Showing others your trade?

[Iustinian]

my buddy's newest phrase is "doosh-bag-ery" lol

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

I have a few landscapers that recomend me, and I deal with the HO, not the scrapers, HO pays me, I wont work for landscapers...

 

[treeman75]

I think its about the same any where you go. I have some yard guys and landscapers that know the difference between good and bad work. I had one guy ask where do you buy those shoes with spikes on them.

 

[TreeAce]

The last landscraper I worked for's bigest concern was making sure his customer didn't know what I was charging cuz he was upcharging it. Another scaraper called me over the summer and this was his offer..."You take take the tree down for me while I video tape it. But give me a price first. And oh ya, just get it on the ground and we will take care of it. I gotta keep the price down as low as possible!"....lmfao...So after i stopped laughing I asked him about the video. And he actually admited, "That is so I can study how you did it and next time I figure we can do it ourselves!" LOL..I said "na man I am cool". He tried to argue for a minute that since he was "giving me money by providing me with work" that I should be ok with it. I told him I had plenty of work.....good day sir.

 

[Bermie]

I do work for two landscape firms, one asks me to give him a price and pays me what I ask, I bring my own groundie if rigging is involved, all I have to do is get it on the ground.
The othe guy is known for tree work, but is without a climber right now, so he pays me $100 per hr to climb for him, his guys do the ground work, I trained them so it works. I do like not having to worry about cleaning up!
In both instances I show up in my truck with my logo on the side, and wear my branded shirts, so there is no doubt that the tree work is being done by a subcontractor.

I do not show any of them how to climb or do aerial work...that's MY specialty, they have enough work doing installations, maintenance and hardscaping without eating my slice of the pie!

In my other country, a landscaper's referrals are what has gotten my business off the ground, he doesn't want to climb trees, and I don't want to cut hedges or mow grass...works for both of us. All our work is separate though.

 

[Toddppm]

$100/hr. as a sub? You the Wo-Man!

 

[squad143]

It does not bother me in the slightest if they upcharge their customer.

I quote what I want to do the job for and get paid what I quoted.

Upcharging, adding on or whatever you want to call it happens with lots of trades.

 

[sgreanbeans]

I work with a few, hi end, mass scale guys. One does only hardscape, custom patios and such. The other does DOT seeding work on the highways, one is the brother of the first, he does hi-end maintenance at estates. Another builds decks and fences only, this guy can build some bad a s s decks!. We all send work to eachother. All considered top shelf, experts in their own craft. Works well, we take no cut off the top from eachother, we just put eachother in front of the client and go from there. If you don't get the job, that's on you. We work together on jobs alot. Big back yard renovations. I do the clearing, Dave1 builds the patio and walls, Mike builds new deck over patio and puts up privacy fence, Dave2 will hydro seed it with oats and flowers, then Pat maintains it all.

 

[Toddppm]

I work with a few, hi end, mass scale guys. One does only hardscape, custom patios and such. The other does DOT seeding work on the highways, one is the brother of the first, he does hi-end maintenance at estates. Another builds decks and fences only, this guy can build some bad a s s decks!. We all send work to eachother. All considered top shelf, experts in their own craft. Works well, we take no cut off the top from eachother, we just put eachother in front of the client and go from there. If you don't get the job, that's on you. We work together on jobs alot. Big back yard renovations. I do the clearing, Dave1 builds the patio and walls, Mike builds new deck over patio and puts up privacy fence, Dave2 will hydro seed it with oats and flowers, then Pat maintains it all.

That's the way it should be and I have a couple guys that I trust are good at what they do. Otherwise I'm not too interested in a referral that involves keeping track of who wants a percentage or feels they didn't get enough...or that they might get cut out next time....or wah, wah wah

 

[Bigus Termitius]

100% client direct.

If I get a referral, I'll keep it in mind and return the favor when a client wants me to landscape too, but I don't pay out for it, and neither should a client. Too many parties in a business deal is bad ju-ju, and I don't believe it's what is best for my clients.

 

[troythetreeman]

i work with one regularly on the side, he pays me well, i have a flat hourly rate with him, i think its a good arrangement and so does he

 

[BCbound]

I work with a few landscapers as well on a regular basis. Even a few tree guys in different town who need extra help with climbing. These situtions have always work out well for me and them.

As for the job I was talking about when I originally posted, I decided to pass on it. I did a site visit with the guy and you could tell he was fishing for some training to start out on his own. As far as removal goes it was a quick and straight forward job. I was straight up with him and told him I was not interested in showing him how things get done. He admitted he was interested in findiing more work for himself and was looking to see how things got done. I sent him in the right directions. I talked to him about consult rates for the future. We left the site on good terms.