Any part timers out there?

[Bobby D]

I have been running a lawn service for 10 years now. Started when I was 14 and have just grown this into a great part time job, actually the pay is more like a full time job. However, I went to college and graduated near top of my class and decided to give the "REAL World" a try. I still do the business on the side, and have doubled its size this year alone. My question and area for advice is how to continue to grow when I cannot really do anymore work than I already do. There are two of us now that work together all the time. I see it that I would have to either hire people and Trust them to run my truck and equipment, or quit my day job and supervise people I hired. I have generated most of my business because my customers like dealing with me and seeing me do the work every week. I can't figure out how to keep them happy and grow beyond the two man job. There is a lot more to consider here. I have health insurance through my day job, benefits I would not have on my own. Has anyone out there gone through this? As most of you know, its risky quitting a great day job to rely on yourself and your business to support your family. But there are great rewards to working for yourself. I know I cannot do the physical work forever but I could do a desk job for a long time, so how should I handle this. I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks to all the great advice on this board.

Bobby

[Yard Boy]

reply

I face a similar dilemma and I look forward to replies to BD's question. The main difference is that I have tired of the retail automotive trade after 15 years. I'm looking for a change in a major way and like working outside and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when looking at the results of my labor.

Here's how I plan to make the transition: I'm in the process of purchasing a WB, blower, edger/trimmer and the other basic necessities. A friend of mine who is self employed wants to purchase a ZTR for his personal use and I told him I would split the cost with him and use it to service my accounts. So equipment is handled.
I can't just quit my job cold turkey so I have made arrangements with my employer to reduce my commitment at work by one day per week as my business expands. My salary will be reduced commensurate with my reduced time at work. Eventually I will say "adios" to the tire biz.
Along the way I will research, learn from my peers, and do the things that are necessary to be successful in the green industry.

[Scott]

reply

I had to bite the bullet once 9-11 hit since I was working 12-16hrs a day for uncle sam, and hired a second guy. But after things lightened up it turned out to be a fairly good move. Business was booming and this new guy had previous experience working for his uncle down in Orlando. I normally send this guy out by himself for garden and gutter clean-ups. I work the same amount of hours but my income has increased dramatically. I'll be in the military 16 years this January and have owned my own landscaping company for almost 6 and I'm grossing close to twice as much as the military pays me.
My advice to you is that if you live by a military base, run an ad in their base paper and look for a military member looking for a p/t job. I'm not allowed to push for help within the military structure but once word got out that I was running a lawn maintenance/landscaping/irrigation business, guys where coming out of the wood work looking for me.

[Bobby D]

reply

It seems like there are lots of people out there doing this part time like we are. How do you guys handle the physical labor. I have had two knee surguries, and I'll be honest, my knees really hurt after a long day. The ZTR has helped tremendously though, taking the burden of standing on a velke all day off my legs. However, we all know where most of the money is, IN LANDSCAPING, those are quick turnaround jobs with high prices. There is no way to aleviate that burden on the legs. I have found that in order for me to work less and pay others to work for me, I have to increase my volume of buiness substantially, especially if you are trying to continue to grow. Now I know almost everybody that reads these posts has gone through this. We didn't all start with 3 trucks and 12 employees. So I encourage anyone with input to offer their stories/advice/experiences with the forum.

[zephyr]

reply

Bobby my friend, you are in the toughest position you could be in. I know because I am in the same boat as you. In one hand, you have a good day job that pays many of the bills and gives you the benefits that lawncare may not. On the other, the lawnservice is picking up and you are seeing some financial independence. I recently graduated from grad school and have a good job and my situation may be a little better than yours. I work 1-9pm or 5-1am so I have about half a regulare work day to do the lawns.

I do the lawnservice because I enjoy the work, not because I depend on the money coming in. I figure next year will be a big year for me because I keep getting new customers and I haven't really been advertising. My suggestion to you would be hire a dependable person to help with your accounts. If your customers really like you and your work, they will trust whoever you hire because they respect you and your decisions. Believe me, the customers will understand and it may look better for your business for it may show that you are growing. Send a new newsletter to existing customers with their monthly bill and let them know what you are doing. Whenever I weigh the possibility of expansion or scaling down income, I take expansion. Do it until you absolutely have to quit the day job because your job is bringing in so much money.

[Phil Nilsson]

reply

Concentrate more on commercial customers and you'll see that worker "personalities" have far less importance. Eventually graduate to the point where you manage other peoples time, have less physical involvement. Sell a lot of other peoples time = money ... without the "expense" of using your own body as if it were an inexhaustable machine.

[Maddog]

reply

I am basically part time also. I work my regular job midnight to 8 am and then mow after that. Tried to work into the lawncare business slowly but it picks up speed fairly quick without having to advertise very much.

I found out more and more that if your do a professional job you will get more work by word of mouth. You would be surprised how many people out there are not satified with the work others are doing.