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Is It Worth It?

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  • Is It Worth It?

    So you want to start a lawn business; You love being out doors, and you want to be your own boss, right?
    The lawn business is probably not as glamorous as people think it is. Assuming we are talking about just
    basic lawn skills, and you provide no other services, such as landscaping, design, lighting, irrigation. If you expect
    to make in the lawn business, then you will need to offer something more then just grass cutting. any kid
    next door with a mower can cut your grass for $10, right? cutting grass in itself is not rocket science....

    Lets start with that..Basic Lawn Service...I actually have a friend that has a part or full time job with
    a set schedule, on other days, he cuts lawn, weeds, trims, prunes, etc, and he seems to be pretty busy...
    he is busy because he is a pillar of the community, people have known him for years, and years. Are
    they going to call him, or call Joe Mow that just started his business like 5 minutes ago?

    Ask yourself this! Why do you really want to get into the lawn business? Do you already have other
    skill sets that your competitors do not have already? and they have been around for years. Ok, that
    does not bother you, so you want to move forward...just remember, you are a one man pony show...
    and no matter your skill set, you are still just one person, and can only do so much with your time....

    * The lawn business is very competitive....
    * Majority of your business is via word of mouth....
    * Your Equipment depreciates faster then a rotting apple....
    * If your Equip fails, or gets stolen, you are out of work instantly....

    Are you truly prepared for the cost of starting a lawn business? Sure, any monkey can show up at
    a friends house in a family station wagon with their push mower crammed in the back, but this is
    not a practical business model if you are looking to start a business. If you already know these
    people, then I guess it is ok to show up at their home with your push mower tied on your back....

    * You will need a decent vehicle with a hitch...
    * You will need a utility trailer (covered)
    (dont get a green vehicle, and a white utility trailer, not professional....)

    * You will need $1000's in professional lawn equipment, commercial grade.
    * You will need to get 1-2m of General Liability Insurance. $25-$50/month
    * You will need decent liability coverage for your vehicle approx $100/mo

    I have seen some people setup s-corp...not needed...If anything, your basic need
    maybe getting a business lic (if required) later on if your business starts to grow,
    then consider looking into setting up or forming a LLC for your company. What about
    tax write offs? You just spent $10k-$20k on starting your company, so what
    taxes do you have to write off at this point? You do not need to form s-corp
    or even LLC to write off taxes, as long as you have a legit business, then you
    can do tax write offs that relate to your business. Remember, a tax write-off
    sounds great, but it is what it is, a loss, if you are making decent money, then
    a write off will simply help you reduce your tax liability, not much more....

    Want to hear a story about the real world? In the lawn business, mostly 99%
    of everything you have is gas powered, right, doesnt take that long for
    something to stop working, and I am no master mechanic either, so please start
    working on your list of area small engine repair shops, even more so if your
    equipment is no longer under warranty. If you are out of warranty, then it
    will cost you much more to have it repaired at a dealer, then say a local
    shop that repairs small engines for a living, so keep that in mind....

    I get to this clients home one day, back my bush hog off the trailer, and I
    all ready to run all over his property, then boom, engine failure, crap, and
    I am already off the ramp, what do you? Ask your client to help your bush
    your dead bush hog rider back up onto the trailer, no sir...I align my bush
    hog up to the ramp, and I have a manual wench bolted to my trailer, i wench
    the bush hog back up into the trailer, then that is done, lucky me, I have a
    walk behind mower, so the day is not a total loss, mow the lawn, so what
    I need to do around the property, trim, prune, whatever, then I get
    my bush hog over to the repair shop as fast as possible, end of story....

    Another day, riding down the highway singing my favi Alabama song, then
    pow, the trailer has a tire blow out, ***, what new newbies? Your screwed
    right, no way, and never leave your trailer behind, anywhere! Get that jack
    out, jack it up, remove the tired, and yes, always carry a spare trailer tire
    with you, it does cost a little extra for a spare, you wont regret it...replace
    the tire, done deal, take the old tire to repair shop, and get it fixed....
    (end of story)

    Another day, driving down road, truck brakes down, do not remember why,
    however, the moral of the story is, truck was towed, and it took an
    entire day to get the truck buck into operation again. (end of story)

    Another day, client asks for a quote to get their property cut on .50 acre...
    (without seeing it) I told him $60, client says, come on over and cut, and
    so I did. The client neglected to mention the property had not been maintained
    in a few years, and it showed. I told him no. client said you told me your
    would do it for $60, and if you do not do it, then I will just call your
    comp and have them do it. I said, ****, ok, good luck....
    (end of story)


    So guys, be honest with yourself, is this the business you really want to start?
    You are in fact a one man show, and you are not going to make that much....
    You have labor, insurance, gas, maintenance, and other costs, and when
    winter sets in, then your income pretty much goes to zero, then hope
    everyone calls you back when it is time to start mowing again....

    and it may even take you years to recoup your investment. I earn approx $1500-$2000/mo
    every month in mow season minus said expenses, so profit margins are not great at all....

    Clearly think about this before you jump into this market....
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