Its the SMALL things that REALLY annoy you | Running my Gardening Business

Running a gardening business and dealing with customer can be quite tiresome, especially when they don't appreciate how hard and labour intensive a trade this is. Luckily they only make up a tiny percentage!
#gardeningbusiness #gardenmaintenace #lawncutting
My Equipment
My Mower - Cobra M46SPB
amzn.to/3lM8Zsu
Mini Mattock/Pick - amzn.to/3vPiR7g
Platform/Step Up - amzn.to/38VTMy9
Thornproof gloves - amzn.to/3WW4hFg
Wolf Garten Gear - amzn.to/3wCsxSU
HLA 56 Hedge Trimmer - amzn.to/3CWr1LZ
HLA 56 Extension - amzn.to/3khiKuN
Stihl Leaf Blower - amzn.to/3EV2cAQ
Stihl Multispray - amzn.to/3qv7uPF
Noise Cancelling Earphones
JBL PRO EARPHONES - amzn.to/377ENRl
My current pressure washer
Wilks Pressure Washer - amzn.to/2Z17yv6
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I am a self employed gardener and run my own gardening business. I offer gardening maintenance packages, hedge cutting, grass/lawn cuts, driveway cleans and much more. This video will explain how I set up on my own and how you can start your own business, so don't hang around!
The main goal of my KZbin channel is to help like minded people on their way to running their own gardening business and help them in terms of pricing jobs, equipment, real life stories and general hints and tips along the way.
So, if that sounds like its for you, hit subscribe and welcome to my channel :)

[@SebTheGardener]

Customers seem to think that the £30 is pure profit… They don’t understand overheads. I worked hourly for £20 and barely made ends meet.

[@bullseyeant]

I've had a few customers that are the opposite. £20 for 20 minutes cutting postage stamp lawns and they insist on giving me £30! And you're right about the more money people have the tighter they are, that's probably why they have so much money 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@wagner251]

Iam 58 now and the most i can do now is about 5 hours of gardening a day , shattered by the end of the week !

[@davidcarley6278]

I tend to find, customers who clearly have money are always the worst who moan about price and for getting payments from

[@Jazzy-l8z]

You thinking of your reply to customer💭...... Let's put down the weed killer!!! Really enjoyed this one 😂

[@frasersmith4461]

When you own your own business it’s totally up to you what you charge. I’m a lot stricter on what jobs I take on. Gardens you take on should be easy to work on. If we were taking on tough gardens it does put a strain on the body

[@jamesf1193]

It always seems to be the ones with money…..maybe that’s why they’ve got it 😂. I was a self employed marine engineer working on speedboats and motor yacht’s…..the hassle I used to get from customers wanting things done on the cheap. In the end I packed it in cos it wasn’t worth all the stress. Best decision I ever made

[@peacebeuntoyou8934]

Walk away from these sorts of customers. Might as well stay at home.

[@Bacrenfencing]

I had one the other month ranting and raving about my price for installing a fence (he was supplying materials - 1st RED FLAG). He ended up doing it himself and you should see the state of it, I drive past it most days and have a right little chuckle to myself every time I drive past. The neighbours must be mortified as it's an upmarket property similar to what you describe. You just have to laugh these things off and ensure you value YOUR time - too many "busy fools" out there, good on you for standing your ground ! 👍

[@THETATTOOGARDENER83]

Well done for walking away People don’t understand what we feel after a days graft it’s a killer mate Me and my father in law did 10 jobs on Friday but we were both stuffed after a silly week We don’t get weeks like last week all the time I’m please I’ve got two 4 day weeks now Awesome chat Adam

[@amgardening7963]

I was on the edge of my patience because of this kind of people, and nearly I was ready to close my business, so pissed off I was. I realised that is not worth it. Well done for you mate! I'm watching your videos with interest.

[@maintainyourgarden]

Bang on with this 👍🏽 people don’t take into account / tax / fuel / maintenance/ journey time

[@billb4089]

I had the classic, my last gardener did it for £15. Then he's your man, BYE.

[@nancywells5626]

I have used this line before.

[@nancywells5626]

The line of He's your man, just to clarify.

[@Mystyknomad]

When a client says that to me I always ask why they don’t get him back. I’ve had some great answers but perhaps the best was "he can’t do it cause he’s got a proper job now".

[@v8mooowder354]

I had this one too, about 15 years ago, my response was "Well I will actually do a good job". It wasn't a gardening job, a property maintenence one, he was happy with me saying that. As a result I have done about 100k of business off the back of that conversation for him and many others linked to him. Still good friends with him and still work him on his own property and for his business even though he has long since retired.

[@bettingprofits]

ANY kind of business people want to take the piss and don't value your time, especially if you're a single person operation. I think the impression is with gardening, hairdressing and probably a few other trades people just assume low income before anything else and think they can take the piss. I personally know how hard it is to get decent tradespeople of any kind and never barter their prices.

[@pauldarlington2966]

You're right mate, when pricing jobs its not just the time it will take to do the job. The physical toll it takes on your body and also wear and tear on machinery are very important factors to consider too

[@nathanadler6991]

'I was looking for £20 an hour...' - 'Ok, thanks for letting me know. Hope you find someone.'

[@thomasmccullagh8282]

I have had clients dictating to me how much they think the grass project is worth, I just walk away. I'm the contractor I give the price .also getting no reply back from clients when I have submitted a price to them, gone out of my way to go to there houses, I think its just so rude,a simple no would be nice.

[@nancywells5626]

I had a gardening client that I worked for nearly 2 years, once per month. After she wasn't on my schedule for future dates I made 4 phone calls to her on her voicemail to see if she wanted to schedule any future dates on my gardening schedule. Never got a reply and then she ghosted me and still no reply. How rude, right? 10 years later she calls me and wants me to do gardening work in yard again. I told her I was especially busy without any room to spare and would not work for her again since she didn't return my calls, but sge did admit to getting them and not calling me back. She even called me a second time trying to talk me into taking on her yard. I still said, NO! On another note do take care of your health and be picky who you choose to work for and what you will have to do in their yard. Would you want to bust your high knee working in someone's yard that kinda made your blood boil anyway?

[@BadRightEye]

I hate pricing up jobs but its required if you want work, Just a part of the job I dislike but you do it... I get all my information on site, go to the office to do my pricing. Reason is I get time to reflect on it a little more than feeling indirect pressure from a customer standing and waiting in front of me, so I can see if I am over or under pricing a job for my standards and quality of work.

[@johnwilson230]

Iv been self employed myself. Lots of hours.. priceing work doing the work fetching materials doing book work. Its none stop i give a price xnd they take it ir leave it. It was a few years back when i eork for myself i based my eork on 8 hour day charged 50 pound and yes people thought thst was to much. At the end of the day its a liveing your makeing nit a charity. All the best😊

[@freddip2039]

Thanks for this, Im glad to hear that its not just me aching all the time (all lower back) haha mowing is hard work and 20 quid does not quite cut it (pardon the pun) enjoying your videos!

[@sonyabissmire6457]

Thanks for sharing these capers. Humans can be so unreasonable at times. I have learned lots from you.

[@daviddimbleby6725]

Generally well off types tend to think working class men and women are there to serve there needs and can be dictated too , stand up to them

[@jadoon2981]

Whole video nail on the head mate , Ive run a gardening/pressure washing business for many years now and this happens atleast once a week to me mate. chin up stick to your prices and morals

[@claresmith8438]

Service people are treated like fools they are the mainstay of the country

[@pauliephilippa5869]

This happens the world over. I have had people tell me oh but so and so will do it for xyz basically for the case of beer. So I feel your pain because you have insurance and commercial equipment and the like. You are a professional and you are not a slave you are well and truly worth what you charge. And you are correct you win some and gain others.

[@thegeordiefellwalker8878]

as they say work smart not hard 👍

[@frankd5871]

When you have sufficient work - not when you are busy - note the warning signs and put in a price that is what you need. If you usually charge 35 then make it 70. Make sure you'll get paid. Win or loose. Cut out the might/maybes, reasoning. Forgive them for they know what they do. They know they want you cheap they can boast over the coffee how they found a gardener at the price they wanted to pay - it'll be their glory. Dear I told him how much I'd pay. The nice guys get washed away like the snow and rain.

[@raymonddixon9255]

you done right thing

[@neilhatton6018]

..and briefly you're so right about the red flag of "it'll take this long.." I hate that more than "what do you charge per hour" 🤣

[@Thecountryside_man]

Brthwr I respect your work i my self like gardening

[@oopsydaisy4637]

I've had that too. I had a couple debating what to pay me over the phone... I said goodbye and moved on

[@DavidTaylor-fd8dc]

Was up at 6.30am sharpening hedge cutters this morning. Punters don't see that sort of thing. Charge what you are worthing stick to it.

[@funkyduckproductions.8844]

Your bang on. You don't need these type of customers. Let her go find a Bob a job gardener with a second hand mower robbed from someone's shed. Regarding prices. I still charge £20 for most of my jobs. ( mow, blow and go's) But that's my fault and it will be changing next year guaranteed. ( I never put prices up mid season)

[@neilhatton6018]

I know what you mean.. I will goto reply with a long arse message and actually stop myself mid through delete it and start over, you cannot get emotional in business, I've learnt. And likewise if a customer drops you for any reason, just reply "No problem" and forget about it, that will annoy them, and you'll feel better for it 🤣 Don't take stuff to heart in business, if I get a wild message from a customer, someone crazy, I'll reply short and sweet, professional and polite, that REALLY gets them wound up 😂 Don't rise to it. And £20 is nothing, lunch from Tesco is not much change from a twenty.

[@julianhawkins9423]

So meany customers just don’t take into account all the other costs and stress on the body. I do exterior cleaning and sometimes my body is done by lunchtime. I’m glad you passed. Different if you lived next door and used there equipment and had no work

[@dicantria]

£20 per hour, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks of the year. That means you're earning £41600.00 per year with little overheads. It takes us 2 hours to cut the lawn with our cheapo machine, but you with your expensive machine should only take less than an hour and I don't see why I should pay towards your overheads. If it takes you less than the hour, it's not my fault you are efficient and work hard, I still expect you to charge only for the time you're here. I will, of course, expect you to do jobs at the drop of a hat and only be charged for the hour even though it may take you over the hour. You will only be required between the start of May and the end of September 😂😂😂😂😂. This is how some people think. The same people who will do the same calculation as I've done at the start of the comment. You definitely did the right thing to pass. It wouldn't surprise me if they would be the type to be a late payer. As we say up north, there's nothing more funnier than folk.

[@nancywells5626]

If someone wants me to work for them, I still like to be asked politely.

[@rbxrockettrio8650]

Yea some people don’t think about how much all the equipment costs thousands, then insurance costs

[@tomcamillin9535]

heres a list of twenty jobs. how many hours will that take? can you quote me for those and then i'll throw a couple of very time consuming jobs in afterwards and expect you to do them for the same price

[@thatwelshman4518]

I wouldn’t even bother writing the response you did anymore. I’m up to my eyeballs with work from people who are willing to pay properly. The response they get from me ‘haggling` is a simple - No thanks.

[@thegeordiefellwalker8878]

sorry mate i got my wires crossed thought you meant my comment wasn't correct. i realized your on our side 👍atb

[@jackw9920]

Don’t see it matters what their house is worth. If they only want to pay £20 to have their lawn cut then that’s up to them. Don’t blame you for not doing it but I quick reply with thanks but no thanks as you did and move on. Don’t see the need to get annoyed though. Her lack of reply was rude though. Onwards and upwards.

[@theewhaler]

Greed. It’s pure greed. And yes it damn well does matter it’s the root of a lot of the problems in the world

[@amwartwork]

My response.is....well.its70.quid for a lawnmower.....off you go

[@stevelanghorn1407]

Any chance of replacing some of your smaller lawn maintenance jobs with more regular larger garden work, that owners are HAPPY to pay you for? I used to “flit” from one small job to the next & ended up wearing myself out…and also started getting demoralised. Don’t be that man! When a larger garden has a good selection of mature shrubs, lawns, hedges & borders, it means more varied, interesting work for you...and less driving around. These jobs also require more care & skill, which is more interesting / rewarding in itself. Skills are often best acquired by practical trial & error, but (where time / finances allow) you can train for them in between work, family etc…or via distance / on-line courses. But I know it’s not easy!

[@davegill7614]

My 91year old dad who has a tiny pension always gives his man 40 quid and his garden is tiny.....

[@strangerElmax]

My reply to customers , is a simple no thanks, its really polite but it is really rude also

[@user-ts2cm7ny1c]

I have been gardening since 1994 and have come across this problem many times over the years. I dont charge by the hour myself but if you google how much a self employed gardener should earn per hour its £30 - £35 per hour. So i show this to any customer who wants to pay me by the hour. (And there are quite a few of them).

[@Les-OZZYTHEOSCAR]

Unbelievable..........oh well she can get on and do it herself for nothing then

[@SoftAsylum1987]

I was asked to come give someone a garden makeover, as I'm just starting out I asked for some pictures of the garden to give me an idea, I was sent pictures of a well maintained garden with a few areas of weeds. Now this is well out of my way baring in mind. So I asked if she had a gardener as it seemed well maintained anyway and wouldn't require a makeover, she tells me she has a gardener fortnightly for 2 hours but after he's mowed and strimmer he doesn't have time for basic weeding.. my question is would you take on been an assistant to someone elses garden? I feel like it's not quite for me, I want the full garden not just doing the tit bits that someone else can't..(in all fairness I'm shocked with 2 hours the gardener can't get it done as I looked and it's a great garden no obstructions clean grass. Maybe an hour's work fortnightly....)

[@TheGreyGardener1990]

Leave well alone mate is my advice.

[@SoftAsylum1987]

​@@TheGreyGardener1990yeah I politely declined. Was straight with her like and just said it wouldn't make sense financially and you would unlikely want to pay what I would ask as if it was my garden as a whole then I'd price that in to the fortnightly/monthly quote. Wished her well. On my way!

[@Peanut21-qu3mt]

Last year I had the "we had planned to pay someone £15 an hour". I politely told her to find one of those people. I'm an hourly rate person and recently put my rates up. Due to straining my lower back (seems like it gets us all in the end) I only do smaller simpler gardens that I go to weekly or fortnightly. I've been lucky I have customers that live in the same areas so I plan my days with gardens within a short distance of each other. When I started out I enjoyed the bigger, heavier work but I just couldn't sustain it. I'm no feminist and accept that things like tall hedges etc is mens work imo. I'm sure plenty of women gardeners disagree but hey ho.

[@dianaevans5178]

You are exactly right. as a woman gardener it is physically difficult, (which is quite hard to admit), so i often say no to jobs, or pass on hedges, tree work etc. Occasionally I do one off tidy jobs, but try to keep these to winter and if i have a helper. I have learnt that I need to use my brain power and experience when deciding on which jobs and clients to accept.

[@Peanut21-qu3mt]

I'm happy to it admit now. I'm 5ft 6 and just under 9 stone! I can be strong for my size but can't keep it up all day and for days. Lol. I really pulled my back a couple of weeks back and realised I've only got one, back that is, so I'm sticking with manageable lawns, small hedges, borders and weeding. I've got a great base of regular customers that are happy with this. I know of some local chaps who can do tree/big hedges etc so recommend them. They've recommended me in turn for smaller jobs.

[@micheleandrew9612]

Similar to me. I did 2 jobs yesterday and an advice session, so totaled 5 hours and am really feeling it this morning! I can admit to 5ft 6 but add a few stone more to your weight!! and am 59. I try to keep the hair dye up, so the grey doesn't show!! Fortunately have a good osteopath so visit regularly for maintenance, (be nice to be able to charge it as a business expense!!) I also have a good base of regular customers, and am very grateful for the cups of tea!! All the best. @@Peanut21-qu3mt

[@joeyr2523]

By have dinner do you mean lunch mate 🤣

[@TheGreyGardener1990]

Dinner up here in Durham for me but yeah lunch 👍 haha

[@googleuser795]

Had to laugh at the giving your body to the job 😆 your right though, although manual or office {or any} work it is almost a form of prostituition, selling body and mind to someone else... And we all have to do it sell our selves to pay the bills.... O well

[@kepadaservices1286]

The reason why people use service providers like us, is because they don't have the time, the equipment or the ability to carry out a proper job themselves. As a service provider, you dictate the terms to the customer, not the other way round, once you're on that slippery slope, its hard to get off. I appreciate that when you're starting out, you need the business, but don't get mugged off by these cheapskates. I am of the opinion that a basic minimum charge should apply, and then a rate for follow up visits to maintain the property throughout the year.

[@kevinansell9341]

Thats how they afford these Houses by Scanking off the Little people :(

[@davidrhead8740]

people dont put a great value on gardening and your labour. i had a chap how much for hedges,i quted price oh not paying that your only a labourer theres no skill involved.my response ADIOS mate find someone else.

[@nancywells5626]

How about, I can't see paying you what you are asking because you don't have a College Degree.

[@Peanut21-qu3mt]

Also, how do they know you haven't done practical courses or an RHS course, which can be hundreds of pounds!

[@nancywells5626]

@@Peanut21-qu3mt I go to KZbinU for educational gardening videos.

[@techno-idiot]

I work in an area of big contrasts, big money to no money. My experience is that it's not the size of the house but whether it's real wealth or show. I have some lovely people in both big and small places, but have met many that want to project an image of wealth but actually it's all on credit, these are the worst customers to have. Don't look at the property, just talk to the individual, it soon becomes clear which they are. Listen to your inner voice.