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Patricia Tyrrell, leading designer and chairwoman of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association, applies her critical eye, rational thinking and creative soul to her own practice and sets out a number of goals for 2017 - goals we should all heed
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ometimes I think I’m held back by my own success. I always have projects on the go and am constantly being pulled this way and that. I love it really, but my busyness comes at a cost, and there is rarely time to sit back and take stock, to strengthen my good practices and address my weaknesses. As business picked up last summer after the recession, new work piled on top of work that had been on the back burner, thus creating a perfect storm. A whole year went by, running from computer to project with no time for anything else. I promised myself that 2017 would be different and have been working towards that goal, though for a long time it felt like I was swimming towards an island called ‘More Time’ which was gently drifting away. But now I feel that I have finally reached it and it has been worth the effort. It is giving me a chance to stand back and think about which path to take. I think Socrates’ famous quote that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ applies to more deeply philosophical matters than how you run your business, but it always springs to mind. It’s really important to ask yourself what you are doing and why. Taking an honest look at how you work is a challenging endeavour, far harder than I had imagined. As a designer I’m used to solving problems and making the most of opportunities, but when it comes to myself and how I work, it’s not so easy. Below are the first products of my honest and hard look at what I do. They are a set of goals I’m planning to achieve, and some suggestions on how you can apply them in your business too.
GOAL 1: LEAVE LESS TIME BETWEEN CONFESSIONS Pardon the humour, but this is key. I have to make time to review, reflect and adapt what I do. Just because I’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t make it right. In fact, the things I think I do right may well be the things which are holding me back.
GOAL 2: PIN DOWN FEES AND WORK PRACTICES I’m a passionate person and love what I do, and while this has
PHOTO BY MAICASAA
always stood in my favour when winning clients over, it also has the potential to cost me dearly. Sometimes I find myself so wrapped up with a new project that I fail to pin down and communicate the basics: fees, work practices, schedules and so on. Clients can also fail to draw attention to the basics but really, it’s down to me. As a project proceeds it’s not a good idea to be sending out bills not knowing if your clients will be delighted or have a heart attack at the sight of them. Better to have your workflow broken down into stages with payment scheduled at each stage laid out and transparent. No prevarication from now on! This year everything will be nailed down, buttoned up and watertight from the outset. Have your charges clearly laid out. I have found it’s a good idea to pin them on your wall, where you can see them when someone phones. It prevents you from on the spot equivocation and psychologically it is easier to read them off and give them a ballpark figure. Then email them your process or stages of working, with the appropriate fees. Everyone knows where they stand. If the client says yes, well happy days. If they say no you haven’t wasted your time and theirs, and left yourself in a stressful situation.
GOAL 3: BREATHING SPACE The seasonality of garden design and landscaping can mean periods of intense activity, running from one job to another and never coming up for air. Recently, since the economy picked up I have heard lots of people in the industry complain of a time shortage. There are a couple of problems with this, not least that you have no life. Time passes so quickly. Do you really want to spend it all working? It’s important to have some ‘me’ time. You will feel more rested and be able to think more clearly. Apart from your work life balance, gifting yourself some time allows you to stand back and look at what you are doing. It allows you to ask some questions in relation to making a living. Do you need to charge more or become more efficient in certain areas or just fine tune what you are doing? It allows you to look around for opportunities that you might otherwise miss, and to do a better job finding materials and plants that will make you stand out amongst your peers.
Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED
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