Terms & conditions , contract help

[Blackwatch]

Hi,

I need some help and advice on my new business

I dont have any contracts written up regarding works or payment , staff contracts etc

Its a landcaping business and i intend to ask for 30% up front and the remainer on completion

As for staff i am only going to employ self employed to start with and they will be responsible for there own tax

Any links or examples / samples would be much appreciated

 

[profitxchange]

Try the business link website. I would suggest you have your t&c's in place asap.

Its best to try and tie up the loose ends as fighting for your money can be demoralising and a major distraction.

You might also find this useful
http://www.profitxchange.co.uk/Forum/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=19;gtid=10116

 

[An Oasis]

Hi,

I need some help and advice on my new business

I dont have any contracts written up regarding works or payment , staff contracts etc

Its a landcaping business and i intend to ask for 30% up front and the remainer on completion

As for staff i am only going to employ self employed to start with and they will be responsible for there own tax

Any links or examples / samples would be much appreciated

Worth joining Phil's merry bunch @ http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum

 

Be careful that the self-employed are working for other people as well and that they have a track record with Inland Revenue so that they do not decide that you are in fact their employer

 

[Blackwatch]

Can someone help me out again please

I started my landcscaping businees and to start i thaught it would be small jobs , easy to quote etc but its not


I have a customer wants a quote for over £8000 worth of work but he wants a detailed quote ,

This is where i need the help

I dont know if i have to detail every slab, qty , or m2 or just mention slabs and colour /make
same as the bricks , etc

do i put in it how many ton of sand or just sand = £
how many ton of stone ?
or just put it all under aggregates ?

what do i put for the labour ?

or do i just put a big long list of items being used and total at the bottom without individualy listing prices and showing quantity ?

Thanks for your help

Tom

 

[termsandconditions]

Hi,

I need some help and advice on my new business

I dont have any contracts written up regarding works or payment , staff contracts etc

Its a landcaping business and i intend to ask for 30% up front and the remainer on completion

As for staff i am only going to employ self employed to start with and they will be responsible for there own tax

Any links or examples / samples would be much appreciated

Congratulations on the large job that you are about to secure. We have a couple of landscaping clients that I could put you in touch with and maybe they could help you with some specific advice with regard to estimating landscaping work. PM me if interested.

One of my landscaping clients has been waiting a year to receive money from a client for work totalling over £12k and we now are trying to recover it for him through our debt collection service. He has terms and conditions in place but they are not disclosed very well so are next to useless because he'll have trouble getting them enforced if challenged in court. His terms and conditions do not contain the necessary credit management terms to protect him against late and non payment so, again, they do not serve him well.

So do learn from this and get the right terms in place because, if properly implemented, they can:
- reduce misunderstandings with your clients
- reduce spurious disputes by delinquent debtors seeking to avoid payment and
- reduce the incidence of late payment
- even give you a commission-free collection service if occasional non-payers slip through the net

If your £8k client is not known to you, I would at least perform a credit check to ensure there are no credit skeletons hidden in the cupboard. But for this, you'll need your client to complete a Credit Account Application form, preferably linked to your terms and conditions.

Do PM me if you think we could help.

Best Regards

 

[profitxchange]

This sort of prospective client can have two agendas. One to pick off each item and see if they can get a better price, or one that wnats to know what you are actually going to deliver to make sure its not a cheapskate job.

My preference would be to list the major elements, xmsq of landscaping, ysqm of paving etc and say how they will be done eg remove all large rocks, sift remaining topsoil, add appropriate compost to a smooth raked finish. etc same with paving, remove existing, prepare subbase, apply leveling layer of .... and lay 2" x 12x12 paving on pats of mortar, left unpointed for bedding plants.....and put one price, and that any items removed or added will require a repricing of the whole job.

Does this help?

 

There are two dimension to this sort of job. First it can be broken down according to the actual landscape components. e.g. raised beds, drive, lawns. Second it can require a "bill of materials". How you do it depends on the actual make up of the work. As a rule of thumb at the size of job mentioned I would provide a list of materials with quantities and one price for the lot. Then I would show x hours labour and a price for that. You may want to show other items such as plant hire if you need an excavator or something.

If you want to specify a payment schedule e.g. all materials up front. then your quote must justify each payment. I would certainly recommend that you do something like this. The customer will not be happy paying money without knowing what it covers and you would be extremely unhappy if you had an unpaid bill for £8K.