What do you want from your lawn service business

[Phil Nilsson]

What do you want? What do you expect from your business?

Some thoughts ...

1. Better than average earnings
2. Your spouse to quit working
3. More time off for yourself
4. A secure source of income - no layoffs
5. A sense of accomplishment
6. In charge of your own destiny

Why do you work, what do you want?

Any ideas - I'm curious how people would answer this.

Phil

[Sir Turf Tracer]

Everything You said Less#2 And a Great tan!

[lawnchopper]

the big one for me is #6. one of my goals for a long time has been to work for myself. I've been in the computer industry for about five years and it just hasn't been possible to go off on my own. I've thought about lawn care for some time. then my brother quit a good job at UPS to start his own LCO a year ago and has been doing great. this then motivated me so I'm now doing it part time and by next year I'll be full time. it's partly the freedom and partly the challenge to make it succeed

[Seascape]

Financial security is primarily why i do this. I like having money to do things buy things and so my kids have a piece of the good life. Or the not so bad life lets say. I also appreciate calling all my own shots. I enjoy calling others shots. and enjoy others being dependant on me. I also enjoy the respect i get from being good at this.
mike

[edger]

1. Yes this is always nice!

2.Yes, i'd love for my wife to be able to stop working and be home with the kids every day. Just her being a teacher i don't see her leaving that job. she loves it to much.

3. This is always nice. Nice to be able to and do things with the kids and the wife as a family. As it is now i miss b-days and holidays . This by its self would be outstanding. To be able to attend all of the above!

4. As most of you know by now i'm a fireman. Job security isn't like most places. We will always need firefighter in our day to day lives. Any way to look at this is simple. Doing what you want when you want will be nice. In due time!

5. A sense of accomplishment will be done as soon as i get my first account with my new life in the Green world! On top of me finishing my Business Plan. Which in it self is a great accomplishment.

6. In charge of my own destiny. Kind of a very large question if you think about it.

Extra credit. I work to provide my children with a good home, food and many other things. I work get get things that i want. Like even my first, second, third, forth and other cars. No one has ever given me things. If i wanted it i had to work for it. So i think that this has never changed for me. I hope to instill these same things in my children. So they to can learn the value of a $$.

[Phil Nilsson]

IMHO ... the potential in any bizz as a front row attraction is that it's possible to get other people working so that after you relieve your family any hardships of toiling ... YOU as boss can now have a handle on your own time ... and have money to enjoy whatever you enjoy. Having time and money at the same time is golden. Otherwise heck ... we can all work ouselves to death and for what? Time without money isn't too cool, money without time isn't too cool? LOL ... that's why a wise person will bust his backside to delegate to others ASAP. In the summer it's time to vacation, not work it all away simply because it's the season?

Phil

[Seascape]

Should we work all summer and leave no time to ourselves? is that a question phil?
Today i woke and decided to knock off a day. 1 truck went out and another is loading. Im still in jogging pants. I have to go look at some de thatch equipment and i have to go check a site that was deemed "final grade" yesterday and ready to scape. I figure 1.5 hrs to kill these errands. I may go get my 11 point buck out of taxidermy today since its been done a month. Than i may go visit my dad at his shop. I hide there often. than ill probally try to check on this wall we are building. I laid the base yesterday so the hard parts done and some progress should be made today. Than ill probally go get the boys out of daycare so the wife dont have to when she gets off. Than ill probally come back spend a few minutes here at computer playing w/ some #s than ill probally put my jogging pants back on and fire up the grill. should be a perfect day.
mike

[Phil Nilsson]

I'll never forget the day (got to the point) that I decided to "knock it off" ... I mean you know start to relax and enjoy the rewards of my hard work so ... I decided to buy an extra work/fun vehicle that I really didn't need. Added a brand new 3/4 ton van to our lineup of trucks, bought 4 racing bikes (@ $400 a whack) to toss in the back of it, made reservations in Maine at the top resort, told my wife to "pack up" and let's go!

That was right at the height of our busy season around Memorial Day. Went to the shop, got the guys out the door, told them what to do for a week ... and I was gone down the road and never a worry about getting the work done in my absence. Decided not to wait to enjoy. Decided to delegate more and more and trust that my people could handle it. They did ... much to my surprise! In fact I think things ran smoother without me there?

Best of luck to everyone to make it to the promised land (while you're still alive that is)

P.S. You know you've made it when you don't look at the prices on the menu ... you order what you feel like eating!

Phil

[Scott]

Phil said,
P.S. You know you've made it when you don't look at the prices on the menu ... you order what you feel like eating!

PHIL!!!
I guess I've made it!!! I never look at the prices of the value meals at McDonald's or Popeye's!!!

I'm there!!! I'm there!!!

[Phil Nilsson]

Scott ... well that's not exactly the Ritz Carlton?

[ProCareLS]

This is kinda long, but worth reading.


This is great thread, since these are the things I think about 90% of the time.

Background:
My father has had his own business since I was a kid. He went to college and got his degree in political science, got an entry level job in the field, and hated it. He went to work as a laborer for a construction company to support his wife and 3 kids, and what do you know, he liked it. He moved up the ranks, and became a carpenter, and a damn good one at that. He liked it so much he started doing side jobs for extra money. In the 80's the recession hit, and there was no work for the company he worked for so he was forced to fend for himself. Times were hard, but he kept with it, and next thing you know he had people calling him with more business than he could handle, and the rest is history.

Now, having lived in a family where my father had a successfull business I've had a hard time working for someone else. Don't get me wrong, I've excelled at every job I've had, but evetually I get bored out of my mind, and have hard time dealing with peers in managment that don't have a clue.

I've always had some type of business on the side that net's me plenty of money to pay for all my toys. But have not really had the "bug" to go full time with any of them. Until last year.

I work in IT for my day job, (which is partially why I haven't gone full time with my other endevor's. It's easy money IMO.) but with the econemy taking a dive, and technology taking the brunt of it, layoffs started hitting left and right. I'm pretty safe unless the compay goes out of business, which it might.

So, time to push the side projects into full time mode because:

1) I refuse to let someone else dictate my financial future.

2) I refuse to entertain the idea that my kids will not live the type of life I have envisioned (until there 18, then they can do whatever they want).

3) Nothing's better than the satifaction of a job well done. (I catch myself standing back looking at a job I just completed saying to myself, "Damn I'm good".)

4) I'd like my wife to not have to work.

5) I love interacting and working with my customers and meeting new people.

Basically, I'm done working for someone else. The only way you'll ever make money working for someone else is if you work all the time. I know, becuase I work with people that make six figures. When they leave work, they go home and work. Most of them are the biggest A-holes you'll ever meet. Most of them spend 0 time with their kids (they have nannies and think thats making up for them not being there.) And most of them would die on Survivor.

WOW this thread really got me fired up!!

Well, that's all for now. Good luck to everyone.

John

[dare630]

For me it'll be all but number 3. I mainly got into this because I seen a definate need for it and for a functioning established opportunity to be in place if I ever left my job, whether told to leave or own my own.

[intgr8all]

All the above with the addition of making goals to employ others that’s not as fortunate to get a job. Makes more $$ for me and my one son. When ever I decide to get married, my spouse will not have to work, WELL at home she will. I want to get to the point like PHIL did.. I somewhat have that freedom now, but its not the same to say I'm self employed, when someone ask,. and if they can come work for me because of the reputation. I just think that’s a HUGE accomplishment.
All is possible with GOD as the leader ..

Thanks
Allen

[BCLS]

I work for a large, reputable and successful company and I really enjoy what I do. I should'nt be complaining friends tell me because I have good benefits and I get to travel all over the world and I make pretty damn good money and they would trade with me anytime. It's simple for me.............I don't enjoy working for someone else! My father had his own business and remeber that he worked when he needed to and he also was able to enjoy his time and do or go where he wanted when he wanted.

I have always admired that about people who own and manage their own business. And that is what I want in my life is to own and manage my own business. For me to call the shots and dictate my destiny, not by someone else or by complany policy.

I realize that I'm new to this and I'm just now getting started, but it is already exciting and a sense of accomplishing something on my own without having to get permission to do it by a manager or boss. I'm the boss and I decide what goes and how I see things best done.

For me, it is the sense of accomplishment, being my own boss, and yes, of course, making good money and that I don't have to worry about being laid off and providing for my family without the concern of sacrificing my time to give them everythig they need.


Eduardo

[Phil Nilsson]

I left a very fast track career in accounting to start a landscape bizz ... not to brag but was a Divisional Controller (one of ten of them) for a large well known NYSE listed company. The day I decided to leave was the day my boss (the General Manager of our Division) said what? .... "You can't take your vacation now ... you have to wait for the general plant shut down in July (that was our Savannah, Georgia Plant ( we had two plants one in the North and one in the South and 26 retail stores to account for) this he told me after I had booked a cruise to Bermuda (out of NYC) so I said to my boss ... goodbye boss it's been nice knowing you.

"Boss if you knew how much my wife was looking forward to this trip you wouldn't deny me this request." Having said that I cleaned out my desk and walked out the door.

When my family and friends found out what I had done they were astonished to say the least. I told them ... "A person who is as resourceful as I am will always make a good living ... don't sweat it!"

I guess the moral of the story is to keep the faith but back it up with being very "gutsy" nevertheless "know what you are doing at all times" .... THEN - DO IT!

P.S. In one days time I went from being a white collar financial executive type - (first class plane tickets to oversee operations and financial stuff at our Savannah Plant) LOL every week - nice company car, paid this and paid that - to being a start-up one man band
- good thing it worked out otherwise I'd be eating crow big time!

Best of luck!
Phil