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Hi Joe im in Milton Keynes too and work is flat out, admittedly im landscaping based rather than maintenance but it seems like the work is there.
Maybe if you have the time we could meet up one evening and have a chat. give me a bell if you want. 07800888120
Maybe you are targeting the wrong people if your losing out to the DIY brigade every time.
There is plenty of clients out there that do not buy on price alone, you just need to find out where they are and target them.
Sometimes simple things like wearing a uniform with your logo ect on it, professional looking quotes and invoices, keeping the van/tools clean and a well designed flyer can make all the difference to help reassure a client that you are worth the extra couple of pounds.
They are things the DIY guys don't often do that well. And all that happens before you even start the work...
I have had the DIY brigade follow me around trying to steal my clients but most stick with me because I act professionally. Every now and again you lose one or two but that is life.
It is hard at the start, last year I did around 13000 flyers, but you have to keep plugging away.
That would be a great help
I target my domestic one off jobs with my high quality flyers. My local company will print and deliver 20,000 for £750!!
I have learned in the past not to get them done in the one go (the company can deliver up to 10k per day) as i find im over run with phone calls and turn work away so we have a deal that they deliver 3k per week to different areas around my bit and that keeps a steady flow of work.
The cost of each flyer printed and delivered is pennies but the return can be thousands - you also find people hang on to them for years.
Last year I delivered 20k each month, october, novemeber and december and that kept a steady flow of domestic work coming in as we done our winter prune work.
Hi Joe.
You will always lose out to the people going around with a mower in the back of the car, but they tend not to last very long because they find that for all their work, they don't charge enough, and therefore go out of business very quickly.
This is a business, and you have to understand the rules of business to become a long term player.
It's no use buying a mower and thinking your now in the "Lawn Care Business", things just don't work like that anymore. You need to read a few business books, and get some horticultural qualifications which you can present to your customers, then maybe you can become a survivor in this business.
To be fair, not all the guys working from a car are cowboys. When I came back in to gardening, it was after a divorce and my other business was coming to a natural end. I had no spare money, so did the classic thing of buying a cheap mower and some hand tools, and working from the car. Over a year or so I built up the business, and the tools, and it snowballed from there.
I think there's always the work for a small business, but as already said I wonder if you're either under-selling yourself, or going for the wrong market? People who only buy on price will be off to a cheaper option even if you get the initial work. You can't do a proper job unless the right price is agreed. Although it hurts, sometimes it's better to sit at home working on marketing, instead of working on a job that makes no money.
Recommendation is the best form of marketing, and it's free. As you find the good clients, and are seen to do a good job, their friends and neighbours will start to roll in. A good image (van logo, perhaps a board outside sites etc.), so people see your name around, is important.
Keep at it, and don't get bogged down in the wrong enquiries. To me, if the first question someone asks is "what do you charge", they aren't worth dealing with!
+1 Agree, especially the sentence below.....So very, very true.
Paul McNulty said:
I think you can 'work out of the back of the car' and still be professional if it fits your market.
It's a state of mind, a reflection of your standards and how you deal with clients.
By ensuring you play on level field, have correct image, safety gear/clothes, insurances, certifications, equipment and handle green waste correctly, then the 'vehicle' should be largely irrelevant and may fit the 'client' type.
I think the comment gets used to describe those that don't pay tax, fleece clients, use civic amenities to dispose of green waste, use cheap/unsafe tools and generally exhibit 'a here today, gone to tomorrow' mentality are the one's 'we' all hate.
The more everyone works on this 'level playing field' the better it benefits us all in terms of acceptable rates & costs and ultimately drives the industry up.
Personally, I have no trouble blowing the whistle on people I see dumping waste, using civic tipping points, clearly working in the 'black market' or deceiving a client. Idealistic ? Maybe, but you either put out or give up.
When I first started many, many years ago and realised actually, we are pretty good when compared with some others, I became a bit of a 'gardening snob' with regards to the 'car and trailer man'. Didn't last too long tho, as we became busier and took on larger jobs, it came home to me that there is space for all. Just be good at what you do, conscientious and price realistically.
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