal monthly installments) are the way to go in professional garden maintenance.
There are 101 jobs that need to be done in and around the garden. Price them all up, lump them together, sit down with the client and explain that for a monthly cost of X, ALL of their gardening needs will be met, with no nasty surprises such as a 'mad winter clean up/prune up/tidy up'. Most will welcome it as it helps them budget.
It will give you flexibility, as you know what is to be done and can plan ahead - how many of us have been hit by a multitude of March/April 'help' phone calls that we cant fit in? It also gives you a sound base around which to build your business.
Anyway, in answer to the thread, yes you can make a go of being a '12 month gardener'!
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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by andy@ Doughty Garden Maintenance on -
I keep busy through the winter, I work all year round at my manor house contract which is a large garden, there is always something to do there.
After sorting out the borders and plants it on to tree work, they have woods there and two orchards so by the time i've completed all the tree work spring is approaching. If i do have a slow week and there's not much to do i just go to the manor and get stuck in. I can't just sit at home!
I was even clearing snow and ice last winter, Quite enjoyed it actually.
Work is always there you've just got to go and get it.
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