1. I have started advertising now and will increasing my advertising the closer we get to March/April. You don’t say what area of Ontario you are in but for me, I always hope for the snow to melt sooner than later. People start receiving year end performance bonuses and income tax refunds soon and hopefully they will be thinking about how to spend it on a deck or fence soon.
2. I avoid digging holes at all costs. So, as long as my post-hole guy can get access (he needs 42” clearance), I have him do them with his Kuboto tractor and auger. I don’t have the time to waste digging holes and mixing cement. My guy gives me an excellent price too.
3. If I do have to do them myself, I rent either a one-man or two-man auger – depending, of course, on whether I have a helper available.
4. When it comes to cost it depends greatly on what type of fencing you are doing. In my area the going rate for 6’ board-on-board fencing without lattice is around $21/foot and 6’ board-on-board fencing with lattice is about 23’/foot. You’ll need to find out what the going rate is for your area and adjust accordingly.
5. My post guy digs, levels, mixes the cement and set’s the posts. If I do it myself I just use stakes, string, post level and my eye.
6. I always use fence brackets and screws – it makes it easy should a customer ever need to remove a section. I air nail the fence boards but I use screws everywhere else.
7. I haven’t had much call for composites. It would depend on your area, I guess.
8. I never, never, never, ever get wood from HD. Did I say never enough? If I’m desperate, I’ll settle for Rona but my main supplier is a local lumber yard. They give me 10% of my purchases back in “points”, and the points don’t take long to add up!
9. I will reduce my price by $1/foot if there are more than 3 houses.
10. Unless you have a lot of posts, it isn’t very economical to order a truck. Again, it depends greatly on your area and costs. That’s something you’ll have to do the math on.
11. Other advice….well, that’s a bit of a general question to answer with specific answers. Read through the posts here, the business ones have a lot of posts along the lines of this topic. Be careful not to under price yourself and ensure you’re making enough money on each job. You’re running a business now, not a charity.
By the way, I should have asked first, you’re not in my area, are you?
Good luck!
2. I avoid digging holes at all costs. So, as long as my post-hole guy can get access (he needs 42” clearance), I have him do them with his Kuboto tractor and auger. I don’t have the time to waste digging holes and mixing cement. My guy gives me an excellent price too.
3. If I do have to do them myself, I rent either a one-man or two-man auger – depending, of course, on whether I have a helper available.
4. When it comes to cost it depends greatly on what type of fencing you are doing. In my area the going rate for 6’ board-on-board fencing without lattice is around $21/foot and 6’ board-on-board fencing with lattice is about 23’/foot. You’ll need to find out what the going rate is for your area and adjust accordingly.
5. My post guy digs, levels, mixes the cement and set’s the posts. If I do it myself I just use stakes, string, post level and my eye.
6. I always use fence brackets and screws – it makes it easy should a customer ever need to remove a section. I air nail the fence boards but I use screws everywhere else.
7. I haven’t had much call for composites. It would depend on your area, I guess.
8. I never, never, never, ever get wood from HD. Did I say never enough? If I’m desperate, I’ll settle for Rona but my main supplier is a local lumber yard. They give me 10% of my purchases back in “points”, and the points don’t take long to add up!
9. I will reduce my price by $1/foot if there are more than 3 houses.
10. Unless you have a lot of posts, it isn’t very economical to order a truck. Again, it depends greatly on your area and costs. That’s something you’ll have to do the math on.
11. Other advice….well, that’s a bit of a general question to answer with specific answers. Read through the posts here, the business ones have a lot of posts along the lines of this topic. Be careful not to under price yourself and ensure you’re making enough money on each job. You’re running a business now, not a charity.
By the way, I should have asked first, you’re not in my area, are you?
Good luck!