Confidence and luck bring a rapid success
Confidence and luck bring a rapid success
Ambition, confidence and
sheer determination were
just a few of the key
attributes which enabled
20-year-old Guy Wall to start
a contracting business from
scratch earlier this year.
Andy Moore reports
COMING from a non-farming background with little start-up capital, 20-year-old Guy Wall had the odds stacked against him when starting his contracting business in February this year.
But with help from a friendly bank, his college training and a little luck, Mr Wall has seen his business gradually grow from nothing to a multi-service contracting firm in the space of just six months.
Based near Newport, Shropshire, Mr Wall decided to start contracting after achieving a National Diploma in Agriculture from Reaseheath College in Cheshire in June 1998. But why set up his own business?
"In my local area a number of small mixed farms are finding it hard to make expensive machinery pay for itself or obtain the necessary funds to replace equipment on a regular basis," says Mr Wall. "There was clearly an opportunity to provide contract services to farmers wanting to reduce their machinery overheads."
His first hurdle when setting up Walls Agricultural Services was borrowing the start-up capital at a favourable interest rate to buy operate and insure machinery. Having been turned down by several loan companies, Mr Wall approached Lloyds TSB bank, which required a business plan to be researched and submitted for approval.
"The bank eventually agreed to open a business account with a £1000 credit facility which, although useful, was nowhere near enough to finance any machinery," he says. "I managed to bolster the credit facility with £4500 I had saved up through relief farm work. This was used to buy my first piece of machinery – a Dowdeswell DP7 five-furrow reversible plough."
But now he needed a tractor to pull it. A new tractor was out of the question, so he decided to hire in a 140hp John Deere 6910 for £7.50 per clock hour or £75 a day. This is charged out at £10.80/acre with plough and driver.
For the next step, Mr Wall contacted a number of farmers and contractors so he could pitch his contract rates as "competitively" as possible.
After making endless phone calls and sending out dozens of fliers to farms, Mr Wall managed to secure 121ha (300 acres) of ploughing and combination drilling work during spring this year.
He started to see the pennies roll in after ploughing 26ha (65 acres) for neighbouring farmer Philip Huxley, who provided Walls Agricultural Services with the necessary help and advice it needed to get off the ground. "Although the ploughing acreage for Mr Huxley was quite small, it was enough to prove the business would generate enough turnover to make a healthy profit over the tractor hire, running costs and labour," he says.
Mr Wall also decided to offer a power harrow/drill service and, for this, he contacted a number of dealers to lend or loan him machinery at low cost rates.
"I came across a friendly dealer – Raven Hill Farm Services – which allowed me use a nearly new 4m power harrow Accord drill combination together with a 125hp New Holland TM135 demonstrator tractor," says Mr Wall. "The dealer so far seems to have a selective memory as to the drills return date, although the tractor will shortly have to go back."
The contract rate for combination drilling is £14/acre and Mr Wall is also able to hire in a separate 4m Kuhn power harrow for £3.50/acre, charging the customer £11/acre including tractor with driver.
His latest enterprise is round baling with a John Deere 575 fixed chamber machine which is hired in at £390 a week through a local machinery ring. Income generated from the baling, ploughing and combination drilling has enabled Walls Agricultural Services to place a deposit on a three-year-old Case MX 120 tractor, which will be paid for over the next three years.
Mr Wall employs three students drafted in as when required from the nearby Harper Adams agricultural college.
Looking ahead, Mr Wall claims to already have 1214ha (3000 acres) of ploughing and combination drilling booked up for this autumn and next spring. *
Success story… 20-year-old Guy Wall has built up Walls Agricultural Services from scratch six months ago to a ploughing, combination drilling and round baling enterprise.
The Dowdeswell DP7 five-furrow reversible plough was purchased through Mr Walls savings while the New Holland TM135 together with John Deere tractors are hired-in according to workload.
GUY WALL
Base The Pheasantry, Orslow, Shropshire (01952-691320)
Work undertaken Ploughing, combination drilling, round baling, power harrowing, tractor/driver hire.
Machinery fleet Two/three hire tractors, Dowdeswell 5f reversible plough, 4m power harrow drill combo, 3m power harrow, John Deere 575 round baler.
Labour One permanent plus casuals according to workload.