Start-up Update

[BCLS]

I just wanted to say that this site and all they great people here have taught me a lot and to say thanks to everyone.
I have been in operation since January of this year. I just wanted to share that as of right now we have 11 regular accounts, 2 commercial account and I'm in talks with a realtor and a home contractor at the moment. There have been a few bumps in the road, but the overall ride has been exciting and great.
I just wanted to let people know that those who are serious in this business can make it happen with some determination and preparing yourself beforehand. I started with the basics and I have had to get commercial grade equipment to meet my business needs.
This site definitely hepled reading from experinced professional people as you all!! Thanks Again to All!!
Eduardo
Bayou City Lawn Services

[anderson_lawns]

This site is great being a teenager i got a lot of information off of here. I am barely making overhead now but i think i will have a big business one day. I am on a hard road now, but i am not gonna give up till the lasts breath.

[jgarciasr]

Eduardo, what side of town do you service. I live in Baytown and I'm thinking of starting up my own lawn care service. I'm still in the doing a lot of research it probably won't be till next year cause I wanna be as educated as possible and by the time I get everything I need together it'll be too late in the season.

[Phil Nilsson]

jgarciasr,

With any start-up ... business planning and cash flow management plays a big role. As you know, in the early stages payments on equipment, advertising and other upfront out-of-pocket expenses many times is more from month to month than what you bring in from sales. Write up a cash budget ... forecast incoming and outgoing cash flow. This will help indicate the number of customers you will need to make ends meet.

Forecast sales on a spreadsheet ... strart with the dollar amount you can expect from the average customer account. Then project across the spreadsheet an increasing number of customers ... and resulting incoming sales/cash flow. Match those incoming dollars with outgoing dollars within the same time frames. You'll see a crossover point where incoming dollars begin to catch up with outgoing dollars as the number of customers rise.

Phil

[jgarciasr]

Thanks for the advice Phil( I kept wanting to typr Dr. Phil, LOL). Yeah believe me I,m so excited I wanna jump into this thing tomorrow, but I know I'll be primed to make it if I take my time to research all aspects of the business. This forum and everyone one here is just great. Thanks for all the advice.