I'm running another of my my half-day courses on How To Grow and Develop your Self-Employed business (I still think that's a very clunky title, I didn't choose it, honest!) again shortly, so if you have been gardening professionally for a few years, and maybe think you're getting a bit stale, or getting a bit dragged down by the admin, this could be just what you need!
It's not a "how to prune roses" workshop, it deals with the business side of being a professional gardener: here's the course description:
Description
About The Tutor:
Rachel the Gardener is a professional Gardener, Plantsmith, Field Botanist, Consultant Forensic Horticulturalist, gardening Journalist, and Author, having published over two dozen Botany and Gardening books, including How To Be A Successful Self-Employed Gardener, which was written specifically for people just setting out as Gardeners.
About This Workshop:
Once you’ve been a self-employed Gardener for a couple of years or more, it’s easy to get swept up in the seasons, and to lose sight of your initial goals. This Workshop aims to help you take a fresh look at your business, to deal with any problems or issues that might have arisen, and to encourage you to look beyond your current situation.
With a style that has been variously described as “chatty and informal” and “appropriately bossy”, Rachel will take you through the commonest problems and pitfalls: wasting time, unnecessary paperwork, increasing your income, targets and how to use them, dissatisfaction with your clients and how to deal with them.
After a short break, Rachel covers specialising: how to increase and stabilise your hourly rate and why you should do so, how to deal with late payers and low payers, when and how to ‘sack’ unsatisfactory clients, and how to replace them with better ones. This is followed by some pointers on expanding and looking forwards.
Attendees can submit questions by email beforehand if they wish, as well as asking them throughout the Zoom session: all Attendees will receive a pdf version of the presentation afterwards, along with some additional handouts.
Sounds great, doesn't it?!
It's a Zoom presentation, so you don't even have to leave the house: Sat 14th November, 9.15 to about 12.30 (we usually go on a bit longer, because I won't stop the session until I'm sure that everyone's questions have been answered), bookings via the WFGA (Working For Gardeners Association)
There are still a few places left, book now!