How does someone get started in this business?

[duncanj04]

I've been thinking of starting a lawn care and landscaping business in North Carolina. The only problem is I dont have much money to buy all the equipment I really need. I have a 40" Troy built lawn mower and a push mower w/bagger. How do I get started, and is this a good business to go into? Please help, I need all the info I can get!

[Littleriver1]

Duncan, Run an add in the local paper and start kicking on doors. Read all the post on this forum. You can skip the one on dog crap, nothing new there! You don't need the newest and best equipment to start out. If you want to be an entrepreneur and you want it really bad, then be prepaired to work hard and be by yourself. It's kind of like death, your the only one going. Come on in the water's fine.

Bill

[Phil Nilsson]

duncanj04,

Welcome to the "club" ... here's a piece I wrote a while back, might help.

Ask anyone what it takes to get ahead in business, and the most common answer will probably be perseverance. It sounds deceivingly simple. You find a market, sell something to it, continue to do that over and over and make a profit in the process. While possessing plenty of perseverance is an
important factor to success, the placement of that energy can be totally wasted, misdirected and yield disappointing results. Maybe that's where the expression working "smart" not "hard" comes from. For the green industry, that expression should be modified to working smart and hard at the same time ... Very few contractors escape the "working hard" part ... so a little moretime needs spent on the "working smart" part.

WORKING SMART.

What does it mean? The smart part of working is to correctly manage the ... working hard part. To practice working smart, you need to apply sound business practices and persevere in doing that. If you continue to work hard (and persist at only that) you could work hard for the rest of your life and probably only achieve a marginal result.

The bottom line is that a lot of people do business that way. Successful business people on the other hand know that they must apply time-proven management techniques. They practice the "art of smart" by staying on top of their game, listening closely to all the messages and signals, planning a course of action, sticking to the planand expecting good results everyday.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?
Expectations are important because you usually get what you expect. Expectations are really targeted goals. Without them, there's nothing to go for. What do you expect? ((A company with misdirected goals wastes energy in a futile attempt to achieve success)) ((Such a company dances around the goals))
that could set it apart from competitors and set it free from mediocrity.

(Successful people think more.) They think about their markets and customers. They think about their methods of production. They come to fully understand where the points of control are in their companies. They do just the opposite of what you'd call the "quick and dirty approach" to management.

HOW DO YOU GET SUCCESSFUL?
Success is not exclusive. It's not reserved for a few gifted and talented people, which means anybody can do it. There is one requirement, however, and it's deceivingly simple. You must commit yourself to work toward a worthwhile goal. You must possess a burning desire to succeed like it is the most important thing in your life. The "thinking smart" part kicks in when you've thought about your business goals Once those are understood, a clear and definite course of action is planned and then followed. Working smart means that you know every aspect of your business like the back of your hand - no procrastination, no misses, no wishful thinking. You know it; you do it. You manage your business by design, not by accident.

JUST WAVE A MAGIC WAND?
Maybe you think I've made business success sound too easy -you wave a magic wand, take a few steps and, bang, you made it. If it were that simple, wouldn't everyone be really successful? Some of the businesses that aren't doing well can point to a million reasons - too much competition, the right help isn't available, pricing is too low. But how many of these same companies ever sat down, gave serious thought to what it takes to be successful and determined exactly how to achieve it? Instead of concentrating on negatives, switch to positives. That in and of itself is hard.

Don't believe me?

If you don't believe me, get a piece of paper. Divide the paper in half down the middle. In one column write positive, in the other negative. In the positive column write in all the reasons why your business will be successful. In the other write the reasons why your business will not be successful. It's easier and takes less brainwork to make the negative entries, whereas it takes real thinking to identify the factors for success.

(((((The lack of business planning is the number one reason why businesses fail or achieve only marginal results))))) Yet how many people actually take the time and energy to plan?

SELF-MADE OBSTACLES?
Well managed, successful companies don't usually happen by accident. If there aren't enough customers in your market area, go to another market. If your business has reached its potential and has stagnated, open a branch operation in the next closest market. When you've made a success of your business and can't decide what to do, take it national. Repeat that success elsewhere. For every negative there's at least one opposing positive. Managing to succeed in business comes down to planning and execution of plans. You'll need to manage ideas and attitudes. It will take perseverance. Throw in a little "working smart" for good measure.

Phil

[eric1]

Just start with the stuff you have it will be fine...I did.If you dont have a truck or trailer start with a 3/4 van.order some cards from www.vistaprint.com get some sighns made for the van hand cards to everyone you meet run adds in the papper.try to keep from borrowing lots of money just to look good let your work speak for you.So simmply put lots of blood,sweat,tears and hard work.

p.s. read through all the theads on this bord even if they dont seem to apply right now and dont be affraid to ask quistions.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted as you start to build you new buisness

[Phil Nilsson]

If you don't have a business plan and a "good one" you really don't know what you are doing. Simply too many details. If you haven't thought it out ... and planned it out ... you can't properly and effectively "do it out".

How did that sound?

Phil

[Elwood]

Welcome aboard!!

The odds of becoming rich in this trade are thin and the odds of failure are high.

Those that truely succeed and become financially "wealthy" are those who are willing to work for it, are willing to educate themselves and are willing to make great sacrifices to get to that point.

Most people in this business are comfortable where they are at. Only the truely hungry will exceed. Of course, the biggest thing comes onto play. Is your market large enough to support your goals? If not, before you start, maybe you should move to a market that is.

Before you start, you need to determine a goal, see if that goal can realistically be reached and educate yourself on the tools you need to obtain that goal.

Good LUck and stick around!!

[PearceTurf]

Welcome!

I am just now entering my 6th month in this world of green. I agree with some of Phil's comments. Especially the fact that it is not easy to own your own business. If it were easy, there would be a mass exodus from people that hate their boss or job.

There will be several things to consider and I will mention a few that I thought about when I quit my FT job:

Will you stay employed elsewhere and do this PT or go all out and make this your only source of income? If you go all out, you need to have resources to get you through down times, offseason, and late and non paying customers (if any).

Are you willing to go to another's property without proper insurance? I am not! GL insurance was the first item I bought before any equipment purchases. One accident can ruin you.

The green industry is a little different than others in the fact that start up costs can be quite low. Lots of business entities operate in the red for quite awhile before turning a profit. The green industry is not necesarily one of them if you work hard at it. I have already met several people that either didn't realize how much hard work was involved or just didn't want to put forth the effort. I bought my trailor from one of those guys.

Have you considered a back up plan yet? In other words, if you get some regular customers and your mowers go down, how will you continue servicing them? I have a back up for everything I use except my truck. Although it's a good truck, it still worries me sometimes.

This list could go on for many pages, but I think I made a point. Try doing what Phil said, write down the pros and cons. Take a hard look at all that's involved and decide for yourself. Make sure that you realize your place in this industry. There are major companies to compete with as well as the lowest of scum that will beat you on price. The lowest of scum does not last usually, but a new crop is born every year.

Like others mentioned before, this forum is a great place for advice. I use it all the time. I've made several bonehead decisions in the past six months and will probably make more in the future. But I have learned from those mistakes and I streamline my goals everyday. If you are not passionate about it, you will not like it enough to stick with it.

Good luck and I hope you do well!

[Phil Nilsson]

Their are a lot of "crummy businesses" you could have chosen, many small biz offer long hours, hard work, and day in and day out boring grunt work ... but not to worry ... delegate the junk work to others ... become the manager of your biz ... you manage ... they work ... they make money for you ... sell "their time" for more than you paid for it ... that's all there is to it. You're going to like coming home "clean" at night.

Sell ... sell ... sell ... and let them work ... work ... work ... because nobody ever got rich by working with very few exceptions. Become a "white collar manager " within the realm of blue collar services. What are you doin on that mower?

Phil