I let a customer go today. She was one of the first I started with. Big house, huge garden, told her I was going to have to put her hourly up by a pound. She said no, she's a pensioner so can't give me anymore. She's richer than I ever will be. (She was complaining to me about people that use food banks the other day as she doesn't believe in charity!) Glad to get rid of that one off my books! 👍
In my experience, these huge properties with middle-class customers never hire gardening businesses anyway. They usually have a "tame pet" working for £10/hour cash in hand. "Average" people, average properties tend to be more agreeable.
@@tomreviews9668 definitely agree with you there. Kept her on as she was very local and plenty of work through the winter, but yeah, expected it all doing for pittance! Usually it's the ones with the least who are happy to give the most!
Oh they're the worst type. Penny pinchers living in the past maybe fifty years ago when bread was tuppence etc. Probably bought the house for a grand. Or her old man bought it long since deceased. Plenty of old folk rattling around in mansions complaining about the "young uns" and other living ten to a poky rental property and working flat out
You make some great points rob. I think we should all aim for £1 per minute. However I think if you price the big jobs at the right rates and insure the client appreciates your work and more importantly has a realistic expectations the big gardens can be much more profitable less hassle loading unloading the van and so much less work on the back end. Your right about some customers in the higher end of life being abit tight but I really do think it boils down to having the right customer base. I have almost no small lawn on my run as my experience is the opposite small garden owners are a pain, they are always asking for extras. The magic "while your hear could you just..." Then keep you for half hour longer to then not understand why you charged them more! But this is my experience and thats why I love youtube to see other prospectives and share thoughts. Great video Rob. Happy new year, all the best in 2024.
I was going to say the same, more or less. We'd much rather do 2 jobs a day to get to our daily total than 5 or 6. All that unloading and loading is a pain. And yes.. "Could you just..".... 😤
I love watching your videos Rob. It's not just about lawn mowing, it's also about running a small business in general. Very handy tips with dealing with customers.
You have to do what you enjoy. I work completely different to you here . I aim for full days with no traveling , min 1/2 day. mainly bed work as thats what I enjoy. There is a couple of young lads that enjoy the little 1 hour jobs like you so I pass them all that kind of work and they pass me a few big planting jobs in exchange.
Couldn’t agree more with your sentiment Rob. Personally I’ve found the smaller gardens you describe very few and far between, so reluctantly I do have some big ones on a day rate and they are hard on the body and tools.
Spot on. I'm always surprised how the little jobs pay up, no questions, plus tip. And the larger ones want to Welsh you down and scrutinize every line item. Even though they have an absurd amount of visual wealth...house, cars, property, horses, cedar roof, etc. Happy New Year my friend! Keep jabbing, the big knockout will come.
100% agree there is a sweet spot but i believe that the smaller the garden the better. They key then to improving margins is work density ie trying to pick up numerous small gardens that are colocated. Working big gardens is bloody hard work.
Happy new year Rob I've been going for over 20 years now, but I have to say that is a top tip, one which I will definitely look to starting. Cheers mate, happy mowing
Happy New Year Rob! This is exactly my business model, great advice. In my experience, most people with large properties are utter sh*ts. I have only one large garden left, but they pay well at £240 a day, once a week. It helps they are really nice people as well. The lady brings me out home made soup as well as drinks. They bought me a bottle of single malt for Christmas as well. I don’t mind feeling shagged after that job. I got rid of all my other large lawns and gardens and just keep it small.
Adam I am pleased you have a great large garden. If I could find a nice steady large garden at £240 per visit, 40 visits per week with lovely people. I may consider it. Haven’t found it yet. 😂
Great video again Rob! I have I think a 80/20 combo of small/medium to large. I totally agree with you about keeping it more simple this year. Not getting any younger and all that! 👍
Great post Rob. Dead on, large customer base doing small medium mows, that’s your extra winter work sorted. Secret to doing lots of mows per day is sorting the round out, cut down on travelling time.
Just a query about only doing the small jobs. Won’t the additional travelling between all the small jobs increase your travel costs ie. fuel costs, wear and tear of your van.
Totally agree Rob, gonna trim back me big gardens as nothing but a pain doing em and getting paid as the rich ain’t gotta clue that we need the money to carry on in business and rely on payment after the job is done not flipping three months later. I’m fed up coming home knackered. Small to med gardens it is for me too now in and out. Happy new year mate.
Great video as always Rob. Happy new year to you mate. Yeah with the gardens, we each have our own style which works for us, I concur with a lot of what you’re saying, not everything but most things, we each have our niche which works for us. I suss out the garden in terms of access, the actual plants themselves and the expectations of the customer.. it’s just experience ain’t it. We all want an easy life if poss. I saw one job not all that long ago, beautiful garden but she sounded a right ‘mare. Alarm bells ring.. the usual (my previous gardener.. hourly rates.. ) and something about some steps (I liked him to sweep these but he used a blower I didn’t like it) bloody hell 😅 “one of those”.. older lady.. who needs that in their life. So I got back with my stock reply “I’m too busy” 😂
great advice Rob and if that suits your business model then that's all that matters. In Australia some of us see it differently mainly because we can work 52 weeks of the year and because we have to protect out business to weather elements that may effect our work. I once just did mow and go 20min jobs in and out and ran 150 customers on a fortnightly rotation realising in big dollars and yes unfortunately a lot of head aches because I had 150 customers to deal with. Worked well but I failed to protect my self against droughts and we hit a 13 year drought which drastically reduced the income .So we changed our model to have only a few quality customers that paid very well and because they cared about their garden we do everything. Now I have only 20 customers but strangely our income is much higher than the 150 mow and blow ! less hassles more billable hours achieved as when mow and blow and go unless you have many houses in one street down time in packing up and unpacking and travelling eats into billable hours.With well fixed price lawn garden the daily weekly monthly and yearly rate far exceed the other method ..And the time is far less out in the field. This method I use will not work unless u have the right customers the ones where you do the job invoice and get paid , no quotes just do the job. There is on one day a fortnight though that I do mow and blow and go and that's with a Z ride on of commercial sites ,average rate 350 AU an hour but again took a period of time and lucky breaks to snag these premises ..This is my favourite not because of the dollars ( well it helps lol ) but because I am sitting down no stress no physical pressure and 70 next birthday I think I am entitled to a bit of rest lol . Great look a the mow and go and fantastic video, your knowledge is showing through and thinking your way through to make work smarter not harder is a credit to you . Its amazing around the world gardeners to it different ways and they may right ,there's no right or wrong way except to set up your business as a business and keep improving..I think your videos has shown us how you have along the journey improving !
Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom Geoff. I look forward to seeing you operate the ride on mower some time soon. As you say we all need to keep moving forward. Take care.
Quoting for hedge work is difficult . Have a minimum charge ie £90 small hedges. Then a half day, £180. Full day £300. The higher the hedge the higher the price. Hedge work commands more money as it’s something mr average can’t do. I hope that helps.
What got me thinking the other day ,my window cleaner charges £15 he's at ours less than half an hour, he does at least 12 customers down our road , then goes onto the next road , iam 60 now and I think 2024 will definitely be a big shake up in my business now 25 years later and iam still learning, happy new year to you Rob keep up the good work
At one point i had 8 £15 gardens in the same close. It took me 2 1/2 hrs start to finish. And all nice people. It was a few yrs ago now and now its down to two, mainly because they died! Very inconvenient! More small gardens equals more money and more opportunity. In the winter I've got all sorts to do from pressure washing, to moving garden furniture, hedges and trees, even gutter clearing. Neighbours from multiple small gardens always need something doing and I charge them for the one off jobs. Can't wait for this weather to change, although a rest is great.
Rob. Think back to Saltex when I told you about how I charge..... BY the minute. I've done this for a few years now. Mow, blow and go is the way to go! Think I mentioned that at Saltex also.
Hourly rate....is for someone who want to employ you full time !!! Quote the jobs... Regular mows blows and goes...should be a quick jobs at 25.....in and out ...sounds good...
No if we we've on are grass run that day & it was a 20min cut with no bin. We would cut the grass & bag it up into small bags. We would slowly get rid off it in other customer's bins. A bag here a bag there.
Bigger jobs make sense only if they are priced well. Remember small jobs you have the setup/pack up time in addition to the mowing and blowing. So 10 small jobs @£25 has taken 10 setup/packup times. 5 bigger jobs @£50 only has 5 setup/packups. So price bigger jobs at the same price per working min and you will be fine - the only issue is if you have less customers you have bigger risks of non payment or them stopping your services as each job accounts for more of your daily income.
Depends on your set up. My mower will only need filling up once before work and maybe once near the end of the day with small gardens. Takes me around a minute to unload mower and strimmer. So maybe 10 mins a day in time unloading, half hour in travel and £5-10 extra a day fuel for potentially alot more money doing several properties rather than 1 a day
Hi Rob, good advice 👍I need to get rid of some of my customers but I have become quite friendly with some of them, one of them brews his own beer and I get a few bottles my way quite often. Some of them are old but really lovely people. How do I go about telling them I don't want to work for them anymore without feeling bad?
Happy New Year, Rob! Hope you're well! I'm a bit on the fence here haha. Of course I get the satisfaction of smashing out small jobs all day, and it almost gives you a bit of a rush lol "Can I squeeze 2 more in before it gets dark?".😆 On the flip side, I tend to always get a full day's work at a time out of the large gardens. I park up and know I'm there until home time, and I'm only loading and unloading once per day. One guy I have even pays me on arrival and goes out for the day. Such jobs really help me get through winter as well, as I'm not chasing around multiple clients. I find it enjoyable as well to be part of the long-term progress of a big garden - There are always jobs that you've been wanting to do for a while or one day they surprise you by asking if you could plant a long hedge. Pros and cons with each I'd say, but most importantly, it's entirely up to us what kind of work we want to target. As you say, it's our businesses 🙂 Hope 2024 is good for you!
Thank you William, a great comment. I have said this before, if I could find a large garden with great owners who appreciate your service and pay on time. £200 per day. Forty visits per year , I may consider it. I have failed to secure such a client. All the best.
@maxwellsgrasscuttingservices What do you think of 6hr stints for £120? I have a couple of wealthy customers with large gardens and I get through my winters with them every week
you have it right there Rob, i work like that i tell people now if they ask for hourly rate i dont do them as it is not affordable simple sums as you just said £1 a minute £60 per hour plus kit van etc so to be making profit £100 per hour who will pay us that?? and the 10 jobs at 35 is always better than the one at £350 on 35 job drops off still have the other 9 the 350 drops of no work or money that day keep going green gold will be growing soon mate all the best
I've been trading now for 10 years now and you so remind me of me in year 3. It's not about being greedy it's about being smarter and working for your worth. Good luck you've got it down to a T
Lol went pricing a big garden other day head pruning could done it it 3 hrs told him £125 and take wast away said he use have a bloke who did all day for £60 omg I said he must have been a good bloke I just walked away from job he had nice cars on drive must spend all his money on them and his big house
Happy New Year Rob, well explained that, approximately what size garden can u do in 30 mins (square meter) and when u price one up do u just eyeball it or pace it out or use a measuring wheel? Thanks
£1 an hour including travel and downtime would be ideal. Definitely easier to get the lower amounts although the repetition gets to you by September 😅 cheers 👍a minute I meant 🤣🤣
I understand your business model and mine is similar but I think your best having a mix bag of size jobs , small jobs mines having to have lots of customers and sometimes more customers. I have days doing 4/5 jobs small Or I do 3 big jobs a day
If only we could start charging on the number of steps we tot up on our smart watchs.50.000 steps= £500.00 definitely pulled it off a few times on one off jobs,or round about that figure,I might start implementing it from when me boots come on and off.😂
I think this is where I have gone the complete opposite! Interesting to see But my goal of £200 a day, is for 6.5 billable hours or a little less with some waste taken away for example, and roughly an 8.5 hour day from my front door and back including a good lunch break and a couple games of chess on the phone between jobs Last year I had 238 days that I had worked, which I am now keeping track of better this year with an updated spreadsheet for my invoicing I am down to about 15 customers now over two weeks. One of my commercial jobs where I cut the amenity grass, I am going to be doing their bowling green from march. I don't doubt I am doing a lot of work, but I am 28 and want to put the graft in now so that I can retire comfortably when older. Don't doubt that as I get older I will be more interested in the smaller gardens again, but for now I am loving the projects and long term view of maintaining the larger gardens that I do. All the best for the new year Rob!
