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  Phil Voice February 14, 2014 at 9:26am

  Hi Adrian

  In my experience we are all masters of diversification even though we don't all necessarily put a tag on it.

  Just taking my own business example and experience. The amount of people we employed varied from 4-14 )briefly touching 16 at one point). Employee count ebbed and flowed depending on skill availability and the (often) transient nature of the industry.

  We were normally flat out from September to Christmas and the start of March through to end of June. The summer months of July and August could be flat due to school holidays and also because people didn't, generally. want construction work going on during warm weather etc.

  January and February were reserved for one-off maintenance tasks such as clearance, levelling and ground clearance. If the weather was good and there were construction jobs to be done then we'd crack on with those.

  But when you have 10 staff to pay, for example, then down time can be crippling so we often had to tackle on work that wouldn't normally feature.
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  1st Garden Maintenance February 14, 2014 at 10:43am

  Hi Phil.
  We are normally flat out from the second Monday in February to the Christmas break too, but with this change in the weather pattern makes me wonder if we should be adding another service to our portfolio to get us through such periods as we are now experiencing, and may experience more often.
  Maybe someone should invent a floating lawn mower?
  Being serious, I have thought about offering the long arm gutter cleaning as a bolt on service, as this is exactly the time of the year people find out if their gutters need to be cleaned (when they overflow).
  
  Phil Voice said:

  Hi Adrian

  In my experience we are all masters of diversification even though we don't all necessarily put a tag on it.

  Just taking my own business example and experience. The amount of people we employed varied from 4-14 )briefly touching 16 at one point). Employee count ebbed and flowed depending on skill availability and the (often) transient nature of the industry.

  We were normally flat out from September to Christmas and the start of March through to end of June. The summer months of July and August could be flat due to school holidays and also because people didn't, generally. want construction work going on during warm weather etc.

  January and February were reserved for one-off maintenance tasks such as clearance, levelling and ground clearance. If the weather was good and there were construction jobs to be done then we'd crack on with those.

  But when you have 10 staff to pay, for example, then down time can be crippling so we often had to tackle on work that wouldn't normally feature.
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  Matt Johnson February 14, 2014 at 11:38am

  I dont take on much maintenance as a rule as i am more construction based.. However the idea of gutter clearance does sound like a good idea to me.. In the last 3 weeks i have had for enquiries into gutter clearance and i dont advertise it as a service at all. It may be worth adding it!
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  Chris Auld February 14, 2014 at 1:06pm

  The second Monday in Feb sounds very early to start grass cutting, when I did it I always waited to early march, and even then I got a few customers saying it was too soon.
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  1st Garden Maintenance February 14, 2014 at 8:17pm

  Hi Chris.
  We are based on the south coast and have always started mowing the second week in February since 1987. Some winters in the 80's were so warm that we mowed right through the winter, and some of the summers were so hot there was no green grass to mow.
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  matt evans February 15, 2014 at 7:57am

  we dont start mowing till mid to end march, commercial grass cuts 1'st week in april. Commercial shrub cutting keeps my team busy over the winter. the work comes from housing associations. We have now finished the shrub cutting and are kinda scratching out selfs!!
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  Jez Young February 15, 2014 at 7:38pm

  Hi Adrian, I would say go for it,If you have regular customer who have come to trust your company, then I am sure they would prefer to call on you to attend to other outside maintenance issues rather than go the the daunting process pf finding another contractor.I know there is a stigma around crossing between homes and gardens but the broader your offering the safer your future.
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  Gary RK February 15, 2014 at 8:12pm

  Also key is an ability to 'sell' whatever it is that you what to diversify into.

  I noted in the past the words "salesman", "selling" & "sales" have often generated a negative reaction from certain quarters on the Forum...

  There's no need for hard sales, but everyone runs a business. Go look at the top line description on your accounts...it is normally "Sales Income"..which kind of gives clue to one of the most important issue in running a business

  Are you prepared to just let sales happen ? Or do you intend to go out and sell whatever your offer or want to offer.

  I know from my own life & experiences that being uncomfortable with "selling" your services or products is more down to a fear of 'being rejected' - which is basic human emotion than any lack of skill about the services/products you are selling.

  Master than ONE aspect and it has a real positive effect.
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  Lawncare-4u.co.uk February 17, 2014 at 12:58am

  we have always been requested to start mowing in April , bank holiday time.. for 10 years.

  ive wanted to do something xmas, jan- april to keep myself busy and gain income ...

  i cant decide what to commit to, but need to by next autumn as the mortgage needs paying !
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  Colin Hunt February 17, 2014 at 6:46am

  Mid February is very early to start regular grass cutting. Grass is better left to 'winter'. We sometimes 'top' the grass once sometimes twice during mild spells, on a high cut to neaten it up, but only when the ground conditions allow and it isn't too cold. There is plenty of other garden related work that needs to be carried out to keep us going through the dormant months. We are SE based.