Getting a job that takes them back to nature is the dream of many “eight-to-fivers” who can’t wait to get out of the office and into their home gardens, where they can execute the upgrades they have been planning all day.
But the harsh reality is that a smallish home garden doesn’t pay a monthly salary, though several home gardens will.
Stuart Rens is candid about his reason for starting Greenfever Garden Services.
“I was in the automotive business and then one day, a few years ago, I just couldn’t do it any longer. I was suffering from massive burnout.
“I resigned and joined a garden services company, which led me to start Greenfever Gardens, and two-and-a-half years later things are going really well.
It’s early days but for me the secret of doing well in this business is the team you work with, and I have a great team
“It’s early days but for me the secret of doing well in this business is the team you work with, and I have a great team.”
Observing the Greenfever crew arrive at a garden is like watching a well-drilled military exercise. They all know their roles and there is no wandering around.
Each man gets his tools ready and they advance. The power tools are started, the weeders get busy. There is no confusion, banter or getting in each other’s way. It’s like a perfectly functioning machine.
No surprises here due to Rens’s automotive logistics sector background, where if things are not perfect they are wrong.
Rens, who matriculated from Hudson Park, said he always had a passion for the outdoors, and garden services were the next best thing.
“The set-up costs are reasonable in the big picture. You need to invest in a rugged bakkie and trailer as a start. Then there are the blowers, lawnmowers, weed-eaters and safety equipment such as goggles.
“As far as monthly operating costs go, the biggest one is wages, then fuel for the machines followed by repairs and maintenance. The machines take a hammering. We use common garden equipment.
“You could buy more heavy-duty products, but the return on investment would take forever. So I have found normal garden equipment, with regular and thorough maintenance, is more cost effective.”
He said that when he started he would take jobs in different areas, but he soon found the travel was too expensive and time on the road was not where he made money.
“I had to get the team from one garden to the next as quickly as I could. So after a while I became very strict with myself regarding the areas and types of jobs I would take on.
“I restricted my boundaries to Gonubie, Dorchester Heights and Cambridge.”
Greenfever has branched out and will take on nearly every task within the garden, such as tree felling, plot clearing and planting.
The scope of work for traditional garden services is limited but there are several opportunities for expansion by partnering with other garden-related concerns, such as landscapers, garden architects, property developers and builders.
Many of the latter are notorious for leaving their building sites in a mess, with the garden a mass of rubble, which a decent services company could restore in a day or two.
One of the main hassles with entering the sector is that the barriers to entry are low and that new entrants are forced to hack their prices to get work.
They often go out of business, having struggled for a while and exhausted their cash.
“I have built up a steady demand with excellent clients. That, coupled with the professional crew, is the other main secret to success,” Rens said.
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