FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
My system I think is very simple, I try to figure how long a job will likely take me provided I don't have anything that brakes down, no flat tires, and so on, going by my hourly rate, times the hours I think I can do it in, plus any dump fees that might be involved, and any cost of hired labor that I might need, and I have to consider any added costs if I should have to pay the county for any permits that I need to take out. But every job is different, and of course not every job needs all the extras. Many jobs are just a matter of going in and cutting a field of tall grass and don't have any other out side expences.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
In my kind of work I have no need for continuing education. Only a need to replace some of the implements as the old ones wear out. Or get new styles of equipment as the demands change, such as getting a new disk/plow since more people today want plowing instead of brush hogging. However, I know its better for the ground and enviorment to cut the dry brown grass than it is to turn over the soil. By tuning the soil you are killing thouands of reptiles, mamals, and other creatures. Which is bad for everything involved--destroys food source for the birds, increases soil run off during the rain storms and so on.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
I was attending CSUS, working toward a Lib. studies degree. When one day I was bicycling and some kid rear ended me, my bike ended up under his car, I had surgery on the knee, and a few months later as things worked out I found that I could make fairly good money loading and delivering manure compost by hand, in my 7 yard trailer, Plus I hauled a lot of house hold trash. After the accident I put a down payment on a new John Deere 950 and I found that I started getting more jobs than I could keep up with and making more money than I ever had before. Before I knew it, jobs were forcing me to miss classes and so I ended up having to drop school. That was back in 1986.