No, you can't just leave it like that. You bought your wife a vacuum cleaner? And she's happy about it? You've obviously misread the situation. You aren't getting any for days. :laughing:
It's certainly going to be tough for those who basically market what they sell as a commodity item; I suppose though, it always has been, and actually, it should be.
Nobody is going to value the time of anyone who doesn't value it themself.
I would argue that you shouldn't be competing with someone who is cutting corners. In fact, the best way to differentiate yourself from such a person is just to charge 2 or 3 times what they do.
A solicitor is trying to make a living. Reading an email takes time; time is billable.
The only time I lift a finger before I've been paid is to generate an invoice. I don't answer the phone to anyone unless they have already paid me for the time.
The truth is, if you can't comfortably cover all of these kind of expenses, your small business is actually just a hobby. That's fine for those of us who just enjoy making stuff, but not great if you need the income.
If you can't easily stick 20 or 30 quid on each bill, you are working for the...
Just do a proper close board fence and adjust the bay sizes to miss the tree. No tree root problems, and no horrible panel fence to look at; jobs a good'un.