Starting a lawn Business

[John McCosh]

Hello, I've got a full-time job and I'm looking at bringing in some extra income.

I would like to start a mowing and trimming business this next spring. I will buy a small truck, trailer, walk behind mower, trimmer/edger and items such as bags, gas cans, trimmer line, etc.

My plan is to advertise in the yellow pages and distribute colorful flyers. I figured I would start with one guy (my next door neighbors 19 yr old son said he would do it, he's not doing anything else) pay about $8/hr wage, and when the business gets to where one person can't keep up with demand, I'll hire another until the two of them can't keep up then hire another. I figure 2 guys mowing and one trimming/edging is the biggest crew that would be profitable on residential lawns.

My questions now are

1. What is a reasonable hourly rate to charge a customer for mowing and trimming.

2. Do I need to be bonded/insured? How much does that cost?

3. I would like to manage this operation, doing the estimates and dealing with the customers, I don't have the time to do the lawns myself with job, family, etc. Is this a realistic idea? Has anyone done this?

[rkbrown]

reply

You will need to be insured. The cost of insurance depends on revenues. What to charge depends on your area. Call a few lco's in your area, describe the type of lot you have and see if they can give you a ballpark estimate. If you are not involved in the work, it seems to me that you will not have a good handle on quality. Does the neighbor's son have any experience working for a professional lawncare operation ?

[John McCosh]

reply

Yeah, I can see some flaws in my plan. My neighbor's kid has no professional experience, just his parent's yard and mine on occasion when I am out of town. He's been happy to get 20 bucks for my yard, and seems to do a good job. I usually take care of my own yard.

The biggest concern that I had is similar to yours, if I'm at work then there truly is no way to make sure the work is good, even though I trust him. I was hoping it would be fairly simple to start with mowing and trimming, I don't want to get involved in rebuilding lawns, landscaping, etc.

What is the going rate for decent help? And is there a ballpark hourly rate that I could figure a yard for? I've never had a professional do my yard, so I'm not sure what to expect. One of my friends had his yard done for $25 bucks and it took his guy an hour, is that reasonable?

Thanks for the info guys.

[Maddog]

reply

G-Man has some good points here. You may want to do some more reserch in your area.

It sounds like what you are trying to do is finace a business and let someone else run it.

$7 an hour could be a good wage for a worker but you are going to have to be out there mowing also so you can understand the business.

I am not trying to discourage you but I think you need to think this through some more and this is a good place to start and get some excellent info.

[louslawns]

reply

Hey im pretty new to all this but i would suggest that you get involved to start. you have to get involved in a business if you want tit to succeed and nothing comes easy. Look dump the idea of a lacky, and get out there in your spare time and do the work, and do an exceptional job. because with money your going to invest and time you want to put in you have to be involved. my suggestion would be to 1 get invovled and 2 start the business with yourself and have the kid help but with you showing him what is acceptable and what is not that way if you want to hire him eventually he will know what to do. and 3 dont waste all that time and money if you dont want to get your hands dirty.

[Jack]

reply

have you discussed the health insurance issue with your neighbors parents. Since this is your neighbor, you should consider this. I have two sons, when they turned 18, if they were not in college, they would drop off my insurance. Have you considered if you neighbor decides to take a job giving him good benefits. I agree, if you are not able to do some of the physical work yourself, with a new business, it may be difficult.

[qualitylandscaping]

reply

Josh,

I'm also getting the impression it would be very hard to trust your business to a 19 yr. old, no matter how much you trust him. I'm only 16, like G-man said, I am the exception to the rule along with a very small number of others. I don't want to brag about this, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm the most successful 16 yr old landscaper/lawn maintenance company owner in the US. Take this advice, anybody that is that young, usually only cares about the money. Whether it be to put the new sound system in their 1980 Dodge Shadow or to buy a new video game. They understand that $8 per hour won't get them very far, and they will reduce quality of work because they have "not much" to work for. Just to give you an idea, I've been working for $30 per hour and usually closer to $45 per hour, and I won't take many jobs under $30 per hour. The best question to ask before you hire is "are you planning on choosing lawn care as your career?".. If their answer is no, don't hire them beacuse they probably only want the cash and really couldn't care about the result of the job they did.

Find some mexican immigrants... They are alot more trustworthy, because they know if they screw up and you complain they will be on their way back to Mexico...[xx(]

Good luck!

[John McCosh]

reply

Find some mexican immigrants... They are alot more trustworthy, because they know if they screw up and you complain they will be on their way back to Mexico

Actually, that's what I was planning on doing when I need more help than he can provide. I think that the partnership deal is a good idea. I'm not looking to make a living at this, just some extra cash, so I think that I could afford to pay my help a little better for good work.

Keep the suggestions coming, I appreciate the advice.

[qualitylandscaping]

reply

Have you thought about what you would do if one of your customers complained?? Obviously, you wouldn't let him continue to do the job, so who will you find to do it?
You need to plan for every bad possibility, even though it may never happen, its better to be ready if it does happen..