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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on July 23, 2012 at 21:35

If you are only just starting then stick to word and excel for the time being, no need to go out and spend money, just create spreadsheets and word templates for quotes etc. There is an online free diary that a few members use, cant remember the name of it, but I'm sure Gary RK and Adam use it. I tried it and didn't get on with it. Prefer to use excel for my scheduling. Use Quickbooks for all my invoicing and accounts though.

Welcome to our world and gid luck

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Dan Frazer Gardening on July 23, 2012 at 21:50

Following our chat Darren, Brian echoes my comments about just using excel and word for scheduling and business management.

I have been running for 3 years and it has taken time to get a good base of clients. You will start with some jobs you enjoy but don't make any money on. Gradually you can phase them out when you get new jobs to replace them with. You need to be patient and stick with it. One other thing I have learned is be decent to other people in the trade, especially those you might consider competitors. You will not worry about them taking your work once you are busy and they can become great allies when you need someone.

I work in your area one day a fortnight so if you think I can help with anything just shout.

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Ian @ Red Barrow East Sussex on July 23, 2012 at 22:13

Going against the grain here, but if you can stretch to it, I would purchase the accounting software Quickbooks Simple Start and run with it from the off.

It costs about £80 IIRC, ideal for keeping your supplier/customer details/estimates/sales receipts/invoices all in one place. Customise your invoices etc with your logo and contact details, and the 2012 version generates a .pdf document allowing you to email a copy to your client/customers. You also get all the usual P&L and Balance sheet reports for ongoing financial monitoring of your business.

Remember to back-up copies regularly to an external hard drive and buy a copy of "Quickbooks Simple Start for Dummies" to help you become familiar with the software, doesn't take long even though it's written in Yankee-stylee.

If your business grows in time, and you take on employees etc easy to update to the full Quickbooks version for payroll and VAT capabilities etc.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Benji's Gardening Service on July 24, 2012 at 1:19

If you have an iphone or android phone honestly get the 2do app. its absolutely crucial and I couldn't run my  business the way I do without it. Imagine having all your fortnightly client's addresses pinned on a google map with your location shown real time so you can find the fastest route between jobs/ quotes etc. You can set fortnightly reminders for a list of all your lawns to do (which come up on the map). look into it. its like £7 or something but it's that helpful i bought an iPhone contract for my employee just to use this app ( all the data I input is synced over icloud to his phone). I should really get a job in sales for their company!

http://www.2doapp.com/

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Tony Goodridge on July 25, 2012 at 23:57

Hi Darren I would just like to say thank you for posting this question to the guys I was just beginning to think about investing in a package like this. Now that my. Business is expanding and the package mentioned looks great!! I will keep you posted on how I get on and good luck with your new venture it's hard at first but very rewarding in the end!!!

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Permalink Reply by Craig Downey on July 26, 2012 at 22:42

I really don't agree with posts of start small! As you get bigger you will grow out of it and when you have lots of customers you will have to copy your records over.

I use a web site called toodledo.com, this is an online diary, benji, mentioned the 2do app, this links into this web site, I wound NOT pay for the app, if you have iPhone or iPad, you can access the site and I find it better than the app. The site is a must to keep track of where you need to be and when, you can have separate folders one for work, one for pricing up jobs etc...

As for invoicing my customers, I used to use a program called Amphis customer, £100, online download. this was good, but I had to sit down and put all the work I had done that day in manually, it's pc biased, so unless you take a laptop to work with you..... This doubled my work load. I have since changed to an app on iPad, called invoice2go, £10 for the app, this is really very good. It does all sorts - google it, there is also an in app purchase for receipts2go,£6.99,, basically you can photograph you receipts and store all your spending on it and send reports via email to your accountant etc.

You can also send the sales reports in the same way from invoice2go.

In invoice2go for about £20 per year you have cloud storage, and sync, so if you have. A computer at home all your invoicing is automatically there.

I would really recommend an iPad, if eventually you get to the point where your sending staff out, they can be tracked, and also work can be input from your end eg the toodledo diary, when they look at the screen on the road it's updated straight away. But also on the other hand, it work great as a one man band.

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Permalink Reply by Julius Bell on July 27, 2012 at 7:53

You might like Free Agent .Its quite good I find . 

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