Sale Now On – free stuff….

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Always on the lookout for new ways to increase profits, I have been wondering whether we should try some hard hitting sales techniques?

I sat down with the team and asked whether we should try offering discounts or free stuff with our current services. The faces looked back at me in a rather bemused way as if they didn’t understand what I was saying – then the comments started to flow.

‘We already offer the best service in the market place’

‘How can we offer discounts when we are achieving our targets and margins?’

‘We are already working at capacity – if we bring in more work at the wrong cost base what would be the point’

‘Nothing is ever ‘free’ there has to be a cost implication at some point…’

It was at this point that I remembered and old adage about ‘fools chasing turnover’ – when it is profit and margins that is critical to the success of a company.

Talk is rife about one of our major competitors suffering from poor cash flow and potential liquidation – perhaps they have misjudged what is important and offered one too many ‘free insurance backed warranties’.

So that’s a NO to any Sale.

It’s a sorry NO to any free stuff.

BUT, YES we will be around for a long to come.

Mike C

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It was MY idea – dammit

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Don’t you just hate it when you get a good idea and other people jump on the band wagon and try any claim your thoughts for themselves?

It seems to happen to me quite a lot these days.

I first came across Japanese Knotweed some twenty years ago and simply wondered what it was. I have a bit of a problem with being a bit visually impaired.

This is not to say I can’t see – but rather that I see things differently to other people. Most people would look at a river and think ‘what an attractive view’ – I look at the same position and think … ‘hmmm Himalayan balsam, Japanese Knotweed, Sycamore – they shouldn’t be there – I wonder what the original plants would have been …?’

This rather odd view of life resulted in me setting up Japanese Knotweed Solutions when I noticed that in my eyes – the country was being overrun by invasive non-native species.

Japanese Knotweed Solutions was a unique company. There were no other companies in this niche market and nobody offered the one stop solutions that we were providing.

Well it may appear that this situation has changed.

If you go onto the wonderful World Wide Web – you will see a proliferation of new companies offering what they call ‘bespoke solutions’ to your invasive weed problems.

These are not ‘bespoke solutions’ they are COPIED solutions.

If you want original ideas and viable solutions to your weed problems…go to www.jksl.com don’t go to www.copiedsolutions.com

Mike C

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Just when you thought it was safe….!

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

I’m not sure whether I should write horror stories…but there is a message in this one.

We were contacted a couple of years ago by a developer well versed in the vagaries of the economic climate. He was preparing land for development when the ‘upturn’ takes place (not sure when this will be…) He knew the site had Japanese Knotweed and that short term plans for developing would be expensive and prohibitive….

The best and cheapest option for eradicating Japanese Knotweed is always to leave in situ and chemically treat. This was the chosen option by the developer – he was in no rush to build due to the ‘recession’ and he felt that long term spray treatment over a period of years would be cost efficient and allow prices to recover for house building in three to five years.

So far so good.

Japanese Knotweed Solutions were appointed and have successfully eradicated the infestation in a three year window of opportunity…

Here’s the bad part…

The Developer also decided not to fence or secure the site as he did not wish to invest and further money in a site which didn’t have a revenue stream in the short term….this was where he cocked up.

We have just revisited site to find it wall to wall with fly tipped – Japanese Knotweed.

Oh shit.

Mike C

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Why Bother?

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Why be bothered about Invasive plants? It’s a question I often get asked….

Well I suppose it’s a question of whether you are bothered about the quality of the environment?

Are you bothered about where you live? Do you care about your children and the world they will inherit after you have moved on….

I remember walks with my parents along rivers watching wild trout, spotting the occasional kingfisher or dipper. I gained an enthusiasm for nature and wildlife which still stays with me even in my current aged, cynical state. In fact I saw a kingfisher at the weekend and it still filled me with the same thrill as the first ever time I saw one as a child on the banks of the River Etherow in Glossop ….

What I’m prattling on about here is the chemical spills that decimated the trout on my local river 30 years ago. The river has never recovered.

The same lack of care that allowed the chemical spill has allowed the unchecked spread of Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan balsam which now adorn the river banks.

The chances of seeing a kingfisher on the river are zero – with the abundant prams, Tesco shopping trolleys and bicycle spare parts being a far more likely thing to see….

So going back to the question of Why?

It’s about putting a peg in the ground and saying ….NO….

If you want to see a return to British Native Species – then you just have to do something!

Mike C.

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Total Eradication of Knotweed – Guaranteed Bollocks

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Every once in a while I have a scan through the web sites of our various ‘competitors’ to see what nonsense they are writing. All of them seem to offer guarantees in various disguises – some state insurance backed - when they mean Professional Indemnity, some say £5 million cover – one even says 25 year warranties (…can’t be done)

Here is a classic:

‘We provide guarantees in 5 year increments for up to ten years. We offer two types of guarantee, Standard and Platinum blah blah blah’

Then at the end its states:

‘Please note this does not mean that soils are knotweed free’

Ha….so basically its bollocks then.

Mike C

Posted in JKSL, Warranty | 1 Comment »

Systems Rule over Individuals….

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

For many years I have been tied to my desk, tied to my phone and more recently addicted to my Blackberry….well here is some good news – I’M CURED.

I AM NO LONGER THE ‘LINCH PIN’ at Japanese Knotweed Solutions.

I find that I have been able to have two weeks off ….and….NOBODY NOTICED! The ground did not open up and swallow my company, nobody died and the office is exactly where I left it.

This is mainly due to the systems that have been implemented by the team here at Japanese Knotweed Solutions, which mean that no individual person is missed when they are away from their desk.

People often ask me … ‘what is the secret to successful Japanese Knotweed eradication’ – well in one word I would say ‘systems’

….keeping track of what needs to be done and when it needs to happen – this is all done in a cloud somewhere over China – and then spews out of a computer in Radcliffe! OK…OK… IT’S A BIT MORE COMPLICATED …and requires a lot of input from our teams…but you get the gist of it.

The only problem is that I now feel slightly out of date ?? Maybe I need to go live on a little cloud somewhere with a silver harp.

Unlikely – I sold my soul several years ago for the deposit on a Porsche.

Mike C

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20 year guarantees… 20 years of bullsh*t

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Japanese Knotweed Solutions have always been at the forefront of the warranty market for Japanese Knotweed eradication. We were the first company to offer 10 Year Insurance backed warranties and we shall be the first company to offer 20 year Insurance backed warranties….

So…how disappointed was I to see that one of our competitors is ALREADY offering 20 year warranties….

HOLD ON HOLD ON – there are two words missing….’Insurance backed’ ….so it’s actually worth nothing. They might as well offer 100 year guarantees – lifetime guarantees – in fact any type of bloody guarantee they can be bothered to make up.

If you guarantee to do something you need to be able to guarantee that your company will be around to do something about the problem if a problem arises. Unfortunately in the current business climate …none of us can guarantee anything …other than the fact that being in business is hard – I’m told that ‘Death and Taxes’ are the only two things that can be guaranteed (without ‘Insurance backing…’)

So…going back to the competitor offering twenty year guarantees – NOT WORTH THE PAPER THEY ARE WRITTEN ON – if the company ceases to trade (and offering stupid guarantees suggests they are a bit dim) then there will be nobody to do anything, nobody to call and nobody to take responsibility.

Here at Japanese Knotweed Solutions we offer Insurance backed warranties. This means if we cease to trade our insurance company will pay out for any works required on our projects.

Simple really….

Mike C

PS 20 YEAR Insurance Backed warranties will be available SOON…..WATCH THIS SPACE.

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Mutual Loathing…

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Some people are confused with the relationships that I have with our competitors. The old saying ‘keep your friends close – keep your enemies closer’ comes to mind. I do occasionally have lunch with some of the businesses that we compete with, and have been known to e-mail and discuss various issues.

This is not some way of ‘working with’ the competition or even having an ‘association’ with any of them. The eradication of Japanese Knotweed as a ‘standalone’ industry is a very ‘niche’ market – it’s a new profession and as such ‘new’ ideas come up, ‘new’ strategies appear – and it is these issues which get discussed.

So to all those people who think that we work closely with other knotweed companies – we don’t.

What we do is cover all the strategies and all the ideas that are being used by the industry. We do this to ensure that Japanese Knotweed Solutions offer the best service available to our clients. You cannot do this by sticking your head in the sand – you do it by analysing what others have to offer – then producing a superior product.

So whilst we have a certain mutual respect for some companies – we also have mutual loathing for several others!

Mike C

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So What do You Want from Your Knotweed Specialist..?

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

If you had to produce a list of what you would want your Knotweed Specialist to provide it would probably include the following:

• The work must be carried out professionally

• The teams should be experienced and qualified
• Works will be completed on time and to budget
• There will be no hidden extras
• Any failure of the original company will be covered by insurance
• There will be full documentation of the work carried out

So pretty much the only company you can use is Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd…

It’s amazing how many of our so called competitors make statements like … ‘5 million pounds of specific PI insurance’ when they don’t even know what the PI insurance covers! PI (Professional Indemnity) covers negligence by a third party. Thus any claim would have to prove negligence and deviance from an accepted methodology. In the world of Japanese Knotweed management this just isn’t going to happen. Re growth will not be through negligence but rather through an inability to fully remove every piece of rhizome – this wouldn’t be deemed negligent – it would be deemed part and parcel of dealing with knotweed.

The only way to be 100% sure that knotweed isn’t growing back is by going back and checking. The only way to check is by having a dedicated re visit team. The only to get a dedicated re- visit team is to employ Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd – we are the ONLY company that has two teams 100% committed to checking and monitoring every project that we warranty.

Check the small print; check what service you are buying - before you commit to some cowboy operation…

Mike C

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Just pay us when you feel like it…!

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Why on earth do companies like Japanese Knotweed Solutions have to put up with the useless payment terms imposed on us by main contractors? Much of my life is spent chasing money, arguing about payments and getting stressed about cash flow.

How much easier would my life be if

a. Payment terms were reasonable

b. People paid when they said they would

This was brought home to me recently when a project for a major supermarket chain was delayed simply because they wouldn’t pay any invoices before March 2011. At the time of the discussion it was September of the year before.

Now can someone please explain why the hell I should fund a project for a supermarket which is always paid in full… before you leave the shop. Can you imagine picking up your weekly shop and saying to the girl at the till… ‘sorry luv, I will be paying next year sometime when it suits me…’

It happens because they are bullies.

It happens because we allow it to happen – we are scared of saying ‘no’…

So let’s start a new trend for 2011 – let all the sub-contractors say ‘no’ to 120 days, ’no’ to 60 days after month end, ’no’ to 45 days, ’no’ to 28 days….let it be payment on 14 days – full stop – that gives you time to sort the payment, time to sort any queries – and keeps the world moving.

In the meantime my accounts department have just brought a cheque into my office for £32K – I don’t even remember which job it was for….the invoice was raised last October.

Mike C

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