mid to late 20's all week. (weather)
HELL YEAH!
condolences to the rest of you
mid to late 20's all week. (weather)
HELL YEAH!
condolences to the rest of you
Last couple of months have been desperate.. regulars dropped down to monthly, no casuals, everyone as tight as anything on general yard work.. Kept checking my phone was still on! Then three calls this morning : pruning, a lawn, and a gutter job. Got em all. Has the cooler weather shaken people into action? Season of Mists and mellow fruitfulness? Yo Ho! Have to get out and drop some letterboxes. (Sob with relief)
Tom
Happy? Busy week. Chose to take today as a machine maintenance break. It rained, and hard, up until around 14:00.
All machines shiny, clean and well maintained. Plugs, oil, filters, blades, spit, polish, etc.
Look out next week - here I come!
Cheers - GardenGuy.
My Garden Guy - www.mygardenguy.com.au. Visit us at Facebook too! Visit our Blog for seasonal updates and hints about what your garden needs now.
Servicing Sydney's North Shore from Chatswood to Cowan. Lawn mowing, gardening services, clean-ups and more.
If you need lawn mowing and garden services, you need an ILMCOA member. Check the directory for someone local to you.
Got a call yesterday from a somewhat casual client asking if i could cut their lawns after it "just grew overnight".
Obligingly i turned up and cut it, albeit a "tad" higher than normal.
On payment the lady mentioned that it looked a little longer than i normally leave it.
Me "Really, I wouldn't have thought that was long, its the same height it was 4 weeks ago when u told me it didnt need a cut"
Lesson learnt? Probably not, but i took great joy in responding the way i did.
Sterlo
I spend most of my money on beer and horses, I just waste the rest....
http://www.sterlinggardenservices.com/
Matt - Colorscape Gardening
http://www.colorscapegardening.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/colorscapegardening
Matt - Colorscape Gardening
http://www.colorscapegardening.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/colorscapegardening
beer o'clock at last!! worked all weekend on a house renovation job (which didn't make me overly happy) can taste it already......
http://curraronggardening.com/
"All sin is washed away in the Holy goodness of Beer"
Book of Redeye, Psalm 69
This queensland thunder right over head....Shivers....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-NTXlGC2Q
But if you aint ''STIHL'' you aint real....
when i go to fix that year old cutter id almost given up on thats been looking at me for tooo long and shazam! 15mins + a few tweaks here, a bit of cleaning there.........vvvrrrrooooom!!!
(I must have only used him for buxus in a past life haha) better not speak too soon though..shh)
Popped into Bunnings for the second time in a fortnight for some bits and bobs. They seem to be quitting some product lines, or at least selling off demo and dusty boxes.
Last week I picked up a Victa Tornado edger for $175. Not bad. It will be a nice back-up as the other one I use is starting to show its age, already.
Today, I picked up a Ryobi AQTT-03 Tiller attachment for $45. (RRP $239, last sold by B's for $139). Bolts straight onto my multi-tool. Goes the absolute clappers. Tested it on a patch in my garden that I know takes 30 - 35 minutes manually to till/cultivate with a fork and shovel. Done in under 5 minutes. Profit? It will pay for itself on the first job.
If you have the time, might I recommend to you to have a look around your local shop? There seem to be some bargains. Sure it's not commercial gear, but at those prices they're great back-ups or earners for new services you might offer.
New toys on the cheap. Happy? Yes, very.
Cheers - GardenGuy.
My Garden Guy - www.mygardenguy.com.au. Visit us at Facebook too! Visit our Blog for seasonal updates and hints about what your garden needs now.
Servicing Sydney's North Shore from Chatswood to Cowan. Lawn mowing, gardening services, clean-ups and more.
If you need lawn mowing and garden services, you need an ILMCOA member. Check the directory for someone local to you.
After squeeeeezing in a (albeit loyal and lovely) client and knockin off at 7pm day before long weekend....im waved off with two crownies, a box of easter choclates AND a PAID bill.....now thats how it should always be! Maybe minus the beer and choclate
im always pushing the envelope to increase my hourly rates and decrease my workload.
always trying to bring new customers on in my core area, and get rid of the others in outlying areas and the pitas/underpayers/ones who wont mow regularly per the schedule I want to set (thanks again for that tip stripes!!!)
eg had one customer move, she was paying $35, been mowing for her for about 18 months now, every 3 weeks all year round
- for a basic footpath mow, 10-15 mins go to whoa.
she moves, i go there today and SHE tells ME its a bigger yard, charge me more, its been a while and you havent put the price up ( a couple mins extra travel time too, slightly out of my "core area")
so i said $45 (plus $15 for 5 minutes roundup application - the poison for which i get out of a homeowner size bottle bought from bunnies (wink wink))
she says cool, keep coming every 3 weeks (all year round mind you)
so i timed it, it took me 15 mins for the mow, 5 mins for the poison = $60. adding in 10 minutes one way travel (which is how i work it out), i used 30 minutes to make $60 (which they tell me is $120 an hour)
sweet.
have another lady i have mown for for 2-3 yrs, never put her price up for her mow in that time ($30 and takes me about 10 minutes)
every time i think to ask her for another $5 (to bring it in line with my existing minimum charge) she does something nice.
she gives me stuff for xmas, sometimes for the kids, if shes been baking biscuits or something.
few months ago i did the lawn, and hedges, and she asked for some rubbish removed, i quoted $40 for the rubbish, she throws me an extra $70 !!!!
2 mows ago, i did the lawn and she says, take away more rubbish, i quoted her a figure, and she says "you want a tv?" - i was like, no i dont want an old tv, but i can take it to the dump - she says, no its too good for dump - look - she gives me a 26 inch HD LCD tv !!!
last mow when i cleaned the gutters she comes out to pay me and offers me 3 steamed bbq pork rolls (home made, shes chinese) - i said i couldnt eat them as i was too hot, and had to mow a couple more jobs, she says, you take them home, so i said sure, stick em in a bag for me, she comes back with a tupperware dish with 10 of the things in it (as big as small oranges) - my wife was in heaven , she LOVES them.
some people are SO nice, and i dont have to work for nothing - i just do a damned good job and they appreciate that and how reliable i am (and long term)
gotta keep trading up and closer though - thats the secret imo.
cheers
There is nothing like 1 or 2 core suburbs close to home... apparently it can't be done
I've gotta seriously up my rates though, i'm no where near $120p/h for mowing residentials.
Simmo.
All my customers are within 10 minutes from home
Yes it can be done, all accept 2 of my clients are within 10 minutes, and I pick up the other 2 when doing my normal run, and have only hung onto them because they are well above my going rate. Now if anyone rings outside my core suburbs, its a sorry dont services there.