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Horticultural Resource Management

Course CodeBHT203
Fee CodeS2
Duration (approx)100 hours
QualificationTo obtain formal documentation the optional exam(s) must be completed which will incur an additional fee of £30. Alternatively, a letter of completion may be requested.

Growing Plants Well isn't Always Enough

Most horticulturists are passionate about plants, and will over time get better and better at growing them; but often they struggle for business or career success.
  • Learn the skills to manage resources in a horticulture business or enterprise
  • Understand the financial resources, human resources and physical resources in horticultural enterprise
  • Study some of the regulation and legislations that control horticultural operations and more...
Learning Horticultural Management is often the one piece of the puzzle that they are missing - and this course can help you to complete the puzzle and improve your career potential significantly.
 

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

  1. Horticultural Business Structure
    • The legal structure of business
    • Business names
    • Starting a business
    • What services can be offered
    • What is required to offer horticulture services
    • Marketing guide
  2. Management Practices
    • The role of management
    • Business planning
    • Preparing a horticultural business plan
  3. Horticulture and the Law
    • Quality management systems
    • Contracts and offers
    • Consumer law
    • Structure of small businesses
    • Legislation of small businesses
    • The law and business
    • Protection of consumers
    • Stamp duty
  4. Staff Management
    • Managing staff
    • Managing as a leader
    • Interviewing, recruitment and staff induction
    • Staff training
    • Visual and resource for induction and training
    • Job descriptions
  5. Supervision
    • Role of the supervisor
    • Supervision
    • Communication with employees
    • Communication Barriers
    • Improving leadership skills
    • Giving directives and introducing change
  6. Financial management
    • Budgets
    • Financial assistance
    • Taxation
    • Liquidity
    • Costing guide
    • Billing
    • Summary of market for landscape services
    • Ways of buying business
  7. Improving Plant Varieties
    • Where cultivars come from
    • Plant variety rights (PVR)
    • Owning plant names
    • Genetics and plant breeding
    • Self-pollinating species
  8. Productivity and Risk
    • Improving productivity
    • Problem solving and decision making
    • Group decision making and problem solving
    • The planning process
    • Time management
    • Planning expenses
    • Monitoring, evaluating and regulating the progress
    • Sensitivity Analysis
    • Insuring the business
  9. Managing Physical Resources
    • Managing equipment, buildings and machinery
    • Using flow chart to improve productivity
    • Record keeping
    • Filing
    • Keeping records of business activities
  10. Developing a Horticultural Business Plan
    • Developing a business
    • Managing business growth
    • Business plan for nursery
    • Marketing guide for gardening ana landscape businesses

Aims

  • Compare the organisational structures of different horticultural enterprises.
  • Determine the value of a business plan to a horticultural business.
  • Determine the significance of consumer law to horticultural business.
  • Determine the duties of different supervisors, in a specific horticultural enterprise.
  • Describe how a budget is applied to managing a specific horticultural enterprise.
  • Determine the criteria for selecting staff to work in an horticultural enterprise.
  • Explain the system for controlling the collection of royalties on a plant which is covered by plant variety rights.
  • Monitor and recommend improvements to a specified work task in a horticultural enterprise.

Determining Costs is a Big Part of Good Management
 
There are several things to be considered in order to predict the likely cost of doing any horticultural job; small or large.
 
If you can break down the cost of undertaking the job into it's component parts it is much easier to predict. Once you have an estimate of the cost you then have a basis for budgeting or quoting.
 
Component parts can include the following:
 
1. Materials
Includes such things as chemical sprays, fertiliser, lawn seed, mower fuel, ties and stakes, soil conditioners, landscaping materials (eg. rocks, sleepers, fencing materials pavers etc), soil, etc.; do not forget minor costs such as fuel for the chain saw.  Anything you provide should be charged for; charge 10 to 20% above the costs of the materials.
 
2. Equipment Costs
Includes small and large tools and equipment such as rakes, secateurs, wheelbarrows, lawn mowers, chain saws and tractors;  you should also account for your vehicle (car, truck, trailer etc).  Normally these costs are calculated on an hourly charge rate.  You may use charge rates set down by an equipment hire business, OR you may calculate your own hire rate based upon your estimated  life-span of the tool or equipment
 
3. Insurance Costs
Workers compensation insurance for people working in manual jobs such as carpentry, bricklaying and gardening may be calculated as 25 to 30% of the expected cost in wages.  You should calculate these charges into your fees irrespective of whether you actually carry a policy or not. Some jobs may need other insurance policies such as public risk, theft or damage on equipment or materials etc.
 
4. Wages
This is the part of your fee which is going to be paid to the person who does the work, whether that person is you or someone else who you employ.  This can range from a minimum wage level to many times that amount per hour for someone experienced in the industry and with a good reputation.  (Don't forget income tax! If you are employing someone you need to register and pay for them. If you work alone, you need to put aside and appropriate amount of wages towards tax).
 
5. Administration
There are numerous other costs which incur and should be passed on to the "customer".  These include...
  • The cost of preparing a bill, posting it out, waiting for payment and processing payment when it comes.
  • The cost of advertising (usually no more than 5% of your annual turnover).
  • The cost of printing stationary, business cards etc.
  • The time spent preparing quotations (normally a quote is not charged for).Profit
 
6. Profit
If quoting on a job as a contractor; this is what is left after all other things have been paid for. You should always make at least a 10% on a job.  If you don't then it is not really worthwhile being in business.
 
 
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS COURSE?
  •  Those running their own horticultural enterprise
  • Those looking to move into a management role
  •  The course is relevant to all areas of horticulture including nurseries, parks, private gardens, market gardening and fruit production.

 

 

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