A Growing Business : Freelance Gardening Course by A.K. Harris

Author:A.K. Harris [Harris, A.K.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-01-02T16:00:00+00:00

Work Ethic

If you want to run a gardening business, it is vital that you feel that you can motivate yourself, to get up, get out there, and most of all, work hard. With being your own boss and doing a hard physical job, you really have to trust yourself, have some enthusiasm for what you are doing, and not feel such reluctance that you put people off or turn up later than agreed all the time. There will be days when it pours with rain and you will have to either work in the rain, depending on if you have work that can be done in the rain, or stay at home or do other things without earning your living as a gardener that day. If it rains just for a day, you can always work longer days or at the weekend, postpone work or do greenhouse or shed work. If it rains for a week and you have no other income, then you might be in difficulties!

As your own boss, you will often be setting your own hours anyway, but some customers will require a fixed time or day, and others will doubt your reliability if you keep putting them off.

A gardening business is often word of mouth, good or bad, and if you present yourself as reliable, and nice, you will be recommended from one customer to another, if you are unreliable or don't do your job well or are rude to customers, people will hear about it.

Start work clean and on time, in clean or clean-ish clothes in the morning, turn up with a smile, say 'No problem' when you are asked to turn the compost or, pick up the dog poo or clean the gutters. Leave the swearing until the client is out of earshot, and when you meet up with other gardeners you can have a right old grumble then, and they will empathise, because we all get awkward customers. I just do pretty much any job I am asked in the garden, it is all work and all pay, it’s always been a waste of clients’ time trying to find a job I hate.

I went for an interview at one of the big houses. I have worked for many big houses, in tied cottage gardener-caretaker jobs as well as simply on my rounds. These people can be demanding and work you hard, be warned. But this couple told me about their previous gardeners. They had one who didn't seem to be getting anything done, and they were out running a business all day.

So they installed a video camera, and although they were on dodgy ground in videoing someone without their consent, what they caught on video was this man sitting in his truck, reading his paper and sipping his coffee most of the day, and towards the end of the day he would go round the garden, cut things off and pick things up, to make a load of garden waste for them to see.

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