Getting started

Starting this type of business requires more in the way of capital than working a gardening round.

Start by making a list of the services that you are planning to offer. It doesn’t matter whether you have all the tools necessary to do these jobs or not, make your list anyway.

Now consider what you will need in terms of the following:

• What tools are you going need to buy before you can start?
• Work out roughly how much this is going to cost.

Capital

You possibly need some money available to you to set up your business. This will depend on what tools and equipment you already have available.

You will also need some money available to your business to cover your day-to-day expenditure. This is known as working capital.

Start-up costs

These may include funding one or all of the following:

• tools
• vehicle
• insurance cover
• initial training.

Tools

Buy the best quality tools that you can afford, and only those that you will use regularly, and never buy large expensive items such as cultivators or heavy-duty chippers. These are best hired for specific jobs. Buying them and having them sitting in your shed or garage unused is similar to having money in a bank account that doesn’t pay you interest.

Hiring equipment

I hire the following equipment regularly and would never dream of buying any of them regardless of price.

• all-terrain lawnmowers
• towable wood chipper
• stump grinder
• turf cutter
• cement mixer
• heavy duty post hole borer
• mini diggers
• power barrows.

All of these tools would cost a lot of money to purchase and, even if my business were cash-rich enough to afford them, the cost of ensuring they are kept well-maintained and serviced is too great.

Hiring is an excellent way of acquiring the equipment you want, when you want it, without having to shell out loads of cash and worry when it’s next due for a service.

Don’t be afraid to negotiate on brochure rates

I have found all of the major tool hiring companies, and many of the smaller ones, more than happy to negotiate on hiring fees, that is as soon as I tell them that I am hiring as a business as opposed to a private renter. Hiring companies understand better than anyone that Mr Private renter will not be hiring a turf cutter in December, when you most likely will need one. So make sure that you negotiate some sensible trade prices with your supplier and don’t be afraid to shop around.

When hiring any equipment you should:

• Always ensure that the equipment you are being given appears to be well maintained and in a safe condition. If the recent findings by the Trading Standards are anything to go by, not all equipment from hire agents including some of the big players, is as safe as it could be, particularly gardening equipment such as hedge trimmers.
• Ask for a demonstration before you take possession of the equipment. Most hire companies will do this automatically, but when you’re a ‘trade customer’ many will assume that you already know how to use the equipment.
• Get a copy of as many tool hire catalogues and price lists as you can.
• If some are unwilling to offer you any discount don’t tell them that unless they do that you won’t do any business with them. There will be days when your favoured supplier does not have what you require in stock!
• Make sure you are clear about who is liable in the event that the equipment is damaged or stolen. You may find that the trade price being offered to you means that the hire company expects you to cover the tool on your business insurance.
• Read any agreement carefully before you sign it.
• Remember that most companies charge extra for on-site delivery and collection of the tool.
• If you’re working alone, ensure that one person can operate the item you’re planning to hire.
• When pricing a specific job always make sure that you include the extra hire companies charges, which aren’t always initially apparent – items such as insurance, additional safety gear, grinding disks, blades etc.

The hire company may require you to produce evidence of your professional competency when hiring certain items of equipment, for example chain saws. Some of the larger tool hire companies offer short courses in how to use equipment correctly and safely.

Purchasing tools – some more guidelines

• Buy the best you possibly can.
• Buy from recognised dealers as opposed to DIY stores. Most dealers will be happy to negotiate on prices and offer a far better after-sales service than DIY or retail stores. If there is a problem with equipment that is under warranty, and they have sold it to you, dealers are far more likely to lend you replacement equipment while your own is being repaired.
• Discuss with the sales person what you want the equipment for. There’s no point in telling them you want a lawnmower to cut lawns. Tell them how many hours a day, week, month you’re expecting to run the machine for and ask them to suggest the most suitable machine.
• There is nothing wrong with buying secondhand equipment provided you buy from a reputable dealer. Don’t be temped to save money by buying from an unknown source. Not only could the equipment be stolen, but also you have no guarantee that it’ll do the job you require safely and efficiently.
• Where possible only purchase petrol-driven tools. Electrical tools aren’t much good when you have nowhere to plug them in and are next to useless in wet conditions.
• Plan all your purchases carefully. Do you really need it? Will you use it sufficiently to make it pay? Are you better off hiring it?

There will always be something that you could buy for your business. However strong the temptation may be to rush out and buy whatever item this may be, resist it. Nothing is worse than having some expensive, un-used item gradually deteriorating into a rust bucket in some corner of your garage. Every item should be earning its keep in your business. If not then it should be sold as quickly as possible.

Introducing a tool replacement programme

One thing is definite – they won’t last forever. Therefore you need to plan a tool replacement programme.

Unfortunately, a consequence of starting a business from scratch is that generally you will buy all you need to start in one swoop right at the beginning. Of course by doing it this way you should be in a good position to negotiate a good discount. However, the down side is that all your warranties will expire at the same time, and depending on the type of equipment and what it’s used for, you may find that servicing and replacement dates for your equipment all happen at one time. You need to avoid this. The last thing you want to have to do is replace all of your equipment in one go, or fork out to have it all serviced at the same time. The downtime alone would cripple any business, let alone the bills.

In order to reduce the burden of replacing your equipment you should:

• Give each tool a realistic lifespan in your business.
• From this work out a replacement schedule based on the anticipated lifespan of the item. Try to replace equipment like lawnmowers at the end of the season as opposed to the beginning, so that you can take advantage of discounts and sale prices.
• Gradually trade-up your existing or start-off equipment, to buy something more suitable. This way you phase in new or used equipment (you can get some excellent deals from dealers on used equipment, as your budget will allow).

Similarly, you can forecast when your equipment will need servicing, and you should build a budget into your monthly cash flow forecast to accommodate this expenditure.

Remember that most expenditure can be foreseen, provided you spend sufficient time preparing a replacement and maintenance schedule .Believe me, it will be time well spent.

Periodically, say every three months, you should go through your equipment inventory:

• Are the tools you have suitable for your needs?
• Can you dispose of those that you are not using, or are unsuitable for your business?
• What tools do you still need? Judge need on the basis of what a particular tool would do for your business in terms of both producing additional revenue and reducing time spent on current jobs. For example, if you’re currently cutting hedges using clipping shears (there’s nothing wrong with this, and many of your clients may welcome this approach), by purchasing a petrol driven hedge trimmer would this mean that you could cut more hedges per day, thereby increasing your revenue?
• Be brutal – if you don’t need whatever it is that’s clogging up your workshop/garage then sell it.

Find a reputable local machinery dealer

Finding a reliable dealer isn’t always as easy as it sounds. If you’re having problems then don’t be afraid to ask those already in the trade who they use to supply them with their equipment. Or if you don’t fancy doing this, pay a visit to your local hardware shop and ask them. I’m convinced that in every part of the country, no matter how isolated you may appear to be, tucked away somewhere you’ll find a reputable dealer who’ll be more than capable of servicing all your needs. All you have to do is find them!

The cost of initially acquiring, and then servicing the machinery necessary to run your business will make a fairly large hole in your pocket. You must spend wisely.

Vehicles

If you are going to have to buy a vehicle there are a number of factors that you will need to consider:

• available capital
• new or used
• type of business that you are intending to run
• insurance costs
• running costs.

Available capital

Put simply, how much money have you available to spend on a reliable, presentable vehicle for your business?

New or used?

I would say that anyone contemplating setting up a gardening business would be well advised not to purchase a new vehicle. By the very nature of the work that you will be doing, your vehicle is in for a bit of a pounding. You’ll be out there working in all sorts of weathers, tackling all kinds of jobs that generate a generous helping of mud and sweat, not to mention rotting foliage, compost and all the rest, which means that very soon your shiny new van, pick-up or whatever you bought won’t look so good. And if you’ve acquired the vehicle on some sort of a vehicle lease scheme, you may be in for some heavy penalties when you return the vehicle at the end of the lease period.

My current van has been around the clock once and boasts over 120,000 miles. It’s extremely reliable, very presentable and cost me a fraction of what I would have had to shell out had I bought a newer, lower mileage vehicle. A clean, professional image is vital to your business and you should therefore avoid anything that looks too tatty, but on the other hand you don’t have to have something that’s clean enough to carry food items.

Make sure that what you buy is what you need

What type of business you’re intending to run will determine the type of vehicle most suitable for your needs.

• If lawn-cutting is to be a major part of your operation then you will need something that is capable of taking your lawnmowers, grass cuttings etc. You may find a high-sided trailer with a loading ramp more suitable than a van.
• If your business will involve taking regular amounts of garden debris to the dump you’ll need a vehicle that will take as much volume as possible.

The sort of debris that I have to remove in my business tends to be hedge trimmings and the like. Usually my loads are very light, but bulky.

You may need to consider some form of chipper/shredder for transforming bulky waste into smaller quantities, thus saving on tipping fees.

My own vehicle arrangements include a van and a high-sided trailer. One very much complements the other.

Insurance costs

We’re now living in a world dominated by call centres, where ‘customer services’ amounts to little more than a question and answer session over the phone. If you don’t have all the answers, you don’t get your quote. How an insurance company expects you to the know the registration of the vehicle you intend to purchase when as yet you haven’t found one is beyond me.

To add to my frustrations the vast majority of the companies that I phoned up told me they didn’t do commercial van insurance, and this after wasting time in a lengthy queue.

Find a good insurance broker

Before you buy any vehicle you should phone your broker and get a quote. I’m a fan of insurance brokers ever since I spent a wasted morning phoning around trying to get some insurance quotes.

Get your insurance broker to do the legwork for you. My broker couldn’t be more helpful and is more than happy to get all the quotes I need, whenever I need them, and without knowing the registration number.

The cost of commercial vehicle insurance varies enormously depending on the type of vehicle you are planning to insure. I managed to get a fairly substantial discount on my insurance simply because my vehicle is older. This suits me fine!

Running costs

• insurance
• fuel
• tax
• servicing and MOT
• tyres.

There’s no doubt that fuel prices will forever be on the increase. Therefore it’s important that you buy something that’s as economical as possible to run, especially if you plan to cover a large area.

Whatever vehicle you choose make sure it’s capable of doing the job you want it to do. Too small and you’ll be forever trying to compromise. Too big and it’ll cost you a fortune to run.